An Open Letter to Mainstream Dems

[jimlup]

This letter is an honest expression of some problems that I have seen for many years. I am basically an Elizabeth Warren supporter. However, I am now leaning strongly towards Bernie and the Bernie bashing here actually moves me closer not further from him. In addition, it appears that Warren is not viable as the progressive candidate so, despite wishing that a woman could lead the ticket, I am swinging towards Bernie.

For as many election cycles as I can remember (I'm 62 so I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976) the left has been asked to stand aside and "support the mainstream" because the alternative was much worse. While this has no doubt been true, the left has been taken for granted. That may now be changing.

Bernie may, in fact, win big on Super Tuesday. Buttigeig's withdraw may alter that calculus, but I doubt by as much as the mainstreamers hope it will.

If he wins and it becomes clear that he has a path to the nomination, we expect your whole support. Your lack there of will be remembered for many election cycles. When it is time to get on the train we expect the same dedication from you that we have shown when the tables where turned towards your candidates.

I apologize if you feel that I have disrespected the mainstream. Realize that it comes from having been marginalized and disrespected for decades not just this once. The American electorate is not what you believe it is nor is it what the pundits believe it is. If 2016 taught us anything, I hope we learned at least that.

Good luck and let it be known that I will fully support ANY democratic ticket versus Donald Trump. Will you do the same?

[Demsrule86]

1. I will never support Sanders in a primary and I think Biden will be the nominee...if for some reason

he falters...I will vote for whoever remains...probably Bloomberg, but I expect Biden to be fine...the Carolina primary showed clearly that Sanders is not able to attract AA voters...a most important demographic in our party thus he should not be our nominee. He get my vote in a general...but it would be a disaster...we lose and maybe the house too.

[still_one]

28. Same here, and his hiring of Jill Stein supporter Gray, and Hillary hating Sirota and Turner speaks

volumes about him and his whole campaign

This is the person who is supposed to unify the party?

I will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is including Sanders, but i am under no illusion that if Sanders is not the nominee, that the Gray, Sirota, or Turners will

[Demsrule86]

37. I absolutely agree...Sander would lose and badly in he general...sure like you I vote for him...too

bad a fair number of his supporters won't return the favor.

[fallout87]

40. if it makes you feel better to believe that

Bernie is beating Biden in head to head matches against Trump... so.....

[Eko]

2. Nope.

I will absolutely support any democratic ticket vs Dump.

[mr_lebowski]

3. I appreciate the well-thought out post but I want to point out one minor detail ...

Hillary did get 3,000,000 more votes, and only lost cause of <80K votes in 3 particular states.

Election morning 538 had Hillary at 72% to win IIRC. Not nearly the 'predicted Hillary landslide that didn't come to be' that many acted like it was. Her odds were considerably better but 28% isn't negligible. Obviously, in hindsight.

I don't think 'the pundits' were all that wrong in 2016.

That said, the most important lesson *I* learned in 2016 is that Right will unite around their candidate no matter WHAT their disagreements are with their man.

We damn sure better to be willing and able to do the same thing on our side.

Unfortunately a lot of what Bernie, and even more so his surrogates and supporters ... comes off like they have the opposite idea in mind.

In my sight, anyway. Present company excepted, of course

[bucolic_frolic]

4. I will support the eventual Democratic nominee against Trump

no matter who that person may be.

Sorry, and respectfully, I cannot accept the assumptions that contribute to your fourth and fifth paragraphs.

And 2016 should have taught us to not divide the party. The Republicans understand this. Look at their unity, though any rational being dislikes it.

[W_HAMILTON]

5. "Mainstream Dems" support Democrats.

"Mainstream Dems" are the Democratic base and will vote for Democrats regardless because they know the alternative is much, much worse.

It wasn't "Mainstream Dems" that cost Democrats the presidency in 2000 and 2016 -- it was those on the fringes of the left that wasted their votes as some sort of symbolic protest that did nothing other than get Republicans elected that set the progressive agenda back years and years, if not decades. A helluva lot of progress they got from voting for Nader and Stein, huh?

Democrats support Democrats. It's the Democrat-when-convenient-for-me types that you seem to identify with that are the ones that cost us elections.

[Hekate]

16. Sadly, yes

[question everything]

35. Well said. Thank you

[FoxNewsSucks]

41. Those people you're referring to

in 2016 were not ever Democrats. They'd have voted for Sanders, but probably not many other Democrats. The party basically said 'no, we don't need you'.

I think that was a mistake. Even Bloomberg said Sanders would have beaten MF45. That would have saved us a lot of damage.

[dansolo]

47. The party did NOT say anything of the sort

Did you even read the party platform in 2016?

[Mr.Bill]

6. I'm sure Bernie will get the same amount of support

from mainstream Democrats that Hillary got from Bernie's people in 2016. Does that sound okay to you?

[hay rick]

11. Every single Bernie supporter I knew in 2016 voted for Hillary.

Of course, these are people I actually know.

[Mr.Bill]

12. So, not counting

some of his current campaign staff.

[xmas74]

43. I know several who voted for Stein

And a few for Trump.

[Catbird]

7. Show me -- I'm from Missouri

Bernie has a speech. The other candidates have track records of substantial accomplishments. I'll support him if he wins the nomination but not before.

[JudyM]

8. I agree that the more the bashing, the farther I move in that direction.

Others have remarked the same.

[moriah]

17. Well, like a convo with my mom.

She was judging Sanders based on her 2016 Trump-voting friend, who had said she was considering not voting for Trump this year, but "doesn't want a socialist".

My response to Mom: "We both know even if someone else got the nomination she would vote for Trump anyway. Look at what she shares out."

While I do agree with some of those who feel slightly like they're in a hostage situation here -- the idea that as core Democrats we here at DU are Blue No Matter Who (after the primaries), it doesn't help Bernie when the Twitter brigade/OTT supporters suggest they wouldn't vote for the nominee if it wasn't Sanders -- I also feel like those same Twitter folks didn't vote for Hillary in 2016 so, just like my Mom's friend, aren't really the people we need our nominee to target/capable of holding us "hostage".

And so, as I've said several times... on all sides, please stop panicking until Mid-March. It'll be a clearer picture then. Right now this is the uncertainty phase, and fear brings out the worst in people.

I'm not afraid of anyone our party nominates.

[JudyM]

18. Yes, anyone but trump.

I believe we need to take bold steps to curtail corruption and to fast-lane a green economy, so I really want to see Sanders or Warren get the nom.

[question everything]

9. I am older than you and I don't remember any elections when the stakes were so high

Yes, more than Reagan, more than Bush II. If Sanders is the nominee we will lose. Big. Not only the White House but also the House and forget about flipping the Senate.

Frankly, the future of our country, of our world is more important than your injured feelings.

[TwilightZone]

10. "we expect your whole support" - sure, after he gets a majority.

He'll have our whole support after he secures a majority of delegates, not before. Certainly not after Super Tuesday.

The primary process isn't intended to coronate a candidate one-third of the way through the process. I'm not sure why that seems to be difficult for people to understand.

[Mr.Bill]

15. Exactly. n/t

[lapfog_1]

13. Everyone at DU has said "yes" many times.

"If he wins and it becomes clear that he has a path to the nomination, we expect your whole support. Your lack there of will be remembered for many election cycles."

and many of us mainstream Dems as you call us, remember the 2016 cycle and the lack of support from the "Bernie crowd".

Yes, IF Bernie wins, we will vote for him for President. We won't do to Bernie what many of his (not the majority, but a significant number) did to Hillary.

And, by the rules, his path to the nomination is not more delegates than anyone else, but 50% plus one.

[TwilightZone]

14. Mainstream Dems aren't the ones you should be worried about.

Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2020, 12:32 AM - Edit history (1)

Supporters of all the other candidates have made it very clear that they will support the nominee.

Some Sanders supporters (47%, according to the poll below), however, have not. Should Sanders not win the nomination, they're the ones you should be worried about.

https://www.newsweek.com/andrew-yang-bernie-sanders-supporters-wont-support-another-nominee-democratic-unity-msnbc-poll-1485241?utm=newsbreak

Edited to clarify that the poll refers to some Sanders supporters, but clearly not all of them.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

33. I am a sanders

Supporter and I will vote blue no matter who. We are not rare people.

[TwilightZone]

36. I should have specified "some"

I usually make that clear, but neglected to do so here. I'll fix that. My apologies.

[Dem4Life1102]

19. Marginalized?

No one in the Democratic Party is marginalized unless they do it to themselves by demanding purity. So spare us all the condescending lecture.

[Gravitycollapse]

22. By definition, those outside the mainstream party are marginalized.

Whether or not you agree with it is a real question.

[Demsrule86]

24. That is nonsense...no one gets exactly what they want. I suggest that some spend more time trying to

win elections against Republicans ...not fellow Democrats and actually have some accomplishments.

[Dem4Life1102]

46. Well said nt

[NYMinute]

20. Your whole premise is wrong

and you should not have fallen for unattainable promises just because they sounded good.

Now you are disillusioned because the reality is staring at you. Go back and think about your wish list and see how far we have come with incremental change. "Mainstream" Democrats like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have delivered despite the opposition.

[radical noodle]

21. If bernie expects Democrats to support him

if he is nominated, he damn well better stop trashing them on nearly a daily basis. His supporters have alienated so many people that there are a lot of folks I know outside DU who have sworn never to vote for him. DUers are more dedicated to ridding the country of trump that others are. Either bernie knows how to unite the party or he doesn't, and so far he acts as though he hasn't got a clue.

[emmaverybo]

23. He's not the leader for America and the free world. He's a leader for his own revolution. That's

it.

When he can’t get his wish-list accomplished, what then?

[jimlup]

25. This proves our point

you don't get it.

[cwydro]

49. "Our" point?

“We” expect.

Your wording is a bit odd.

[evertonfc]

26. lol... Good grief

[milestogo]

27. Absolutely.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

29. Yes

[OAITW r.2.0]

30. Lets say Bernie gets X delegates for the 2020 convention.

Everyone else has 2X.

My read-

Bernie has no upside, cuz every other Democrat will make peace with Joe. And he will pull every available Democrat to his nomination.

Result: Bernie lose 1 vs. 2X

[redstateblues]

31. Let's be real. You are bailing on Warren because she is not going to win

That's fine but I just don't believe you are switching to Bernie because a lot of Democrats don't like Bernie bashing the Democratic Party while he is using our primary to advance his ill fated campaign. Bernie will destroy the Democratic Party if he has his way. He is divisive. Hopefully he won't win the nomination.

[HarlanPepper]

32. Whatever you need to do

Bidens taking it all the way to the convention.

[Faux pas]

34. BRAVO jimlup

The above is the smilie version of a standing effing O!

[Happy Hoosier]

38. Bernie gets my support when he gets a majority of delegates.

Not a plurality... a majority. If he goes in the convention with a large plurality (like 45% of the delegates and no one else close) I would advocate he get the nom. But if it’s close, I am pulling for the Democrat.

[applegrove]

39. I think some of the bernie bashing are gop trolls or russians. Both want

Bernie supporters to be hopping mad.

[FoxNewsSucks]

42. I think you're right.

Some of them seem have a lot in common behaviorally with tRump-brand republicons.

[FoxNewsSucks]

44. Well said.

I'm sick of my vote being taken for granted.

I'm also tired of the bashing of 2016 Sanders supporters who didn't vote for Clinton. I know a couple from work. They were not Democrats ever, and likely wouldn't have voted for any other Democratic candidate. So it's not right to slam people like them as "disloyal Democrats". They voted for the 'change' candidate and would do so again.

I voted for Clinton, and took crap from them for doing so. Gave them hell right back, and some now realize their mistake. Some still do not. I've written them off along with anyone who still likes MF45.

But my opinion is that another establishment, status-quo, corporate-friendly, don't rock the boat type Democratic presidential candidate is a mistake we can't afford.

[dansolo]

48. Who exactly was the change candidate?

Trump? Stein? They got change all right. You know what they say about 'Be careful what you wish for'

[Warpy]

45. The left has been inconvenient for a very long time NT