Sanders brushes off Clinton criticism: 'Look forward and not backward'

[Donkees]

BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 09/06/17 11:30 AM EDT

Excerpt:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday brushed off Hillary Clinton’s criticism of him in her new book about the 2016 presidential election, saying he’s not interested in playing the blame game.

“My response is that right now it’s appropriate to look forward and not backward,” Sanders told The Hill.

“I’m working overtime now to see we overturn Trump’s decision on DACA, pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage and next week I’ll be offering a Medicare-for-all single-payer system,” he said.


Sanders said he wants to focus on the legislative challenges at hand and not debate who is to blame for President Trump’s stunning electoral upset of Clinton in November.

“Our job is to go forward,” he said.

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/349423-sanders-brushes-off-clinton-criticism-look-forward-and-not-backward

[leftstreet]

1. DURec

[beam me up scottie]

121. That gesture is familiar...

[GaryCnf]

2. CLASS n/t

[haveahart]

3. Wise man. Know when hold 'em, knows went fold 'em. Knows truth from fiction.

[geek tragedy]

4. seems like something a leader would say. nt

[monmouth4]

5. Excellent Bernie. Thank you..n/t

[HughBeaumont]

6. "President Trump"

I really wish people would quit saying that. That fascist Cheeto is a stain and a mistake.

[Heartstrings]

7. Boom, like that!

Exactly what I said in another op....

Move forward people.....focus!

[Greybnk48]

8. K&R n/t

[WoonTars]

9. Absolutely right...we need to focus on 2018...

...then we can concentrate on getting rid of that orange menace in the Oval Office...

[Control-Z]

10. And not a moment of self reflection.

It would go a long way if he could own up to some of the damaging things he did. He could call them mistakes or poor choices if that's what it takes for him to address them.

[leftstreet]

12. Maybe he'll write a book n/t

[Control-Z]

18. That would be a good idea if

he could be honest. Explaining some of his questionable behaviors might even help.

[melman]

33. So being honest

is defined as agreeing with you. Okay.

[Control-Z]

68. No.

You said that.

[kstewart33]

150. Stop stirring the pot.

Bern's right: Let's move forward.

[chwaliszewski]

71. Interesting.

Could you share some of your examples of Bernie's questionable behaviors with us?

[cstanleytech]

79. About the only two things I personally consider questionable on his part

would be refusing to join the party but wanting to run on the parties ticket and then later wanting to have a say in how the party moves forward but still refusing to join it.
The other was in his reluctance to concede to Hillary when it was clear that barring a miracle he was not going to win the nomination but otherwise I agree with him on most things and if I was in his district I would probably vote for him.

[Lordquinton]

88. I can speak to the last one

He made it a real race and pulled the national dialogue to the left. Those months were spent with the media focusing on Democratic issues, not Trump.

Also he made California matter, he let us vote in the primary, and visited places that never get attention. He is probably responsible for more Dem voters here than anyone else.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

102. The poster's mind is already made up.

It's Bernie who dared challenge the coronation, so he should apologize, you know?

[Lordquinton]

164. A lot of times when I'm replying

I'm speaking to the people who are reading, so they can see someone spoke up, or if they were looking for an answer to that question as well.

[all american girl]

178. And there you go....and bernie supporters wonder why Hillary supporters want to be heard

and not told to STFU....the bernie supporters were the only ones acting as if was a coronation. How dare she stand up and want to run for president....she should have just gotten out of the way for bernie...As I recall, it was only bernie who thought the will of the voters should be thrown out and the supers should vote for him. Now that is a coronation, not an election.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

181. Oh, yeah, the vast majority of Super-delegates had all but declared their votes for her.

And no, we Bernie Supporters were fine with having more than one candidate in the primary. It was many Hillary supporters who whined about having to compete in a primary in the first place.

She was a flawed candidate. The server issue proved to be the thing that brought her down. Yes, I know she won more votes, but in the crucial areas in this flawed democracy, she didn't even bother. The server issue was a self-inflicted fatal wound.

Polls showed that Bernie would have blown Trump out of the water. However, the DNC had it pretty much planned for Hillary. Look inwards before trying to blame everyone else.

[lunamagica]

106. Refusing to show his tax returns. Saying he was too busy, or that he had to look for them, but he

would release his taxes, which was obviously a lie.

[HarmonyRockets]

146. Huh?

How exactly did not showing his tax returns help Trump win? That one is not making any sense to me.

[lunamagica]

149. I'm answering a post asking about Sander's questionable behavior

[Ninsianna]

208. There seems to be some sort of self imposed amnesia about this.

It's unacceptable for ANY candidate to be running who is not willing or able to do this. I don't care which side it is, we've learned that relying on shame, integrity and basic decency will not work. People need to be forced to do the right thing and divulge their financial information.

[brush]

118. That trip to the Vatican

[kstewart33]

148. Not taking the bait.

As Bernie says, "It's time to move forward."

Perhaps you might heed his advice?

[chwaliszewski]

169. My reply was to comment #18.

What was your reply for?

[kstewart33]

189. To end this ridiculous, increasingly hostile back and forth debate.

About Sanders, Clinton, and the 2016 election.

About a year ago, battles slowly began to erupt into a virtual war between Clinton and Sanders supporters that lasted until Skinner wisely put the hammer down to end it. Been a DU member since 2001 and I've never seen anything like it.

Clinton lost. Sanders is not a Democrat. The election is over. And there are far more consequential issues/events to blog about.
All good reasons to end this nonsense.

[MuseRider]

61. Oh Gods no!

Remember what was said about him the last time he did? Please Bernie, give us a few years before we have to listen to all that horse crap again. He can't even breathe without getting the hornet nest all kerfuffled. NOT a book please!

[guillaumeb]

103. Ouch.

Well said.

[R B Garr]

14. +1, he looks back plenty when it benefits him.

He looked back 25 years into Bill Clinton's presidency to misrepresent topics. No one corrects or challenges him.

[Control-Z]

23. That has never really

been tolerated. It's too bad too because understanding him better might help unite us.

[all american girl]

40. Yeah, always liked how Hillary was to blame for Bernie's votes and Bill's

signature on bills, when she was first lady, but Bernie was never, ever held responsible for his own votes...and no, I will not get over it, and yeah, I'm still angry and bitter. She was told she was responsible for shit that had nothing to do with her...

[melanctha]

75. Look forward..

I look forward to Bernie stopping the pretense and staying out of democratic politics. Join Our Revolution and stay there. Stay out of the democratic party business. Tired of Bernie's insurgency. I want him gone. Hillary did not call him on his BS for the sake of unity and we see what that got us. Get rid of him now before 2018. I will not contribute to the DNC until they rid themselves of Bernie.

[all american girl]

96. Boom-drop the mic

[Act_of_Reparation]

126. Fascinating.

[all american girl]

128. so, are you saying that she never got blamed for the crime bill, that bernie voted for, and she

couldn't? Things that bernie voted for had excuses as to why it wasn't bad, but she got blamed for everything. I have no idea if you were around for the last couple of years, but it was so ugly that no one could write anything positive about Hillary. Just stating that you like her would tigger a response of warmonger, shill, neoliberal, corporatist, etc. I have no more time to to baby people, when she is being so mild about her criticisms of bernie, and everyone is losing their minds. The man has done nothing but trash the dam base and I'm sick of it.

[Act_of_Reparation]

197. I'm saying the notion Bernie Sanders cost Hillary Clinton the election is laughably imbecilic.

Not only does it betray a fundamental failure of long-term memory, it also betrays pathological obsession with political celebrity.

This was not the first Democratic primary. This was not even Hillary Clinton's first Democratic primary. It was not a uniquely acrimonious affair, nor were Bernie Sanders' talking points particularly novel. Many of the points raised against her in 2016 were raised by Barack Obama in 2008. Political centrism in establishment Democrats has also been a recurring talking point in every primary in recent history. Yet, no one blames Jesse Jackson for ruining Mondale's campaign, or costing Dukakis the presidency. No one blames Lyndon LaRouche for Al Gore's loss. No one blames Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean for Kerry's failure to unseat Bush.

But we're blaming a guy who vocally and enthusiastically campaigned against Donald Trump for convincing people to vote for Donald Trump, and the only realistic explanation for this unfathomable stupidity is that we're now treating political figures like they're Mick fucking Jagger.

[all american girl]

201. so I guess calling her unqualified

(because he couldn't be bothered to read the story), that Hillary voters were vagina voters, she was a whore, money being thrown at her, her supporters being call every sexist name in the book, all her strengths were held as weaknesses, beanies votes were blamed on her, wikileaks, media, memes, bernie not enthusiastically campaigning for her (yes we were watching...looking like he was getting his teeth pulled), the convention, every one of her primary wins was said to be stolen from him, and at no time did he stand up like a grown up and deal with it. Hillary brought her people together after 2008, and was told she had to do it in 2016...all bernie needed to do was show up and act like he wasn't going to throw up. Well, in my book, that was on him to help unity, since he didn't have a problem trashing her personally. Was he the one and only problem, no, but he hand his big hand in it. Hell, all you have to do is go online and the same stupid fucking shit is being said about her, from the same damn people.

Here's the deal, we will have another woman run, and she may be black...we need to look hard at our sexism and racism that was allowed to happen. We need to be honest with ourselves that some though it was OK to treat our base like crap to make others feel good about themselves. This falls on bernie and his supports to police themselves and speak out the will not happen ever again....because believe, POC and women will no longer be told to shut up and we will call it out...like we are doing now.

[LoveMyCali]

115. Yup

I also won't get over bitterness over the whole coronation BS. Like she hasn't worked her ass off for over 40 years.

[Kentonio]

170. So she's works her ass off, and tens of millions of Americans aren't allowed a choice?

Because last I checked, nearly half the party wanted someone else. That showed the party was wrong to try and make it a coronation.

[Ninsianna]

171. Millions chose her, she won more votes in the party than someone else.

That showed the party that the majority of Democrats chose her, those who backed the candidate that won several million fewer votes and demanded that the majority's voice didn't matter, and that their guy be coronated anyway, they were rejected.

The only people demanding a coronation were the ones who could not accept that the MAJORITY of the party chose her, and thus she WON the nomination and no one would give in to their demands that the votes be ignored so that he might be crowned.

Those demanding a coronation were wrong, those who sought to thwart the wishes of the majority were wrong. Projecting all that wrongness to abuse the party and its nominee is even more wrong. Why are the tens of millions of Americans who CHOSE her not allowed a choice, why are we to be punished for failing to crown the guy who didn't win the votes?

[Kentonio]

172. When we talk about a coronation we're talking about the first half of the primary.

The time when huge numbers of the superdelegates had declared for her before the race even started, and the DNC were lockstep in support for her. That was the attempted coronation, and millions of Democrats decided that no that was not ok.

No-one is arguing that she won the primary, what we're annoyed by is that people are now whining about her having to even compete at all, as if being Hillary Clinton should have been enough for us all to fall in line and give our unwavering support from day one of the primary.

Seriously, you won the primary so how about you put away the victim card and stop with this false narrative that people were just so gosh darn unfair to her. She got her shot, and we can all see the results.

[dae]

180. 👍🏼 My feelings as well. Thank you for the post.

[Ligyron]

188. Dead on.

[shanny]

193. yes

[Ninsianna]

207. Yes, how interesting how specific one's talk actually is, when the ONLY demand for a

coronation came AFTER the votes were in and we had a nominee who won by millions of votes.

It wasn't about superdelegates and the side led by the creator of the system should have known that. Oh wait, they did. They were busy threatening and abusing SuperDels when the voters had already made their choice and the delegate count was insurmountable.

DNC was supporting all candidates, the voters chose one over the other. Only one of the final two supported Democrats, raised money etc. Of the whole field it was Martin O'Malley who actually worked to support Democrats. Only coronation talk was for the guy who didn't lift a finger. When one looks back honestly it's clear to see who wanted a coronation and who was willing to silence the votes and voices of Democrats, the same people seeking to do so today. And it's not okay. It's not okay to have demanded it then, millions of Democrats told ya no, but the demands, the abuse etc. are still there.

Again, no one but the bitter coronation people ever mentioned anything about competition, we were fine with adult, reasoned debate, looking forward to it even. We were disappointed by the turn taken by the people who couldn't compete fairly.

Seriously, how about stopping with the fighting the primary BS, since it never stopped, and stopping with the victim game and the outright lies and the false narrative about exactly who is still demanding a coronation. We can indeed see the results and we'd like all the falsehoods to stop, the lies and the attacks. The projection of the coronation and the silencing of the millions who absolutely rejected the notion that the person who didn't win votes should be given all sorts of things because he's somehow entitled to it. Nope.

[Kentonio]

209. Interesting attempt at wiping out history and replacing it with your own fictional version.

Thanks, but I'm not buying.

[Ken Burch]

175. Ok. She had worked. That doesn't mean

She had the right to run and to be nominated if she won a majority of delegates. What more could she ask/

[trotsky]

15. Perhaps he could be publicly flogged until he begs for forgiveness?

Just wondering what it will take for us to get past all this.

[Control-Z]

16. I notice you completely overlooked

the point I was making. Your comment is ridiculously silly. I won't play. Thanks.

[trotsky]

39. The point you were making is that you think Bernie needs to do penance.

My example was an extreme one and I am glad you do not think he needs to do that.

But the question remains, how much penance is sufficient? When will you forgive him and move forward?

[QC]

53. But he tried to take something that was rightfully hers!

That's the assumption here.

[chwaliszewski]

72. That's what I'm seeing.

[trueblue2007]

82. he tried to take something that was rightfully hers! YOU ARE 1000% CORRECT. Selfish old bugger

[Autumn]

138. Why was it rightfully hers? Bernie took nothing from her, she won the primary.

Selfish bugger indeed.

[shanny]

192. something she was entitled to! it was hers!

nobody else should have had the temerity to run for the nomination in the Democratic primary of a democratic system! WAH!

fucking ridiculous

[trotsky]

93. That's what it appears to come down to, yes. n/t

[all american girl]

98. Yeah, no one ever said that but the bernie supporters

Bernie and his people did think that the supers should have had overturned the will of the primary voters...so there's that

[PatrickforO]

168. We all knew that was a pipe dream, but the great thing that happened by

taking the contest almost to the convention is that the party's platform was forced a bit left.

And, in a couple days, Bernie will be introducing Medicare for all Americans legislation. You know, if I had healthcare all the time, that was not tied to my job, that I never had to worry about, my life would be immeasurably better. See, last year, between me and my employer, we paid over $16K for shitty, rationed healthcare with financially crippling copays. And sure enough, someone in my family was hospitalized and had surgery, and voila! Another $3K. So by the end of this year, I will have paid a whopping $19K.

I would be willing to pay a hell of a lot more in taxes and never have to worry about healthcare. I'd have so much less financial stress.

And, that is financial stress EVERY American feels at the kitchen table. What if I get laid off my job and lose my healthcare?

Kamala Harris has signed on as a co-sponsor. And I'll guarantee you that I will be calling my Representative and Senators daily and writing them a letter daily in support of this.

So, you know, there was hurt on both sides (there was - I'm not pulling a Trump here). But we cannot keep re-fighting this primary. We must move on. We have to start winning elections. And, you know, it bugs the shit out of me that Clinton won by 2.9 million votes and STILL lost. That sucks. If you haven't already, check out the national popular vote initiative. Simple legislation that, if enough states pass, it will circumvent the electoral college.

There are a lot of good things going on, All American Girl. There really are. People all over this country are waking up. Trump's slogan is 'make America great again,' but you know who will REALLY be making this nation great?

Us.

That's who.

When we all stand up and make it clear to those we elect that we expect better from them.

[Demsrule86]

135. I don't want him to do anything except join the Democratic Party or refrain from commenting on it,

and don't support our revolution.They primary sitting Democrats.

[trotsky]

183. "our revolution"?

What revolution is that?

[Demsrule86]

186. An organization that evolved from the Sanders candidacy.

They are busily primarying sitting Democrats like Joe Manchin in WVA...a very important seat for us...they have also stated they will support Republicans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Revolution

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/25/our_revolution_bernie_sanders_launches_new

https://www.thenation.com/article/nina-turner-it-is-not-our-job-to-fit-into-the-democratic-establishment/

[trotsky]

187. Oh I thought you meant a revolution in the Democratic establishment.

Thus my confusion.

[mythology]

73. The point you are trying to make applies more so to Clinton

She won the nomination but lost the general election. The excerpts so far blame Sanders, but don't show any reflection on her and her campaign's role in why she lost.

The fundamental reason she lost was her email server. The existence of that was entirely her choice. Everything else had a much smaller impact based on looking at polling data.

[brush]

124. The email server in question was ex-president Bill's. She started using it since it was there...

and had it hooked to her blackberry for convenience.

We all know here at DU, or should know, the email "scandal" was a non-scandal milked for forever by the repugs.

The real reason she "lost" is that repugs cheat, and that includes political hack Comey.

Gerrymandering, vote suppression, vote hacking, caging, mis-info campaigns, last minute letters 2 weeks before the election, a clear violation of the Hatch Act by an FBI Director who of course knows that.

That's who the repug party is so stop with the accepted wisdom/media pundit/repug talking points about emails and Benghazi and on and on as to why Hillary lost.

Again, she lost because repugs cheat, it's the only way they win.

We experienced a stolen election, a coup, and it's time we all recognize that, accept it as fact and get on to combating their cheating because as hard as we try our traditional "get out the vote" drives, they try just as hard to suppress out votes and it becomes a wash.

If we stop their cheating by half we get that many more votes. We won't stop it all but the bigger the dent we put in their cheating and publicize it far and wide, the more votes on the positive side we realize.

[Ken Burch]

174. Problem is...how do we do anything about that right now, in the minority in Congress

and in most state legislatures.

Nobody's saying don't call those things out, but it's not as simple as saying that's all that matters.

We also need to bring in new voters and we need a more compelling set of policy ideas to do that.

[brush]

184. A permanent, well-funded DNC committee that hires good legal help to take repug cheaters to court,

private investigators to help, publicists and social media experts to expose the cheating and spread the word on the anti-cheating campaign, media liaisons to do the same, volunteers — a robust organization that is parallel and just as important as the GOTV campaign because as I said, as hard as we work to get out new voters the repugs work just as hard to cheat and suppress our voters so we can't afford to just do what we've always done.

We've got to add a new, anti-cheating component to our party's arsenal as we know the repug will not stop trying to cheat. The more we blunt them the more votes we stop them from suppressing.

As for being the minority in Congress, that doesn't come into play. We don't need permission from McConnell and Ryan to look out for ourselves on the state, local and national levels of our party.

[Roland99]

27. Can't fault him for campaigning during a primary

Esp since he backed Clinton afterward

[all american girl]

46. No, but why did he go and completely trash her rep...

blame her for things he voted on, allow his people to call her a whore (while he was there), thought it was OK to call southern voters the "confederacy" and I could go on...he half-assed endorsed her and we were all suppose to acted as if he was doing her a favor...sorry, not sorry, others may forgive, but I'm not there yet, and I'm not sure I will be there any time soon. All I keep seeing that Hillary should just shut up and go sit in the corner, and her supporters aren't allowed to address the awful issues that happened...we will not be silenced. I think maybe some need to start listening to us, because this isn't going away any time soon.

[lunamagica]

108. +1. I completely agree. Neither Hillary nor us will be silenced

[all american girl]

110. Not anymore...learned the lesson the hard way, but not going back

[Cuthbert Allgood]

125. Did he lose Wisconsin for her?

Because her complete lack of a presence here is what caused that to happen. Sanders had NOTHING to do with that. Nor her lackluster campaigning in Michigan.

I think you are blaming the wrong person. Sanders had very little to do with her losing those three states which cost her the electoral college. You are pulling out some nonsense about "the 'confederacy'" but the south wasn't the problem in this election. She was NEVER going to win the south.

[dae]

191. Bill was telling her to go to Wisconsin,

but her campaign ignored him. They were intent on flipping Arizona, & several other red states.

[thesquanderer]

64. To some, he's damned if he looks back, damned if he doesn't.

As primary campaigns go, I think his was about as UN-damaging to his competition as any primary campaign can be... a campaign whose goal is, after all, to win. For example, I gave an example in another thread of where he could have gone for the jugular, and didn't (buried at post #465 in the thread at https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029555324 ).

And remember, in the end, Clinton DID win the popular vote, quite substantially. So in the end, at least in hindsight, it probably would have been better if at least one of the two of them had done more Fall campaigning in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. I'm not sure how much of that you can lay at Sanders' feet, though. I imagine his campaigning for Hillary was largely based on where Hillary's people wanted him to go.

[klook]

176. Good points.

It was a tragic miscalculation to ignore big chunks of the upper Midwest and shift the campaign's focus to Utah, Arizona, and Georgia.

I sincerely hope Democratic Party leaders are learning from such mistakes.

[Voltaire2]

11. No shit.

[LanternWaste]

13. Seems the only perceived difference between debate and analysis anymore...

Seems the only perceived difference between debate and analysis anymore is simply whose sacred cow is being examined.

[Weekend Warrior]

17. Considering the recent issue with DACA and it being possibly tied to a wall.

I'm not surprised Sanders doesn't want to look back. We should. He sided with Republicans to block a pathway to citizenship. At this very time it's pretty interesting he doesn't want to look back. Over ten million people were denied a right to citizenship and Sanders himself was one of the strongest in opposition, even among Republicans. His reasons are more about self-preservation and getting a couple more bucks.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

105. Don't know if you're trolling or not ...

... so I'll cut you a break, but you do know why he voted no on the bill, right?

I mean, you must have left something out, no?

[Weekend Warrior]

117. He voted no with Republicans, blocking a pathway to citizenship.

That is a fact. History on that one will not be unwritten.

[lunamagica]

155. I know why he voted no on the bill. He couldn't wait to go to the Lou Dobbs show and say why,

breathlessly repeating over and over how immigration hurts American workers, and that how it was so wrong to let immigrants in just to take jobs from American workers, so no mystery there. It's on tape, so his motivation for the vote can't be denied.

[lunamagica]

111. You are so right about this! When he was on the Dobbs show, he and dobbs were like two

in a pod. Dobbs happily listening and nodding as Sanders went on an on about how immigration hurts American workers.

Whatever he says now about his vote, his true feelings are on tape for all to see.

[stonecutter357]

19. lol

[Perseus]

20. Sanders should have also looked forward during the elections and done more

DISCLAIMER: I supported Sanders.

When Hillary became the candidate Sanders should have looked forward (Trump) and go full speed campaigning for Hillary to prevent this disaster, for him to now say "look forward" is easy, but he has to understand that, besides the republican cheating, his weak support of Hillary got us where we are.

He should have also bit his tongue before saying the things he said about Hillary during the campaign, all he did was provide gasoline for the republicans. I remember hearing say some things, and even though I was supporting him, feeling that his character bashing of Hillary would work in favour of the republicans, if she were to win the nomination. so that made me kind of sick to hear my candidate blurt out stuff like that.

Sooo....No Mr. Sanders, you need to hear it, even though we also need to look forward, but never forget the past because that is why we all get into so much trouble, we all forget the past too easily, no one seems to want to learn form history.

[NastyRiffraff]

32. Thank you.

It's good to see a Sanders supporter being able to look beyond the idea that Sanders is/was perfect. He's not of course, just like every other human being who ever lived. I don't know if he got an advance copy of Hillary's book and has read the whole thing, but I hope he does read it, even though it's not just about him. Self-knowledge is always a good thing.

[Expecting Rain]

37. I'd like to also offer sincere thanks for this post.

This sort of honesty would make reconciliation much easier.

On this forum I understand it takes courage to post these words, and I deeply appreciate it.

[karynnj]

44. Sanders DID have a heavy schedule of campaigning in the Fall

going wherever the Clinton team wanted him. ( He did also spend some time in VT helping VT Democrats) His support of Hillary was not weak and his comments in the primaries were certainly no worse than HRC's comment about Obama in the 2008 primaries -- for which he foregave her and made her SoS! (PS Did Clinton ever publicly apologize for what would have called the harmfull comment in an ad that she and John McCain were ready for the 3 am call ... and Obama wasn't which followed comments similar to that. )

[DownriverDem]

52. But

Many of his supporters did not see how a Dem win would have been the way to go. And who got hurt? We the people did.

[karynnj]

69. His supporters included Democrats and independents - including some libertarian leaning

Last edited Wed Sep 6, 2017, 03:08 PM - Edit history (1)

independents who never voted for a Democrat. To hold Sanders accountable for getting ALL of these voters to vote for HRC is crazy. Not to mention, in the only analysis I saw 10% of Sanders voters voted for Trump; while 25% of Clinton voters voted for McCain in 2008. Just as Clinton worked hard for Obama and still could not transfer the loyalty of that 25%, Sanders could not transfer the loyalty of 10% of his.

(PS I do not credit Sanders over Clinton because of the percents -- I suspect that there were MORE people who had picked Hillary because of her experience -- and went for McCain for the same reason. With the Sanders people, from that same survey, the Sanders/Trump voters had a 20 percent approval rating of Obama --- these were basically Republicans who were willing to go for Sanders over the Republican choices, but not Clinton. )

[RhodeIslandOne]

87. That's the supporters fault

Not his.

He brought in new and disenfranchised people who fundamentally don't understand primary politics and the idea that when it's over, it's over and you support the person who won the primary. Unless of course you aren't "with" the party.

Once he threw his support to her at the convention, they made a choice. A wrong one if they went for Stein or stayed home.

Just as I'm sure in 2008 there were Hillary people who refused to support Obama. The difference was Barack had a huge margin of error and it didn't hurt us.

[all american girl]

47. Thank you so much, you made me want to cry.

You read my mind...so maybe I'm not so crazy about all this

[lunamagica]

113. I want to thank you too

[Justice]

161. Thank you. This is very well said

[shanny]

195. just out of curiosity,

what do Hillary and her supporters "need to hear"?

btw, it is laughable to think those darn republicans needed to rely on Bernie for ammo to use on Clinton. I'm sure they would have been nice as pie to her if only he hadn't been in the race.

[Cryptoad]

21. Stirring the Ole Shit Pot....

[LovingA2andMI]

22. This Is What Class Looks Like...

Thank You, Bernie!

[Amimnoch]

24. Heh, I wouldn't want to look back either if I were him.

Especially since he'd likely have a President that wouldn't veto all of those things he's "working overtime" on right now had things been handled a bit differently.

But that's probably just me.

[JustAnotherGen]

54. Fair point

If only . . .

[NurseJackie]

58. Excellent point.

But that's probably just me.

No... take heart. It's not just you. You're not alone.

[lunamagica]

114. No, it's not just you. I agree

[brer cat]

142. I agree. nt

[Maven]

157. Yup. Here's Sanders 3 days (3 DAYS!!!) before the election.

Link to tweet

Got that?

3 days.

What does that look like to you?

To me, it looks like someone sending a signal that it's okay to vote for Trump.

[kcr]

190. Yep. I'm tired of hearing about how supportive he was of Hillary. Thank you n/t

[SunSeeker]

25. Bernie, I wish you would get Our Revolution to focus on the GOP.

It is a lot easier to "go forward" with a Democratic majority in the legislature. Our Revolution's attempts to primary sitting Democrats is counterproductive.

[George II]

30. I think they are going to, in a negative way. Nina Turner is on record stating....

....that they are willing to endorse some republican candidates in the future.

[SunSeeker]

51. Gah!

[Gore1FL]

74. Nina Turner shouldn't do Debbie Wasserman Schultz impressions.

It was wrong then. It's wrong now.

[JCanete]

94. come on...under impossible conditions. No republican we've seen in years passes the litmus test.

[George II]

97. Hey, she's the one who said it, not me:

https://www.thenation.com/article/nina-turner-it-is-not-our-job-to-fit-into-the-democratic-establishment/

(CM is Collier Meyerson, the interviewer)

CM: Will the group be endorsing non-Democrats?

NT: You know what, yes. We are open to it. And for me, I’ve also heard the senator say this lately too: Let’s put the political affiliation to the side. If there is a Republican or a Libertarian or Green Party person that believes in Medicare for all, then that’s our kind of person.

Looks like she's willing to endorse republicans.

[JCanete]

109. yeah, if that republican believes in medicare for all. You want to get hung up on letters or the

policies? The reality is that there is no R that is in favor of medicare for all, so its a highly theoretical offer.

[George II]

112. She didn't qualify it with "and the Democratic candidate doesn't..." How many republicans....

....have said one thing while campaigning and voted completely opposite after being elected?

[JCanete]

116. she gave no reason to assume that should both candidates support something like that, they

wouldn't endorse the one most closely aligned with their politics, and those are hardly conservative politics. You're doing an awful lot of work there.

[George II]

120. You're reading a lot into what she said.

[JCanete]

122. for you to assume they would do it differently is strange to me. Why would they endorse the

candidate less aligned to their overall politics? Can you think of any logic in that?

[George II]

127. Well, sir, why not read the entire interview. You'll get a the full gist of what she was saying.

[R B Garr]

119. Exactly, she totally meant that as a club. Didn't she even say Democrats have

to be brought to their knees...something like that. This is all performance.

[Demsrule86]

200. Yes she did, and she said even good progressive Democrats like Sherrod Brown would have to kiss her

ring to get the all important 'our revolution' support.

[Demsrule86]

185. Sen. Sanders recently said not believing in Medicare for All is not a 'deal breaker' so

who know what litmus test she will apply...already Turner has kicked out a person because he who voted for Sec. Clinton.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029265003

[JCanete]

203. problem is that is an anecdotal story. Is there corroboration for this or is

there just this single account of the incident? There are few other areas where I could expect fellow DUers to buy into a claim by a single individual who most of us have never heard of, but there is one circumstance where people will buy it hook-line and sinker, and immediately.

I'm not saying this person is lying. This person could very well be telling the truth. But how the fuck would any of us know. There are barely any stories on this, and all links I can find are just the same article by the same person claiming this. No reporters asking Nina Turner for a response. Nothing. Am I just missing it?

As to Sanders not making Medicare for All a litmus test, I'm cool with that. I'm also cool with Our Revolution making it a litmus test for their support. They are privileging that issue. That's their right. Thankfully, I think its a good cause.

[More_Cowbell]

26. When "forward" is the same as "backward"

I think it's worth a look. Indications are that he will run for president again.

[HarmonyRockets]

154. I hope he does

[janterry]

28. I really like him

[democrank]

29. Thank you, Bernie.

Unite!

[SweetieD]

31. A gracious response. Glad he is not taking the bait.

[Phentex]

38. Are you bashing Clinton?

or not?

[disillusioned73]

59. I know..

It really drives some folks nutz too.. the ones that will never accept him - 8 percent I believe is the number..

[nini]

36. LOLOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

That mofo needs a mirror.

[LovingA2andMI]

41. Thanks Again, Bernie...

And the Full Ignore Button Again is getting a work out on DU -- just like the Primaries again.

At least Bernie is #KeepingItClassy Like Bernie always does.

[Maven]

42. Riiiight. When it's Clinton and Dem Party at fault, look backward.

When Sanders' role in this mess is being examined, we must look forward! Got it.

[DownriverDem]

49. Tell Bernie

Bernie should join the Dem Party if he intends to run as a Dem. That way it won't create a problem for those of us who are Dem Party members. We have a two party system. You go for the party that leans your way. I can't believe that many left leaners didn't get the memo on this.

[liquid diamond]

84. Lol

[JCanete]

95. sure, there's a point there. But I think Sanders could easily field her criticism so

it is hardly something he is choosing to avoid because it would make him look bad. He knows that this is the kind of crap--infighting--that the media would love to cover instead of policy. Yes, people are well overstating just how "class act" this particular response makes him. But it does suggest he is savvy to that reality. It is an unnecessary conversation at this point and there is nothing that can be gained by him disagreeing with her at this time, nor agreeing with her, even though I think her claims are ridiculous.

[DownriverDem]

43. Agree to a point

The problem was that Bernie attacked Hillary & then lost. Even though he told his supporters to vote for Hillary, many did not see it his way. Even now many of them still don't get it. You vote for the party that leans mostly your way (Dem Party). Get a win and then change the Dem Party.

[FiveGoodMen]

50. "Get a win and then change the Dem Party"

Sounds good.

How do you change them?

Even suggesting possible changes on this site gets alerted.

Yes, we certainly need the Dems to win.

But that second part is not as easy as you make it sound.

[emulatorloo]

56. I call Bullshit Hyperbole on "suggesting change on this site gets alerted."

But bullshit hyperbole is what fuels DU lol

[DownriverDem]

83. How to change the Dem Party

Are you a member of the Dem Party? I am for my district (12th) here in Michigan. I go to the monthly meetings. I'm an elected precinct delegate. You become active and join the committees. The district Dem Party affects the State Dem Party which affects the national Dem Party. You move up the ladder. By being active you start to make the changes you want. That is how you change the Dem Party.

[FiveGoodMen]

85. I hope that process proceeds quickly

It sounds like a multi-generation endeavor, and I don't think we've got that long before we're not a democracy at all.

[karynnj]

65. That happens in every primary and I NEVER saw the nominee attack like this

Last edited Wed Sep 6, 2017, 03:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Did John Kerry argue that Howard Dean calling him a flip flopper gave Bush that meme? Did Al Gore attack Bradley who argued that Gore was too connected to Bill Clinton - which mirrors the GWB comment of bringing back honor and decency?

In any primary, the policy differences are slight - in fact, the Clinton and Sanders records were further apart than usual. So, differences are emphasized. Clinton called Obama inexperienced and unready to take the 3 am call. Kerry said Dean had no foreign policy experience; Dean said Kerry had no executive experience.

As to the corrupt claim -- Sanders said she was too close to Wall Street. That was not as bad as Dean saying Kerry was influenced by lobbyists. The difference is Kerry then immediately said he would put out every meeting he had with a lobbyist for the past 10 (15?) years and stated he could defend all of them - and within a week did so. (No candidate before that had done that and in 2008, none of the candidates followed this example when prodded to do so.) On DU, there were people angry that he didn't just detail the various lobbyists that were said to have influenced Dean. What he did and the fact that his reputation as basically clean was effective in killing the issue.

[KTM]

90. Well said.

Both this post and #69 above are both well phrased and good food for thought for many.

[zentrum]

45. Agreed! Done! Forward!

[disillusioned73]

48. K&R..

Onward with the issues..

[H2O Man]

55. Recommended.

[jb5150]

57. Bernie is a class act

[jrandom421]

60. Hey Bernie

Remember the George Santayana quote:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

We lose our way forward, if we don't know or remember how we got here.

[Wernothelpless]

62. Haven't seen her book or review ...

Did she touch on, at all, why Bernie wasn't considered for the VP slot? ... seemed an obvious way to unite the party to me

[TDale313]

63. Thank you, Bernie.

This is the kind of attitude that will help us move forward.

[SpicyBoi]

67. "When they go low we go high"

Bernie Sanders is living it. I wish it was across the board on the Left, but I'll take it.

[riderinthestorm]

70. Classy and he's absolutely right. K&R nt

[renate]

76. I don't understand the blaming of Hillary's loss on her primary opponent

Candidates in primaries disagree with each other and criticize each other. It's what they all do. She wasn't entitled to a free ride to the nomination, regardless of how incredibly qualified and intelligent and experienced she was.

Has Bill Bradley ever been blamed for Al Gore's loss in 2000?

[Honeycombe8]

166. I think you misunderstood. She doesn't blame Sanders for losing, and Dems...

it seems to me, don't blame Sanders, either. At least not directly.

It is a fact, though, that some Sanders supporters did indeed decide to support and vote for Trump. Susan Sarandon was one. There were others.

That's just a fact. That's not blaming Sanders for Trump.

Hillary's book goes through the whole campaign and points out different aspects of it. None of it is to blame any one thing. She's speaking of her experience, and laying out facts and her feelings and thoughts about everything.

She speaks, for instance, of Trump hanging behind her in the debate, making faces, and how she felt about it. That had nothing to do with her loss. She speaks of Sanders personally attacking her and how she felt about it. (Note: it is unusual for one opponent in the same party to personally attack the other; although it does happen - that is what Trump did.) She didn't say that's why she lost, as I understand it.

Sanders supporters are being overly sensitive about anything anyone says about him, IMO. Maybe they feel guilty? Or want to be sure they don't get blamed for Trump?

I am convinced it was Russia who gave the win to Trump. Not Sanders or anyone or anything else. However, it was close enough that a few Democrats breaking rank and voting for Trump may well have made the difference. Still, the end game came down to Russia and corruption.

[renate]

198. thank you so much for replying in such a nice way!

When I saw I'd gotten a reply to my post, I thought "oh noooo" because (as I'm sure you've noticed ) things can get a little brutal between Hillary's supporters and Bernie's (although I certainly voted very enthusiastically for her in the end).

Thanks for giving me information about her book that I did not have and that I had misunderstood from the articles I'd read about it. (And as you mentioned, Russia was the cause in the end. Which makes the enmity within the Democratic party extra sad... it's a conflict that we wouldn't be having if she'd won the electoral college as well.)

[tammywammy]

204. I think everyone needs to calm down about the book.

We've only seen two pages or at least that's all I've seen. Before everyone jumps to more conclusions we should wait and read the book ourselves once it's released.

[Honeycombe8]

206. +1. nt

[Honeycombe8]

205. I agree. I hate to see this. I'm hoping it'll pass before the 2018 mid-terms. nt

[hurple]

77. that is

a classy statement.

I do agree with Clinton's assessment, but I also see Sanders is big enough to take criticism and move on.

Good for him.

Now, if only some people here could learn from that example.

[Lil Missy]

78. "Look Forward" .... Oh, the irony ......

Wish Bernie would have taken his own advice during the Primary ...... especially after it became clear that there wasn't a clear path for him to win.

[liquid diamond]

86. Her emails....

[Lil Missy]

132. Benghazi!! Benghazi!!

[Justice]

162. Well said

[Lordquinton]

80. Go Bernie!

This is how you handle defeat!

[white_wolf]

100. Yes he did. He belonged in the race just as much as Clinton.

Millions of us voted for him so take your divisiveness elsewhere.

[perdita9]

89. There's a reason people love Bernie

I voted for Hilary but she was wrong to go after an ally when we have a Nazi sympathizer in the White House.

[Autumn]

91. Yes! Our job is to go foreward and defeat Triump.

That's Bernie, still fighting for all of us.

[Joe941]

92. class act

[Fantastic Anarchist]

99. Gawd, I love Bernie.

What a great president he would have been.

Kudos.

[BainsBane]

101. I would have loved to hear him say that after the GE

rather than criticizing Hillary and the primary. If he had adopted that approach over the past several months, I would likely have a very different opinion of him.

[katmondoo]

104. My thoughts too

[Maven]

133. Me too.

Coming from the guy who went on an "I told you so" tour post-election, it's pretty rich.

[DavidDvorkin]

107. I look forward to his retiring.

[NurseJackie]

136. You are not alone.

[Maven]

153. !!!

[chwaliszewski]

123. Bernie!

[PatsFan87]

129. Good job Bernie!

[JoeStuckInOH]

130. Basically, Sanders is busy STILL BEING RELEVENT and having a job in Washington DC to do.

Last edited Wed Sep 6, 2017, 05:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I can't say I'm surprised she wrote a tell-all book because she doesn't have a whole lot to do until 2020 rolls around. And it's sad that about the only thing she can do from the sidelines is promote party unity but she's busy stirring the pot some more.

Petty.

Must be idle hands ore something.

[Maven]

134. Hillary is STILL RELEVANT to millions of us.

Check your assumptions.

P.S. If you want to talk about sowing divisions, look to Bernie's post-election "I told you so" tour. It's pretty rich for him to talk about unity and looking forward, now that his role in bringing about this mess is being examined. Oh, but I forgot - apologizing for mistakes is something we only ask Hillary to do. Repeatedly. That, and "just go away". Well she isn't going away and I'm thrilled about it. Can't wait to read her book.

[JoeStuckInOH]

137. Feelings and assumption mean nothing. She's a figurehead at this point.

No amount of admiration or appreciation or her lengthy resume changes that FACT that she hold no office. So literally the only thing she can do to actually help the party and nation is to try and promote unity and get the Democratic party on its feet poised to win 2018 and 2020 elections. But instead she's releasing books and memoirs to stir up gossip about the past. It's fracturing and dividing the party further. So much potential to help the party has been wasted by Her post-election actions alone.

Do you think her current actions are promoting party unity and helping position ourselves for success in 2018/2020?

I don't. So I think I'll side with the one that's still a member of congress who's trying to get the message out that we must move forward with stopping Trump's agenda and pushing to elect liberals in future elections.

You can keep the one whining about yesteryear.

[Maven]

147. She's a thought leader in the party whether you like it or not.

And neither she, nor her supporters, will be erased. I appreciate that she's telling her story and also laying down some hard truths. She has a perspective to share unlike anyone else's, and it's not as if the MSM is going to portray it accurately. Many people made serious mistakes and caused this outcome to happen, and that very much includes Bernie. We need to reckon with those mistakes or we will repeat them.

Do I think her current actions promote unity? I think her current actions are promoting catharsis by verbalizing things that many people saw and felt were not being said. There can be no real unity if one side constantly feels they are ignored.

I think her current actions are encouraging us to think about the systemic weaknesses that led to this outcome. That is positioning us for success.

And meanwhile, what have non-Democrat Bernie and his acolytes been doing since the election? Using every platform given to them by the Democratic Party to blame Hillary, and the party, and to change the rules to benefit other independent spoiler candidates (more undemocratic caucuses!). That isn't unity to me. That isn't positioning us for success.

P.S. I'm sure it has escaped your attention that one of the FIRST things Sec. Clinton did after the election was to form a political group to get more people involved in Democratic politics and groom the next generation of leaders to take over. Here is a link in case you're interested. You're welcome! https://www.onwardtogether.org/

[CentralMass]

131. K&R

[uppityperson]

140. have you considered getting a metal detector?

[SethH]

141. he doesn't have time for this stuff

his response reminds me of an answer Elizabeth Warren gave in an interview a while ago, asked about Hillary's upcoming book. She answered diplomatically but her expression said it all, rehashing the election was about one zillionth on her list of priorities.

[lunamagica]

156. Yes, he is very busy promoting his book

[ucrdem]

158. Bingo.

That is all.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

143. This is what an adult leader does.

[Sunlei]

144. Our job is to go forward

[USALiberal]

145. Good for him! n/t

[Arazi]

151. That's my guy. Bernie showing his true class. #respect

[A-Schwarzenegger]

152. Makes it look easy, but it's harder than it looks.

Leading by example.

[Paka]

159. Good Advice.

Our job is to go forward. Thank you, Bernie!

[Still In Wisconsin]

160. Good on Bernie. That's good advice for anyone regardless of

who we may have supported in the primary.

[Justice]

163. Some say classy, but "moving forward" is easy

way out, far more comfy for Sanders.

[Lazy Daisy]

167. Beautifully said.

Keep moving forward. The Democratic Party will fight Republicans, and we progressives will fight to keep the Democrats from slipping right as they have been doing for too long.

[DFW]

173. He's right

But I'll post at length on the Independent Underground at the appropriate time.

Democrats have other fish to fry between now and November. Big ones, even--like getting our Congressional majorities back, for example.

[Orsino]

179. There may be some validity to the blame...

...but we will never know for sure. I suspect that whatever effect Clinton thinks she saw was swamped by institutional sexism and bogus wingnut attacks invoking age-old anti-Clinton mythology.

But I think it's stupid to try to blame one person, even a candidate, who was only riding a wave of anti-Establishment thought he didn't invent.

[Javaman]

182. and the circular firing squad continues (referring to the comments in this thread). nt

[hueymahl]

194. Yep

Pretty much this whole thread is "rehashing the election." Surprised we don't have more "post hidden" authors than we do.

[Javaman]

202. I'm really surprised Skinner et all are still allowing this BS. nt

[orleans]

196. and, somewhat off topic,

i HATE that expression: "blame game"

"not interested in playing the blame game"

but it appears someone IS interested in playing the rhyming game

(on google books: The Power of Communication by garcia--used by bush, his father, scotty mcclellan, & heckofajob brownie) ugh.

[Iggo]

199. Yep, yep.