What Will Many Bernie Sanders Voters Do After July?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

By Ralph Nader

....Hillary's rhetoric has outraged Sanders' supporters. She berates Sanders regularly for not being practical or realistic about his Medicare-for-all, breaking up big banks, a $15 minimum wage, a tax on Wall Street speculation and carbon and getting big money out of politics. Clinton's putdowns exemplify why so many people who back Sanders want to defeat her. Clinton is the candidate of the status quo, favored over all other candidates from both parties by the Wall Street crowd and quietly adored by the military-industrial complex who see Generalissima Clinton as a militarist who would maintain the warfare state.

Democrat Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, derided this "We Shouldn't Even Try" attitude common among many frightened Democrats. These are, in Reich's words, "the establishment Democrats - Washington lobbyists, editorial writers, inside-the-Beltway operatives, party leaders and big contributors who have grown comfortable with the way things are." These hereditary Democrat opinion-shapers tell their audiences that Hillary personifies experience and electability. They argue it is either Clinton or Trump or some other crazed Republican.

Here we go again. Every four years, the Democratic leaders define the Democratic candidate by how bad the Republicans are. This is designed to panic and mute their followers. Every four years, both parties become more corporatist. Sanders' voters want to define the Democratic Party by how good it can be for the people. And these Sanders voters may not go back into the Democratic Party fold.

Low turnout for the Democratic Party's primaries is being compared to a much higher Republican voter turnout for their candidates. Low turnout in November would dim Hillary's chances in an electoral college, winner-take-all system....

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44372.htm

[onehandle]

1. Nader

[img][/img]

Ralph Nader 2000 Campaign Interview:
Will Ralph Nader become Al Gore's worst nightmare?

Of more immediate interest, at least to Al Gore, are Nader's respectable poll numbers: 7 to 10 percent in California as of June, 6 percent nationally. If California tips Green enough, Bush could win the state and the whole damn election.

Which, Nader confided to Outside in June, wouldn't be so bad. When asked if someone put a gun to his head and told him to vote for either Gore or Bush, which he would choose, Nader answered without hesitation: "Bush."

http://www.outsideonline.com/1837851/ralph-nader-2000-campaign-interview

Nader flew back and forth between California and Florida, finally spending the most of the last few weeks in Florida, and fulfilling his goal of a Bush Presidency.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Go ahead and smear Nader if it makes...

...the hard truths and reality based analysis he offers somehow less painful for you.

Also, please feel free to actually address the content of his opinion piece with your own thoughtful analysis. I'm sure we'd all love to read it.

[Tiggeroshii]

5. If you would rather he not exist, you should be ready to say goodbye to the hundreds of basic

Regulations and standards we take for granted. Seatbelts, airbags and the FDA are just a few we wouldn't have had without him.

[asiliveandbreathe]

10. Ralph Nader - worked for the American consumer with

tremendous passion - he should have stuck to holding corporations feet to the fire..rather than "dabble" in Politics..

Yes, Ralph, you split the vote and gave us the nightmare of Bush and co...yes, you Ralph, have to live with that decision..IMHO

[haikugal]

3. Nader has worked his entire life for the citizens of this country. He's a hero.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. I agree. He's an amazing man.

[CharlotteVale]

6. He really nailed it.

[PADemD]

7. This Sanders supporter

This Sanders supporter will close my checkbook and take a vacation from politics. No phone banking, canvassing, etc.

[Fast Walker 52]

9. yes, if Hillary is the nominee, then I will do similar

I will vote for her but certainly not donate or canvas. Our money is better spent on getting D's in control of congress.

[CTyankee]

16. that is my answer, too. we gotta keep repubs out of the white house and

kick them out of the Congress.

[Fast Walker 52]

8. I think they will work for his victory in the general election.

[potone]

11. That's the spirit!

I was waiting for someone to say that!

[Fast Walker 52]

12. thanks

[ish of the hammer]

13. write Sanders in at the top of the ticket and dems down ticket

after that, start getting rid of the conserva-dems.

[Chan790]

14. Vote for Sanders. That was an easy question to answer.

I really don't think establishment Democrats know how deep the shit-pool is though...I spend a lot of time with progressive activists and I really hear the same thing over and over..."if Hillary ends up with the nominations, we're through, fuck you Democrats, you can lose without us."

It's not merely Bernie-or-bust...no amount of RW fear or "pragmatic" triangulation is going to propel Democrats to victory without the progressive grassroots...and these grassroots want Hillary gone. Enough so to shank the election and hand the WH to the Republicans or Trump in response to a Clinton nomination. They've been saying it all along...when it happens, it's going to be Clinton supporters' and the DNC's fault because they were told what would happen if Hillary won the nomination and they chose not to listen. They're not entitled to the candidate they want...fall in line and vote for the one who can win and has a clear path to victory. Isn't that what they've been telling progressives since 1988? Funny how they think they're so entitled to not have to suck it up, now that their candidate is on the losing end of political reality and general-election math.

Hillary has no path to victory without the sizeable cadre of Sanders supporters who will never support her...Hillary's supporters have an obligation to do the right thing and shank her candidacy.

[Baobab]

15. Don't endorse the 1994 bad deals which are almost..they will kill the service economy for US workers

The WTO Gats negotiations are being finished by TiSA and will cost us millions of high wage jobs.

So I can't vote for Hillary again. Because its like an endorsement of her husband's trade deals which are almost about to start lowering wages - They will end up causing the loss of lots and lots of US jobs and falling wages once they start liberalizing services.

Its indeed a big trade, of service jobs for market access commitments like opening plants in other countries.

[TBF]

17. July? I will be supporting my candidate Bernie Sanders against Trump -

that is what I will be doing in July. Period.

[Baobab]

18. Go to the convention?

Get a well deserved rest before the big contest in November?

[chikub]

19. 10 Steps We Can All Take

Wayne Shorter & Herbie Hancock Pen an Open Letter to the Next Generation of Artists:
http://nesthq.com/wayne-shorter-herbie-hancock-open-letter/

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

21. From their excellent letter...

...The world needs more one-on-one interaction among people of diverse origins with a greater emphasis on art, culture and education. Our differences are what we have in common. We can work to create an open and continuous plane where all types of people can exchange ideas, resources, thoughtfulness and kindness. We need to be connecting with one another, learning about one another, and experiencing life with one another. The more we interact, the more we will come to realize that our humanity transcends all differences.

So true. If only people would start believing in and practicing this. And this is one area where the Internet can be put to truly great use.

Thanks for sharing that and welcome to DU!

[4dsc]

20. Celebrate his nomination.

EOM