Why Bernie Sanders Wasnt Invited to CAPs Ideas Conference

[SecularMotion]

 In the battle over ideas in the Democratic party, it’s clear the moderates aren’t getting much quarter. This was on display at the “Ideas Conference” held Tuesday by the Center for American Progress, the central policy and personnel clearinghouse for Democratic administrations. Just before the event, the think tank released “A Marshall Plan for America”—an ambitious jobs guarantee via “a large-scale, permanent program of public employment and infrastructure investment.”

The racially and gender-diverse main speakers ranged from the liberal to the very liberal. Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a strong lunch keynote demanding strong antitrust enforcement to break up concentrated economic power. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand extolled the necessity of paid family leave, Senator Cory Booker demanded universal health care, Senator Kamala Harris called for the total decriminalization of marijuana and the election of “progressive prosecutors” nationwide, Representative Keith Ellison called Trump’s voter-fraud commission a scam and a “set-up,” and Senator Jeff Merkley demanded a green transformation of the energy economy that would put “every coal electricity-generating plant into a museum by the year 2050.”

Many of these speakers, particularly the ones gifted a “keynote” speaking slot, are widely rumored to be seeking the White House, and the mainstream media portrayed the event as a cattle call for 2020 candidates.

But there was an awkward absence: Senator Bernie Sanders. He was not invited to the “Ideas Conference,” and his exclusion makes clear that, while Democrats are converging around a general set of ideological principles, the party still faces some serious coalition-building problems.

https://www.thenation.com/article/why-bernie-sanders-wasnt-invited-to-caps-ideas-conference/

[Ohioblue22]

1. well look what happened the last time he injected himself

that that and he's not a dem

[DavidDvorkin]

2. He's not a Democrat.

[arthritisR_US]

4. Exactly!

[NCTraveler]

3. Possible 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls gather for progressive ideas conference

Don’t call it a “cattle call.” Don’t call it the “CPAC of the left.” On Tuesday morning, the Center for American Progress will host a daylong “Ideas Conference” — its third, as CAP President Neera Tanden points out. It’s just different from the last two in that at least 140 reporters have signed up to cover it, and they’re not shy about calling it a 2020 scouting session.

“We’re focused less on the politics of the moment and more on, ‘What’s the alternative?’ ” Tanden said in an interview. “I expect there’ll be some criticism of Trump, but we expect most of our speakers to provide a positive vision.”

For much of its existence, CAP was designed to feed a future Hillary Clinton administration with staffers and ideas. (Former Bill Clinton chief of staff and 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta was CAP’s first president.) But Clinton is not on this year’s agenda. Neither is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and neither is former vice president Joe Biden.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/powerpost/wp/2017/05/15/possible-2020-democratic-presidential-hopefuls-gather-for-progressive-ideas-conference/

[pnwmom]

5. He left the party. If he wanted to be involved in party events, he should have stuck with it. n/t

[WellDarn]

6. Also from the article

"If you want to understand why establishment Democrats lose, look at CAP. They hold their…grassroots conference at the Four Seasons and don’t invite grassroots progressives. . . . They charge $1,000 per ticket to attend their ‘Progressive Party’…and eat canapes while wondering why they are out of touch with the rest of the country."

[Connie_Corleone]

7. Why would he be invited?

He's not a Democrat.

[Littlered9560]

8. Maybe because he isn't a democrat?

Seems some people have a hard time grasping that FACT.

[Tom67]

9. I support the none invitation.

He is not a democrat and does not want to be.

[NurseJackie]

10. That's perfectly fine with me. It's as it should be.

---EXCERPT-----------------------------------------------
But there was an awkward absence: Senator Bernie Sanders.
----------------------------------------------------------

Nothing "awkward" about it at all. It's only "awkward" if he (or others) feel as though he was ENTITLED to be there. Considering that he's a self-avowed "Independent" and that he's affirmed he's not a Democrat and has no intention of becoming a Democrat... then it's absolutely proper that he not be considered when making the invitation list.

All things considered, I'm happy with the choices that were made.