My biggest fear with Bernie

[Squidly]

What worries me is a repeat of 2016 where Bernie fought to the very end with Hillary. Now, if he's the front runner I will gladly back him against Trump, but if we get towards the end of primary season and he is sitting in second with no realistic chance of being the nominee, he needs to bow out and show zero signs of sour grapes.

As was the case in 16, we cant afford to have his legions of berners feel cheated, butthurt, what have you, that their guy diddnt win...causing them to stay home or vote for a 3rd party candidate out of protest. I personally know quite a few that did just that and now look where we are. And god forbid that he decides to run as a third option.

If the time comes, he needs to enthusiastically endorse and campaign for the Dem nominee if he cannot secure the nomination. We need to be 100% united in November. He did eventually with Hillary, but not after a few weeks of pouting and complaining which caused many in his base to do what they did.

[DownriverDem]

1. How about

no realistic chance of beating trump?

[Squidly]

2. That too

But Ill still support him if he ends up with the nomination.

Right now Im leaning Joe/Amy/Pete...gotta decide soon, caucus is Monday night!!

[UniteFightBack]

13. Vote for the person who can win by the widest margin in the states we need. nt

[empedocles]

3. The BS campaign may get voted down, but the BS ego is likely to charge into Nov.

[Blues Heron]

4. got a link or just making stuff up?

it's like a mantra

[MH1]

5. I agree. But if that was who Bernie is, he would already be sitting out this election.

His entry into the primary race brings zero positives. He could have still worked hard to get the best, most progressive nominee with a reasonable chance of beating Trump. Instead he chose to re-open old wounds.

I supported him early in the 2016 primary. Very sorry I did, now. (To be fair, the reason there was clamor for an ABH candidate was because it looked like she was going to be fast-tracked and many people thought she couldn't win. Had that primary season had more viable, credible and well known competition, BS might not have gotten in or might not have gotten so much support. BUT that is all history now. BS had a decision to make this time, and he should have done the best for the country to have a D nominee to beat Trump. He can't accept that he's not that.)

[jr1118x]

6. I disagree

I would disagree with the statement that that is what caused his supporters to stay home or vote 3rd party. I think that is a mistake to think like that really. From a standpoint that there are huge differences between Sanders and Clinton in ideology and actual policy. Realistically for a certain percentage of a issues-based Sander's supporter, she just doesn't align with them so of course when he pulled out not all just jumped to Team Hillary. Sander's still did do 39 rallies in 13 states for HRC, but it doesn't matter how many he did a fairly sizable number did not see her as a palatable alternative.

I fear the same thing this year, with Biden, his personality is a lot more likable, but policy-wise he isn't bringing forth issues and progress that would keep these people in his camp. His stances on healthcare, environment, education seem more of the same old same old, who many BS feel the system was already broken, I think his supporters could go with a Warren or someone else who has a vision, but I think a decent number may not vote Biden in Nov if he's the nominee. More and more people are "issue" voters over "party" voters and I fear if we don't recognize that and just expect the votes as if they are owed us, we are in for more of this Trump nightmare, and I don't believe we can survive that.

[Squidly]

8. But thats just it

If there was ever an election to vote party over issues, its this one. I truly believe if we get Trump Part 2, there wont be a chance to vote on issues in the future.

[jr1118x]

9. True

I agree, I honestly think this might be our last chance at an election, if it even happens or isn't rigged. There are a lot of people though that are just in a perpetual fog with social media, life, etc and really aren't paying attention. The media, doesn't call out lies and holds our leaders accountable, instead the mainstream media usually wants to play both sides and that whataboutism, so people just look at them all as bad or being exaggerated about how bad he is. People aren't paying attention, look at the ratings for the impeachment, Schiff & Co made some great points, but if no one watched them, does it move the electorate.

Just being honest, as a group we suck at getting out the message, we believe in using facts and evidence but people aren't interested, instead they want the animated fluff job done by Fox that doesn't challenge their feelings. They are very organized, a bombshell can drop, CNN and the mainstream media will be "Oh this looks bad, this will take out Trump" and by the time Hannity's show is over they have coordinated spin and have as many surrogates spewing it on every outlet consistently hammering the same lie. The people who are only casually paying attention just think "gee all these people say X, it must be true". Look how many of his supporters like Trump because he is a straight shooter and just says how it is. They don't even see that by the facts, he is demonstrably the president that has lied the most.

Its these people I really don't think are going to be reached by just status quo, center candidates. To get them to come out enough and vote Blue we need to offer them hope and a vision, something to make them feel that it is in their best interest to invest the time and effort.

[dsc]

12. yes

I vividly remember Biden suing to end the ban on pre existing conditions. No wait that was Trump. I vividly remember him arguing for immunity for gun manufacturers and the Charleston loophole nope that was Trump and Sanders. Maybe it was arguing for tax cuts for millionaires nope Trump again. wait turns out that it is bullshit to say Biden is same old same old. My mistake.

[ehrnst]

17. Who do you think Democrats are saying "owe us votes?"

Specifically.

As for 'palatable,' someone who lost a primary by nearly four million votes looks arguably like they were the less "palatable" candidate to Democrats and progressive voters than the candidate who won the primary by nearly four million votes.

Just a thought.

[Blue_true]

7. A lot of people that voted for Bernie is 2016 have soured on him,

mostly for how he behaved in the late part of the primary and the Fall.

I just don't think that he will have the same negative impact this time. I also believe that African Americans will turn out heavily in November, surprisingly, in key states, they didn't in 2016. In summary, I expect Bernie and his hardcore supporters to be a problem, but we have the room to overcome their negativity if we keep our heads clear on what needs to happen.

[OneMoreCupOfCoffee]

10. The revolution is eternal.

[Dietz]

11. 100% united

Yes, we do need to be 100% united and support whoever wins the Democratic nomination.

[DanTex]

14. If he's not the nominee, he will enthusiastically campaign, like he did for HRC in 2016.

But not calling his supporters "butthurt" would probably help with the whole unity thing.

[aikoaiko]

16. To quote Hillary Clinton, "We're not there yet."