Joe Biden Needs to Represents All Americans, Not Just BS Supporters

[TomCADem]

There is the 2016 talking point that Joe Biden needs to change the approach that has lead him to trounce Bernie in major swing states, and adopt a BS platform. The premise is that by adopting BS's platform, Biden will be able to keep supports of BS in the Democratic fold who might otherwise vote for Trump. There are several problems with this premise:

1. It assumes BS's supporter are strictly supporting him because of his platform. This is not true. BS's own campaign rhetoric that is heavily based on attacks on the Democratic party establish that this is not the case. BS has cultivated resentment against Democrats and the Democratic party regardless of platform. Remember when Hillary placed Cornell West on the DNC platform committee? Did he then support Hillary? No. Indeed, Cornell West continued to call for dumping the Democratic party even as the Democratic platform grew more progressive. BS's own rhetoric shows that it is not about the issues. It is about blaming Democrats. That is why about 20 percent of BS supporters might vote for Trump, because they have been conditioned to hate Democrats thanks to BS's constant attacks on Democrats.

2. BS is no longer going to get the benefit of the doubt. Back in 2016, with the decades of attacks on Hillary, I think many Democrats were willing to give BS the benefit of the doubt when it came to his continued efforts to trash Hillary. Folks were inclined to blame Hillary, rather than BS for his negative attacks. This time around, we have seen BS launch the same characters on everyone, even former proteges and allies like Beto O'Rourke and Elizabeth Warren. Now, we know is it not his opponent, it is BS and his dirty style of campaigning by elevating himself by trashing Democrats. Democrats are not going to fall for the BS character attacks again.

3. Trying to cater to BS's calls for revolution will alienate the folks who are drawn to Biden in the first place. BS's populist campaign that is heavily centered on attacking the media and the Democratic "establishment" mirrors Trump's campaign themes. Now, with Trump as President, the last thing we want to do is try to cater to a candidate who is narcissistic, who claims credit, but refuses to take responsibility, who repeatedly lies and denigrates opponents, and who is thin skinned when it comes to criticism by the media. Again, it is not about ideology. Never Trumper David Brooks wrote earlier that he would even be willing to vote for Elizabeth Warren even though he disagreed with most of her platform. A few weeks later, he drew the line at voting for BS citing BS's similarities to Trump. In other words, there is a reason why Biden destroyed Bernie in places like Florida and Michigan.

4. Biden should not reward folks who try to destroy the Democratic party. Sadly, BS is taking the lesson of 2016 as a reason to continue to try to hold the Democratic nomination process hostage. Like Trump who got more attention the more racist he acted, BS learned that he would get more attention the more unreasonable and destructive he acted. If Biden and other Democrats cave into Bernie's wishes again, they will simply encourage BS and others to emulate BS's destructive tactics. Biden should definitely give preference to those former opponents who supported him and the Democratic party, and ignore political arsonists like BS, particularly since BS has already demonstrated that his campaign will continue to work against Democrats regardless of how much you try to cater to BS. So, we need to stop creating incentives for folks to try to hijack the primaries and make it all about them.

In short, BS's campaign continues to try to make the entire election about BS and catering to BS's whims. We are in the midst of a global pandemic that requires experienced leadership. We do not need to bow to the whims of a politician who sees every crisis as an opportunity to elevate themselves and trash the contributions of Democrats fighting for the American people.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. The idea that ANYONE who self identifies as progressive or liberal needs CATERED to in-order to

get their votes

NOW

NOW

while you know who KILLS blue state citizens

is madness

fucking madness

[Just_Vote_Dem]

3. A real progressive or liberal wouldn't do that

You're describing a troll or Russian plant, perhaps a Rethug playing games as well

[TomCADem]

6. In Fairness to Hillary Clinton, At The Time She Made...

...her concessions to BS, we did not know that BS would string her along or that his campaign would backstab her by having Bernie's surrogates loudly announce after they participated in writing the platform that they would nonetheless not support the Democratic nominee. In other words, the whole point of having folks like Cornell West, who has been hostile to the Democratic party, on the DNC platform committee was so that they would support a unified party going into an election with Trump.

Now, knowing that you cannot trust BS, Biden should not repeat what in hindsight was a mistake. After 2016, BS's supports have continued to attack the Democratic party and it is now clear that this one of the primary movers behind Bernie's campaign, which is to attack the Democratic party. In the end, there is no way to reconcile this, since many Bernie supporters will vote for Trump, not based on ideology, but because they have bought into BS's repeated attacks on Democrats.

[George II]

2. Biden represents more Americans than Sanders does. That's why he's got an overwhelming lead.

[Cha]

4. Exactly. Bernie Sanders Hit His Ceiling

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=632589

[marble falls]

5. Why in the world would you think he isn't speaking for as many of us as he can? He does want ...

to win big and drag in the down ticket offices with him, especially the Senate and Congress, and as many state legislatures as possible so we can fix gerrymandering and make one vote equal one vote for everybody.

[TomCADem]

7. I Am Responding to All of Posts Listing Demands By BS...

...as a condition for the support of his Bernie's followers. Again, I can understand why BS might have been given the benefit of the doubt before, but we know better. BS is just looking for a pretext to continue to be in the public eye. I am hopeful that we do not reward Bernie once again for his self-aggrandizing efforts. Yes, this means that Bernie will once again run to Fox News and that Trump will once again side with him against Biden, but this can't be helped.

[marble falls]

9. And I am speaking rhetorically to the Berning masses. Whats it gonna take for you to choose?

I waited until my primary to choose.

[The Magistrate]

8. Well Said, Sir

The real energy of this election lies with middle of the road types disgusted by this cheap thug Trump, and the energy of committed Democrats who hate this cheap thug Trump like poison. "Bernie' simply brings nothing to this combination, and is a potential threat to it. he man cannot even be relied on to deliver his most dedicated supporters to the ticket, should he by some miracle actually make a sincere attempt to do that.





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"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."

[betsuni]

10. All true.

[Gothmog]

11. The benefit of the Democrats denouncing Sanders's selfishness

I am tired of sanders and his supporters demanding that we bend a knee and anoint sanders as the nominee. It may be better to simply give up on the 15% who will not vote for any real Democrat and move on

Link to tweet

If you are in the search for silver linings, one benefit of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pointlessly continuing his losing campaign is the freedom for Democrats to denounce him and his anti-party escapades. After years of humoring him, the vast majority of Democrats, from super-progressives to moderates, can now say out loud what they’ve said quietly: It has always been about Bernie. It’s not a movement, but rather a vanity project. ....

The problem, according to many Democrats, remains that 15 percent of Sanders supporters say in polling that they would vote for President Trump over Biden. This nugget actually makes the opposite argument: There is nothing that would satisfy some faction of the Sanders coalition that would rather blow up our democracy and reelect Trump. With people so irrational, the best response is to ignore them. They, like the MAGA-hat crowd, are unreachable and cannot be bargained with (e.g., more New Green Deal talk!). So do not try. No more outreach to Sanders, no more promised policy modifications, no more speaking slot at the convention. Enough

This would have some salutary effects.

First, it would make perfectly clear that Biden is not Sanders and not a crazy left-winger, as Trump would like to paint him in the campaign. Biden makes a sharp distinction between the “democratic socialist” crowd and his own brand of center-left politics. Since he cannot get the 15 percent of “Bernie or Bust” Democrats (or independents), he might as well make a strong play for moderate independents and disaffected Republicans. Cutting Sanders off effectively allows Biden to pitch to gettable swing voters, not waste time on unattainable Bernie Bros.

Second, freezing out Sanders will make governance in a Biden administration much easier and more cohesive. There will be no debt to be paid to Sanders, no advisers taken on to satisfy Sanders, and no weird and distracting policy initiatives to lead the new administration astray. This would be a center-left administration confident of its own governing agenda — and personally cohesive.

Third, it would free up constructive, smart progressive leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to lead that wing of the party. She has already begun that process, contributing bankruptcy and student loan forgiveness plans to the Biden campaign. With a practical, crafty progressive in the Senate (hopefully in the majority and able to lead on legislation), Biden would be able to broaden his appeal and cultivate allies in the Warren wing of the party.

In other words, shoving Sanders offstage opens up room for party builders and party reformers, putting aside unattainable proposals (e.g., Medicare-for-all) in favor of a smarter, more broadly acceptable agenda. (Biden would not need to fend off a Warren primary challenge, as Barack Obama did with Sanders in 2012.)

The party is never going to make the 15% to 25% of sanders supporters happy. 25% of sanders supporters either voted for trump, voted for a third party candidate like Stein or stayed home

Link to tweet

I am tired of trying to appease sanders supporters who are not going to be happy and there are real benefits in moving on and ignoring these voters.