I wonder why Bernie refused to say he'd pick a woman. There are so many qualified women

[pnwmom]

at this point, it's hard to understand why he wouldn't make that commitment . . . unless he thought there was a real likelihood he wouldn't do so.

In any case, the sure way to get Trump to dump Pence and replace him with former Governor and Ambassador Nikki Haley would be to have two men on the Democratic ticket.

And Nikki Haley is no Sarah Palin. She's far right but she's smart. She could draw many crossover votes -- especially from any younger women who have been brainwashed into believing there's no real difference between the two major parties.

[herding cats]

1. My best guess is it caugh him off guard.

He literally lost his stride and fell back onto his progressive talking point.

There are a lot of good Progressive women in politics. That he hadn't even considered them to date seemed awkward to me. It was a definite weak point for him tonight. But, equality is just not one of his core concerns.

[RDANGELO]

7. I was going to say the same thing.

[herding cats]

9. Great minds!

👆👆 NOTE: The virtual fistbump is approved by the CDC.

[TomCADem]

16. Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in private 2018 meeting that a woman can't win, sources say

If the question caught Bernie off-guard, then he was not prepared or he was not paying attention. Or, maybe a woman VP would cut into his support with Joe Rogan and Cenk Uryk.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/politics/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-meeting/index.html

The stakes were high when Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren met at Warren's apartment in Washington, DC, one evening in December 2018. The longtime friends knew that they could soon be running against each other for president.

The two agreed that if they ultimately faced each other as presidential candidates, they should remain civil and avoid attacking one another, so as not to hurt the progressive movement. They also discussed how to best take on President Donald Trump, and Warren laid out two main reasons she believed she would be a strong candidate: She could make a robust argument about the economy and earn broad support from female voters.

Sanders responded that he did not believe a woman could win.

The description of that meeting is based on the accounts of four people: two people Warren spoke with directly soon after the encounter, and two people familiar with the meeting.

[RandySF]

2. I have a hunch he wants Keith Ellison

[pnwmom]

3. Ugh. That would be a mistake. nt

[herding cats]

8. Fortunately not one we need concern ourselves with.

He has no path to the nomination after Tuesday.

[W_HAMILTON]

15. LOL, true!

[brush]

4. there's a real likelihood he won't have a chance to do so.

No chance.

[Kablooie]

5. He may not want a woman VP.

[LizBeth]

6. I agree. When I heard that I figured Biden had someone in mind and Sanders did and it wasn't

a woman.

[Bucky]

10. That's totally in character for him.

I imagine he sees that as lip service rather than a substantive choice. He'll probably stick to his "I will pick the best vice president" guns, and then would nominate a woman anyway. Say what you want about Bernie, he doesn't believe in token gestures. He believes in inclusion and equality

[pnwmom]

11. He pays lip service to gender equality, but I believe what Warren said.

He told her a woman couldn't win. He might very well believe a woman wouldn't help his ticket, either.

[Bucky]

12. I was an adamant and vocal Warren supporter.

But his point was not without substance. We couldn't even get a brilliant, highly qualified, nationally revered woman into the final two candidates, despite the fact that she was head and shoulders better qualified than either of the two old men we've ended up with.

It will be much harder to elect our first woman president. It's entirely unfair, but I'm not going to blame Bernie for pointing out the same thing that we're all afraid of.

[pnwmom]

13. Well, I think he's grossly mistaken to think that a woman like Warren, Harris, or Klobuchar

would do worse against Trump than a self-proclaimed socialist.

[LakeArenal]

26. Do not start that heads above stuff

Maybe Warren would be a great US president but Joe Biden is the most qualified. Hands down. Globally he is the one to renew our standing in the world.

If Warren was considered most qualified she would still be in the race.

[Cha]

14. KR

[MineralMan]

17. Why would he bother? He will not get a chance to name a VP anyhow.

[denem]

25. Offer Tulsi a deal :)

[LakeArenal]

27. And if he said Nina Turner that would be the final nail.

[NCProgressive]

18. Nikki Haley is smart .. she would never agree to be Trump's VP pick

It would destroy her future.

[LakeArenal]

28. Oh I think she thinks like a Republican

Therefore she would jump at the chance to save the party. Which I believe is almost call. But she’s arrogant enough to think she could rise above trump.

[TreasonousBastard]

19. As if that's the only dumb move he's made...

Actually, I don't see any benefit to committing to pick a woman at this point. I think actually picking a woman is a great idea, but committing to things always carries problems.

But, at least Bernie, in his infinite wisdom, could have said that a woman running on the ticket is a high priority.

But maybe wisdom ain't so infinite these days.

[Tom Rinaldo]

23. "could have said that a woman running on the ticket is a high priority"

That, in different words, is pretty much what he did say when he said that "in all likelihood" he would pick a woman as his running mate. I think that is actually more straight forward than saying it is a "high priority". I understand the purist position of not ticking off racial regional, gender, etc. prerequisites in advance for a potential VP pick, but in this specific case I think Bernie and the nation would have been better served had he echoed Biden's pledge.

[Happy Hoosier]

20. He was clearly caught off-guard, but...

... Bernie disdains "identity politics," and it probably grates at him that he might have to support such a thing.

[NurseJackie]

21. At least he was honest about it. Now we know. (Well, I guess we've always known...

At least he was honest about it. Now we know. (Well, I guess we've always known, and now we have confirmation.)

Sigh. Elizabeth Warren was telling the truth.

[showblue22]

22. He knows his base hate identity politics.

Remember who he is talking to.. It's Joe Rogan listeners.

[denem]

24. Tulsi, Nina, Briahna, Tlaib,

properly progressive woman, one and all.

[nitpicker]

29. What if they turned out to be porn stars?

ha.ha.

Seriously, if there is a logical choice that is not female, why be bound by "I will pick a female"?

I know I'm dissing "my tribe", but what if the great plague spreads thru the potential female picks?

Just attempting to be paranoid- or is that realistic??

[Squinch]

30. Some men, whether they realize it about themselves or not, still

do not see women as real people. Semi-people, maybe. Or almost people. But not actual people. Not people who could be Vice President.

When called on it, they will tell you all kinds of reasons why you are wrong in thinking they are people who think that way.

But they totally think that way.

And they have no idea how clear that is to other people.

[thesquanderer]

32. Maybe he just didn't want to be held to something he had not yet completely decided about.

Though really, there's no need to worry about being held to it, since he's not going to get the nomination! So he might as well have gone for the points and said he would. But he probably just answered with his honest thought about it.

[pnwmom]

33. I think it's because he has been seriously considering some man or men -- instead of limiting

the field to women, which Biden has. There are plenty of well qualified women who could be picked, so that's not an excuse.

[William769]

34. Agreed.

[thesquanderer]

35. I kinda doubt he's "seriously considering" anyone at this point, because...

...I doubt he thinks he has much chance of winning the nomination.

Though yeah, maybe he did give it some serious consideration some weeks back when he was seen as the frontrunner.

But lets' even assume you're right, and he had a short list, and it included a mix of people. Is a white woman necessarily a more "inclusive" choice than a male person of color?

I can see praising Biden for saying his choice will be a woman. But I don't think that comes with a corresponding knock on anyone else, who could conceivably make a different but equally progressive choice.

[pnwmom]

36. Since women are more than 50% of the voting population, yes. It is even more overdue

for a woman to be elected President or Vice President than for a man of color.

But there are quite a number of women of color he could choose as his VP. It doesn't have to be either/or.

[pnwmom]

37. If he doesn't think he has much chance he should concede..

Otherwise he's helping Trump. The longer the party stays divided, the better for Trump.

By fighting almost to the convention he was encouraging his supporters not to get behind Hillary, and the same thing is happening now. His supporters are holding out hope for the revolution, and he's encouraging that.

[thesquanderer]

38. I agree, he should concede soon. I think he's staying in to push for his agenda,

not because he think he has a reasonable chance of winning.

[MyNameGoesHere]

39. I am guessing the Independent Senator from Vermont

found out the revolutionary ones were no longer around.

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