US News: Sanders: Yes, I'm a Democrat of Convenience

[kennetha]

Democrats are starting to wise up about Sanders and it's pissing many off. Time to stop taking this stuff from Bernie and his band of hijacking pirates.


Sanders: Yes, I'm a Democrat of Convenience

“If Bernie ran as a Democrat for money and media coverage, it's probably time for that money and media coverage to end,” said Seth Bringman, the communications of the former Ready for Hillary PAC, the grassroots organization that formed to encourage Clinton’s run.

Brad Woodhouse, president of the progressive group Americans United for Change and a Clinton supporter, said Sanders’ comments exposed him as a “political calculating fraud.”

“If Bernie Sanders had real principles he would have run as an independent,” Woodhouse tweeted. “He railed against the Democratic Party when it helped him in Vermont, then decides to run as a Democrat when it could help him in a national race. He's just a typical politician looking out for himself.”

[woodsprite]

1. Maybe it should have said he's an independent or an "FDR Democrat", not a "new Democrat".

And as I've said before, he's more of a Democrat than some who are currently in the House, Senate, etc.

[Hortensis]

20. Bernie's not an FDR Democrat, or any other kind, Woodsprite.

FDR had a terrible time with the far left, who were constantly enraged because FDR's New Deal was, well, like Hillary's platform to them. It didn't go nearly far enough. They finally abandoned all support for FDR and ran their own candidate against him in outrage when it was time for reelection.

IMO, people should believe Bernie when he admits he isn't and never has been a Democrat. It's very disrespectful not to.

[Bluenorthwest]

50. I respectfully differ. I was raised by Franklin and Eleanor Democrats and Bernie is exactly

that, a Franklin and Eleanor Democrat. Bernie is the real deal. Hillary is a person who praised Ronald Reagan as an AIDS hero, I am a person who spent his youth protesting Ronald Reagan who was an evil, bigoted and detached man specifically on the subject of AIDS and HIV. She praised that man and his stone cold hateful wife for the very things they did not do. She is not me. She is them.

Bernie is the real thing, and this past weekend showed us exactly how festering the wound is, it is gushing praise for Republicans while running for President as a Democrat. Gushing all the wrong praise.

I still can't comprehend what she said. How could anyone say such a thing?

Bernie. Not Nancy. Bernie. Not DOMA. Bernie. Not Iraq.

[Hortensis]

65. FDR was an establishment liberal.

I'm pretty sure you don't believe Bernie is an establishment liberal. And Bernie himself does not claim to be any kind of liberal, establishment or otherwise. I know nothing about your parents, of course, but if Bernie lived in those days he would have been furious at FDR for squandering his opportunity for a "revolution" and would have walked -- to the Progressive Party. Bernie's people of those days spit on the New Deal as lipstick and high heels on a corrupt old cow.

BTW, there is no Progressive Party today. It formed to break away from the mainstream, ignored what the rest of the nation wanted, indeed regarded everyone not with them as enemies, and inevitably ended up failing. That's why Bernie had to stick a pin in his lapel saying "Democrat." Oh, right -- he didn't even do that. He registered as a Democrat only to get his name on Democratic Party ballots, but as soon as this election is over he'll be the first to insist that meant less than a plastic giveway pin.

The thing is, Bernie is honest about it. He is proud of what he is, and that makes his actions a lot more better than if he had lied and pretended only those on the far left could be true-blue Democrats and it was the liberals who were fakes.

[vintx]

2. It's pissing off party elites, establishment dems, and third-way cheerleaders / stooges

Everyone else is fucking THRILLED

[kennetha]

3. Nah

then how come Clinton has so many more votes than Bernie, and outpolls him by miles among self-identified Democrats?

[Ferd Berfel]

33. yep

[think]

4. He should shill for banks like Hillary. That's what the cool kids do....

[Jefferson23]

23. lol

+1.

[Ferd Berfel]

35. +1

[hobbit709]

5. The bearings are going to need oiling.

[nichomachus]

6. I don't take political advice from some shill from a PAC

Especially a Hillary PAC. You know it's nothing but a front for Wall Street.

[Beacool]

7. Is this is news to anyone?

He described himself as a "democratic socialist" and has been an Independent his entire political life. Of course he's not a Democrat, he may have caucused with them because the Republicans were not an option, but he's not a Democrat. He's doing the same thing to the Democratic party that Trump is doing to the Republicans, hijacking their party. With a couple of exceptions, in open primary states, Hillary is winning the Democratic voters while Sanders is winning the very young and Independents. The problem for Republicans is that Trump is winning enough votes to give him the nomination, while that's currently not the case with Sanders.

[hobbit709]

8. So instead we should support the R-Lite candidate?

I'm going with the one that stands for the Democratic values, not the 1% values.

[kennetha]

11. you forgot the socialist part.

he's not a democrat.

He's a democratic SOCIALIST.

you support the guy with democratic SOCIALIST values pretending to be a democrat.

You know there are a couple of socialist parties in America. You should go and join them.

[hobbit709]

14. I knew the red baiting would come.

Let me guess, you are somewhere to the right of Temujin.

[kennetha]

15. I'm a Democrat, tried and true.

Not a socialist.

I believe in capitalism with a human face.

In Europe I would be a social democrat, not a democratic socialist.


Doubt you understand the difference, though.

[hobbit709]

18. I know far more about the difference than you.

you're not a Democrat, you're a corporatist.

[kennetha]

21. Nah. You have no idea what you are talking about.

just like your man Bernie.


Bernie Sanders: Blowhard ideologue, too good for the real world.

[hobbit709]

27. You haven't a clue.

[FrostyAusty]

31. +1

It's funny people like this have the nerve to say were not true Democrats. We are the ones standing up for Americans of all backgrounds, not just when it is politically expedient to do so.

[riversedge]

19. So, now saying the word socialist is red-baiting? Tell that

to Sanders since he uses the term .

[hobbit709]

25. When used in a pejorative manner as the denizens of Camp Bansalot do it is.

[riversedge]

16. No not news to many but the fact that Sandes admitted it on National TV

is the news.

[Cheese Sandwich]

9. Nobody cares about party loyalty except party loyalists

[kennetha]

13. you mean only Democrats actually care about loyalty to the democratic party?

right.

Not Democratic Socialists like Bernie? He's just using our party as a tool.

Glade he came out and finally showed his true colors.

[arcane1]

53. I'm loyal to principles, not party. Would you be a loyal Dem in 1930? How about 1830?

Party loyalty demands you oppose freeing the slaves, then it demands you change your mind and give their descendants equal rights.

A loyal Dem in Kentucky would vote for the homophobic "Lifelong Dem" clerk who refused to give marriage licenses to gay couples.

As a loyal Dem, you support that too?

Loyalty oaths are for people who need to be told what to think. I am not one of those.

[TM99]

59. Good luck with

the 20% of party loyalists in getting any Democrats elected.

Keep insulting the independent voters. What a fucking brilliant winning strategy.

[hobbit709]

71. I pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party

And I will do whatever they want me to do, up to and including voting for corporate shills just because they have a D after their name, no matter if their politics involve favoring the 1% at the expense of the people. I will never question the authority of the National Leadership and will always vote as I am told by my betters.
This I swear by the Money God the Party worships.

[zigby]

66. Logged in to say this.

I think it's pretty illustrative when people freak out about certain things they are convinced are (or aren't) significant, but when you're talking to or about the larger voting population just becomes curious noise. Given all the independents up for grabs, and the growing population of younger voters who only know the Democratic party as establishment players with slightly preferable views on social issues, it baffles me why anyone would think loyalty oaths are useful measures of democratic values.

Also shows how provincial your worldview is if these are the only types you interact with.

[libtodeath]

10. Desperation.

[riversedge]

12. rec

[Eleanors38]

17. And?

[kennetha]

22. Shows you that he's not the man of principle he pretends to be.

[SheenaR]

24. This has been posted several times

Who is this geared towards?

Bernie supporters know this and don't care. He can call himself whatever he wants, the principles he is running on are as Democratic as they come.

[kennetha]

28. As Democratic SOCIALIST as they come.

[SheenaR]

45. Do you oppose

Health Care as Right?
Proper education for all who want it?
Expanding Social Security?
Making the Wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes?

If you do, then who are you fooling. You espouse Republican ideals if you oppose those things.

But thanks for the capital letters. I can read your bullshit just fine in lowercase.

[Arazi]

26. Lol, her internal numbers must be awful

[Jefferson23]

29. If Bernie should win the nom some of the DNC and their corporate backers would love to see him

lose the GE. OP's like this make that abundantly clear.

You really don't get what establishment means in the context of this election
cycle.

[ljm2002]

30. They're grasping at straws now...

...hoping someone besides fervent Hillary supporters give a rat's ass why Bernie is running as a Dem.

Ha fucking Ha!

[notadmblnd]

32. How many times today is this?

Is this your assignment for the day? Post as many "Bernie isn't a Democrat" articles as you can find?

[hobbit709]

40. I think it's number 53.

[LondonReign2]

34. Sorry he is ruining the coronation

I mean, how dare he champion actual Democratic policies! The nerve!

[kennetha]

37. Democratic SOCIALIST policies.

you guys keep leaving off that part.

[Lizzie Poppet]

43. Precisely why he has my support.

At last, a genuine progressive from a party that's lurched center-right to a nauseating degree.

[LondonReign2]

54. OH NOES!!!!

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. If Sanders isn't welcome in the tent, neither am I. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. Labels again. "A rose by any other name smells as sweet." Shakespeare

[Paper Roses]

39. I don't care if Bernie a member of the' pink petunia' party, he has my support.

We have had enough baloney from both parties. Where is it written that someone cannot run on a platform with ideas that benefit all of us? Labels do not matter, it is the message that counts.

Go Bernie!

[shawn703]

41. So HRC would rather face an independent SBS and the Republican nominee in the general?

Math must not be her strong suit if she thinks she could get to 270 with SBS running as an independent instead. All it would do is flip every single swing state into the R column, and probably a bunch of lean Democratic states too.

[drray23]

57. if sanders had run as an independent he would not have gotten off the ground. nt.

[shawn703]

67. Ralph Nader had only a fraction of the support enjoyed by SBS

And that was enough to derail Gore in Florida.

[zigby]

68. Please retire that myth, even if you think it's in service of Sanders' power

More Dems voted for Bush than Greens voted for Nader.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/6/1260721/-The-Nader-Myth

[Lizzie Poppet]

42. This only annoys "party before all" people.

I don't give a shit what they think.

[djean111]

44. The sad thing is, none of this has anything to do with what a candidate would do, once elected.

If Bernie was forced out of running as a Democrat, do you really think his supporters would pivot to Hillary? I don't. The newer voters certainly will not. They will stay with Bernie. They do not support him merelt because of the letter "D". All you are doing is taking cheap - even stupid - shots at Bernie - because the DNC WELCOMED him to run as a Democrat. Go bitch and moan at the DNC.

And the constant beating of this tin drum sounds just like desperation.

[HooptieWagon]

46. He was never a republican either.

[Bluenorthwest]

47. So Kim Davis was an elected Democrat when she did her anti gay routine. Of the starting line up of

candidates, two were long time Republicans, elected and appointed officials with GOP roots going back decades. Hillary boosters all seem eager to see Liz '30 Years a Republican' Warren endorse Hillary, same as Bernie's hope she goes that way.

Skinner and DU as a whole supported the actual independent and very recently Republican Charlie Crist over a very real and actual Democratic candidate running against him. This was an open choice by Skinner to endorse the independent over the Democrat. Skinner very totally supports Hillary and touts independents over Democrats when he wants to. And he's a Hillary insider.

This weekend, your candidate Hillary spouted unprompted praise of the villains of the AIDS era in which she claimed they had done the exact things they never did and for which they are hated by millions of Americans. One wonders if she was a Democrat at that moment in any real or meaningful way. Divorced from reality, lavishing praise on Reagan for the very thing he most deserves to be cursed for? What's Democratic about that? Nothing. Much more Republican, to demonstrate that you know nothing about LGBT and care even less about them while varnishing the Legend of the Gipper is a Republican task and she leap up to it without being asked, offered to say the one thing no reasoned person would ever say.

You take all of that and the fact that Bernie Sanders is exactly the Democratic candidate my Democratic parents raised me to support and I find your entire premise to be very faulty. In fact I find your candidate to be much like the Republicans my Democratic parents and Aunts and Uncles so strongly opposed.

The author of this piece is a partisan, and unknown to me. After that Reagan bullshit I will never trust another surrogate for or member of the Clinton family. Ever. I'm a Democrat. And unlike Bill and Hillary, I'm not in it for the money and power.

[NurseJackie]

48. Wow. The fact is not surprising ... that he (essentially) ADMITTED it is!

Help me out with my vocabulary here ... does the word "interloper" accurately describe him in this situation, or is that too harsh? (I wouldn't want to be unfair, so that's why I'm asking.)

[nc4bo]

49. Meh. The D's and DNC make ME feel like an INconvenient Democrat.

Now we're even.

[CalvinballPro]

51. Starting a new party takes time, hard work, and determination.

In other words, a bridge-too-far for progressive activists pinning all their hopes and dreams on one candidate in one race every 4 years. But if you could start a political party on Reddit, then maybe they'd have an impact.

[arcane1]

52. He doesn't participate in the annual White Elephant gift exchange either n/t

[potone]

56. Oh no! Say it's not so!

Thank God I live on the West Coast, so I haven't wasted my precious vote on him! Thanks for stopping me in time!

[gcomeau]

55. Because he's a progressive.

A real one.


Most people here are ALSO democrats of convenience genius. We support the Democratic party not because it is a pure and just defender of our interests but because there are only two viable alternatives and the Democrats aren't fucking lunatics.


For once... for fucking ONCE... we have an opportunity to put someone forward who actually takes the progressive policies we all wish the Democratic party would take seriously... seriously! And can WIN! And you're bitching and complaining that you question his membership credentials.

WHO THE FUCK CARES? He's for what we always say we want our politicians to be for. And he has been his entire damn career. And you're throwing a tantrum?

[katsy]

58. So what?

He's caucused with Democrats always and they were happy to have him in their ranks.

If it's a problem, encourage the dnc to kick him off ticket. DO IT! How many of you are out there? You must have ginormous power over the dnc so go for it! Get a couple of million votes on a petition and kick his sorry ass off the democratic ticket. Just fucking do it.

If not, stfu and work towards a win in 2016 whomever our candidate is.

Im a Sanders supporter who will vote for Hillary if she's our candidate but this nitpicking about Sanders as an independent is a really bad debate.

If Bernie went Indy i'd vote for him. If he loses to Hillary as a Dem I'd vote for her.

You really want this petty shit to continue? To what purpose? Do you feel empowered tearing down a reliable ally?

You know what... I hope the dnc kicks him out. Just give Hillary the nom. Let's see how that works out for everyone.

[Bjornsdotter]

60. I'm an Independent

...who votes Democratic mostly, sometimes Green.

No one seems to be complaining when I vote Democratic.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

61. So am I. I registered with the party, I didn't marry it.

Now, I'm an Independent simply because my state no longer registers by party.

[Act_of_Reparation]

62. Wait... you mean a candidate is using the Democratic party to mobilize voters?

In a two-party system? THAT'S CRAZY TALK.

[one_voice]

63. Jury results...

Yep, someone alerted on this.

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

Mail Message
On Tue Mar 15, 2016, 07:43 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

US News: Sanders: Yes, I'm a Democrat of Convenience
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511496284

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

OP refers to good strong Democrats and DUers as a "band of hijacking pirates." This is wholly offensive and over the top.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Tue Mar 15, 2016, 07:47 PM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
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Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[krawhitham]

64. DUMBEST thing EVER

He at all costs does not want a republican in the white house

He thought he would make a better president than Hillary he had a choice

1 - Run as a Democratic who he caucuses with and helps raise money for, a group that does not run a Dem against him in elections because he is one of us. He runs a dem and whoever win the primary wins

OR

2 - Run as a independent and GUARANTEE a republican wins the white house

[Autumn]

69. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum me Matey. Bet your arse he's a democrat of convienience Matey

Seth Bringman can bite me wooden leg or kiss me wooden arse, after the dirty little bilge rat brush's his teeth! Were he here I'd make him walk the plank with the point of me cutlass. Arggg.


What an idiot, seriously. I relish Bringmans fucking fear.

[beedle]

70. When will Bernie ever learn that

telling a truth, especially obvious, logical, and reality based truths, will do nothing but upset 3rd way establishment DINOs?

Throw them a bone Bernie, add "aliens made me do it" to the end of your answers so Hillary supporters are able to gently acclimate to the 'fear inducing' truths in your answers.