Today's shock:

[LWolf]

My mom called me to talk about Bernie Sanders.

I pointed him out, gently, back in June. I have to step carefully; she's a dedicated lover of all things Clinton, and I didn't want to push her away.

Back in June, she'd never heard of him.

And tonight she called to tell me everything she'd learned. I left her alone to learn at her own pace, and she's suddenly calling me to tell me all about him.

"Did you know..."

"He's drawing bigger crowds than any of the other candidates of both parties???" Yes, Mom. I knew.

"He's doing it on small donations, not big money????" Yes, Mom. I knew.

"He wants to expand Social Security!!!" Yes, Mom.

"And on another topic, I watched a documentary on Netflix and it said that Denmark's people are some of the happiest on Earth! They have their health care and education paid for, and seem to have less stress than we do." Yep. And guess what, Mom? Sanders is on that.

Then, to my ever-loving shock and awe, she said that, while she'd wanted to see a woman president in her lifetime, she just didn't think Hillary was going to be the one. She just didn't offer what people needed. I quietly agreed.

At any point this summer, I'd have bet the bank that she was going to go with HRC all the way.

That's the kind of shock I need more of.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Excellent news!

Thanks for passing it on.

[HappyPlace]

3. Isn't it?

:woo hoo:

[marym625]

2. YAY FOR YOUR MOM!

[PatrickforO]

4. One at a time! n/t

[Old Crow]

5. Awesome!

I so wish my parents would come around. ~hoping~

[SamKnause]

6. n/t

[valerief]

7. I love it when the light goes on! nt

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

8. Love it!!!

Working on my mom slowly...hopefully she will react similarly

[JoeOtterbein]

9. Enjoy!

I wished I could convinced my Mom to vote for Bill when he was running in the years before she passed. I hope you are having fun with your Mom and Bernie, they both are the best!

[Zorra]

10. Love it, thanks! nt

[greymattermom]

11. Watch Netflix Rita

and you'll get an idea of what schools are like in Denmark. Entertaining and very educational.

[LWolf]

18. I don't get Netflix,

some technological issues that I couldn't overcome, but I know about schools in Denmark. As a teacher, I would love to bring what they're doing here to the U.S..

[Dont call me Shirley]

43. It would be so welcomed over this Pearson crap!

[99th_Monkey]

12. For every one of these stories we hear about

there are 1000 we don't hear about.

Bernie's still not very well-known, yet he's already competing handily with
Hillary, who has had 100% name-recognition for decades.

THIS ^ is why Bernie will be the next Democratic nominee. When people
learn about him -- as many still haven't -- they go "hey, this guy's awesome!"

[LWolf]

17. That's my hope.

That it's happening, one person at a time, across the nation. Building the momentum.

[99th_Monkey]

20. Me too.

[Le Taz Hot]

13. Bernie gets crossover votes from Hillary

but she's not getting any crossover votes from him. Funny how that seems to be working.

[JDPriestly]

14. +1000.

[Ed Suspicious]

15. His message is that strong. He backs it up. He's the real deal.

[840high]

16. Hi Mom!

[cantbeserious]

19. Great News - Thank You For Sharing

eom

[antigop]

21. Can your Mom talk to a couple of my family members who just want a female prez?

[Duval]

22. K&R Thanks! nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

23. Does she know he's the same as Trump?

I read it here.

[merrily]

25. Also the same as Dean, Kucinich, Bradley--anyone who ever lost a primary, really.

All of them are interchangeable with Sanders.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

26. Hillary is in THAT group.

[merrily]

27. Good point.

[jeff47]

36. Not just a primary. He's also Dukakis, Mondale and McGovern.

(Just don't look into any of the politics of that list...might cause some uncomfortable cognitive dissonance)

[merrily]

39. I've looked at, and posted about, the McGovern and Mondale defeats.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778825 (This ain't 1972)(be sure to read the replies as well as the OP)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778872 (What about Mondale, Indeed: Candidate Reagan)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778873 (What about Mondale Indeed: 1976-1980)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778873 (What about Mondale, Indeed: Mondale)

[merrily]

24. I very much want to see a woman POTUS. Not Hillary or Carly, though.

I cried with joy when I first saw an African American President Elect and his family and making the announcement after McCain's concession. I would love to see another. Not Dr. Carson, though.

[LWolf]

30. Yes.

Me, too. All of the above.

[Enthusiast]

28. That is a nice development.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

29. I got my mom's Bernie bumper sticker onto her car just before she left on her trip up

to Stratford in Ontario. I'm curious to hear back when she returns if it drew any comments.

[secondwind]

31. K&R FOR MOM!

[retrowire]

32. my mom is awesome too!

I texted her a week ago to see if she'd heard of him and done she watched bill Maher talk with him she's been a supporter for sure. wooo!

hooray for awesome moms!

[Richard D]

33. Shock and awesome!

[WillyT]

34. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[emsimon33]

35. This is exactly what is happening to me with friends and family

Even Republicans in the family!!!!! (They were always moderate Republicans, though, but never voted for a Democrat.)

[zentrum]

37. Hooray for you

…..and mom.

[ChiciB1]

38. WE Really, Really Need To Find A Way...

to get our very own Democratic Party to LISTEN to "we the people!" That's the SHOCK I'm unable to accept! I've had the same experience, yet even OUR leading Democrats are ignoring him!

Thanks for posting yet ANOTHER example of what is REALLY happening and NOT what THEY tell us is happening!

[bvar22]

41. Bernie is not a part of the conservative Democratic Leadership.

They are set on the coronation of Hillary.
Bernie isn't going to get a lot of help from them.

I wonder when "they" are going to unleash the Old Dog on Bernie.

[ChiciB1]

47. You Mean The DOG Who Seems To NOW Be So Very

close and palsy/wowzy with Le Bushes? This is something that has gotten under my skin a lot! I've always known he was DLC, but he came in after Hillary lost the nomination in 2008 and helped Obama a lot. Neither Obama nor Hillary were my first choices back then, but I didn't think he was as DLC as he's turned out to be. AND, that's what I get for "thinking!"

I realize that Obama has gotten some good things done, given the disgusting way he's been treated by the Repukes from DAY ONE, but he's also more to the right than me on many issues that make me scratch my head. It's such a shame that Democrats have cozied up to Wall Street and are almost Repuke Light these days. Just too distressing for me to have to realize that the Party I joined so long ago is almost unrecognizable.

[bvar22]

48. Koch Brothers Money helped Bill Clinton get elected.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414


The most offensive thing Bill Clinton has done to me was to come to Arkansas in 2010,
and fund raise and stump for BLANCHE LINCOLN in the Democratic Primary
when a Pro-LABOR, Pro-Healthcare solid Democrat with a history of winning elections
was the run off candidate.

Obama & Bill pulled out all the stops to save Blanche's failing campaign.

They used Bill Clinton to target mostly black areas.
The BIGGEST LIE I ever heard Bill Clinton say was NOT the "I didn't have sex....",
but the LIE he told to Black Areas of Arkansas.... that Blanche Lincoln was a "friend" of black people and had done "a lot" to help them out.
Blanche NEVER did ANYTHING for Black People or Working People.


The Arkansas Democratic Primary of 2010 was a heart breaking eye opener for the Grass Roots and Organized LABOR. We were given a Look Behind the Curtain,
and it wasn't very pretty.

[font size=3]We did EVERYTHING right in Arkansas in 2010.
We did EXACTLY what the White House asked us to do to "give the President Progressives in Congress that would work with him."[/font]

We organized and supported Democratic Lt Governor Bill Halter, the Pro-LABOR/ Pro-Health Care challenger to DINO Obstructionist Blanche Lincoln's Senate seat.
Halter was:

* Polling BETTER against the Republicans in the General,

*was popular in Arkansas in his OWN right,

*had an Up & Running Political machine,

* had a track record of winning elections (Lt. Governor)

*Had the full backing of Organized LABOR and The Grass Roots activists

*was handing Blanche her Anti-LABOR ass

...and we were WINNING!

Guess what happened.

The White House stepped in at the last minute to save Blanche's failing primary campaign with an Oval Office Endorsement of The Wicked Witch that Wrecked the Obama Agenda who was actually campaigning at that time as the one who had killed the Public Option!!!

Adding insult to injury, the White House sent Bill Clinton back to Arkansas on a state-wide Campaign/Fund Raising Tour for Blanche,
focusing on the areas with high Black Populations, and bashing Organized LABOR and "Liberals" at every opportunity.

For those of us who had worked hard to give President Obama Progressive Democrats who would work with him, it was especially difficult to watch his smiling Oval Office Endorsement for DINO Blanche Lincoln which played 24/7 on Arkansas TV the week before the runoff Primary election.

White House steps in to rescue Lincoln’s Primary Campaign in Arkansas

"So what did the Democratic Party establishment do when a Senator who allegedly impedes their agenda faced a primary challenger who would be more supportive of that agenda? They engaged in full-scale efforts to support Blanche Lincoln.

* Bill Clinton traveled to Arkansas to urge loyal Democrats to vote for her, bashing liberal groups for good measure.

*Obama recorded an ad for Lincoln which, among other things, were used to tell African-American primary voters that they should vote for her because she works for their interests.

*The entire Party infrastructure lent its support and resources to Lincoln — a Senator who supposedly prevents Democrats from doing all sorts of Wonderful, Progressive Things which they so wish they could do but just don’t have the votes for.

<snip>

What happened in this race also gives the lie to the insufferable excuse we’ve been hearing for the last 18 months from countless Obama defenders: namely, if the Senate doesn’t have 60 votes to pass good legislation, it’s not Obama’s fault because he has no leverage over these conservative Senators. It was always obvious what an absurd joke that claim was; the very idea of The Impotent, Helpless President, presiding over a vast government and party apparatus, was laughable. But now, in light of Arkansas, nobody should ever be willing to utter that again with a straight face.

Back when Lincoln was threatening to filibuster health care if it included a public option, the White House could obviously have said to her: if you don’t support a public option, not only will we not support your re-election bid, but we’ll support a primary challenger against you. Obama’s support for Lincoln did not merely help; it was arguably decisive, as The Washington Post documented today:"

<much more>

http://www.salon.com/2010/06/10/lincoln_6/

After the White House and Party Leadership had spent a truck full of money torpedoing the Primary challenge of a Pro-LABOR Democrat for Lincoln's Senate seat, the Party support for Lincoln evaporated for the General Election, and as EVERYBODY had predicted, Lincoln lost badly giving that Senate seat to a Republican virtually uncontested in the General Election.

Don't you find it "interesting" that the Party Establishment and conservative Power Brokers would spend all that money in a Democratic Primary to make sure that their candidate won, and then leave Their Winner dangling without support in the General Election?

Many Grass Roots Activists working for a better government concluded that the current Democratic Party Leadership preferred to GIVE this Senate Seat to a Big Business Republican rather than taking the risk that a Pro-LABOR Democrat might win it, and it was difficult to argue with them.
This was greatly reinforced by the Insults & Ridicule to LABOR & The Grass Roots from the White House after their Primary "victory" over Organized LABOR & the Grass Roots in the Arkansas Democratic Primary.

When the supporters of Pro-LABOR Lt Gov Bill Halter asked the White House WHY they had chosen to throw their full support behind Lincoln at the last minute, rescuing her failing campaign, the only answer was ridicule and insults.

Ed Schultz sums up my feeling perfectly in the following clip.
http://crooksandliars.com/heather/ed-schultz-if-it-wasnt-labor-barack-obama-

So what did the White House gain by Beating Down Labor and the Grass Roots in the Arkansas Democratic Primary?
We don't know.
The White House has never responded to our questions with an explanation, only insults.
To date, the White House has refused to answer our questions,
or issue an apology for their taunts and ridicule of Organized LABOR and the Grass Roots in the Arkansas Democratic Primary.

[ChiciB1]

49. Please DON'T Misunderstand... I'm WITH You & Agree

with all you've said. Glad to see all the points you've made and the comments and the LINKS!

Actually, some of this information I haven't read yet, so I had better take "look see."

[bvar22]

50. I didn't think you were disagreeing.

This is a very sore issue for me, and I'm a little wound up because I worked hard to get a Pro-LABOR Democrat on the ballot in Arkansas, and we were winning.....until the Old Dog came to town and started his folksy LIES.

I can't believe I'm having to type this.
In my youth, there was no such thing as an "Anti-LABOR" Democrat.
Now the Party is filled with them.

[ChiciB1]

54. Well, It Seems THE Democratic Party Of Today

began leaning RIGHT when he became POTUS. I knew it a long time ago, but I too never thought that The Democratic Party I joined so long ago would betray us the way they have. It IS hard to take and distressing. I've said this many, many times. I'm willing to go along with changes because the WORLD changes, but I never dreamed THIS Party would change this much. Too many DLC types that have rolled over for Big Money!

And Hillary IS connected in a huge way to BIG MONEY! We have to keep pushing back. Thanks again for you informative post.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

40. Like I have said before.

Now is the time for a real progressive populist movement, but the message needs to be clear and not overly complex and it needs to be repeated over and over to drive it home into the minds of the people.

Then Bernie will win

[RichVRichV]

42. My mom has been pro-Bernie since I first pointed him out.

However thanks to my dad watching him for years she already had a basic idea who he was. One of her brothers is all on board with Bernie also (not as sure about the other yet).

She's a life long Democrat and the odd thing is she's more anti-Hillary than I ever was.

[silverweb]

44. Congratulations and well done!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]It's wonderful to see that kind of turnaround in someone who has had fixed loyalties before.


This weekend, I had my own small victory - a new neighbor who is on SSD and his millennial son, who has until now been apolitical. In a rather roundabout way during conversation, I brought up the subject of the GOP wanting to cut Social Security Disability and they both jumped on it: "What?!?"

That let me bring up Bernie and only one of them had even heard his name before. They asked for more information about him, so I provided a number of links and suggested they read up on Bernie's positions regarding issues important to them - resulting in happily surprised, very positive reactions.

The son has never voted before and asked me to help him get registered as a new voter, which I've done. The dad just moved here and is highly motivated to re-register. He's always been an Independent, but once I explained about the closed primaries, he immediately said he'd officially become a Democrat just for the "privilege" (his word) of voting for Bernie.

Can't wait for my "Feel The Bern" coffee mug to arrive, so I can plunk it on the desk in my office and generate more questions.

One by one, and two by two - more people are jumping into the purple wave and joining [font color="purple" face="Verdana"]The Purple Revolution! [font color="navy"]I, for one, can't wait to reach critical mass and come thundering down onto the GOP and the oligarchs.



[font color="purple" face="Verdana"]Go, Bernie!

[LWolf]

45. One small victory at a time.

They add up quickly.

[silverweb]

53. Yes, they do!

[ion_theory]

46. K&R. These stories are how Bernie is going to win. n/t

[wendylaroux]

51. Yea!!!!!You're Mom is awesome!!!!

[Karma13612]

52. awesome sauce! I can't imagine how happy you must have been

when your Mom started sharing her discovery.

so happy!!

It might be a really old fashioned phrase, but I'm going to use it anyway:

"Thanks for sharing"!!