The Sanders camp is in danger of becoming so isolated from the Democratic party

[Peacetrain]

that it wants to run in, so much so that it will lose its entire purpose.

The Democratic party is left.. but center left. And a wake up call. Millennials who came of age during he "great recession" are much more financially moderate than the Sanders camp acknowledges.

That is why this great youth uprising did not happen. It never happens. People along all age groups are much closer than the far left wants to acknowledge.

Grandparents worry about the financial health and physical health of their children, grand children,great grand children''likewise... People worry about their grandparents, parents, great grandparents.

We are not these great camps of people designated by age only.

We do have activist groups within our generations.. who rightfully look out for that generations needs.

And each generation has issues unique to its generation to deal with.

But we are not the lonely groups that cannot depend on its youngers and elders.

We are a United Democratic Party. And this is why a Joe Biden could win states he did not even visit. People see him as reaching across all generations and acknowledging their needs and how to blend them in so the whole is greater than its parts and all basic needs are met

[dalton99a]

1. Sanders & Bros don't care

He is not a Democrat, anyway

[Peacetrain]

5. That is becoming more and more obvious.. and the party is walking away

and unifying behind Biden.

[onetexan]

57. what makes me mad is why the DNC let Bernie run as a Dem again knowing what he did in 2016

What will happen is should he get elected, he will run his administration apart from the Democratic agenda. This is a dangerous precedent they set letting an Independent run on the Dem ticket. The party must disallow this going forward.

[SoapOpera]

2. Let he who is without Sin Cast the First Stone

After all is said and done I believe Bernie Would Make a Great President....
But the Some people have been Saying that he is only supported by young people but I Rebuke that Narrative as we all must stand up and not just jump on someone’s band wagon just because some are doing so but Americans we must do our due diligence and stay true to your beliefs and think for yourself. I’m here to say he is also supported by over 50 Black Women!
Please be advised I respect your choice so please respect mine.

[marble falls]

7. Whaaaa .. ?

[Hav]

11. I have to be careful what I say

and I don't want to be unfair if I'm wrong. But some parts of that post sounded like machine translations. American posters here also don't have to stress that they are Americans and that they are talking to Americans.

[marble falls]

13. My thought exactly. I welcome ESL members, but it is difficult sometimes to understand their points.

[Alliepoo]

38. Yep.

First thing that popped into my mind!!

[dware]

39. It came across to me that way also.

I have to be very careful what I say, I'm being alert stalked by ……….?
I've had 2 posts hidden in the last week for being critical of Sen. Sanders.

[Demsrule86]

14. What....?

Enjoy your stay.

[bitterross]

28. Get a better translation

That post is not how Americans speak.

[bronxiteforever]

31. +100. Lol

[lark]

36. If you commit to VBNMW (vote blue no matter who) then you are respected & applauded.

I respect & applaud anyone in the big tent who commits to staying within the tent, no matter who the leader is. Contrariwise, I do not respect people who are purifty voters and who will not vote for the Democratic candidate if it's not their guy. In fact I really disdain anyone like that, because they are knowingly putting a criminal traitor and ignoramus in the WH out of spite. It's interesting that Bernie has people like that in top positions, tells me a lot about him.

[Hekate]

41. 50? How peculiar. Welcome to DU...

Enjoy your stay.

[HarlanPepper]

47. How's the weather in St. Pete?

(Not the one in Florida.)

[emmaverybo]

52. Only 50 black women supporters sum total?

[beachbumbob]

3. do you think idealogues really care? I have dealt with way too many to care about what they think

now days any more. The common theme is always "screw you" when it comes down to NOT getting their way.

[Peacetrain]

8. No I don't think they care..

[NurseJackie]

4. Good. We're Democrats. Not Socialists.

[pampango]

49. As long as we can have a health care and a safety net like the 'socialist' countries in Europe,

I don't care what you call it. Only Democrats will make it happen. How we get from here to there and how fast we propose doing it are the only questions.

[emmaverybo]

53. What do we do for healthcare for the two presidential terms it would take to get M4All?

[pampango]

58. If we can agree on the goal, liberals can have a useful discussion on how to get there and

what to do in the meantime.

[emmaverybo]

60. That question came up at debates. Biden raised it. Never answered. Warren did finally say she would

protect ACA, allow private insurance until she could get.M4All implemented, which she estimated would not be until th3 end of a first term.

Yes. Needs discussion.

[comradebillyboy]

54. There aren't any socialist countries in Europe. The ones that

tried it didn't like it and have all gone back to market economies.

[pampango]

55. Agreed. Which is why I posted 'socialist' in quotes.

Sanders’ proposals for healthcare and the safety net are no more socialist than similar existing government policies in Europe.

[comradebillyboy]

56. Fair enough...

[nolabear]

40. IMO this can't be underestimated.

First and foremost we need a competent, experienced, trustworthy, forward thinking person with good relationships with our allies.

But we are weary and afraid. Our sense of possibility as individuals and not just a collective is hurting us in ways beyond measure. Joe is right. America is an idea and even though part of that idea is an illusion, the ideals it’s based on are good ones and most of us are very much buoyed by them in a scary world.

Bernie has made a HUGE mistake in not framing his “revolution” in terms that recognize and protect our self concept.

[Todd79]

9. It's never been about the D Party

Bernie actually disagreed with Jesse Jackson believing that change could happen within the party.

In the same interview, he (Bernie) also criticized Jesse Jackson's decision to try and affect change by "working within the Democratic party" and offered some pointed remarks about Walter Mondale.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ilanbenmeir/bernie-sanders-despised-democrats-in-1980s-said-a-jfk-speech#.wwlabNRyd

[Turin_C3PO]

10. Yes, I agree with pretty much all you wrote.

Except for the youth being moderates, I’m a millennial and, to me, we seem slightly more progressive than older folk. The problem is, we don’t show up and vote and so all the progressiveness they uphold doesn’t mean shit because they don’t vote.

[Peacetrain]

16. I have a 32 year old millennial son..

And we had this really in depth conversation about this last week. He was the one that brought this up to me. He is very progressive and embraces progressive identifier.. where as I am an old line liberal, and embrace liberal identifier.. we laugh about this all the time, but he was the one that brought up how in some instances he is actually closer to his Grandma looking at the financial aspect of things because there were no jobs when he got out of college..He added more degrees than he needed because quite frankly the loans kept him afloat. It was just an eye opener for me from his aspect of seeing the world as it was as he came of age. He gets pretty upset about the vote also..but you know they had the same complaining about us when we were that age.

We are not these great separate groups of people.. we are just in a different phase of our lives with different challenges.

But we are much more the whole than just its parts.. and I think Sanders group is blowing up what could have been the most amazing influence group for two really large generations on the rise.

[Turin_C3PO]

20. I think when it comes to Sanders' younger voters

that they aren’t experienced in the reality of politics. They think Sanders can deliver on all those great ideas magically. I think as they become older and more experienced, they’ll start voting for more realistic politicians.

[Demsrule86]

17. Time will take care of that...and if the country moves left...I am all for it!

[Turin_C3PO]

21. I think it will.

Generation Z and Millennials don’t vote at high rates but as they get older they will. In the 1972 election, boomers, who were young at the time, didn’t show up to vote for McGovern. Now boomers are the most reliable voters.

[paleotn]

27. We certainly are inching left....

Certainly on social issues. I never thought I'd live to see gay marriage become a civil right, much less the majority of Americans support it. In the 80's and 90's no one would have predicted that in the early 2000's.

[Demsrule86]

32. I agree...and my daughter is Gay so...another reason to love Biden IMHO.

[paleotn]

25. It particularly won't mean shit....

when IQ45 or his replacement convinces SCOTUS to rule 5 - 4 that serious political opposition infringes on the president's ability to maintain national security and they start throwing political prisoners in jail.

[SilasSouleII]

35. Scary

[NYMinute]

12. It never was about policy - it was about personality which was seen as a messiah

[Shermann]

15. A Warning from Hillary

Hillary supports Biden's electability argument, and in the past made the statement "Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done" regarding Sanders.

I've been flipping back and forth but am back in Team Biden from here on out. Trump was able to get the Republican nomination without building a coalition, but I'm not sure that can work in the Democratic Party. Sanders just hasn't gotten any endorsements that impress me as the field has narrowed. That is a big problem.

[NCProgressive]

18. Hopefully, on March 17, they will wake up and smell the coffee.

(and not covfefe)

[Peacetrain]

19. That is the laugh I needed!!

[aikoaiko]

22. What danger?

If Bernie supporters are isolated from the party, then we get the Democratic Party status quo which is all we are promised now anyway.

[TryLogic]

44. I wanted Bernie in 2016. I have a problem with the status quo. But we have a national emergency.

So, what to do?

Because of Trump, McConnell, Barr, the stacking of the supreme court, etc., 2020 is much different from 2016. Republicans have been working for this moment for years.

We have a national emergency. In 2016, we had numerous national problems, which we still have. Problems like corporate and oligarch control of government. Too many self serving politicians (Republicans primarily) who prefer money over personal integrity and national well being. We have misinformation. We have rampant corruption. We have the highly predictable problems resulting from "Citizens United". But the emergency is the President and his cabal of crooks who place him above the law, who give him dictator status.

We must deal with the national emergency first. It appears Biden is the person most people can unite behind and elect. After that, it will be congress that starts solving problems. Biden can terminate the national embarrassment that is Trump. Biden can begin bringing competence back to the federal government. But, it will be congress that begins solving problems... IF WE CAN GET RID OF MCCONNELL and a bunch of Republicans in the senate.

We have a lot of good Democrats. We need more. Why? Other than the obvious. Because congress makes the laws and passes the budgets. State governments do many important things that have national significance. We need more Democrats EVERYWHERE.

PS A fight between supporters of Biden and Sanders is the worst thing that can be done. Persons who like Bernie's agenda need to focus on electing more Democrats. After that, they can push like hell for his agenda items.

[paleotn]

23. He can't or won't form a coalition....

As candidates drop out, the time for differentiation ends and coalition building begins. In my mind, the first and foremost thought on hearing a candidate drop out is...what do we need to do to bring their voters to our side? Bernie isn't doing that. Or at least it doesn't look like he is. I guess he expects them to come to him without doing anything to attract them. The trap of being a recalcitrant ideologue. It's just not in his DNA to moderate his message to appeal to the wider, Democratic audience. That's a losing strategy every time.

[rockfordfile]

24. Unity

[Faux pas]

26. You

know what they say about opinions....And mine is the complete opposite of yours.

[frazzled]

29. Honestly, they should just start a third party

Have their own nominating primary, and let the people choose in the general election. But don’t use the Democrats to fly under their banner and use their resources and then vilify and spread conspiracies about them.

[MarcA]

30. O.K., but don't blame them if the Democrats lose in the General Election. n/t

[frazzled]

59. Better than having them destroy our party

As the Tea Party and Trump did to the Republicans. Two sides of the same coin.

[rurallib]

33. we need them to win

quite a dilemma

[TwilightZone]

51. They don't want a third party.

They want to take over the Democratic Party and remake it as their own.

[duforsure]

34. Once again we see Bernie hanging on,

While it's clear he won't succeed. He should drop out for all his people to join together to help defeat trump, instead of continued rhetoric to divide people with. He waited too long the last time, and should give it up soon to allow people to accept it. Bernie has burned too many bridges, but his health is going to hurt his chances , and help defeat him by not putting all his health information out, and maybe have others issues he's hiding get exposed.

[Gore1FL]

37. The Democratic Party needs these voters and needs to reach out to them

It doesn't at it's peril.

The Democratic Party should be left, not center left. The move to the center is failed experiment introduced in the 1980s.

The Democratic Party Stands for
Civil Rights
Affordable Health Care
Affordable Education
Feeding the hungry
Housing the homeless
Basic economic Fairness
Reparations

We are best went we act like this list is something to be proud of.

[lambchopp59]

42. Really? Who's doing the isolating here?

I read about 10 posts from folks solidly in the Biden camp bashing "socialism", Bernie, Bernie supporters, suggesting a "You're unwelcome here" third party designation and half a dozen other bah humbugs, I got mine, go get your own style posts.
And calling for "unity"?
My preferred candidates are gone now. My vote goes to whoever D wins the nomination.
This Bernie and "left" bashing is divisive, unproductive and dangerous to our chances.
Keep in mind whoever wins the presidency is up against wildly powerful odds to enact "socialist" policies, has to convince a general public whose Overton window has swung so far right that this "moderation" certainly stinks of greed nowadays... and it irks me magnanimously to ever see that RW theme borrowed on a "liberal" discussion board.

[DinahMoeHum]

43. If they are serious about "taking over" the Democratic Party. . .

. . .they could start by actually joining up with their local Democratic Committee in their own hometowns, and work from there as district leaders/precinct captains, etc. Get enough of them at those levels, work their way upward by winning small offices, then big ones, then maybe the DNC will have a place for them at the table.

As it is, their approach to politics and elections is like dumping a truckload of sugar in the ocean and expecting syrup in return. They'd do a lot better by sweetening the cup in their own communities first.

[Doc_Technical]

45. Draft Al Franken.

[KPN]

46. Is in danger? Judging from DU, that point has passed.

Have you looked at the voting data from the actual primaries? Biden dominates the 45 and older while Sanders the younger than 45 age groups.

I have a different take on who is alienating who, but at this point it’s really not useful to discuss it. I’m in my adjusting mode — better to focus there.

[BidenBacker]

48. Excellent post from a Sanders supporter

Rational and thoughtful. The kind of attitude we'll need a lot of his supporters to exhibit once this primary season finally gets closed out. Dems badly need progressives to stay in the fold to help prevent them from becoming Republican-lites.

But there is a Bernie faction that scares a lot of people right now...not progressive...not liberal...just pissed off militant anarchists. They can go split off into their own party if they hate the Dem Party so much for all I care. Take their 5% or 10% of the electorate or whatever the hell the number is and good luck winning any elections or Congressional seats with that. We might lose a few votes but many of them wouldn't vote for a more mainstream Dem candidate anyway. Besides, for every far-left extremist we'd lose we'd probably pick up 2 or 3 moderate to liberal-leaning Indies to replace them for a net gain.

To those people I say "Tata...and don't let the Democratic door hit you in the ass!"

[Gothmog]

50. From day 1, Bernie built a campaign to appeal to 30%.

sanders campaign was based on division and multiple candidates splitting vote

Link to tweet

So if, from day one, they didn’t think they needed more than 30%, why would they actually run a campaign and build a culture designed to win more than his 30% ceiling? As that article notes, even way back in early 2019, Sanders was picking fights and creating enemies out of potential allies.

We saw that in Sanders’ refusal to broaden his message to bring in more people. When I said exactly that on Meet the Press, that “the problem with Bernie Sanders is that he has the exact same message he had four years ago” when he lost to Hillary Clinton 60-40, the response from the Sanders campaign was, well, this:

Link to tweet

If your message wasn’t a majority message four years ago, and you want to win, wouldn’t you tweak it? They didn’t. Proudly and explicitly did not tweak it. They had zero intention of growing new support by broadening and expanding their message. (Sanders famously refused to even inject more biography into his stump speech to humanize him more.)

Sanders and his campaign saw that their ceiling was 30%, and they built an entire strategy around winning with 30%. That means that instead of seeing the other 70% of voters as allies, they saw them as THE ENEMY. Even when there was ideological alignment.

[betsuni]

61. K&R