Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) Should Resign from the Senate if he

[MineralMan]

cannot show up for crucial votes in that body. For whatever reason, he failed to be in the Senate chambers for a crucial procedural vote yesterday. Instead, he held an online campaign rally that included music.

He was elected by the voters in Vermont to be one of their two Senators. Over time, he has skipped many, many important votes. Now, he has skipped a vote connected with the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the country. He has let down the voters in Vermont by not representing them in the Senate.

He will not be the Democratic nominee for President. That is clear. He should withdraw his name from consideration and endorse Joe Biden. But, I believe he should also resign from the Senate and let Vermont find a new Senator who will represent their state in the Senate on a dependable basis.

I know that sounds harsh, but Vermont depends on its two Senators to give the state some clout in Congress. As a small state with a very small population, having two Senators is about its only strength in Congress. The state has only one Representative in the House. Apparently, Bernie Sanders does not feel an obligation to be present in the Senate when he is most needed.

[hlthe2b]

1. Resign fine, but it is criminal that Congress has not addressed emergency temp offsite participation

I do not support the reckless suggestions made by at least one earlier--
that he should just "suit up" in PPE and be there. No, I, my sister and my colleagues need that PPE--as do the HCWs in Vermont. Next week when I return full time I will throttle anybody saying such things. There are now 8 doctors and three ER nurses at Emory-associated hospitals in the Atlanta area confirmed and hospitalized with COVID-19 (one on a ventilator) while my ER nurse sister and other colleagues continue to reuse PPE. As am I. I will gladly tell anyone who is suggesting diverting MORE to those whose risks make it absolutely untenable to be out, period--PPE or no, to go straight to hell.

There are CDC guidelines for a reason. I don't support Sanders, but neither do I want him to put himself or others at risk.

There should be emergency legislation passed to allow COngress a short term secure means of voting and participating offsite

[geardaddy]

56. +1

Thank you.

[empedocles]

2. BS does not have much Senate clout or respect

[comradebillyboy]

62. I can't imagine why.

[still_one]

3. Are you saying he isn't going to be present for todays vote?

[MineralMan]

4. I do not know. I do know that he was not there

yesterday to vote or participate in deliberations. Will he be there today? I don't know.

[still_one]

6. If he isn't there today, unless he is ill, your OP is right on. No excuse

[Rebl2]

10. Maybe

his doctor told him to stay home because he is high risk or he is ill.

[MineralMan]

11. Possibly. If that is the case, though, then resigning from the Senate

in these trying times would be appropriate. If he cannot participate in his duties, after all, Vermont goes unrepresented in crucial decision-making, I'd think.

If he is ill or it is too risky for him to travel to DC to participate in Senate deliberations and votes, then Vermont needs a new Senator.

Senators have come to the Senate floor to vote from hospital beds and even when diagnosed with terminal diseases. It is that important a job.

[still_one]

27. I agree. If that is the reason he can't do the job, then what is he doing as a Senator. However, I

think he will be there today

[Demsrule86]

52. There is a Republican Governor in Vermont so he should not resign.

[MineralMan]

53. Then, he should show up on the Senate floor and vote.

Simple, isn't it. He has missed many, many votes this year.

[mcar]

28. If that is the case, he must say so

This silence on his absence is unprofessional, to say the least.

[LizBeth]

40. Senator Mazie Hirono is fighting cancer and is there fighting for the people.

[OnDoutside]

67. Wow, she is so brave, it puts Sanders no-show in perspective.

[Aquaria]

77. Vermont's other Senator, Patrick Leahy

Is there, despite being high risk. He's over a year older than BS, as well.

If Leahy can show up, BS has zero excuses not to do the same.

[NurseJackie]

7. Is he "self-quarantined" ... it's a fair question that we deserve to know the answer to.

Is he "self-quarantined" ... it's a fair question that we deserve to know the answer to. The people of Vermont ought to know whether Bernie is healthy enough to participate. The people of the United States... the primary voters... deserve to know if someone who seeks to be the Democratic nominee for POTUS is physically able to do the job.

I can think of NO OTHER LEGITIMATE REASON for him to withdraw and abdicate his responsibilities like that.

Lookit... all I'm saying is this: If he's not self-quarantined, then he needs to get back to work. If he is self-quarantined, then the people deserve to know the truth. It's as simple as that. There are no two ways about it.

[MineralMan]

15. I don't know. There has been no such announcement,

and he did hold a rally on Sunday with others, including House members, participating, so I'd guess he is not quarantining himself.

[SCantiGOP]

25. He wasn't there for a 47-47 vote

What’s your fucking point?

[mcar]

30. MM has made his fcking point well

Where is Bernie? He was the only non-quarantined senator to not vote.

Just a few days after he growled at a reporter that he couldn't comment on his campaign because he was dealing with a fcking crisis.

[MineralMan]

31. Had he been there, it could have been a 48-47 vote.

One vote in the Senate can make all the difference, as we have seen many times. He cannot have known what the voting results would be. He wasn't there.

So, that's my "fucking point."

[tritsofme]

35. To be fair, the measure required 60 votes to advance

So his vote, or failure to vote, was not determinative

[MineralMan]

36. He had no way to know what the vote would be.

So, he needed to be there. He wasn't.

[SCantiGOP]

38. Everyone knew the outcome

CNN reported an hour before the vote that it didn’t have anywhere close to enough votes to pass.

[MineralMan]

41. The trouble is that it takes time to get from Vermont to DC,

especially right now. A Senator who is in Vermont would not be able to get there if CNN reports an hour before the vote that it might hang on just one vote. That's why Senators should be in DC when important votes might be taken.

[SCantiGOP]

45. Did you hear that we have our nominee for November?

There is no point in the constant Sanders bashing. It does nothing but further alienate a good portion of the voters we need in November. It accomplishes nothing except dividing the party.
If you want to continue to act like Sanders endangered the country by not showing up for a vote that fell 13 short of passing, have at it. I'm out of this discussion and from now on ignoring all posters who continue with the whining and complaining about a Senator that I happen to have a great deal of admiration for; I simply do not believe that he was the best candidate to beat trump.
My goal is to unite the party and win in November. That is why I joined this discussion by asking what your point was with your OP.

Have fun, bye.

[MineralMan]

47. I write what I want to write.

Bernie Sanders will have every opportunity to enthusiastically endorse our Democratic nominee. I hope he does so. His endorsement should be enough to convince his current supporters to vote for Joe Biden.

I cannot convince them. Nor can you.

I am far from the only one calling Senator Sanders to account.

[Aquaria]

78. THIS IS NOT BASHING

It's dishonest to call legitimate criticism of a legislator for his job conduct "bashing," when it's no such thing.

I don't give a shit who that legislator is. If the Senate is in session, he's supposed to be in the DC doing his damned job, unless he has a compelling reason not to be there--Full fucking stop.

I'm not making an exception for BS just because he, his supporters and his enablers think that he's above answering to the taxpayers who deserve to have him doing the job he's paid for, because I don't answer to BS, or his BSers. BS answers to we the taxpayers, and the BSers can go take a flying leap if they don't like that.

It's not all about BS, BSers and their precious fee-fees, you know.

[tritsofme]

48. The Senate just doesn't generally work this way. It is incumbent on the majority to find 60 votes to

advance their measures. From the minority, not voting on cloture is as good as voting no.

[MineralMan]

49. There is a question, though, of optics.

Perhaps Senator Sanders does not pay attention to that factor, but not being in the Senate at this time is very bad optics, indeed.

[tritsofme]

51. For a high risk individual like Sanders, who recently had a heart attack

Staying away from the Senate floor is probably the smartest thing he can do.

Hopefully they will reach a deal and be able to move the package through unanimous consent, without the need for roll call votes.

[Demsrule86]

54. Come on...there are older and sicker Senators there doing their jobs. There is no excuse unless

he is self quarantined for cause.

[tritsofme]

39. The outcome wasn't in doubt. High risk individuals like Sanders would be well advised to stay off

the Senate floor, which of course makes his “presidential campaign” all the more absurd.

[SCantiGOP]

37. So what's the point?

48-47 is exactly the same outcome as 47-47.
The motion needed 60 votes to pass.

[PubliusEnigma]

5. Bernie Quixote

[NoMoreRepugs]

8. Sanders supporters... please help me understand Bernie's actions.

[Gothmog]

9. Did sanders' online rally flop?

Link to tweet

[NurseJackie]

12. Wait! Wha-huh? Only 4000 viewers? And there really WAS a "musical guest"???

Wait! Wha-huh? Only 4000 viewers? And there really WAS a "musical guest"???



Haaaaaa!

[Hav]

43. Yes, musical guests to get the crowd hyped up!

And he got some serious A-listers. Yesterday, it was Grandson (wtf?) and in the previous one he had Cymone and Nahkobear (??? Anyone?).

[NurseJackie]

50. Killer Mike wasn't available?

[treestar]

16. oh great

to add to the "DNC cheated Bernie" it will be "Bernie would have won but for his health."

[George II]

17. I wonder how many of that 4,000 were registered voters. Also, the internet is global...

....how many were even in the US?

[Cha]

66. Yay.. "flop".. was it worth it?!

TY Goth

[hangaleft]

13. The Sanders bashing du jour

I’m not a Sanders supporter, but I think it’s time to dial back the Sanders hatred that’s rampant here.

Just look at the threads in the Democratic Primaries Forum. 80 or 90% of them are directed at Bernie Sanders, and not in a respectful manner.

He’s not a real Democrat. I get it. I’d have to be dense not to get it, I’ve heard it so much.

I agree he should drop out and endorse Biden. But I don’t agree with all of the hatred being thrown his way by multiple threads on a daily basis. Many of which are started or posted in by the same handful of posters.

Yes, it’s time for Bernie to suspend his campaign and endorse Biden. It’s also time for the haters to find another target for their venom.

[George II]

20. The anger toward his stubbornness is beginning to bubble over. Him delaying his departure...

...is also delaying a lot of good, positive things that can happen immediately that would help our chances in November.

Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and many other prominent Democrats can endorse Biden - they're holding off until Biden is clearly the nominee.

The DNC can start fundraising for Biden.

As my friend in Texas liked to say, "we're burning daylight" - time to move on and win in November.

[MineralMan]

24. All very good points, indeed!

[delisen]

58. Why are prominent Dems waiting to endorse Biden?

What is their point in waiting any longer?+

[George II]

59. It's customary to wait until there is a definite nominee. But I don't think....

....they're going to wait much longer. They're being courteous even though he isn't doing so.

[MineralMan]

21. I am not bashing Senator Sanders. I am suggesting a course of action

he might take, if he is unable to completely fulfill his duties as a Senator. Perhaps he will return to the Senate floor today. I don't know. If calls for him to do his job have that effect, then they were well-called.

[questionseverything]

70. you have 3 different ops bashing him in the feed right now

hopefully the sanders supporters you are driving off are not enough for us to lose in nov (like last time)


there was no need for sanders to be at that vote since we did not want the repubs to get to 60, not voting was the same as a no vote

[Just_Vote_Dem]

75. LOL at the idea

somebody won't vote for a candidate because somebody said something bad on the internetz

[questionseverything]

85. we lost last time by less than 1 % in 3 different states

you don't have to drive off many for trump to win

sorry you think the mess we are in is just a joke

[Aquaria]

80. Criticism isn't bashing

What is so difficult about that to understand?

[NurseJackie]

23. ...

[Peregrine Took]

26. 'really think these bilious diatribes will lure Bernie supporters your way in the fall? n/t

[Algernon Moncrieff]

33. The problem is that the alternative is not voting or voting for Trump

From were we started, Sanders was my 3rd choice. I prefer his vision of the future to Biden's. If Biden is the nominee (and the odds are he will be), we who didn't vote for him in the primary must vote for him in the GE - even if it requires bringing a clothes pin to clamp on our noses. The objective ultimately needs to be any President that represents an improvement over the current one.

[NYC Liberal]

63. By "your way", you mean voting for the Democratic candidate as opposed to Trump?

No actual Democrat should need "luring" to get off their ass and do the bare minimum of casting a ballot for the Democratic nominee to defeat Donald Trump in November.

Anyone willing to allow Trump to be re-elected because they didn't like what someone on the Internet said about their preferred candidate can go to hell.

[LizBeth]

42. WHEN he supports Biden 100% he is forgotten and left alone. Until, he is standing on my toes.

[The Magistrate]

55. When Sanders Concedes And Makes A Full-Throated Endorsement, Sir

Vitriol will cease. Until then, vitriol is appropriate, given the man's essential program of blackmail. He continues so he can do damage to the 'Democratic Establishment' unless it concedes to whatever sophomoric platform or rules changes he demands, and is quite willing to do harm to prospects of defeating Trump if he does not get his way. This is not vitriol, it is calmly observed fact.



"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[treestar]

14. Ultimately up to VT voters

It can seem strange to those of us outside a state what the voters in that state put up with. Or what they see that we don't.

VT DUers can perhaps respond to your challenge though. Especially VT Democrats. Why do they continually return this individual as their Senator?

[MineralMan]

18. Yes, assuming he runs for another term.

However, it can also be up to an individual Senator, who can resign if he or she believes he or she is unable to perform the duties of that office in service to that state.

[Cozmo]

22. Fahget aboutit!

Waiting for Bernie to do the right thing is just like waiting for trump to do the right thing. It's useless. We need to ignore Bernie just as we need to ignore MF45. For these two, negative attention is far better than no attention. Bernie is feeding off our frustration and fear. At this time we need a strong Democratic voice. He knows it and is doing everything he can to screw us up. Shame on you, Bernie and go back to work. This is the last thing I will ever say about this SOB.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

32. If there's a problem, he should level with everyone.

"There's a problem" includes, but is not limited to: exposure, potential exposure, self quarantine out of an abundance of caution, or other problem that is keeping him from functioning. I don't generally ask people to resign or be fired if they are sick.

If there is another reason, he should say what it is. That reason can then be judged on its merits.

As for "...he will not be the Democratic nominee for President. That is clear. He should withdraw his name from consideration." Nationally, we are in uncharted territory. I'm not counting anyone as being the presumptive nominee until we actually get through whatever we count as a convention this time out.

Be careful what you wish for. Phil Scott is a Republican, so he won't be replacing Bernie with Howard Dean.

[NCProgressive]

34. I completely agree

He has become like a waiter who doesn't show up for work but criticizes the quality of service from a restaurant window.

[helpisontheway]

44. I hope they strip him of his leadership role. He does not show up for important

events. Then he goes around trashing the Democratic Party. Now he is dragging out our primary and attempting to harm our presumptive nominee. I wish he would go away.

[SCantiGOP]

46. Would that help us win in November?

That is the only pertinent question at this point, since we have our candidate that will run against trump.

[Polybius]

57. I appreciate Biden voters who know this

Biden is gonna win the nomination, there's no need to bash each other. Bernie couldn't win the GE with out Biden supporters, and Biden can't win without us.

[William769]

68. I believe we can. This is not 2016

Biden's base is much larger and Sanders base is much smaller and if you take out the young one's that don't vote, his base becomes even smaller. The longer Sanders waits, the less effective he will be.

[Polybius]

69. No, he definitely needs a good percentage of us

Sanders got roughly 30% of the vote in the primaries. That's a huge chunk. If 30% of Democratic Primary voters were to stay home, Biden would have to win over many Trump supporters.

With that being said, I'm not staying home, I always vote for the good guys, you can count on my vote.

[comradebillyboy]

60. Hillary's critique of Sanders was spot on. He has made

himself irrelevant by his own behavior. He refuses to make friends, he refuses to compromise, he refuses to listen, he refuses to do anything that would make him an effective legislator.

[MineralMan]

61. Well, she would know, I suppose.

Bernie is sort of an irascible guy with a chip on his shoulder, I suspect. Nothing wrong with that, but it's hard to get things done in a group if you're like that.

[MineralMan]

65. Thank you for your reply.

I disagree.

[jorgevlorgan]

71. so you want to give the republicans another senate seat?

We will be down by 5 at this crucial moment.

[Celerity]

73. +1

[whopis01]

72. How do you feel about Corey Booker?

He missed more votes than Sanders did last year.

Warren and Harris both missed over 50% of the votes. Should they resign as well?

[Celerity]

76. good question nt

[Aquaria]

79. WTF

Sen. Booker has missed 56.8% of votes in the 116th Congress (2019-20). This makes him the 2nd most absent member of the Senate

https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/B001288-cory-booker/votes-missed/116

Sen. Sanders has missed 61.6% of votes in the 116th Congress (2019-20). This makes him the 1st most absent member of the Senate.

https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/S000033/votes-missed/116

Those people aren't under discussion, anyway. BS is, for not being present during one of the worst crises this country has faced since 9/11. So ditch that tu quoque red herring, and try again. Because you have nothing to stand on here.

[MineralMan]

81. Are they participating in the Senate now?

Bernie isn't, or wasn't.

[whopis01]

82. Sanders voted yesterday

So he is participating in the Senate now. Which seemingly meets your requirement.

I find it inexcusable for any Senator to miss 50% of the votes in a year. If they can't run for other office without missing that many votes, they should resign prior to running.

[MineralMan]

83. I agree about neglecting duties as a Senator.

I did not support any of the Senators who failed to show up for their Senate duties. I'm glad Bernie went back to DC. That's his job, isn't it?

For the record, Joe Biden's face has been on all of my posts in this forum since the forum opened. He is my choice to be the Democratic nominee, and has been from the beginning.

[whopis01]

84. I wasn't questioning your support for Biden

Or meaning to imply that you had supported any of the others I had mentioned. I was just bringing them up because (in my opinion) they deserve the same criticism that you were laying on Sanders. Just for the record - I agree with your criticism of Sanders - just wanted to make the point that others are deserving of it as well.

[Tarheel_Dem]

74. Agreed. n/t