This move pretty much guarantees a Trump second term. The young voters and young voters of color are not going to turn out and I suspect the democratic party can't win on the backs of old black people. One thing we have learned though and that is that the Latino vote will be decisive in future elections.....maybe not this one yet but the next one..... I anticipate the stock market doing well tomorrow with Biden all but nominated and the rate cut.
1
there are a lot of people in the country who are just holding on by the skin of their teeth . people who are one sickness or a layoff away from destitution. Whoever gets the nomination had better pay attention and realize that cozying up to the 1%'ers and providing tax breaks to the corporations is simply not going to cut it.
1
All one has to do is read the April 16, 2019 NYTimes article concerning the machinations that the
Democratic Establishment has been conspiring against Bernie Sanders since their 2016 loss.
The majority of contenders was, and is in place there to prevent Sanders from winning.
The roles follow:
Biden: Establishment pick. The unforgettable acquiescence and timidity to the Right wing when running the Clarence Thomas hearings in addition to his vote for the Bankruptcy, Crime Bills and Iraq War vote, etc.
Klobuchar: Establishment. There to back Biden with a promise for a guaranteed agency appointment.
O’Rourke: Establishment. There to try and impact Texas primary race.
Bloomberg: Establishment Elite. There in case Biden does not work out. There to assault and undermine with his billions, Sanders . He is a major player for the Democratic Party to maintain and bolster the power Elite.
Buttigieg: Establishment. There to back Biden. Future pick for POTUS. Book deal. (CIA Operative) and participant in the exclusive private meetings with Schwartz, Schumer, Pelosi et al.
Warren: There to steal the progressive vote from Sanders. Possible VP pick, if Stacey Abrams is postponed for future. Warren is safe, because she compromises on important issues like trade, health care. Not a fighter like Bernie and part of The Establishment there to steer government contracts to her daughter.
Bernie: Despised by the Establishment.
It is a movement that cannot be destroyed no matter what!
3
If Joe Biden is "worn out," and without fresh ideas, what would you say about Bernie ? Same tired old complaints for 8 years, same do-nothing-about-it as a Senator for 8 years (except for 2 bills nominating post offices!!), same 1960's rhetoric (I am a boomer and have heard it all), same angry man who rails and throws out his arms for 8 years. Bernie isn't a Democrat (big D or little d), just someone who is the reverse side of Trump coin, a colossal ego, teeming with grudges against just about everyone. We won't be better off with him as a big D candidate for President.
2
...makes one wonder what was on offer for Amy and Pete in return for dropping out just days before Super Tuesday while early voting was already in progress. My wife now voted for a ghost.
2
Bernie and Elizabeth should take a lesson from Joe. Demonizing your opponents and burning every bridge is not a successful political strategy.
Also, if there is a brokered convention, then you've already sealed your fate. You only have yourself to blame.
4
I note that they're aiming to "slow" Sanders. They used to be aiming to stop him. It puzzles me why the establishment Democrats are so intent on thwarting, once again, an extremely popular politician, one who inspires all demographics, who has a strong ground game and is liked all along the political spectrum. He supports the marginalized, the working class, the poor, the young, old, students. He'll put an end to medical bankruptcy and pharmaceutical price gouging. Biden won't do this. Neither will Bloomberg. The Democrats would win with Sanders. Why don't they want to?
4
Biden is the one who should have dropped out. I don’t see him holding up well to the combined Trump, Putin, and GOP attack machine, especially after all the negative press about him and his son during the impeachment trial.
The best way to prevent Sanders from winning would have been for Biden, Klobuchar, and Buttigieg to back Elizabeth Warren, a true Democrats with an ability to lead, unite, and achieve meaningful legislative change.
1
I believed in Pete and respected Amy. I also thought Pete needed more national seasoning and that Amy, who channelled the Hillary of 2016 better than any other candidate, realized that she could also win if three million more votes broke her way in the Electoral College.
But I also believe and respected the idea that they should have let the voters decide, garnered what delegates they could, waited for the outcome and brokered their support of other, more viable candidates at the Convention (if that were indeed the case), also assuring that their views were represented in construction of the Party platform.
Hey, I was voting for Bernie anyway, but this just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Same 'ol politics. "Yeah. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
Who needs it?
Bernie and his followers were not so happy about 2016. Stack the deck against them again and I'd understand why they might want to bolt or Bernie run as a third party candidate. Either would result in the re-election of Trump. It's not a pretty scenario. I'm not on board with it and hope it won't happen.
It's a long way to November and the road is twisted and tortuous at every turn. Isn't there a better way to pick our leaders?
If what happened yesterday serves any purpose, it it to show the benefits of some system of ranked or run-off voting. Perhaps that's how we enable candidates - who make a huge promise to those who vote for them and finance their campaigns - to finish what they start.
3
My heart wanted to vote for Pete Buttigieg but my brain voted for Joe Biden.
The nation needs a calm and experienced team builder like Joe Biden. In South Carolina Biden received 3 times more votes than Bernie because of strong support from a critical group of voters - the African American community.
Bernie doesn't listen to anyone but himself. He's even managed to alienate Elizabeth Warren, the candidate closest to his policies. He lacks the personal skills to unite the party and bring in moderate independents, both of which are crucial to beat Trump.
4
Biden should have dropped out after his poor showing in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. He’s a weak candidate and unlikely to fare well against Trump.
2
I am as anti-Trump as a human being can be.
I understand the support within the Democratic Party for Sanders. His policy ideas resonate, and I agree with many of them. But, at the end of the day, I am a left-leaning centrist. And I am suffering badly from ‘combative rhetoric fatigue’. It (literally) makes me feel sick inside every single time I hear Sanders talk about taking down the Democratic establishment. After nearly four years of hateful, combative, anti-Democrat rhetoric from Trump, the absolute last thing I want to hear from a person running for the nomination from my party is how much they want to rid the party of people like me.
I will vote for Sanders if it comes to that. But looking at the comments here, I know this election will be the end of the Democratic Party, regardless of who gets the nomination. Maybe that will be good in the end. But, boy, I sure could use a little less anger and a great deal more stability right now.
4
We elected a "moderate" last time. How did that work out?
8
And sanders, the guy who lost by millions of votes to that moderate, is the logical alternative?
I'm originally from a socialist country Sanders praised (Argentina). My birth country is falling apart under the weight of incredibly punitive taxation, indiscriminate currency printing (something the US alone might be impervious to, given the US dollar is the World's floating currency) and the seemingly never-ending bloating of the State.
I'd be very alarmed if he were to win in 2020.
5
Nobody is happier, seeing Biden supposedly do well, than Trump!
Corporate elite Dems know people will stay home if Biden is the nominee, but they don’t mind that!!!
many young people will simply stay home! And the swing states will be gone!! Forget those working class whites Bernie might speak to with his economic policy proposals who only liked Trump for economic reasons!
Dem elites know people are so so so so tired of these old time machine politicians!!
It’s just that they don’t mind Trump because what really matters to them are their own wallets which have done well even in Trump’s era!!
So, they don’t mind Biden or any of their other corporate clowns because they’re just winning even with Trump!
With Bernie they fear he could actually win and change things, stop their corruption!!
7
The moderate wing of the Democratic party will deliver another defeat in Nov 2020.
The number one issue with all segments of the democratic base is healthcare. No one wants to hear about reviving Obamacare which has come apart like a cheap suit.
The moderates have disparaged Medicare for All with a great deal of dishonesty and fear-mongering. The facts are that it's entirely doable and at a substantial cost savings. So who's best interest are the moderates looking after ?
7
I get it; The Presidential election comes down to about 4 states holding the keys to the proverbial kingdom: The Electoral College. The DNC and Party officials (not Democratic voters) have tried and failed-and tried again (and failed) to distinguish themselves from Republicans- (Obama was an historical fluke). The Democratic Party has become the Old(er) Republican Party.
Walking backward keeps you looking in the past, but walking forward leads into the future: Corporate Democrats love walking in the middle of the road and all that gets- is run over.
3
Supporting Biden is business as usual and all those disaffected voters will now avoid the polls like the plague. Drumpf by default.
7
How can Democrat’s claim that Trump is destroying Democracy when they themselves just rigged an election?
6
"Ms. Klobuchar spoke briefly".....what? I thought she would never finish touting herself repeatedly and again, ending up on this high note of having grown up with an alcoholic father.
I know, my aversion is showing. I fervently hope Biden doesn't choose her as a VP if he wins the nomination. Her polling has been abysmal.
After Buttigieg dropped out now I'm back to trying to figure out which one of the septuagenarians to vote for on March 10.
Vote Blue No Matter Who.
2
Clearly the Democratic Party elite don’t mind Trump, because all they care about is their corporate interests which are doing well with Trump, too!
So, they don’t care about serving working people in places like Ohio, Wisconsin etc. They saw what happened last time with Hillary, yet they insist on the same path! Why?
Because they don’t mind whether or not Trump loses!!! They simply want to make sure their nice little system that favors their billionaires isn’t interrupted! People are tired of platitudes!
3
Let us pray that this isn't Hilary Clinton all over again, with the DNC trying to unite us behind a candidate whose day had past. The best lesson we got from that debacle was that staying home leads to disaster. That's how we got Donald Trump. I will vote for Biden if that's how it shakes out (and I cannot imagine that the DNC will have it any other way), but it won't make me happy.
3
I’m happy to see common sense folks rallying around Biden. After beating Trump in November, this means progress in healthcare access to all, expanded economic growth with sensible policies and free trade, and a healthy international environment with America re-engaging with Western Europe.
Go Biden 2020!
3
I would strongly suggest that you start hoping for a big push by Mike Bloomberg. Biden is a far weaker adversary for Trump than Hillary Clinton was.
If Biden's victory had been in a key swing state with a significant number of electoral college votes, he'd win Super Tuesday in a landslide. Voters are not stupid.
But South Carolina is not a swing state. It will be firmly in the Red column in November.
7
@The Poet McTeagle Yes, Biden may win the primary in all the southern states. But of course they will all vote Republican in November.
That's hardly a reason for the rest of us to vote for Biden.
2
I would have rather seen this happen on Wednesday, but I'm fine with it now. My top three primary choices are out - Booker, Buttigieg and Klobuchar - but any would make a great VP choice. I'd probably lean toward Pete, since we'll need our enlightened senators more than ever.
We must remember Job #1 AND Other Job #1: elect a Democratic president and Democratic congress. One without the other won't get the jobs done.
1
Moderate Democrats are running on fumes.Quitters throwing their support behind Biden apparently haven't listened to him speak recently.Unaware of person,place or time,he has problems completing a sentence much less the juice needed to best Trump.If anyone should quit the race its Bloomberg and he could immediately show his support for democracy by backing Sanders-if defeating Trump means more than money.
7
I like Joe Biden. My candidate is Elizabeth Warren because Biden has a vulnerability with the Burisma issue. It could be that Trump is holding a trump card of damaging press. I did not say evidence. I said press because that’s all you need to poison the well.
2
So, this is how Democrats are going to loose this time.
The one job DNC and the candidates that suspend their campaign had is to make sure that people still perceive the process to be fair. With these last minute suspension and endorsements, all DNC did is alienate Bernie faction. They could have waited till tomorrow and really get a sense of who is leading. This feels like conspiracy against Bernie.
I will vote for anyone that's not Trump. But I will not donate a single dollar to DNC ever!
As for Pete and Amy, their best hope is that Biden wins and gives them a decent role in his campaign. They set their ceiling with this move.
8
Please remind me of how it’s cheating for candidates to openly drop out and endorse somebody.
Because here’s one of the things that really annoys me about the Berniacs—not Bernie voters, the fanatics—like a certain President, you seem to think that, “fair,” means, “I get what I want, and right now.”
8
It’s not cheating. I don’t think Biden is going anywhere! Bernie is going to do a great job today!!! Biden unfortunately for him is going nowhere either way! If he were to be nominated, he’ll lose.
5
Pete and AMy made nice concessions, but this move appears too late to impact Super Tuesday results.
If emotional, physical, and intellectual health are important, Senator Elizabeth Warren will be our next president.
Senator Sanders, Biden, and Bloomberg can do so much to help the homeless, veterans, the working poor. There is a place for them, but it's not as president. They do not have the aforementioned strengths of Senator Warren.
4
@Meg Conway
Please explain to me how any candidate that cannot win a primary or caucus can be nominated for the presidency?
This is an exhibit of cognitive dissonance.
4
Bill Clinton didn’t break out of the pack until Super Tuesday. Hopefully voters realize Warren is the best choice for uniting the country, defeating Trump, and effecting the change needed to truly strengthen America.
1
Senator Klobuchar was my preferred candidate. I'm glad she's chosen reality over ego, and party unity/ eye on the prize (getting rid of Trump) over vague "principles" that will result in both an electoral college and popular vote victory for Trump (over Sanders).
4
It is critical that we beat Trump. I don’t believe Bernie can do that. Honestly, I don’t think Biden is the best candidate either. His official website is devoid of issues. Hopefully, however, he will build a good team and we Democrats need to unite. Now that Pete and Amy are on board, we can get some momentum going.
Trump is the biggest threat to the country and he must go. If Joe is the person to do it, I’m good with that.
7
Biden will be crushed by the Trump-Putin machine in November. Bernie will fail too because moderate and conservative Dems will either stay home or vote for Trump. This was an epic blunder.
November is all about Trump. There is no other issue, not free college, Medicare for all, none of that. It’s Trump and that’s all it is. That means we ALL put our petty, personal biases aside, dress in our adult clothes and vote for the democratic candidate, no matter who it turns out to be.
2
This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but with Biden.
7
@Skully
This is he way the thread ends. No with Biden but with TS Eliot
Well I suppose this was inevitable. Amy and Pete were never going to make it anyway; so get behind Biden and stop Sanders at all cost; eh?! I think Joe Biden is a fine man; and I read his book. He would be a 1000% better President than the low life currently infesting the White House. But I just have to shake my head at the fear and paranoid behavior by so many at the very thought of a "socialist" being the Democratic nominee. The home of the brave is quaking in it`s boots at the idea of Bernie Sanders as President. Your nation needs to be shaken out of it`s heartless capitalist military/ industrial complex; just as Eisenhower warned 60 years ago. I consider the depth of poverty, racism, and just plain inhumanity to millions of Americans by a savage system where people die of despair in one form or another in your streets every day to be the ultimate indictment of a society that truly is in one God awful swamp.
12
When the media said Sanders had momentum it was true but now when they say Biden has momentum it’s a lie. Funny how that works.
6
Who doesn't think the Trump campaign hasn't kept their powder dry waiting for the whites of Biden's eyes? Rudy Gulliani spent a lot time in Ukraine. Devin Nunes and his ilk are busy slicing, dicing and cooking up proverbial " fully baked loves of half truths" regarding Biden, his son and a moral equivalency regarding corruption allegations. Another way to name those tidbits? Voter suppression ( especially the youth) through apathy and confusion. When those half truths start churning out, we'll wonder if redefining Socialist Democratic in a 9 month timeframe was an easier goal than trying to define the differences between "kind of swampy" and the "swamp".
4
To all the idealists out there: this is how the craft of politics and governing works. It's messy and yet strategic. People come together on certain issues and disagree on others. Compromise is not a dirty word. As the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
3
It’s not easy to see the clever and obvious self interest by Buttgeiege and Klobachar!
Clearly the argument to persuade them was at least in part based on their ages!!!
It was a clear establishment play: promise the younger ones something!!
My bet is they’ve been promised a place in the queue next time!!! They’ve been told to either spoil it for Biden and surfer next time, or allow him the opportunity since they’re younger, and be stars next time!!! I think it’s quite obvious, but not exactly easy to see what’s really going on!!!
They’re not just supporting Biden suddenly cause they want Bernie to be defeated!! No!’ 1-they saw their chances were lesser. 2-they were then given a way out with the perfect excuse: “because we want to beat Bernie!!” 3-the carrot, they’ll be the stars of the queue next time!!!
It’s pure Democratic Party establishment backroom dealing at its best!!
8
I've never thought Biden has accomplished much in his long political career--doesn't seem terribly bright or forward-thinking. I had been an active Amy Klobuchar supporter, but switched to Bloomberg when it seemed she had no path forward. Bloomberg's record is astonishing in business, politics and philanthropy. I'm hoping others will see it the same way and vote Bloomberg today.
4
Bernie is the only one who is arguing for the real changes needed.
11
@Jim Anderson
It's obvious that a substantial number of people who label themselves democrats are either afraid, selfish, satisfied with their own economic and social position or lack the moral courage to undertake the changes needed.
If Trump wins it will be because America deserves Trump.
1
Why in the world is it unfair for Bernie if other candidates drop out and endorse who THEY believe has the best chance of winning . Everyone has that right . If Warren dropped out and endorsed Sanders , that’s her right too . Do you think that commenters would be crying foul in that case ? No , they’d welcome it .
Bernie supporters need to stop with the “ everyone is against us” routine and that it’s not fair . If it comes down to Bernie or Biden , how is that unfair ? It’s MORE fair because it gives each side an equal chance of winning with their own supporters.
Somehow Bernie fans feel entitled to bash every other candidate that doesn’t support Bernie and claim to be persecuted .
If your guy is so strong , then he will win the one on one if it comes down to Biden VS Bernie , so stop with the persecution complex .
6
I am now actually allowing myself to hope that we might be able to save our country from despotism. I can actually see some light on the horizon.
3
@Sfojeff
What you are seeing is four more years of Donald Trump.
1
I regret that Mayor Pete and Amy quit. The chancellor of Austria is 33, the president of France 42, while in this country men about twice that age are competing for the top job.
The leadership of this country looks more and more like a 1970s Kremlin lineup at the October Parade.
7
Moderates working together for the benefit of our nation is a positive result.
2
Moderates? Corporate candidates!! That’s their one uniting factor! They have no chance! Either Bernie will stop them, if the country will stop them at the general election!! They have no chance against Trump’s rhetoric!!! They make Trump “authentic!”
1
@John
Rock Hudson had a positive result too
I find it interesting that people say if you oppose Sanders it’s because you don’t want to lose your nest egg. That may be true with some people but it could also be that those people see Sanders ( representing the Democratic Party) as a child about to run in front of a moving train.
Think about it: if Sanders wins the White House he has no friends in Congress ( a well known fact) and will get nothing done because the Democrats will lose the House and not flip the Senate.
And that’s the best case scenario for Sanders as the nominee. The worse case scenario is the Democrats lose everything—the presidential election, the House, and the Senate. And this scenario is very likely.
But a moderate’s best case scenario is to win all three. And their worse case scenario? to lose the presidential election but keep the House and flip the Senate. A moderate would not lose all three.
To say that down ballot candidates in red states would have a hard time defending Sanders’s platform is a very rational argument.
Finally, the saddest part of all is if Sanders is the nominee and loses everything, he and his supporters will blame the DNC, Obama, the Establishment, the media and everyone else but themselves.
So maybe people oppose Sanders because they care more about beating Trump than they care about a revolution.
5
@Oliver
The problem is that the way that the Democratic Party is actively colluding to defeat Bernie is going to alienate a substantial number of his supporters.
Either Biden or Bloomberg is not going to win without those supports. A lot of people in America are tired of being dictated to by the DNC. What's being done now is going to cause long term damage to the party.
Actually that might be a good thing. Because right now as the DNC is currently constituted they are just a bunch of lackeys for corporate interests. In many ways there are no better than Republicans.
4
Dear Democratic Establishment-
Please get out of the way and let Sanders win the nomination and represent the Democratic Party in the presidential election. Let him have his revolution. And, yes, if he loses he will destroy everything but at least you can say you got out of the way and let him have his day.
6
It is not let him (Bernie) has his day.
It is let America finally have their day.
7
The entire corporate power elite is moving with all its assets, ideological, financial, in the media and the political structures, to crush the popular upsurge of the working class and deny the Socialist Sanders the nomination and, if he is nominated, the Presidency. Can the voters break the stranglehold this billionaire class has on our country? This is their chance . . . .
11
Joe Biden voted for NAFTA, he voted for the Iraq War, he voted for the punishing Bankruptcy bill of 2005, and he threw Anita Hill to the wolves during the confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas. The only kind of Democrat that can win against Trump is one that has the voting record of a real Democrat. When Donald Trump can run to the left of you on issues of war and trade, you WILL lose.
9
So Bernie is a leftist who America will never allow in the White House? What is leftist about having made $15.00 minimum wage a mainstream reality? What is leftist about making healthcare available and affordable for all? What is leftist about lifting the burden of student debt? What is leftist about bringing down education costs and even eliminating tuition fees? What is leftist about helping the neglected bottom tier of the population? What is leftist about fighting against taking money from the poor and giving tax breaks to the rich? What is leftist with having a plan to help the old and the young?
On paper leftist ideology is all about removing the rich and poor gap and making them equal. In reality the left elite amass huge fortunes for themselves and create a bigger and bigger divide between themselves and the masses. Aren't the 1% following this left's agenda?
Bernie is not talking about giving free money to the poor, he is talking about being fair to the poor. He is fighting for justice for the lower sections of society. He wants the government to be working for all not just for the 1%.
It looks like America is finally waking up to the fact that Bernie's agenda is far from leftist, it is the right agenda. The question is will the super delegates realize what harm they are doing to the Democratic party, to America and themselves by denying the reality of Bernie's incisive struggle to make America, America again?
14
Staying home is a vote for Trump. A vote for Trump means you can kiss your healthcare goodbye. And your freedom.
2
You got this 180 degrees wrong, NOT voting for Sanders you might kiss your healthcare goodbye!
This Democratic Leadership is NOT interested in your life, they are indebted to their wealthy donors in the same way Republicans are.
They are more interested in keeping their seats than in Universal Healthcare. More interested in their super delegates who will al all costs help them select a winner who represents them, not their ignorant voters.
So whom or what are you voting for,
a guaranteed Biden loss, the leadership’s hold on power or are you actually willing to vote for a better life for all Americans?
5
Biden has a political philosophy similar to Hillary, but he is a worse campaigner and has a terrible legislative history. He (along with Bloomberg) is also a poor debater; he probably would want to fight Trump. We can do better.
5
A note to Sanders supporters: This fight with Obama will not turn out well. You may as well kiss the black vote goodbye. And with that goes the votes you need in the general election. If you don’t make peace with Obama you won’t get your revolution.
5
@Oliver - The black vote? I’ve got two words for you; Anita Hill. Joe Biden’s abysmal behavior during Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing will haunt him.
4
@Jim
Where have you been? Black voters have buried that hatchet since the second primary debate.
2
@Oliver
If you won't make peace with Sanders voters you won't get your presidency, your Senate and your House.
What has been revealed during this election cycle is how totally putrid the entire American political establishment is and how little regard either party has for working class Americans.
1
I've started watching Krystal Ball lately, and I highly recommend the interview she and Saagar Enjeti did with "Useful Idiots" last week. They've made me realize that this is about keeping the money in the hands of the rich. They've convinced me that the DNC would rather have another 4 years of Trump than 4 years of Bernie. We really need to wake up and see that the party establishment is not working for the American people. It's working for their donors. Bernie has brought millions of young people into the Democratic party, and the DNC is willing to sacrifice their energy and youth for the sake of their donors in the health insurance industry. Forget party unity. This is class warfare. 99% of us would benefit from a Bernie presidency. Klobuchar, Beto, and Pete have sold out for the sake of their own careers. How can anyone be thinking more about his own career at this catastrophic moment in history? We have to support the candidate who will actually fight climate change. We have to support the candidate who will motivate new voters and non-voters to show up at the polls. Everything else is just noise. Stop listening to the likes of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. These people have betrayed us before and will betray us again. The Democratic Party stopped working for the American people decades ago. Let's reclaim the party of FDR. Let's vote for Bernie -- the actual frontrunner.
12
If we all VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO, Trump will be defeated. Period.
3
@Lisa S.
No we won't. Myself and millions of others will not vote for Bloomberg or Biden.
If these is the best that the DNC can do then we deserve another four years of Donald Trump.
Maybe then people will realize that a Democratic Party nominee that is a brought and paid for corporate lackey cannot be President of the United States.
1
Congratulations America! You’ve just won yourselves four more years of Trump!
5
Pete, you've finally done something to disappoint me. You once claim to have Progressive leanings. This does not look like it. What if Biden looses anyway?
Amy Knlobuchar? Republican-lite. She is a DINO: Democrat in name only.
6
Knives Out!
Saw the movie last night. Now witnessing it in real time.
So I have to choose among three old white guys. Are you kidding me? That’s the best this country can muster?
Spare us, oh Lord...
3
I chose to read the article and then only Reader Picks no. 1 and no. 2 plus a large sample of the 64 replies to avrds and the 32 To Progressive Voter.
Very likely almost everything I might say is said somewhere there so I close with these 3. With 1456 comments in print even this is an exercise in futility.
1) Warren becomes the perfect compromise candidate, the one I wanted from the beginning. Would Biden choose her as Vice President?
2) To Biden I say, no, no, no, no. I do not want to return to my college days - Brown 1953 - mid 20th century.
3) And this surprise from Sweden. No I am not leaving, so I have nothing to worry about unless a Trump 2d term wrecks the 21st century western Democracies. But in my Swedish Liberal newspaper, Dagens Nyheter Editorialist Gunner Jonsson, writes under headline "Now the Democrats Have a Chance to Get Rid of Left-Wing Populism by Voting"
FOR BIDEN!
I will follow the great Socrates and vote Democratic from afar, no matter what, even for Biden.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
3
What year is it, 2016?
1
Silly me, thinking I only had to worry about Republicans and Russians trying to sow discord in my party...
5
The top 4 remaining democrats’ combined age is over 300. Tulsi Gabbard (the fifth) is less than half the age of 3 of them (not combined.)
The operation "stop Bernie" has started.
5
Ok, so she's his VP. What post does Pete get?
1
@theresa
DNC money, backing and favors.
7
Amy clearly wants to VP slot. And he HAS to pick a woman, because, well, imagine if he didn’t!
But she needs to answer for railroading the Black kid into a life sentence for political gain, and for supporting fracking and mining interests in Minnesota.
3
Let’s just have a Biden/Sanders ticket, unite the party, get rid of the supreme tangerine and be done with it.
A vote for Joe Biden is 12 steps backwards. He lacks vision, passion, sincerity, and he frankly seems more than a little senile. America needs a big change, not a hazy trip down memory lane. It's Bernie or bust America!!! Joe is going to lose to Trump by far more the Hillary did.
10
I hear a lot of petulant Bernie supporters whining that they will stay home in November if it’s not Bernie. Go ahead. Just know that staying home is a vote for Trump, who will throw your healthcare in the trash and stomp on any freedoms you have left. Have fun living in a dictatorship. Whee!
2
The flawed math of the moderate democratic candidate as a winner is addressed in a recent Atlantic column, by Ibram X. Kendi—
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/other-swing-voter/604474/
and in an interview on “On the Media”—
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments
1
Biden or Bust 2020! No Bloomberg, no Bernie!
1
Biden is the "Hope for (no) Change" candidate.
Guiliani must be licking his chops, Barr will dusting off his Burisma 'investigation'.
5
FINALLY there is hope Trump WILL BE DEFEATED!
All that's left to seal the deal is for Bloomberg to bow out!!
Come on' Super Tuesday -- show Mike the door!!!
1
Wow, what a coincidence! There couldn't possibly have been a flurry of phone calls from scared-stiff DNC powerbrokers coordinating this little show from behind the scenes, could there? Tom Perez? Barack? Bill? Hillary? Nancy? Chuck? Anybody? Nah, must be a coincidence.
5
Patriots!
Get ready for a civil war in the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders vs The Democratic Establishment. That is to say Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, et al., vs The Bernie Sanders Revolution.
If you don’t believe me just go over to Twitter and read the story about Obama’s alleged phone call to Buttigieg. The Sanders people are furious. The progressives never liked Obama anyway and now they will have another reason to criticize him.
So we shall find out how big this revolution really is. Because if the Sanders supporters go up against Obama they can kiss the black vote goodbye, and that includes the black millennials. And without the support of African Americans the Democratic Party can’t win any presidential elections.
3
Now Warren, Bloomberg and Gabbard must drop out for the good of the party.
3
@Chris I - Gabbard is still in the race? That’s a serious question. She must be polling at less than one percent. Dropping out of the race at this point isn’t for party unity, it’s an acknowledgment of reality.
I'm confused. Did Buttigieg and Klobuchar endorse Biden for president or for the United States Senate?
4
Where do I sign up for a new third choice Progressive Party on November 3?
7
I am struck by how fake this show is! It’s simply an attempt to fool those democratic voters who can still be fooled that there’s “momentum” etc.
just the notion of “momentum” should give one pause! If you’re going to rely on sudden shows and momentum, it just shows you’re losing!!
Biden is going to lose to Bernie, which is perhaps what’s really going on!!! There’re trying to put on an act of “support” and “momentum” to somehow deny Bernie the nomination if he has mite delegates but not enough to win outright!
This is all corrupt and voters will see through it all either at the party level, or national level!
The Democratic Party must not let itself be used by these influential individuals campaigns to the detriment of the party and nation! Weak candidates however prominent they have been must be told they have to accept the will of the voters, or Trump will win again!!
6
Right now, the "will of the voters" is with Biden, who leads in the popular vote. That will likely change again after Super Tuesday because of California. The majority of Democrats have not voted for Bernie, but for other candidates. Warren will drop out and endorse Bernie. Is she not allowed to endorse him too, or will you be okay with that just because she's pro-Bernie? Is the Democratic Party not allowed to pick its own candidate? Bernie has warred against the party for years, and continues to do so. Why should the party allow itself to be hijacked by a candidate who divides the party, is not so far bringing out his much-vaunted turnout, just lost us Florida with his misguided remarks on Castro and AIPAC, and who the Repubs are rooting for because they think he can't beat Trump? Bernie agreed to the DNC rules, but now, as in 2016, he wants to change them because they aren't in his favor and he continues to spread disinformation that the Democratic establishment is somehow not playing fair and square. Let the process play out. If Bernie wins the majority of delegates and the popular vote, and the DNC still wants a brokered convention, then they will be going against the "will of the people". But voters and other candidates endorsing Biden is also the will of the people and part of a legitimate primary.
3
Bernie has revived millions of little donations from regular people. He doesn’t rely on a super pac and 60 billionaires!!!
2
Biden is the past, we know how well that works.
8
Sorry, I am still voting Sanders!
11
Sorry Sanders Bro’s, but there is no DNC, oligarch or affluent Democrat conspiracy behind the single-minded determination to deny Sanders the nomination, and instead select Biden. Anyone with any knowledge of American political history (Eugene Debs, Adlai Stevenson, George McGovern, etc., all admittedly great men), which unfortunately excludes too many Democrats living in a self-curated social media bubble, understand that Sanders’ baggage, dogmatic inflexibility and long-documented sympathies toward autocratic regimes (so long as they are leftist)(“let’s lose any chance of carrying Florida by holding a Castro love fest”), would spell doom in November. Grow up. This country has a maniac in the cockpit. Can we please first return to level flight? Then, let’s plot a course higher, which is what every Democrat dreams.
6
@Xanadu
Here's the deal. Biden gets the nomination.
But I can guarantee that Trump wins in November.
There. satisfied?
1
There likely were deals. Where are the investigative journalists? Deals … and self-dealing. What went down? It appears there was no attempt to discover what deals were cut. Amy resigns and grabs the next flight to meet Joe. Pete resigns just a hair prior to super-Tuesday... NYT should find out what went down. Did self-interest trump the public interest once again? After all we were intended to be self-governing.
7
Business as usual got US here.
5
Good for the moderates for recognizing that they need one candidate to win the nomination. Sanders is lucky if he can muster a third of the overall democratic nomination vote. Do we really want a nominee who only has support of a third of the party?
3
@John
Can you win the presidency without the support of a third of the party?
Think about that!
1
Sounds to me like another cook up by the Dem establishment to bolster Biden. Who knows what they promised Pete and Amy. Regardless, does anyone seriously think that Biden, at this stage in his life, is in a position, physically and mentally, to lead the country for 4 years? No way.
13
@Pat Leave it to Sanders supporters to act like moderates working together to improve our nation and prevent a Trump re-election is somehow cheating. Just because Sanders doesn’t work well with others doesn’t mean that collaboration is a bad thing. It’s not a conspiracy.
2
I am not a Sanders "supporter" per se, but I would not vote for Biden - as Gertrude Stein said, "there is no there there." Undermining Sanders opens the door much wider for Mike Bloomberg - and ultimately, for Donald Trump's reelection.
is this a dramatic turn? drama would be more like if they managed to stop hating each other and formed into a single candidate now known as klobiegieg
3
I wonder what the early voting was before the announcement? I hope that the party isn't being manipulated again by the old dog power brokers.
The surest way to re-elect DJT is to make young voters feel that the fix is in.
I'm a senior, and I have been feeling sick listening to the old dog democrats out in force since N.H. attacking what the young voters want.
The old dog democrats aren't the future. Sorry Coville and Clinton, your day pasted. (as did mine) let the future through.
8
The circular firing squad has been formed. Anyone else wonder about the timing and the similarities of withdrawals and endorsements? Rather transparent. Trump tweeted Feb 22 "Congratulations Bernie, & don't let them take it away from you!". And yesterday “They are stealing another election from Bernie!”
Why would Democratic Party establishment want to disaffect the passionate, young, energetic Bernie tribe?
4
@Zev In that case anyone who has their candidate not get nominated could be considered disaffected. Moderates working together is not a conspiracy.
I am very sorry Amy didn't make it. I think she was the best candidate and would make a great president. They did the ight thing for the party and America as I do not think Sanders/Warren can win a general election and this is the number one goal. I don't understand why they both were so unpopular with people of color, you really cant judge a person by one act or decision.
1
Watching Buttigieg with Biden was lovely. Meanwhile Trump is dishing corona and resurrecting Barisma. Bernie accuses the establishment of ganging up but it was actually stacked in favor of Bernie. Biden would have swamped Bernie if S Carolina were first and there were only a couple in the moderate lane. Loving whiny Bernie sour grapes. That crowd in Boston looked like a Les Mis set. Will this be the storming of the bastille?
3
No courage. Politics for the rich against everyone else. Shame on Pete & Amy for failing all people of the world. Circular firing squad.
5
Did anyone consider that the poor showing by Buttigieg and Klobuchar in South Carolina meant they couldn’t raise the money needed to continue, and that politics is deal making. The problem we have right now in government is that our representatives haven’t figured out how to compromise.
1
relying on former never trumpers will be a terrible idea. republicans vote for their tribe even if their candidate is a thug, as we have learned in 2016. the democratic candidate will only get elected in november if young voters, women, minorities and the independants who supported obama in 2008 and 2012 come together. in 2020 and 2021, affordable care is at stake. the trump supreme court may destroy it and what is left of women, minority, immigrant and gun safety.
1
The voters will not be fooled by these cynical maneuverings of corrupt establishment politicians desperate to retain their monopoly on power. These pols (& their media cheerleaders) don't grasp that the old, pro-corporate Democratic Party is finished. The young Sanders voters are not going to go back to voting for capitalist candidates. They understand that a Republican Party gone Fascist can only be defeated by a Democratic Party that is Socialist.
6
With Wall Street-Bloomberg and credit-card shill from Delaware, Biden rallying against Sanders the Dems are nakedly the party of Big Finance who are desperate to squash the voice of the poor and middle class.
4
Biden has suddenly become a statesman. This is the first time I have felt good about the chances of ending Trump’s reign of terror. Trump is certain to raise the issue of Ukraine, but his hate-filled ugliness and gross incompetence will not help him stay in office. Go Joe!
2
Of course they're interested in postions in a Biden administration. But they also know that Biden has a strong chance of winning and Bernie is a long shot.
Someone else has figured that out as well. Donald Trump. And that's the reason he had crazy Rudy cook up a scheme with thugs in Ukraine. Trump figures Bernie is a joke and he may even go easy on him, letting Bernie undermine himself.
3
I would like a president who will contain and punish Putin and his proxy states like North Korea, rather than write love letters and destroy private state notes taken between them.
1
These moderate Dems seem more motivated to beat Bernia than to beat Trump, a hideous irony considering much of the rhetoric about how Bernie somehow can't do that. Let the voters decide is the best road out here, rather than putting a big fat thumb greasy with corporate PAC contributions on the scale.
An Editors Pick commenter to Leonhardt's column noted the Trump isn't a very good debater.
As if Biden is?
Come on folks.
Then there's that age thing. Age is mostly a number, but once you've demonstrated you're almost the least sharp knife in the Democratic drawer, you're only giving Trump hope but propping up Biden. He's going to need a lot of that based on his less than mediocre performance so far.
Contrast that with Bernie's solid to winning debate record so far.
Seriously, you're worried about taking a chance on Bernie's politics when you should be very, very worried about whether Joe Biden can punch his way out of a paper bag?
Bernie has the fire in the belly. Biden has indigestion and a wish for a nice soft chair. Short of a brain transplant, I don't know what the Dems plan to do about that.
The Dems should be talking about unity at this point, rather than who's in position to stab Bernie in the back most effectively. It's THIS that will lose the election, not Bernie's politics, which are about as extreme as FDR's.
Moderate corporate Dems have been trying to hew as closely to the R agenda for so long, they have a hard time imaging their own agenda. Bernie is.
8
It probably shows their campaigns were fraudulent to start with. And it probably shows just how calculating and selfish they really are. To claim they’re doing it for the good of the country or party from a politician is probably a lie, their cash plugs were probably pulled by their worried “wine caves.” They’re now putting on acts of “solidarity” when all along they didn’t think Biden was good enough! Pure classic political calculation and hypocrisy!
And they probably also calculated that Biden will still lose, so they wanted to get out of the way before he loses, so they’re not called the cause!
I think democrats around the country are finally understanding the real opposition they face to policies to help working poor: their own political elite who are bought off! It’s so sad, because if they were to nominate Biden, he’s guaranteed to lose against Trump! Trump feeds off establishment politicians! Most Americans are so so tired of these name politicians who have mastered the art of talking so well and doing nothing!
Biden will NEVER be president of the United States, I can tell you that! Never!!
If he’s nominated, younger people and progressives will again stay home!!
5
"The press coverage is so biased against me and for my opponents because they're servants of the status quo!"
"The corrupt swamp creatures don't want me to win because they know I'll be their worst nightmare!"
"Its the little people who love me, and that's why I'm going to win!"
"I'm leading a populist movement to take this country away from globalists and make government work for the American people!"
Whose line is it anyway?
Trump's? Bernie's?
Flip a coin.
(Oh ... you still hadn't noticed how similar they are?)
4
Look, I get it. Some of you fellow Democrats just don't like Bernie Sanders personally. In a visceral way. I get that.
My mother (who is Jewish and nearly Bernie's age) can't stand Sanders. She voted for Warren in the primary (who has nearly identical policy positions).
For those of you Democrats who just don't like Sanders personally, here is what I suggest:
1. Think of him as a comedy sketch. Specifically Larry David doing Sanders on Saturday Night Live.
"I got two pairs of underwear. Two! I'm wearing one of them right now. And I rinsed the other one out, and it's drying on the radiator over there.
"Now these other fancy candidates. They've got like four of five pairs of underwear. I've got two!"
It's like Mel Brooks or Woody Allen. Classic Jewish American humor of that generation.
2. If that doesn't work, think of him as the Count from Sesame Street.
"And the one! The one percent. And the one tenth of the one percent!"
3. Then remember that he has to get anything he wants to do through Congress. That will moderate his proposals (if that worries you).
- But if you don't ask, you don't get.
- And if you ask for a full loaf of bread, you just might get a half a loaf.
- And if you ask for a slice of bread, you'll get no more than crumbs.
4. Finally, I am not as flippant as this post might seem. These public policy matters, and the November elections, are dead serious. But, as a lifelong Democrat, I would be happy to have Bernie Sanders leading the ticket this year.
9
I’ll vote for him if he’s the nominee. But four more years of an old man yelling at me is not a great selling point.
2
It’s a mistake to think that Biden will help the Dems carry the Senate. Few people are excited to vote for him, and his rallies are sparsely populated. Besides that, the guy is practically senile.
If the party can’t embrace Bernie, the more decent thing to do would have been to ask Biden to step out to help Buttigieg.
4
Biden will be an embarrassment to the Democrats and he'll have trouble getting the support of many of Sander's people. Trump will win!
8
If there is a committee, arguing over what they want for dinner, they will eventually end up with meat loaf – the compromise dish that only nourishes but does not satisfy.
Ladies and Gentlemen (and whoever else):
I give you Joe Meatloaf!
4
In November, whether it's Sanders, Warren, Biden, or Bloomberg, vote for that person.
You know quite well a Saners win will not result in socialism. You know quite well universal health care and free education might get put on the table which is a good start but a long, long way from becoming the law of the land.
You know quite well that a Warren presidency will look like a Sanders presidency without the false flag of "socialism" misleadingly attached to it.
You know quite well that a Biden win means the resurrection of the worn out status quo politics of the last 75 years that Trump interrupted with his fascist crusade and we know quite well that the old status quo is better than fascism, if not by much.
You (and I) might not know what the future holds if Bloomberg makes it but we do know the vile rhetoric and non-stop personal and national narcissism of the Trump administration will be neutralized.
So, even if you have to hold your nose, vote for the one who makes it to the top. Please vote. Please vote!
4
I really don't understand Biden voters, you want this country to go back to how it was?
I'm looking for the future, not the past. Keep your Rose-Tinted glasses to yourself.
5
Thank you, Amy & Pete
Well, reality had to intrude sometime.
It will take a pack of hyenas to bring down the lone gazelle. Go Bernie!
2
When you go to fact check sites you are surprised at how much stuff Bernie says gets a "False" rating, and it is big stuff.
Yet, somehow his supporters think he is honest
Not even close
Then when you look-up the 2016 primary results you see that Hillary won by a HUGE margin- so why do Bernie's supporters think there is even any room for a conspiracy as Sander's claims or that he was cheated?
It was a massive win, no room for doubt
At every turn, if one actually simply bothers to look, evidence of his lies hits you squarely in the face - everywhere
So why do so many believe this flim-flam man?
The only answer I can come up with is that they either don't care that it is all lies - like Trump supporters do not care - or Russian propaganda is really really effective
Go to Politfact and simply type in his name and you will find he lied about the "new study" that supposedly claims his M4A plan won't cost as much. He lied about Joe Biden supporting cutting SS...it goes on and on..
There is a reason he did not get endorsements - he is dishonest, attacks Dems, and engages in wild conspiracy theories - just like Trump does
In fact, he even came up with a conspiracy as to why he did not get endorsements- "corporations" undermining the "working people"
Yet, it is the Dems who have passed all leg we have today for the working class and all the social welfare programs.
It makes no sense. Doesn't anyone care about the truth anymore - are they happy being lied to?
2
The headline of my New York Times Newspaper reads:
"Rivals Swiftly Back Biden in a Push to Stop Sanders."
I am so SICK of the news media - including the NY Times - of doing Bernie Sanders' dirty work by accusing moderate Democrats of "trying to stop" his candidacy.
EVERY candidate is trying to stop the other candidate from winning. Hello???
Moderates dropping out and endorsing other moderates does not mean they are out to GET Bernie. It means they're combining forces to form a diverse coalition they believe can WIN in November. What's wrong with that?
Bernie may blame the Democratic Party for his inability to expand his voter base, but his divisive "my way or the highway" approach to politics is the reason so many Democrats - including me - do not support him.
Please do not provide an assist to the Bernie Sanders grievance tour.
5
Biden won't beat Trump but Sanders will. Sanders, agree with them or not, has distinctive strong policies and Biden is a "nice guy" dependant on endorsed interests but he can never "drain the swamp" for the people. Biden and Trump will make their battle personal. Trump wins.
Biden, trailing badly, came back from the dead in S.C. and then the $ started to roll in but then you look at the donors to each candidate. Why donate to Biden after S.C. and not after Iowa, if you think he is the best man for the job. Beats Me! If unity is the goal, why not look for consistency in votes, instead of the extremes of Iowa and S.C.
Sanders will stick to the policy issues and Trump with his record to date won't be able to keep up. Sanders wins.
The Dem Party by backing Biden are refusing to accept the voice of the people and "maintaining the swamp" If Sanders wins on Super Tuesday, where does that leave them.
In my humble view it seems to be a case of go with the Status quo or in an ever changing Technological World where job re-training, Education and Health will be the main issues, not to mention Climate change, then Sanders is best suited with his policies. Imagine Trump in a debate about Climate change. Sanders can "drain the swamp" and has the courage of his convictions.
Politics being Politics will restrict the implementation of some of his policies in full but he can give, the now, diverse communities, a future to look forward to in a United States. Stick to the policies!!!!
5
Bernie represents what the Democratic Party stood for before it sold out to corporate interests. Bernie is our only chance to beat Trump, Look at the polls people! Trump is even on record saying he doesn’t want to run against Bernie. Bernie has what Trump and Biden can only dream of: INTEGRITY. (Biden is on video in the floor of congress boasting about his relentless efforts to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Now he’s saying he’s a champion for them? Or fibbing about being arrested fighting Apartied in South Africa? (When Bernie actually was being arrested fighting systemic racism here)). Biden would have just as much success against Trump as Hillary did.
Bernie’s supporters are vocal because his platform is EXCITING! Biden and Buttigieg get boo’d by progressives because they are selling the same neo-liberal do-nothing-democrat platform we’ve had for the past ? Years.
Hello people! The world is burning. The oceans are rising. College is more of a financial burden than a gateway to opportunity. 3 super rich people own more wealth than the bottom half of all Americans. Here in the wealthiest nation on earth 500,000 people are sleeping on the street tonight, including 30,000 veterans. Crippling medical debt is rampant.
Our problems are real. Let’s elect someone with the guts to take them on.
Or,
Which candidate talks about love being an essential part of their platform? Bernie. Feel the love.
5
They were told to drop out and endorse the other Biden.
The best two candidates are now out of the race. The whine that Buttigieg couldn't get African-American votes would have been blunted by picking Stacy Abrams as his running mate, and Klobuchar would have selected Cory Booker. They would have both destroyed Trump in a debate. I fear the opposite will happen with a fumbling Biden.
3
The path to a second term for Trump is looking clearer and clearer.
1
Sanders:
-great organization
-courageous platform (especially M4A and the environment)
-vague on details
-simplified understanding of the market's role in wealth and job creation
-little baggage (beyond the "Socialist" bogeyman)
-muddled on immigration
Biden:
-a "common touch"
-experience in the WH
-baggage (e.g., drunk driver story, embellished academic résumé, plagiarized Neil Kinnock speech, Fred Upton, etc.)
-forgetfulness
-will protect the wealthy
-vague policies and detail
Bloomberg:
-solid on the environment
-solid managerial record (NYC and corporate)
-baggage (e.g., NDAs, stop-and-frisk)
-poor debater
-will protect the wealthy
-tone-deaf and/or condescending to working people, non-whites, women and Middle America
Warren:
-courageous platform; detailed and planned (M4A, taxation, education, etc.)
-core principles/policy AND flexibility that doesn't compromise that core
-practical ideas to make governmental and economic processes fairer and more effective
-strong debater: command of facts would eviscerate Trump in a campaign (whether or not Trump participates in a formal debate)
-little baggage
-muddled on immigration
Given the alternatives, Warren is the Democrats' best path to the WH and majorities in Congress.
3
The last time the “Anyone But Bernie” campaign ran, they gave us Donald Trump. Do any Democrats really think that was a good outcome?
3
DNC in March: “We can’t nominate Sanders! Trump will beat him by fear mongering about socialism!”
November: Trump beats Biden by fear mongering about socialism.
It’s almost like they don’t really understand politics. They are familiar with Republican tactics, right? They do understand that the Dem candidate will be outrageously smeared no matter what, right?
4
For those that complain that this is another example of the DNC bending the will of the people, just remember that after all, it’s a party, and they don’t have to invite everyone to compete.
To that point, I’ve always been surprised that the major parties just let anyone put an R or a D next to their name. Then they are surprised when someone like Trump hijacks an entire party and makes them his cult worshippers.
1
@Not us. Me..."The poor have no other choice than to vote red if they want to avoid further relegation and demotion." Are you poor? Do you speak for the poor? And honestly, do you really believe that "tax cuts to the rich" is why poor folk should vote Red?
Biden would get absolutely destroyed by Trump in a debate. It’s all too easy to see him getting flustered and bumbling over his words while Trump delivers one belly shot after another.
This is Bernie’s moment. He has the momentum, character, moral compass and mental wherewithal to take down Trump.
3
Let's say you're driving a car. Your intended destination is directly in front of you. Then, someone yanks the wheel far to the right. So, you straighten out so you are no longer turning aggressively to the right. Are you still pointed at your destination?
NO!
If you want to corrrect your course, you turn the stupid wheel left for a bit, and only THEN will you reach the center.
We don't need Biden. We didn't need Klobuchar or Pete. We need a course correction. To use Warren's please, we need "Big structural change!" Half-measures and beginning with compromise won't do.
In my opinion, Bernie has the track record and consistency to correct our course. I like Warren as well, but Bernie has the charisma and enthusiasm to beat Trump. He won't be in power or even alive enough to make us a socialist nation, and I don't even think he wants to. But we need him and a strong people-first, profits second movement to pull us back from the edge of fascism. I wish that were exaggeration, but with this current Republican cult of personality, it really isn't a joke anymore.
Pull left, America!
5
One presumes that those Sanders supporters who say they won't vote if he is not the nominee are more comfortable with the racist and sexist behavor of Mr Trump than the rest of us.
1
Ms. Klobuchar said on the call that she had to consider “what is best for our country right now,” explaining that had led her to support Mr. Biden.
Stay --- real --- focused --- now.
We --- all of us --- no one --- can stay home from voting for the Democratic nominee in November.
Let's not be stupid.
Trump --- must --- be defeated.
No one can stay home.
We must --- restore “decency and dignity” to the presidency.
3
Ah, the sound of the calcified Democratic establishment shouting, "We're still relevant!"
No, you're not. Good riddance.The people of America who have been fooled too many times are on the move. Here we come.
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGymiFlyl0E
Here recently is Biden in South Carolina, stating that he is running for Senate. Yes, Senate. The man is not well. He will not be able to stand up to the demands of the campaign, much less a televised debate with President Trump. This has been a ghastly miscalculation by the Democratic National Committee--unless for some reason the DNC actually wishes the re-election of Trump.
5
Well, there goes the big lie that Amy and Pete were “progressive.”
By endorsing the Democratic establishment they betray their true anti-working class agendas.
Sanders is riding a wave of popularity, so naturally conservative Democrats are throwing their weight behind a born loser like Biden.
They would rather see Trump win than back improvement in the lives of working people.
Hello, 2016. Goodbye, America.
4
Guess if Republicans could vote into office a senile puppet Reagan, with a CIA/MIC Bush to prop him up...So can the Dems.
If anyone bothers to view video from 8yrs ago, to 4yrs. to now of Biden, they'd see a sundowning old man. Honestly this is elder abuse. Joe is simply being propped up with Corp., establishment monies as a place holder for policy's by and for the .001%.
Status Quo Joe is going to look and sound befuddled on a debate stage with Trump.
At least Sanders can still string coherent sentences together without making up events that never happened, getting events mangled blending people and places, much less drifting off and losing place as he talks as Joe is want to do often.
I'll gladly cast my vote upon a Man of the People. One who's history has been on the correct side 99% of the time. A candidate that isn't bought 'n paid. Much less sells out just to make a deal.
Bernie's got my vote.
Get 'em Bern~!
Change is NOW~!
4
Think what a different world it would be if those who weren't crazy about Al Gore and then proceeded to sit home or waste their vote on Nader. And those just four years ago wasted their vote on Jill Stein. I'm sure that those voters have not been happy at the endless wars in the Middle East and the Supreme Court choices. Hopefully, they will take the long view and think of the world that Trump is creating for their children.
3
I’ve re-read the article. I’ve read many comments. I find Biden totally uninspiring, vulnerable, without an agenda, without passion, and two generations ago politics. His only argument is he can beat Trump. Huh? And I still can’t forgive the Anita Hill sellout. I’m a progressive and support Sanders. But the establishment won’t let that happen. They will also suppress Warren. She is too dangerous for the money crowd. Warts and all I will actively support Bloomberg who can bring this country forward.
4
Ms. Klobuchar's ads ran well in prime time tonight in the Raleigh market, long after she had announced she had withdrawn.
1
Race between Buttigieg and Klobuchar for VP seems to be behind this race to endorse Biden.
I like Biden, but he is a weak candidate and Bernie is going to tear him apart on trade, Iraq, expanding healthcare and his bipartisan Washington DC record.
"Dramatic Turn." Oh please headline writers. You're not writing for an ignorant audience.
How about: "In an expected move...those dropping out gave their endorsement to Joe Biden."
This is all about strategy and expectations of being part of a Biden administration: "Centrists United."
One-would-think, after 40 years of Reagan, Bush, (Clinton copying Reagan's austerity) Bush and Obama (hamstrung by the GOP and his own pragmatism), Americans would cry out for something else.
They are- but the power brokers refuse to listen. I've lived under 12 presidents- and still waiting.
2
How in the world is this a 'dramatic turn'? This is the most predictable move these two establishment neoliberal democrats could have made. Sanders on the other hand is the true leader, and it looks like he is going to have to keep showing (including the 'analysts' of this piece) by word and deed that he is the true standard-bearer of genuine democratic (big D and small d) values. What all those who support the likes of Biden and Klobuchar and Buttigieg fail to acknowledge is that the last time one of their like -- Hillary Clinton -- waged a campaign, with all the backing of the DNC (who did all in its power to stand in Sanders' way), they....LOST. They lost! Sanders could've won last time, and he'll win this time, because he cares about everyday people in the way that 'establishment liberals' (really conservatives in sheep's clothing) never can or care to.
3
Joe is the only one who can defeat Don. If Donald Trump don't have Presidential Protection on January 20, 2021, Feds at SDNY will put Trump with Michael Cohen, who is serving time in JAIL in Campaign Finance Violation of 2016 Presidential Election.
The DNC doesn't just want to "lose" to Trump, they want to destroy what passes for the left at the same time.
The last charge of the Boomer Brigade.
Riding in the face of Corona.
The retirement age is 66 in the USA, 67 in my country. This should be true for presidents, government officials and cabinet members, as well.
But well, with all candidates over 70, Corona will make this campaign a Russian Roulette game.
2
They didn't endorse Biden, they just effectively endorsed Trump. The DNC is a train wreck. Worse, one spilling toxic chemicals and fumes from the wreckage.
2
Bernie or Bust supporters are to the left what MAGA hat voters are to Trump, radical, loud, but not the majority. Joe Biden is the safest bet to beat Trump. Let's rally around Biden.
2
People who call themselves Democrats are getting all bent out of shape and claiming the DNC has ‘engineered’ Klobuchar’s and Buttigieg’s support for Biden to save the ‘neoliberal elite’. Well, folks, the Democratic Party has a big tent. Of course the DNC wants to save themselves – and all of us. If Sanders’ supporters claim foul and stay home rather than Vote Blue Bo Matter a Who, then they’re just showing themselves to be Republican light – or worse, the 180-degree opposite of the Trump party. Keep your eyes on the prize.
4
Aren't we forgetting about Mike Bloomberg? For the first time Bloomberg's name is going to appear on ballots in 14 states. Let's see how this plays out.
2
I'd certainly vote for him - and I'm a centrist Republican (fiscal conservative/social liberal). There are an awful lot of us out here, you know. He should have run against Trump in 2016 in the Republican race, but better late than never.
Apparently, the party “leadership” learned nothing in 2016.
The betrayal of progressive voices is a really, really bad idea.
2
Time for Warren to drop out.
Also Senate Republicans plan first supeonas in Burisma Biden Probe - Wash. Post 3/2/2020.
The Ukranians gave the Bidens $3.1 million. What were the Ukranians expecting and did the Bidens provide it? The testimony should be interesting.
1
Wonderful news. The stock market will go on a tear. I am going to stock up on more Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. We are going to have to do a lot more in Ukraine and on the Russian border to face Russia there instead of waiting to face Russia here.
What is it about Sander's supporters who seem to be members of a cult?
Really, they are so incredibly hostile. I volunteered 4 days of labor and $500 of my own money to canvas in NV and serve as a precinct captain. Many (not all!) of Bernie supporters seem to me to be as militant and hateful as Trump's minions. There no difference between Bernie and Trump! I was shocked as there was such unity and community between the rest of us volunteers for all candidates, including Warren.I gave the Pete rep from NC working in NV a suggestion... But the Sander's volunteers were, for the most part, despicable, full of entitlement and anger. Other volunteers, such as those for Steyer, Buttigeg, Biden, Warren, etc. talked about being willing to continue to volunteer for whoever the Dem Candidate ended up being, except, no Dem candidate volunteers were willing to help Bernie!That shd speak volumes!
10
@Dolly Patterson
I agree. Many of my colleagues are from Indivisible and many are Sanders supporters; they are the nicest most engaging people.
But a lot of the Sanders supporters are just what you described, and have made people cry at meetings. They are so mean and condescending and, yes, they don’t see it but you can’t tell them apart from MAGA hats.
3
The fix is in. Don’t worry about the Russians, worry about the DNC. I had hoped for an honest choice but it’s the same old oppression.
3
@Ywhynot, - Oppression? Good lord, it’s an election, where people drop out and endorse other candidates. And it’s all happening out in the open. Relax, and vote your conscience.
Your comment confirms that the line between Bernie and Trump is thinner than most realize. Both share that the system is rigged against them. It’s more likely that most of us don’t want extremists.
Last I'd heard- Bernie wasn't even a Democrat, so what's all this hand wringing about anyway? DNC may or may not have had a hand in these early retirements , we will never know.
Be it Bernie , Liz or Joe, just vote !
3
@ Max
What about Mike?
2
Is anyone going to investigate what the deal behind the scenes is with Klobuchar and Buttigieg? No doubt the Democratic establishment has nudged them into submission. Which position or legislation did these candidates buy with this strategic exit?
2
No deal. This is pure politics. It’s how the game works. Last I heard these people are politicians.
Biden is a week leader. Sanders is a strong leader. He has built a strong campaign. Klobuchar was booed off the stage yesterday in St Louis Park Minnesota. Go Burn!
1
The Democratic leadership's heavy-handed approach to primaries continues to fail. The neoliberals who control the party and whose foremost concern is their own welfare will get it wrong again. The stain of the DLC, where we ignore the real constituents of the Democratic Party--blue-collar, working-class and people of color. The inept Biden, who just this week lied about getting arrested, erred when he said he was running for Senate, not President and who had a unfortunate meltdown on camera in mid speech, is touted as the best hope. Not a chance. Trump will eat him for lunch. Trump will go after his kids, his brother, his plagiarism, his lies and his incompetence. Anita Hill anyone? And then there's the coup de grace. Millennials will stay home. Trumps' army will vote in lockstep. And then more SCOTUS appointees. Roe will be o0verturned and the judiciary will be right-wing in this country for the next 50 years. This is 2016b all over again and Biden is no HRC. He has none of her intelligence and none of her political skills. SMH.
3
A Biden administration would accomplish nothing. He’s not inspiring enough to have long coattails down ticket. And it’s a pathetic pipe dream that Republicans will work with him somehow. If he reaches across the aisle, he’ll soon be missing a few fingers. Republicans have already long since begun demonizing him over Hunter and Ukraine and the touchy feely thing. Unite the country? Please.
4
I am a life-long liberal democrat and the last guy I would vote for is Joe Biden:
1. He failed to prevent his son from taking a $50,000/month do nothing Directorship with a Ukrainian energy company. His ethics are questionable. If nominated, we will hear the same old refrain “Lock him up”, “Lock him up”. When Trump attacks him about his ethics, his response will ring hollow because there is no good justification for what he did not do.
2. He has shown confusion when responding to question in the debate. In the last debate he got completely confused in what he was saying. Regarding the last question, he stopped talking. He covered it up by saying: Why am I stopping no one else does? A NY Times columnist has called him verbally incontinent .
3. He has no Progressive Agenda. The Affordable Care Act of President Obama simply is not affordable for someone who earns just enough money to not get a subsidy. What will he do if the Supreme Court declares the ACA unconstitutional?
4. His vote for the war in Iraq will destroy him as it did with Jeb Bush.
5. He will lose to Donald Trump.
6
The question......
Which future powerful position was offered for support?
2
"It was no coincidence that the two bitter foes endorsed Mr. Biden at separate events."
That was a huge lost opportunity. To have Buttigieg, Klobuchar and O'Rourke together on stage with Joe Biden would have been huge. I'm not sure why so many other past rivalries were set aside for the night, but not that between Buttigieg and Klobuchar.
Three also-rans endorsing a weak candidate at a photo op is not "huge".
I hope that these fishy endorsements finish waking people up and bring out even more voters to defeat the establishment once and for all... it seems they are feeling the Bern!
I hope for the sake of my future grandchildren, that Bernie wins and brings some sanity and humanity to the American project.
2
Here we go. 2016; 2.0.
Bash Bernie and give Biden the “win.”
Have Dems learned nothing from their progressive kin?
The country’s changing; old patterns fading
Yet moderates wade in self- pity,
shaming the young
for wanting something not so far-flung;
a future that can bear their hopes,
as yet, unsung.
Put a moderate in?
Might as well give Trump the win.
Dear God, please not again...
1
Hunter Biden is a huge problem with a Joe Biden as nominee. If he is the nominee Hunter will all we will hear from the president and Republican Party.
4
@William - well then all they should hear about is the naked corruption of Don, Eric, Ivanka, and Jared.
2
@Jim agree
If Biden takes the lead, Bloomberg will need to drop out.
His only chance of winning the nomination is in the role of white knight saving the Party from Sanders.
1
Buttigieg and Klobuchar are vying to be on the Biden ticket as his VP. Who would the VP be on Sanders socialist candidacy?
Anyone who believes Biden is a Democrat is mistaken. He is a watered down Republican. Any Democrat option is better than Biden. He is losing his grip and only has the past to cling to.
3
Oh, well, Sanders should just state right now that if he is not a Democratic nominee he will run as an independent candidate. That silliness must end.
1
Biden’s former opponents thought he was a “spent force” and there’s really not much reason to believe they’ve changed their minds. But desperation in the face of impending disaster sets a low bar.
1
How can candidates (Kloabuchar & Buttigeg) in the same party, team up to attempt to cast aspersions on another candidate Sanders, because they don't agree with his policies and practices. This is amazing arrogance. They assume they know what is good for the country. They have no idea what a Sanders Presidency will do, other than their ingrained,rigid and old fashion fantasies.
They couldn't even get 1,000 people to show up at the Dallas rally. Compare that to Bernie and Trump. Sleepy Joe will be a terrible candidate.
3
Our part time Senator may now return to Washington and attempt to whittle down her high absentee voting record on the Senate floor.
1
Sanders supporters: Why all this moping? It was going to come down to this sooner or later. This is a gift! It is better to give voters a choice now than to cede that choice to a slew of under card candidates, and superdelegates, at the convention. Some former Buttigieg supporters and undecided voters will move to Bernie or Elizabeth Warren, or maybe even Tulsi Gabbard (!). If they thought Biden was The Guy, they would've made that sentiment known months ago.
We Progressives have some work to do. Alexandria, Rashida, Ilhan, Cornel, Michael (Moore): Your country needs you!
2
Biden could barely muster verbal sparing with fellow Democrats and 45 will crush him, just like he crushed Clinton.
Biden believes there is good faith in the GOP - that is delusional after 8 years of the Obama Presidency.
Biden is a corporatist who did nothing to help the middle-class and labor, just like the rest of the Democratic Party. They like their corporate money which is the reason they don't like Sanders.
1
The Dem establishment does not seem to understand that the dominant mood of the electorate is anger. Anger that there is one law for the rich, another for the poor. Anger that the banksters got off scot free after 2008. Anger at how the corporate kleptos are ripping off the average person. The only difference is how that anger is expressed.
Angry, low information, low IQ voter = Trump
Angry, high information, high IQ voter = Sanders/Warren
The only people who are not angry are the well to do cultural liberals -- the comfortable and well-fed democrats, who are mostly OK with the status quo. This is same pro-Hillary crowd, which is going to lose once again, and also going to take the Sanders/Warren wing of the party down with it.
2
Nothing that begins with anger can have a good outcome. When emotions take over, there is no low or high IQ. Don’t fool yourself into justifying Bernie’s anger with rationalization.
2
Good! My only wish is that so many people hadn't already voted which might dull the immediate effective of this. I hope they travel he country stumping for Biden. Bernie absolutely would be a disaster for the party. There is a reason the Russians supported him in the primary and 2016 and are doing so in 2020. They know that a Bernie victory is good for Trump.
2
I fear that all Trump will be talking about is the Biden corruption in Ukraine and the impeachment hoax if Biden is the Democratic candidate. This is already accepted as fact by the Trump Party and their base that does not belong to the 1%. This will be worse than Hilary and the emails.
2
The only thing that will slow Sanders in another heart attack. Wall St will be working on that if they have to.
1
Where is the reporting on warren? Eve of Super Tuesday and not one mention of Senator Warren visible on the ENTIRE front page of the mobile site. She’s one of 4 candidates left, why still ignore her?
Seriously check it out.
# of mentions:
Sanders: 5
Biden: 5
Bloomberg: 1
Buttigieg: 2
Klobuchar: 2
O’rourke: 1
Warren: 0
1
Wow - who is advising the Democratic establishment? Trump will trounce Biden with the dirt on his son and his ties to Obama. Bernie or Bloomberg are the only ones that stand a fighting chance.
5
I would narrow that to Bloomberg.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar might as well be endorsing Hillary Clinton. A throwback to someone who voted for the Iraq War (merely the most shameful foreign policy disaster of American history), and who has steadfastly supported America's financial overlords at Goldman Sachs, MBNA, etc.
Doesn't matter. Bernie will prevail in the primaries, and in the general. The era of "Republican Lite" Dems is over.
5
The status quo has killed the middle class and is actively killing our planet- our only home. I'm supposed to be excited about that because Amy and Mayor Pete jumped on board with it?
Am I supposed to feel warm inside about the potential that the only political choices we're "allowed" to have in this country might end up being between extreme, fascist right, and corporate, center right?
Am I supposed to be excited about the insurance industry continuing to kill thousands of innocent Americans every year for profit?
This isn't over, and I'm not meekly falling in line. I know cheap politics when I see it. I have a vote coming up, and it will be for Bernie Sanders. Period.
2
Bernie all the way. Joe represents the same interests as Trump, so he won't have a chance of beating Trump.
2
I must take exception to the insensitive response which depicted Vice President Biden's speaking cadence as 'stumbling and bumbling'. Vice President Biden has had a speech impediment since childhood.
4
I don't understand why Biden so often is called a "moderate". His vote in 2002 to authorize military action in Iraq was the epitome of recklessness and disqualifies him for the presidency per se.
3
Great! Now all the nominees from both parties are in the high risk group.
1
I just watched tonight’s CNN interview with Bloomberg. He was wonderful and would be an amazing President. Vote for Mike.
3
The White House Occupant is gleefully counting on all this Democratic in-fighting, whatever the reasons my be.
If you sit out the vote just because your personal preference was not chosen, then we will have Trump for another four years!
Brilliant. The party is so petrified of Sanders that they are coalescing around Biden who is a very weak candidate and basically is Clinton part 2. Having seen multiple interviews and speeches I am also genuinely worried that Biden is not completely compos mentis. The DNC is making decisions based on outdated assumptions and should pay more attention to what their rivals are saying. Bannon and others have said that they will hammer him over his links to China, Ukraine and his son and link him (unproven) to corruption. Even Bannon said n 2016 that the person they feared most was Bernie as it would have been national populism (Trump) vs Socialist Populism (Sanders) in a age when a status quo candidate will fail. This is another DNC stitch up that will lead to the same outcome that we saw in 2016.
3
It seems a lot of y'all are having real trouble wrapping your heads around Biden as the nominee. Or in a very unlikely scenario, Bloomberg.
Would it help to imagine their picks for the Supreme Court vs Trump's?
Seriously. How can you not see the difference and the danger. Again. Really.
2
There seem to be many people on the left who are threatening to boycott the election if Sanders is not nominated, even if he doesn't have a majority of the votes. I find that attitude deplorable. There also seem to be many moderates who are threatening to boycott the election if Sanders is nominated, even if he has a majority of the votes. I find that attitude equally deplorable.
This election is not about Democratic purity or excess. It is about getting Trump out of office. No decent person, center or left, should be willing to tolerate further his disregard of the environment, his cruelty to immigrants and the poor, his racism and divisiveness, and the damage he is doing to our democracy. There will be plenty of time to hash out the finer points of incrementalism versus structural change, of liberalism versus democratic socialism, once he is gone. Make your arguments, do your campaigning, then whatever the result, show up in November to vote Trump out of office.
3
I'm afraid the Democratic establishment is more concerned with its grip on the Party than the welfare of the nation, a pale echo of the treasonous GOP. Joe Biden, a political zombie with no answers for the 21st century, a throwback to Clinton-era neoliberalism of abandoning abandoning working people for Silicon Valley and Wall Street - just what helped bring about Trump in the first place. The Orange and his propaganda team will mop the floor with Joe, while Sanders would be totally immune to that spiel. The party of Adlai Stevenson, grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory once again. Blech...
2
Wonder who Mother Nature will endorse?
Welcome to 2016 redux. Sanders battling a popular-but- flawed, long-serving, centrist, party hierarchy-favored candidate down to the wire, rending the progressives. Trump, stage right, licking his chops. Can this possibly be happening - again? Can the nation survive it - twice?
1
A friend who is voting for Biden in CA put it this way:
We’re not going to get a “twofer.”
A twofer would be getting rid of Trump & seeing real, positive change.
All we can hope for, he said, is to restore baseline civility, decorum, decency & the status quo.
I know what he means.
But holding out hope for more, I voted for Warren.
1
Disgustingly blatant opportunism on the personal level and slavish submission to the corporate wing of the DNC. Sad thing is it will probably work. Warren staying in serves the same end by siphoning off some of the progressive vote. They are all on the same page. The idea is to make Biden viable by pushing him over the 15% threshold in key states in order to steal the nomination at the convention from the candidate with the plurality. So transparent.
Biden will lose to Trump in the general. Good luck to the DNC in winning again after that. But I've said all along that a lot of "moderate" Democrats, comfortable with their own private health insurance and retirement portfolios, would rather see Trump reelected than see their boat rocked by any real change. That's saddest of all.
Whither democracy and the party of FDR? I am dating and filing away these comments to use in my lectures in courses on democracy at Syracuse University. I hope I am wrong and can't use them. I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if they do not prove to be prophetic.
2
To the commenters: stop fighting. Everyone gets a vote (well, with the electoral college in November, you will probably just get part of one vote).
So cast your vote or partial vote and move on.
1
Advocates for Biden should consider if he can really beat Trump. Sanders polls far better in the task. Deconstructing words like “revolution,” “socialism,” etc. hardly amounts to a central problem: the centralized power of institutions robbing the public.
1
As far as elections go these days, the word collusion has not left us alone for long.
3
the worst ennemy of Democratic Party for president is Democratic Party. As it happened with H. Clinton, the establishment inside Democratic Party , rather than support the candidate who can beat Trump, Sanders, will give their vote to Biden. Because the establishment inside the Democratic Party's first target is to keep their priviliges. The rich are a party by themselves. It is the same all over the world. May be US needs a third party .
1
These Biden endorsements (and I mean you too, James Clyburn) should have come in much sooner than this. We've been voting for a month in CA.
On the eve of this delegate jackpot I fear it may be to late to work as intended.
1
So many Bernie supporters are under the delusion that Sanders’ platform is what the real Democrats in this country want . But when you add up Klobuchar and Mayor Pete’s delegates to the centrist column , all of a sudden then Biden becomes more reflective of what many Democrats and Independents really want .
Bernie supporters may have the loudest mouths but that doesn’t mean they are the bulk of the party .
And yes we are afraid of Sanders because his policies are so out of touch with what is doable that it just becomes pure fantasy . Does he seriously think it’s realistic that Congress would pass a law eradicating all student loan debt ? That’s just simply ridiculous.
And yes there should be changes made to our education system but nothing will change when you’re spouting pie in the sky programs that have a zero percent ability to pass ,period .
So I’m really tired of the Bernie crowd who comes at all of this like they’re always being persecuted .
To me, Bernie is unrealistic and I think such a progressive is not the way to win this election that we so desperately need to win .
Kudos to Klobuchar and Mayor Pete for putting winning tantamount in this election. They saw the writing on the wall and now are being a team player . Bernie is too self absorbed to ever be a team player.
4
@Karen E
Everything you call pie in the sky is normal other countries. The US is under no threat of military attack. But spend trillions on it as Putin attacks with computers for peanuts. The tax cut for the1% could have paid for a lot of social benefits. Bernie's vision is to benefit others. He is emphatic because he knows so many Americans even on the left are brainwashed into thinking things can not be done. In Oz we are usually run by right wingers yet we have had universal health coverage since the 70's.
You guys over in your country - a country I respect and love- cannot afford to self isolate, stay home to care for kids if school is cancelled or get affordable health care.
America is the most indoctrinated country in the world about being resistant to socialism for the middle class while endorsing socialism for the wealthy (absurd tax cuts).
You are resistant to modest gun control so that your kids might get shot at school as has happened over and over... all because the power hungry controllers just have to say the magic word "socialism". America is a massively wealthy country yet your citizens can't get what other citizens in Canada, Europe, Australia and NZ and other countries in developed Asia take for granted. You people have been totally brainwashed and exploited and are too insular to see the things that we foreigners get.
It makes my blood boil to see Americans get exploited like this.
American reality is that it is won't trickle down.
If Bernie or Biden win nomination, I will vote Trump. Bernie has wrong ideas and Biden has no ideas. Bernie will be attacked by Trump as socialist or communist in general election; Biden and his family's linked to Ukraine scandal will cost his electability. Very disappointed that no fresh and young candidate with fresh ideas emerge from democrat party.
1
They did the right thing. As much as I like and admire Bernie and agree with just about everything he says and stands for, he is not the man for this time.
2
Biden's son is Biden's Achilles heel.
3
@HoodooVoodooBlood - Fortunately Biden would be running against a man whose three adult children make Hunter Biden look like a saint.
2
@Jim True. However, Trump will have a field day making accusations and lying, demeaning and disparaging without end.
Joe Biden does not have the spheroids to get down in the gutter and expose Trump over and over an over again.
It will be a gutter fight. Do you think Joe's up to it? He thinks he's running for the Senate on occasion.
1
Several poster here, claiming to be Democrats, have indicated that they well sit out the general election if XYZ wins the primary. 2020 Democratic primary is a lot more transparent and fair than ever before. So while these folks have a right to sit out the general election if they want, they will get what they deserve: four more years of Trump and his destructive agenda.
I don't see how Trump II will better than XYZ. It sounds lime cutting your nose to spite your face.
3
A large number of comments here seem to believe that some kind of terrible unfairness is being visited upon Bernie Sanders where in fact he has been the beneficiary of the the unfairness of the crazy nomination process. If the rest of the field hadn’t been splitting the platform supported by a strong majority of the Democratic Party’s voters, he wouldn’t be anywhere close to having a single delegate.
2
Joe has always been there in the background but also the safe. kind and experienced candidate. And some people want to try on a new pair of shoes for a while. But in this case we know that we must stick with our comfortable old shoes because we have way too much at risk now to take any chances. I only hope if he wins he will immediately undo all the damage Trump has caused. And hire the smartest people ever. Young and old.
1
The good thing about the NY Times bashing Sanders and promoting rightists who present themselves as moderates is that the Times gets it wrong most of the time. It decided to endorse Klobuchar and Warren and one of them is already out.
The key source of anger in the US is the devastation of neoliberal policies. Trump the consummate conman ran with this and did nothing for the "forgotten people" he claimed to defend. He, of course, intensified economic inequality and proved to be really nefarious on every front.
Now the Dems and the Times are scrambling to defend anyone who would continue with the same neoliberal policies which helped a lot in producing Trump. Now it's Kamala, now it's Pete, and it could be Jo or Mike but certainly not the guy who could do a FDR and save US democracy (and capitalism too in effect, as FDR did in the 1930s when capitalists had destroyed their own system).
NY Times support or endorsement often means the kiss of death and frankly Biden would look terrible in his debates with the loud mouth vulgarian who would make mince meat of him. He also has a lot of baggage but the DNC will forge ahead trying to save its donors and then will spend another four years bemoaning Trump's vicious attacks on democracy. The losing machine has started the Dems prefer being dollar drenched than democratic.
3
Lets not fool ourselves, all political parties are corporations looking out for themselves and their 'shareholders'. The party's run the primaries as they see fit.
1
The last desperation move of the establishment before their inevitable loss on Super Tuesday. Biden may have won SC, but he also spent most of his time there while Bernie was appealing to Super Tuesday states (where he has been polling very well and very consistently). And if there's a brokered convention and the person with the plurality doesn't get the nomination (whoever that may be), they can kiss their votes goodbye, I certainly won't support such nonsense.
1
Well this puts the idea of a Democratic circular firing squad to rest. It's good to see some unity on the moderate side of the party.
In a Dramatic Turn, The Democratic Party Implodes....
Oscar Wilde famously said “moderation in all things, including moderation.” In a time when when success clearly calls for excess, we Democrats return to the meh of an uninspired 2016.
No hope for the working class. No change for impassioned young voters.
1
Don't do it, don't vote for Biden; he's an aging, worn-out not so much has-been as "almost was"; there is no hope that the nearly-half the country that elected trump and saw that not only did the sky not fall, but their 401Ks went up, will abandon trump en masse for a doddering mediocrity like Biden.
Even in the Democratic party, a lot of voters, because their stocks went up, may privately think trump isn't so bad, despite what they say about trump.
They're not going to throw a relatively palatable status quo down the toilet for a candidate starting to show signs of pre-senility.
Those in the middle will not embrace Biden just because he is the anti-Trump.
The only hope is Bernie Sanders. A vote for Biden is a vote (or 2 votes) for Trump in the general election.
At best, Biden will attract the same votes Hillary got in 2016, but almost certainly not nearly so many, because he is a much weaker candidate, and Trump by many metrics (economics, which money-focused Americans care most about) is having a much better presidency than most expected.
Biden has no chance against Trump; in the debates he'd be destroyed, and the actual election itself would be even worse a possible landslide.
This may be the last chance to get Trump out, only possible by voting for Sanders today, Super Tuesday.
1
Since 2003 there have been zero successful Democratic presidential candidates who supported the Iraq War. Most Americans simply don’t respect the opportunism of those who voted for that obvious lie. In fact, even Trump lies about opposing the war because he understands this. Can Biden break the streak? I wouldn’t bet on it.
1
In November, as always, the presidential election will be decided by a half dozen swing states. Down ballot races are crucial as well, across all states. Not only the Senate, but all the State legislatures that will decide redistricting after the 2020 census.
Can Bernie prevail in those swing states? Yes, perhaps, but the down ballot will suffer with him as head of the ticket. I appreciate Bernie supporters' passion, but I worry about the down ballot. He could win the election and be stuck with a do nothing Senate led by the most evil man of all, Mitch McConnell. And gerrymandering would get even worse.
Then again, I worry about Biden too. I wish he wasn't becoming the standard bearer for the moderates. Too old, too stuck in the past.
My biggest conclusion is the primary process is hopelessly flawed. Too long, too expensive, and not producing candidates majorities are happy about. I hope between the nomination of Trump and whoever wins this one, it is the beginning of their end.
As I awaken to Jesus, I am also awakening to Joe Biden. Call it a coincidence, I don't know. Something is changing in my life. The darkness is fading away. And I am open to unity, togetherness and a change.
2
Why am I not surprised? Because it's been obvious all along that the goal was to slow Bernie Sanders' success down..or better yet, completely squash it. Money is the real issue here. The DNC is wanting the corporate cash cow to continue. They don't care about the American public or their votes and opinions. They'd just as soon Trump win, so the oligarchy's financial support very much represented now in both political parties, will continue. Since each political party is a corporation, they have no need to adhere to democratic principles. What a mess..what democracy?
4
“Nominating someone who wants to restore the world before Donald Trump, when the status quo has been leaving more and more people behind for decades, is a big risk for our party and our country,” Senator Elizabeth Warren told supporters in LA.
Joe Biden has run for POTUS three times, and South Carolina was the FIRST EVER state primary he has won.
2
They all seem to forget what happened in 2016. This will be exactly the same thing if Biden wins the nomination. You truly believe that a guy like Biden has a chance against Trump? They all need a reality check.
3
I am registered as an independent and will vote for Bernie in the primaries today. I was planning not to vote in the primaries, but seeing how big money controls the moderate candidates, I feel like Bernie's case is stronger than ever. Comes elections, I will vote Blue no matter what, I am worried about turnout if corporate puppy Biden is the candidate.
4
Is Joe the best the moderates and party establishment can do? Really?
These developments are compelling reasons to vote Bloomberg.
So my choices are narrowing to Biden or Bernie? As someone who was excited for Senator Warren as a smart, educated, prepared and funny person of kindness and political skill advocating what seemed to me like a sane middle way... I’m just utterly disappointed that I’m now forced to choose between two egocentric grandfathers.
But I have my eye on the prize, and they’ll have my support. What can you do?
1
You can fight for representation. We have no choice.
For the past forty years, Democrats have compromised the party down the river to the GOP (which no longer feels any need to compromise about anything anymore). The GOP has dragged the Democratic party so far right that it is no longer recognizable. Dems have morphed themselves into nothing more than moderate Republicans in the pursuit of political office. Democratic proposals benefiting the public over those of private interests have been watered down into meaninglessness under the onslaught from conservatives smearing and demonizing Dems for being “liberal” or too “left wing.”
Why has Bernie appeared to be a lone voice on the left all these years? Because these spineless Dems continually distanced themselves from anyone like Bernie, not from any great ideological differences, but from the fear of association with ideas they thought might not get them elected. Their lack of courage compromised themselves as well as the public.
The endorsement of Biden by Klobuchar and Buttigieg is hardly a surprise. There is no leadership or ideas here other than endorsing more of the same. A “safe” endorsement by both of them. Our planet is circling the drain through inaction by our leaders failing to lead. I want a leader who understands our social crisis, and the facts and science of climate change the world faces and will act to solve these problems for the benefit of everyone, young and old, not just the wealthy. I don’t want Biden's promises that continue to give away the farm.
8
To the many here, thinking that whoever it us who wins the nomination will select a challenger as VP: That does not happen, not ever, and won't. So VP is a wild card.
1
Mr. Sanders - I am a lifelong liberal (not progressive; an actual liberal) and mean it. My problem with you is not that you cannot be elected president. My problem with you is that you're so demagogic I don't think you can get anyone else elected. Have you ever considered what you're going to do if you don't have a friendly Congress?
There are 5 things that need to happen in order to affect the change so desperately needed in the US:
There must be Democratic (or at the very least liberal) control of:
1) White House
2) House of Representatives
3) Filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (and don't start with that bunk about eliminating it - things change, and if the Rs ever regain control, don't whine if they use that against us)
4) Majority of state governorships (right now we have 23)
5) Majority of state legislatures (right now we have 22)
So far as I can tell - "Bernie" has plans only for the first one. The rest he seems to believe will magically occur.
I will vote for whomever the Dems nominate, but without all 5, there will be no change, and Sanders (and to be honest, the rest as well) has no clue. We're this far into the campaign, and all he can do is his "Angry Grampa" act. I know the Bernie-Bros will jump all over me, just like the Trumpers would do. Sad that they can't see they share the same behavioral traits.
4
I’m sorry you have been caught and the propaganda hook is barbed and will hurt coming out. I’m so sorry it is impossible for you to see what’s everywhere around you and that millions of your fellow American citizens are on their knees for lack of democratic representation of their well-being.
1
This obvious power play by institutional Democrats may, and I hope will, have unintended consequences. They have just slammed the door in the faces of millions of young and struggling working class people and the activists who have been working their hearts out for Bernie Sanders. They are saying, "We don't want you in the Democratic Party." The "party of the people" just threw a lot of the people under the bus. Good luck with that, Joe Biden.
3
The Clinton years of “triangulation” and moderation have brought a shift away from the party’s principles of standing up for the working class and the oppressed.
Clinton pushed NAFTA amid rosy promises of massive job retraining for the blue-collar workers whose jobs went south. He vowed to end “welfare as we know it,” signed the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act, and triangulated his way to the untenable “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for the military.
The recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll had the 78-year-old Sanders taking 61% of voters between the ages of 18 and 29, 51% of the Latino vote and 50% of the “very liberal” vote.
42% of voters heading into the general election will be INDEPENDENTS. Sanders crushes Trump by 18 points among self-identified independents in polls. Biden will not deliver these voters... they will crush him. He's been a Clinton "New Democrat" carrying water for the Wall Street big-investments crowd for 30 years.
4
Senator Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg just lost my respect. Biden is being financed by corporate power. That is who he is beholden to. Spouting that only he can beat Trump doesn't carry any meaning.
Biden has been under pressure throughout the presidential campaign to move left on a range of policy issues. This doesn't bode well if he wins the nomination.
2
Biden will win the only demographic that really matters.
The super delegate demographic.
Three things have become very clear:
1. Sanders will win big Super Tuesday, and that will virtually assure the he wins the most real delegates going into the convention.
2. It will be a plurality, not a majority. The super delegates will then vote for Biden, and nominate him.
3. Sanders delegates, and supporters will (rightfully) be outraged.
Who knows what will happen after that, but I suspect it will not help defeat Trump.
2
Why do Democrats allow Bernie to run as a Democrat if they don’t want him as a nominee? Wouldn’t it be wiser to just not let him run in the first place? That would be more fair (it’s their party, he’s an independent) and look far better than what’s going on now.
2
@Peter Nelissen
It is because they do not want him to run 3rd party.
It was wise for them to let him run as a Democrat.
If he wins the primary, they can always nullify the results with Super delegates.
Unfortunately, that will permanently damage the party, and probably give Trump a landslide victory, with a mandate to do whatever he wishes.
Sometimes you have to kill democracy to save it.
2
The corrupt DNC once again underestimated the extent to which Sanders has shifted the Overton window to facilitate even discussing the reality that neoconliberals have brought hundreds of millions of Americans to their knees.
I wonder what kinds of deals, compromises, and promises were made to these cynics? Biden was a senator. That's what they do.
4
"Mr. Sanders, the liberal front-runner". Here in Europe the term "liberal" doesn't just mean "left". It's linked to liberty and opposed to government imposing strict rules on people, no matter who makes those rules.
3
I too endorse Joe Biden. It has been a whirlwind few days for me. We had a tragedy in the family and it caused me to rethink my ways. Not only does my data analysis show me that Bernie, who I really like as a person, does not have a good chance of winning––but I am beginning to see why my royal ancestors loved Jesus so much. It was his love for all mankind that made them who they were. And I'm beginning to see that it is not the intellect, or the plans and programs, that make a person. Rather, it is one's loving kindness. I see Joe as a person with a lot of kindness and heart.
4
I hope Bernie wins big on Tuesday and goes on to win the nomination. It tickles me pink thinking he could be in the White House, a simple man who’s dedication to justice and fairness is apparent at all times. Will the American snow globe be shaken- absolutely- but the country will be better for it.
6
Just get me my ballot already. I had been torn between Warren and Bernie, but am convinced now it is time to rally behind Bernie.
6
Besides the issue of his electibility versus Trump there has always been one fact that prevents me from a full-throated support of Sanders. He is NOT an enrolled Democrat, never has been, is not now, and, from what I hear, never will be. So I don't know how anyone thinks that the Democratic party platform will ever be realized by someone who always declares himself an independent. Biden is a lifelong Democrat.
3
A affluent neighborhood in comparison to poor neighborhood can afford routine dental cleaning and patient rarely have cavities or worse root canal or even a crown. Tooth brush, floss takes care of any severe issue from arising.
On the other hand in the poor neighborhood rarely people come in for routine cleaning therefore cavities, tooth aches, gum disease, root canal is in rampant need.
I have seen this last two decades.
The point being all this $25 trillion medicare for all bill is nothing more than a scare tactics or are scared frozen of the thing these candidates have not understood, when people are entitled for routine exams, preemptive measures will result in lowering national healthcare cost even from current cost.
3
“It is no surprise they do not want me to become president,‘’ Mr. Sanders said, referring to his moderate opponents.
This is how Bernie Sanders helped Donald Trump win in 2016. Hopefully whoever gets the Democratic nomination gets IMMEDIATE 100% support from the defeated candidates. No sulking allowed.
@alan any time someone erroneously suggests it was Bernie supporters who gave Trump the presidency... i like to remind them that Trump won the white women vote over Hillary... she lost the election. Deal with it.
Sanders is referring time the people who are fighting hammer and tongs to deny hundreds of millions of people access to healthcare because they will lose an imperceptible nanopercentage of more money than God. How dare he suggest that’s a good idea. How very dare he? Simply outrageous. It’s unAmerican to even attempt to increase representative democracy! For shame!
The fear of the Democratic establishment is real. There is a grass roots mov't of voters who want to over turn the Citizens United money trumps democracy mov't. The coronavirus makes abundantly clear that national health care is a national security issue. The private insurance for profit health care has not worked but it has plenty of money to spread around the capital. The growth of income inequality is really an issue of whether democracy can defend the citizens of this country from concentration of power in the hands of the wealthy elite.
2
This wasn't the year for middle-of-the-roadism for either Democrats or Republicans. The burning question for many voters is whether Biden is clear on the difference between "conservative" and middle-of-the-road.
Genuflecting to identity politics fits the news media's definition of "liberal", but it isn't clear whether that dividing line has been functionally erased yet by matters of economic policy. So celebrating the candidate's racial appeal in South Carolina has only muddied the picture.
Judging by the reaction of the top comments, the kingmakers of the Democratic party are making the same mistake as they did 4 years ago. I know you see a canyon between Trump and Biden but I don't. Though I will not pull the lever for Trump, I will not pull it for Biden either. At least Trump organizes the opposition and brings clarity to those issues that are most important for the people of the US (like healthcare) and survival of the species (climate change). If Biden wins we can expect nothing but small incremental progress that will lead us to the same place a Trump victory will - nowhere. It's Deja vu all over again.
1
We have no choice but to fight for sanity and Sanders. Even though I don’t agree with everything and his approach one hundred percent, the alternative of a continuation of the neoliberal policies of utterly unconscionable brutality that have brought the American people to their knees is unthinkable.
2
Average middle america is past prioritizing corporate interests at this point; that period in our history ended with Bush junior.
Obama was thought to be the next progressive but he was way too moderate (but a great orator) and because of that moderation we got a 1/2 baked healthcare patch and some rebates on LED lights.
Trump was the answer for the forgotten middle american rust belt and steel country after being presumed (but also forgotten) democratic strongholds. His focus on middle class affordability and jobs in economically depressed areas won the day (but his promises have proved short).
Bernie is a reaction to the middle class affordability crisis which is playing out across the country. He is a bit of nut, but if the average american family can't afford to have children, purchase a home, send there child to college, have access to clean water and healthcare with constant severe financial anxiety, something is wrong with our policy decisions. 40 years of prioritizing corporate/investment interests and dismissing the needs of the middle class doesn't point to Biden or the democratic elite.
If its not Bernie, there will be another pro people candidate in 4 or 8 years. Without an economic policy change it will be inevitable, better for the democrats to be on the right side of history or risk continuing to alienating a large and growing fraction of the party who will abandon any other type of candidate as they are abandoned by the elites (super-delegates).
5
@Matt i appreciate the real talk. Very well put.
2
The moderates are finally giving a moderate candidate the chance needed to win. Sanders can only win in a contest of many candidates where he only needs 30 or so percent support. A smaller field will mean moderates are in control. If only Bloomberg would drop out now.
4
Because we need more of what’s brought this country to it’s knees and resulted in Trump in the first place. Makes sense.
1
I would just like to thank Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar.
Not for dropping out, not for anything in particular , but for just being civil and considered human beings willing to upend their personal lives for the benefit of our country.
And since our country is capable of producing such fine people, it gives me hope for our future.
Again, thank you. I'm not the only one that will be looking for you in a worth-while tomorrow.
10
Noticeably absent in this article was any mention of Warren and Bloomberg dynamics going forward. It’s obvious that the Establishment can’t stomach Sanders. Biden is week in so many ways. His grassroots funding debacle reflects this. Yet their play to coalesce around Biden will result in a search for the Alternative moderate: Bloomberg.
As a progressive, I prefer Bernie, but if he’s too toxic, I’d happily support Warren.
6
@Zev Warren is now the 4th place candidate. She will win less support than Bloomberg.
I am so happy for this turn of events. I am all in for Joe. He was not my first pick and I even flirted with Mike for a bit. Who I think would be great too. Anyone but Sanders, really. I'm proud to vote for Joe today in MA and hope he's able to make viability. Latest poll had him at 9% but I think he'll make it to 15 at least. Much love all, let us unite!
19
@LK
The uniting will be thrown out the window if more people choose Bernie though. Let us unite except if I think my wishes are more important than who the voters choose. Then all uniting is over with right?
2
@Bob Guthrie Yeah, I'm a never Bernie. Seen way too much disgusting hateful comments from his "bros" I'm done with them and if he's the nom, I'll leave it blank. They were of no help to HRC in 2016 why should I return the favor?
@LK
It's my fault but I think you missed my point.
Anyway we can agree it is a mess.
My point was that the uniting will only happen if Bernie loses. Why have the process if they are going to manipulate it to keep Bernie out anyway?
Another 4 years of Trump is scary.
In any event there will be problems if Bernie wins but he is undoubtedly a good man and he has instructed his followers to support whoever the candidate is. He specifically said that.
Like I said its a mess but there is no doubt that Bernie is genuinely interested in the welfare of the American people.
Trump is genuinely interested in the welfare of Donald Trump. But you are right. Bernie is a hard sell unfortunately.
I too endorse Biden. While he may struggle with memory issues, his heart is the biggest in the field. I think the constant campaigning is causing some gaffes, and if he were to settle in as president, the schedule would be less hectic.
15
@David I have full confidence in Biden even when he has occasional gaffes. No one is perfect and Biden is such a balanced person as a whole. He has decency, integrity, and a wealth of experiences and skills to assemble an excellent and ethical cabinet, restore our crumbled democracy and unite our nation moving forward!
@David
His schedule as President would be less hectic? Are you serious? He has to ON it to be president.
1
@David Are you kidding? The schedule of the President of the United States will be less hectic? He will be the President, not a security guard at a library
1
I’m staying focused on the task at hand and the rules of the game. Democrats must win back the Trump voters who supported Obama in Wis, NH, Penn, and Mich.
If the sentiments and elections in Great Britain are a predictor in 2020 as they were in 2016 of the populist right winning and maintaining power, then it is a mistake to shift to the far left in response to Trump. No revolution is needed to win back Biden’s home state of Pennsylvania.
The many comments made about DNC establishment manipulating outcomes seem baseless and conspiratorial when the simplest answer is probably the truth: Pete and Amy’s calculations of votes and finances determined they were not going to win, so they made a decision to end their campaigns.
And the mean attacks on Biden’s demeanor and speaking style miss his consistent message and years of steady professional performance and service.
The Republican Senate is to blame for America’s challenges, not the DNC.
Biden/Harris, Biden/Abrams, Biden/Klobuchar.
Let’s go.
36
Status quo/"centrist" Democrats: don't you think this maneuvering will infuriate Bernie supporters and decrease voter turnout in November? Look what happened in 2016. It'll happen again with Biden since he's so bland like the color beige.
I know the millionaire Democrats will be fine regardless of who's in office. I think working class and middle class Democrats are playing with fire by alienating Bernie supporters and taking their Vote Blue No Matter Who for granted.
[Submitted 12:43 a.m. CT]
44
All Bernie supporters have to do is vote in the numbers they claim to have, and they will win. Already looking for someone to blame for Bernie’s defeat?
@John W I'm an independent. I'm definitely NOT with Bernie. I'm with JOE. Please think clear. Bernie's issue is not Democratic establishment's. Bernie's issue is his own. His policies scare away many independents who disapprove trump.
@John W
HRC didn’t lose by being centrist. She threw away the center, in fact, by ignoring the rust belt and insulting working people. She ran a dreary condescending campaign
The key us to run back that center lost by HRC.
That’s where the most votes are up for grabs. That’s where the most votes can be taken away from Trump.
The big donors have sent out the marching orders and the corporate Dems are "behaving themselves" to quote Bloomberg.
Bernie is trying to create a better future for the next generation but it remains to be seen if young people will actually show up to vote and take control of their future or if in their apathy resign themselves to a kleptocratic future on a warming planet.
30
@CDP
I think Bernie could best Trump, though I think a moderate would have a better chance by bringing back the moderates HRC threw away.
But if Bernie is the nominee, and even if he wins, he is far less likely to keep the House, and far, far less likely to win the senate. We took over the house not with progressives, but eith moderates besting republicans in purple districts.
After he wins the election, Bernie will be to the Democratic Party that Trump has been to the GOP. He will, hopefully, tear it to shreds.
22
@Mark
If Bernie wanted to tear the Democratic party to shreds, he should have stayed an Independent. The Democratic tent is big enough, just don’t try to highjack it.
@Mark:
It's best to start now in lowering your expectations; the fall and grave disappointment won't sting quite so harshly.
Bernie is certainly NOT going to be the Democratic nominee for President; Biden -- for better or worse -- will be going head to orange head with the current Buffoon-in-chief.
Bernie's policies sound utopian: free college tuition for all, as well as Medicare.
Both are certainly noble causes. Yet, particularly the tuition promises -- are simply unviable and dead on arrival: just running and maintaining the physical facilities of a university campus are enormously expensive, before even the first penny is paid to faculty and staff. Bernie is completely disconnected from reality if he actually believes he can fulfill that promise.
Medicare for all is long overdue. Yet, so long as Turtle-head Mitch walks and breathes, there's no possibility in this Universe that he and the Republicans will ever vote for such acutely needed services -- no, such an act would divert far too much money from their own coffers. They may go to church on Sundays, but make no mistake: the GOP's true God is the almighty dollar.
Sorry, but such are the Realities.
Burn it all down? And then what....?
I think I mailed my ballot in California the day I received it. Has it been a month now?
9
Spin it any way you please. You tell us what we should do. We decline, and ask for something better. You want to elect a do-nothing because that will put you in power. But when you get that power, you won't use it to help me and mine. Because there are scores of reasons why you won't act, the primary one being that it will irritate Wall Street.
35
How brilliant of them to wait till the last minute, when it will have only minimal effect on the Super Tuesday voting.
5
@Robert Goldschmidtj
Actually it will have the maximum effect. Many of those who would have voted for Klobuchar or Buttigieg will now vote for Biden. Those who have already voted for Klobuchar and Buttigieg, in easy voting and in the early primaries have now voted for Biden.
Conservative Democrats are joining together in a last ditch effort to get the nomination. Smart move, but as we saw with previous candidates who supposedly represent “safe” choices (ie: Jeb Bush & Hilary Clinton) voters will not rally behind mediocrity. It remains to be seen whether the voters care who Buttigieg and Klobuchar chose to support. Personally, I’ll be voting for Warren tomorrow.
24
@K Marko
Which is a great move to get Biden elected. Warren should get of the race, just like Klobuchar and Buttegieg. She has virtually the same positions on everything that Sanders does. Her vanity will get Biden elected.
Cudo's to Mayor Pete and Sen Klobuchar. Statesman like stuff. Mature. Professional. Realistic. Next Warren needs to stand down and swing in behind Biden. It's a big tent.
Earth to Bernie: The 60's are over.
24
Medicare was established in the 60's. But it sounds like you will only be utilizing your private insurance. Is that correct?
1
Earth to Harley Leiber. Bernie Sanders has been the most trusted, respected and popular politician in America since 2015.
1
@Harley Leiber - The 60s are over! Time to vote for someone that represents the future! A bright fresh tomorrow! Vote for Joe Bid.... wait, what?!
So its Biden or Bernie? I'll do my utmost, whomever it is. Am I moderate or liberal? Neither. I'm a Democrat. And I want that pox out of the White House.
32
Bloomberg is still in play
You should get behind Joe Biden.
Growing up in (almost) socialist Sweden wasn’t as rosy as Sanders makes it out to be.
Yes, we had healthcare, but the negative attitude against anyone aspiring for greatness, or growing your business, or saving private capital for a rainy day, was a wet blanket on society. We just worked the same state-owned companies, like a threadmill, year by year. Our country was grey, dull, immobile and institutionalized. Like every sector of society was run by the IRS.
When anything from the U.S. broke into our world, it was a beacon of light.
For me as a kid, stuff you take for granted and frown upon, like He-Man toys, McDonalds and even TV advertising, felt like a message from an advanced civilization in outer space. When we dreamt big, we dreamt of being like you.
Having the opportunity to aspire for greatness, and financial success, is a driver of fantasy, innovation, creativity and ultimately human development. Don’t give that up, in the pursuit of universal healthcare and free education. Those are comparably small problems, and have far easier solutions than becoming a socialist state.
32
@Take it from a Swede
Just because Sweden could afford to be more like the US doesn't mean that it would be bad for the US to be more like Sweden. They are starting from very different places.
@Take it from a Swede very interesting reply, thanks! I heard Michael Moore on MSNBC last Friday saying that if you made more than 500k a year it was immoral and that, basically, in his society you would be taxed so high that you'd never be able to make more than that. I find that to be ridiculous. Yes, tax fairly, but arbitrary income limits? Awfully rich coming from multi-millionaire Moore. I am currently unemployed, living on SSDI. However I am also in school trying to better my life. I dream of greater things, as you write so eloquently in your post. This anti-capitalist way is really scary to me.
what you are saying is like saying we do not want capitalism because look at what's happening in US - the poor getting poorer....
"In a swift turn of events", Mr. Buttigieg and Ms. Klobuchar have been TOLD by the DNC to get out of Biden's way, thus ensuring he gets enough delegates to win the nomination instead of Sanders.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar instantly complied, revealing who they truly are: the promise of a spot in the Biden administration must have done the trick.
This is how the Chinese communist party operates.
31
@jw Any evidence Buttigeeg and Klobuchar told by DNC? Another conspiracy? Butigieg is apparently an independent thinker and Klobuchar is well balanced. With SC primary they no longer see their path to nomination and made their own decision to support another moderate candidate with the similar visions as theirs.
You don’t get it. This is how politics works in every democracy. Your complaining is no better than Trump’s.
Why isn’t Warren doing the same
Bernie supporters, it's not the democratic establishment that doesnt want you, it's the states you need to win in Nov that don't want you. Can you simply just show us all the Floridians who fled cuba who will vote for Sanders and tip that state blue? You do get that the democratic establishment will get behind whomever is the dem on the Nov ballot because our democracy depends on it? Show us the Fidel haters for Bernie so we can win in Nov, and we'll be Burners sooner than later.
14
@ak Bernie has a ceiling. It's around 30%. Despite all his talk of growing the electorate, he really hasn't done it. And I am sorry, but the man had a heart attack mere months ago. No. Just no. But Bernie's biggest problem is he has no intention of appealing to anyone beyond his base, and America just isn't there.
@ak the upper midwest was the key to Clinton’s loss and the key to a Democrat’s win in 2020... Florida is a lost cause. So many other states have gone in play for the Dems its not as crucial as it was... those right wing cadre supporting lunatics in south Florida can say or do whatever they want. They’re just sad they missed Franco’s Spain or something
@ak
Great point! I love how florida went to HRC in 2016! You are so right! The problem with Sanders is that he won't get the states that obviously centrist republicans like Clinton and Biden will get. Oh, wait, that isn't what happened in 2016? No way! Maybe you are full of it?
If I cared about saving several $1000s a year in taxes, I might be a Republican.
If I thought that business was the end-all be-all raison d'etre for the United States to exist, I might be a Republican.
If I voted on single issues, such as banning abortions or owning unlimited guns, I might be a Republican.
But I don't particularly care about any of these things very much. So I am not a Republican.
I find it hard to understand how any American could be a Republican right about now, with Mr. Trump sitting in the White House.
He is an autocrat and a fascist. We have bigger fish to fry. We must vote him out of office. Everything else is on the back burner.
Any Democrat has my enthusiastic support in November.
32
Most comments appear to be from political rookies or else fake accounts looking to manipulate rookies. The general election is decided by independent voters because neither Republicans nor Democrats have a clear majority. The minor parties (Libertarians, Greens) siphon off votes. The major parties have to choose a candidate who can win independent votes.
Primary is the time for candidates with little to no chance win to get their names out there and get the beginning of a following. Sometimes they hit the jackpot like Obama. Most often they don’t. When they withdraw, they often support the candidate they feel best fits their ideals. Sanders is not the candidate closest to Buddigieg and Klobuchar ideals, Bernie supporters should know that Warren occupies that lane.
They should also understand that Bernie is not a member of the Democratic Party, and this is Party Politics, literally. Some in the Party feel he was a spoiler not a uniter last time. He said he endorsed Clinton in the general election but he didn’t get his supporters to understand the importance of that.
Maybe if we had ranked choice nationwide, or we abolished the electoral college and all the young people voted and the Greens stopped running hopeless spoiler candidates it would be different and a Democratic Socialist or Progressive Democrat could win a Presidential election.
22
@Donna
at best you can call this system a manipulated democracy.
The general public has a choice, but from candidates nominated by others.
@Donna im a little unclear where your political wisdom rings out in your comment... banish electoral college? Implement ranked choice? Electorally that may be the best thing for democracy, but look at the biggest obstacle to democracy in this country... the US congress... with rules so dated it cannot even function properly anymore. I can hardly expect them to do anything reforming the election system.... also, regarding outsiders in the Democratic party... Ross Perot got nearly 20 percent of the vote because he was right. He was right about how neoliberalism was going to devastate the economies and manufacturing base of this nation and in 2016 when Trump won the upper midwest and as a result the presidency, that same reality Perot predicted was still impacting who won the White House... facts are facts... third parties do well because they have the audacity to tell the truth. I’m not a Democrat and will work and vote for Bernie in a general election.
DNC establishment do not bother much about CA, Oregon, WA considering these are default blue anyway. Early primaries where people voted for Pete or Amy will see their votes go waste and DNC knows that, but too bad and so sad would be their reaction. Delegate counts from TX and other red-states count toward their overall calculations. So DNC is keeping Warren to siphon of votes from Bernie come tomorrow/super tuesday and beyond and she will throw in her towel to Biden towards the end all but ending Bernie's journey. May be to placate and some window dressing they will add a few languages to make Bernie people better, lots of promises with no intention of following through.
7
I said from the get go that the Democratic party would never allow Sanders to be the nominee and it appears I was correct. If they can’t stop him before the convention, they will make sure it is a brokered convention. Sanders should have run as an independent. That was his only shot.
10
@Queenie Sanders is a Democrat when it suits him. That doesn't sit well with the rank and file. As a Democrat, I want a Democrat at the top of the ticket.
It’s not the party that’s stopping him, it’s voters.
I know I've endorsed Pete all along. I grew to admire Amy. A lot.
My respect to you both.
14
I see so much hand wringing and it’s unfortunate because there is a clearly fantastic choice before us with Elizabeth Warren. She’s articulate with her strategy and able to give voice to common people while maintaining dignity and clarity. If you want a candidate that can give hope as well as healing she’s your guy. We have to a top overlooking her cause she had a few tough states (so did Biden and now nobody can stop talking about him). Warren’s big wins might be just around the corner if we just get out and vote for her.
15
There's this inexplicable presumption among some people that, sooner or later, Americans will "catch up" to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren:
"The party is headed toward Warren and Sanders, but I think Republicans will win for awhile longer first."
What if Americans NEVER "catch up?" Isn't there a presumption in that expectation that Warren and Sanders are right and "centrists" are wrong and will eventually understand the error of their ways? What if Americans never "catch up," and the Democratic Party becomes (or stays) moderate?
Put another way, what if Warren and Sanders are wrong and everyone else is right -- that THEY are the "benighted" ones?
10
A look back through history would show our politics moves toward progressive ideas. Women’s suffrage was a radical idea until it wasn’t. The civil rights act was radical until it wasn’t. Medicare for all is radical now but will be taken as the standard in the future.
1
@Commenter um, voters under 45 are the most diverse and liberal generation in US history. And they overwhelmingly back Bernie. The young people are the future, because, well, they literally are. So you must admit that the future is not shaping up to be "centrist" is it? The Clinton-Obama-Biden Democratic Party is already extinct.
I knew a lot (well, 4) of peeved Bernie supporters who voted for Trump rather than the establishment last time around.
People voted for Obama because he represented change too.
As to whether Trump’s version of doing things differently is enough to drive voters away, I’m not so sure.
There’s a growing sense that we need to do something different, even among conservatives. People want something new.
5
I already voted for Amy. Joe voted for the Iraq War. I would rather not have Bernie. I wish Amy had waited until after Tuesday to make the decision to withdraw. Each of the remaining candidates is over 70 years old. I would have preferred someone younger
4
I’m with you. I voted last week for Amy I’m did not expect her to win but at least make it through tomorrow.
So odd that CA is so strong for Bernie,when what Bernie is saying is that he wants CA to subsidize rural America even more that it currently does. The money for his plans does not come from the printing press. It will come from the people trying to save enough for a down payment on a $2.2M 1200 sq ft house, so that those in other parts of the country can save for a down payment on $250k 2500sq ft house.
10
Just kinda sad Bernie and Elizabeth aren't getting more love. For once we have the chance to really push the envelope forward, but yet again we are stuck in the past.
16
Bernie Sanders' supporters seem puzzled why true-blue Democrats wouldn't want Sanders as the nominee. It is largely because we feel he'll lose a general election but it's something else too.
Sanders' supporters claim he can unite the party as well as the next man or woman but they fail to see THEY are the reason that can't happen.
I think I speak for tens of millions of Democrats when I say I want a president whose supporters don't boo the mere mention of a fellow Democrat's name.
I never heard Mayor Pete's crowds boo. I never heard Amy's crowds boo. I've never heard Joe's crowds boo.
Now someone will post a video alleging just that. But wow, does it happen a lot when Sanders speaks of Biden and the others.
They don't seem to grasp that their boos speak more of them than of those they're booing. They don't seem to grasp how their boos align them most closely with Trump's followers booing his riffs on his Republican primary opponents, even his own cabinet secretaries, department appointees and supporters.
Most Americans see Trump's crowds booing his own and shudder.
It's said Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line. I believe many Sanders and Trump supporters love the respective candidates. I just fear it's for the same reasons.
Good for Sanders for trying to quiet the boos. Good luck trying that whoever wins the nomination after he ran for six years bashing the party even as he claims as singly his all virtually every Democrat has been for their whole career.
21
Yes. They have no idea how much spite and resentment they have created. They just don’t know how to win over anyone. Instead they insult them. That’s why Bernie can’t pick up new voters.
1
Dear Democrats,
Why are some of you so reluctant to support Bernie Sanders?
1. Some of you just don't like him personally. You see him as an angry old man yelling at everyone. You see him as a demagogue. I get that.
- But he is infinitely less offensive than Mr. Trump.
- And he actually cares about people, and not just himself.
2. Some of you think he is a radical (or a socialist, or a communist).
- But his policies are in line with FDR New Deal policies, and Warren is pushing for pretty much the same things.
- He would be considered a centrist in Canada or Western Europe.
- And a President Sanders would have to get these policies through Congress (a moderating factor).
Look. I will enthusiastically whomever is the eventual Democratic nominee. And that includes Bloomberg, Biden, Warren, or anyone.
All I ask is that you do the same, including if the nominee is Sanders. He can defeat Trump, especially in the swing states. And he will work toward a brighter future, with opportunity for all Americans.
21
I like Sanders and I’ll definitely vote for him if he’s the nominee. I even think he has a chance of winning the General. But I’m voting for Joe Biden in the CA primary tomorrow because I think his chances of winning the General are higher than Bernie’s, and we do not have any margin for error here. Think of RBG’s health.
1
Dear @MidtownATL,
Thank you. Your reasoned appeal deserves a respectful response.
Sadly, the rise of right wing disinformation, and the baggage of archaic election rules, have brought us to a point in history when the only objective that matters in 2020 is the defeat of Adolf-come-lately. I'd like to think there's agreement on this point. So:
1. It is an empirical fact that Sanders supporters voted for Trump in sufficient numbers in 2016 to throw the crucial swing states. This is well documented -- just search. It makes moderate Dems like me nervous that history will repeat itself.
2. The reality of our moribund election system is that anyone seeking to defeat Trump needs a thesis for winning the crucial swing states. It makes moderate Dems like me nervous that Sen. Sanders fails to even acknowledge this reality, beyond vague notions of an overwhelming youth turnout that would render turned-off independent voters irrelevant. History is not on the side of such a thesis, despite your claim otherwise.
In less fraught times we could debate the slightly finer points. I personally admire many of Sen. Sanders's ideas, but think he would be a polarizing figure and a poor executive. At this point we don't have the luxury of even such elementary considerations.
1
@MidtownATL
They don't care. They demand the progressive vote and give nothing in return. They got their way in 2016 and helped deliver this country to trump. Still they crow that their moderate position is the way and threaten that they will vote for trump if they don't get biden.
1
Hey folks. I don't know why I'm bothering, putting my B Ἡμιτεταρτημόριον (that's ancient greek for 2¢) in, since no one ever seems to listen to me; but anyway, here goes: Do Not Vote For Bide. Period.
As Marx says: History repeats itself. First as tragedy; second as farce.
In 2016 the Democrats lacked a candidate they could wholeheartedly (or even 3/4-heartedly) support and rally behind, so they said, "lets just use a leftover relic from the previous, modestly successful administration, whom voters will embrace with some real passionate "not-Trump" enthusiasm. "And those with real nostalgia for the moderately-not-so-bad old days will certainly fall into line."
The Obama-Bill Clinton surrogate was of course Hillary Clinton. So what happened? Most Democrats were at best indifferent to or ambivalent about Hillary Clinton, and most Trump supporters really liked Trump. Lukewarm support based on disliking the other candidate more did not generate sufficient support to win. Being a supposedly inoffensive centrist promising not to rock the boat too much did not help.
Here we are in 2020 with the other leftover relic of Clinton-Obama, Joe Biden. Rapidly aging (makes even me, Cassandra feel young & fresh) nostalgia candidate for the so-so old days.
Marx warned us: History repeats itself. First as tragedy; second as farce.
Election week Wednesday, I predict, we'll be sulking over that Marx quote, trump folks rejoicing. Will serve us right for ignoring Cassandra, as always.
12
Sorry but your analogy falls flat. Biden is not Hillary. Hillary’s negative approval ratings were historic. Biden’s negative approval ratings aren’t even comparable.
My biggest fear is that Biden is another HRC. Another status-quo candidate. Check out the polls between Biden/Trump and Sanders/Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Bernie not only gets it, he's earned it.
14
Typical deal making. Once again, the Democratic elites are throwing US working/lower class under the bus for their own political gain. Let's hope that vast numbers of actual voters step up and can stymie their master plan.
18
Dropping out of the race is not "slowing Sanders," it's the natural course of events. Of course people are going to drop out of the race over time. Some already have, others will. It's not somehow unfair to Sanders to have to compete with the most powerful opponent who remains; If he's so sure he has America on his side, he should be chomping at the bit to go head to head with Biden. His supporters should be happy to see him do it, instead of complaining about supposed conspiracies at the DNC. The bottom line is that Sanders wants the nomination, he does actually have to win it.
7
Why is Bloomberg referred to in the article with the pejorative “billionaire “ while Warren has no “millionaire” modifying her name?
6
@Mike Because being a ‘millionaire’ is the new middle class. You cannot live an upper middle class lifestyle in the US now - and send your kids to good schools, live in a modest but nice house, own a nice car, go on a foreign holiday every year - unless you’re technically speaking a millionaire. As a pejorative, or aspiration, ‘billionaire’ today is what people meant by ‘millionaire’ 30 years years ago. In the US at least, any hard working and highly qualified professional will be a millionaire by the time they’re in their 70’s. So it’s no big deal.
5
@A S
Hahahahaha. This "thousandaire" has all of the above after being a two-job single parent. I did it by daily budgeting and finally attained stability. You run with a different crowd.
Winning the 2020 Presidency of the United States of America is more important than one person.
A legitimate President of the United States of America, will assemble a cabinet of of excellence, fully staffing the critical functions of government with brilliance, without political party or loyalty tests.
In 2016 Putin and the GRU installed Trump as an illegitimate president of the US by manipulating the Electoral Collage vote using Cambridge Analytica psychograhpic data stolen from Facebook, GOP internal polling data and Russian statecraft.
The Democrats can legally protect the Electoral College before people realize it is a relic of a bygone era using artificial intelligence and individualized messaging in Purple states, ensuring the popular vote stands.
Russia is now supporting the Sanders campaign to create chaos and sow demographic hatred in the nation in the 2020 election. Sanders should drop out if he is a patriot, but I doubt it.
VP Joe Biden will repopulate the State Department, the Center for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and rebuild the NATO alliance (adding the Ukraine) to push back on Russian aggression hard.
We need to protect Japan and South Korea from North Korea. We need to face Russia as the adversary they are, attacking sovereign elections in the US and the EU and using proxy states to sow chaos.
2020 is for the Republic, rule of law, the Constitution, democracy and freedom.
9
And the healthcare industry stocks soar! We know who is paying for these "moderates".
8
Pete and Amy throwing their last minute support behind Biden is like trying to jump start an old Volkswagen bug. Too many repairs, not reliable, in the long run.
This will blow up in the face of the Democratic Party. Biden does not stand a chance against the fast talking con man Trump. Too much baggage.
8
It's still the same: no matter who, vote blue.
7
Democrats are starting to get their act together. I guess months of bashing each other gets tiresome. The two party poopers now are Warren and Bloomberg.
Warren is determined to see this thing through. I’m not sure what thing she’s thinking about. Her campaign collapsed under the weight of the math for healthcare. If Sanders wins I doubt he’d pick her as VP. I guess it’s back to the a Senate for her.
Bloomberg would leave half a billion dollars in the pot and just walk away. At first I thought he had gamed this out. Now I realize it was just an ego trip for someone who doesn’t know that his money could have been better spent on Senate candidates, feeding the homeless, or buying a really nice yacht. The Japanese could have built an AI humanoid that could have been programmed to tell jokes, perform party tricks or just emote. For a lot less than was spent on ads.
4
@Woollfy1a
Your diminishment of Bloomberg is cheapshot and unfounded. He has thrown support to causes I care about, ran what many in the world view as the most financially and culturally robust city in the world, and is not an arm-waving scold. I will vote for him in the primary and for President. And for no one else.
@HotGumption
Am fully aware of Mike’s philanthropy and would vote for him in a second. But he froze to Warren’s cheap shots and if he couldn’t stand up to Warren, how would he do against Trump?
The Senate is actually a more important win than just knocking out Trump. Half a billion taking the Senate back would have been money better spent.
@HotGumption
Am fully aware of Mike’s philanthropy and would vote for him in a second. But he froze to Warren’s cheap shots and if he couldn’t stand up to Warren, how would he do against Trump?
The Senate is actually a more important win than just knocking out Trump. Half a billion taking the Senate back would have been money better spent. Also after today’s vote, Mike will drop out.
If the Democrats nominate Biden than they lose at least two generations of young voters for the foreseeable future.
10
Hogwash. I’m a millennial and all my friends are voting for Biden. What else are those “generations” supposed to do? Vote for Republicans?
So the has beens are trying to undercut Bernie's momentum?
No way. Bernie's supporters love him first and foremost because his platform addresses their needs and concerns. And because of his integrity, experience and commitment. The entire world respects Bernie and will do business with him, thus restoring America's soft power. What the losers who have banded together against him will achieve if they are successful is a hollowed out Democratic Party, one which will surely be abandoned even by lifelong Dems like myself.
I simply do not see a way forward for the party if Bernie's hugely significant campaign is deliberately undercut. The voters' decision had better be respected and upheld. Watch your step, Democratic has beens and machine operators, or you'll derail any possibility of a Democratic administration for decades to come.
10
And so it goes. The Democratic Party turns cowardly once again and backs away from supporting a candidate who might actually stand up to the Republicans or offer any vision for the present, much less the future. Thirty six years of bury your head in the sand cowardice is finally too much for me. I'm ready to turn my back on the whole thing.
I have no objection to backing a "moderate," but why pick the very worst one. Amy or Pete would have been far, far better.
14
Seriously? Joe Biden?! The Democratic Party is totally out of touch with the voters, AND with reality, if they think THAT guy is going to defeat Trump.
When Trump wins they'll blame Bernie for being some kind of spoiler (just like last time around) but honestly, pushing Biden on us is the Party's fault.
15
@Ashley - Amy and Pete dropped out for many reasons, but seems to me that the foremost reason is that neither got enough votes so far to enable them to compete with either Biden or Bernie. In other words, those who have voted have shown their preferences. Don’t blame the poor, battered DNC for what voters want. Of course, in our ridiculous system, we don’t all get to vote on the same day, so Amy or Pete could’ve conceivably risen to top, had other states weighed in. And Pete did so well in IA....
Still, those two “took one for the team.” They know that if non-team-member and chief Democrat-hater Bernie wins, they won’t be in HIS cabinet. And they don’t want him to win because there are too many moderates. And, again, Biden has a better chance of winning the nomination.
What a terrible choice. Biden comes across as far too old and infirm for this race. He’s like the crazy guy down at the local pub that mouths off on things but no-one takes seriously. That the Democrats are reduced to a choice between him and Sanders is a tragedy.
7
@David G
Bloomberg is the only hope but since most voters in the Democratic party cringe at money and stature, he too will be tossed on the slagheap. And by their naivety Trump will return. I've never not voted, but will support neither Biden nor Sanders. And neither will most voters. Awful.
1
I am tired of the DNC narrative of "Moderates vs Progressives."
We are longtime moderate Independents in this household.
We became Democrats last summer in support of Warren.
We are tired of the status quo. We are tired of corruption. We are tired of endless wars. We are tired of the price of real estate. We are tired of the prices of healthcare and inferior quality. We are tired of the high cost of education. We are tired of corporations, like Amazon and Exxon, not paying taxes, while we are taxed to death. We are tired of all tax dodgers. We are tired of incomes going in reverse and shrinking retirements.
We want change. We want a rebuilt middle class. We want an America for all Americans. $900,000 homes in average communities, $50,000 a year college tuition at third rate colleges. $1,200 a month healthcare premiums. $4.00 a gallon for gas, while we can see oil wells off our shores in CA.
Enough. Moderates want change too.
America is a democracy. All states have the right to hold primaries and all registered voters have a right to cast a vote for their candidate without the Democratic party skewing the race, again. It backfired in 2016 and it will again.
The Democrats have made a fatal blow against democracy with this orchestrated coup.
We are sticking with Warren until the convention!
17
In the history of democratic primaries, what candidates ever quit on the eve of Super Tuesday? Actually, Buttigieg and Klobuchar quit because their corporate donors told them to.
8
Yay, more conspiracies backing Bernie. What a novel development in our political discourse.
Up until South Carolina, Biden's campaign was on its last rites. Then, came Rep. Clyburn with the oxygen. Now, we see some of the candidates who have decided to drop out, rallying around Biden. They are all teaming up to challenge Sanders. What makes the new Biden campaign team think Sanders can be defeated on Super Tuesday? What happens if Sanders finds a path to nomination?
2
@CITIZEN
Clyburn, representing a region with abysmal literacy rates, who slammed Sanders's nod to Castro's emphasis on literacy. What a country! I don't favor Sanders but he's right that bad people can have good ideas.
2
As many democrats are now coming out as Biden moderates, what are we supposed to believe, who can we trust? If, for example, Joe Biden puts Beto O'Rourke in charge of his gun policy, no one can tell where this is going. Biden makes one gaffe a day, does not know where he is half of the time, has some controversies brewing, and now a score of IOU's to repay to some people who were never considered moderates. In this respect, his age and his mental functions will represent a considerable problem. One termer or not even that? Who will be his VP?
Like him or not, Bernie is the only one who has had a well-defined platform for years. We will know more or Tuesday evening, or is it Thursday?
6
If Sanders is the nominee, he certainly wont want the endorsement of any of these Democratic "establishment" candidates. They would only hurt him among his supporters.
6
That’s a silly assumption.
Endorsing Sanders means supporting his platform.
His supporters welcome all such endorsements.
@Jerry Engelbach
If that were true, then why does Sanders claim that "Establishment" Democrats like Klobuchar and Buttigeig are conniving to deprive him of the nomination. Surely he wouldn't accept "corrupt" funds from billionaires for his campaign. Wouldn't that make him beholden to them and corporate interests?
Not very dramatic the Democratic establishment want Biden and not Bernie
People need to vote for who they want
Very simple
6
Biden wins one state, hardly registers in others, and all of a sudden everyone swarms around him. Did anyone else watch him in the debates? He's clearly missing a few marbles. We are going to lose.
19
Trump is also missing a few marbles. At least a few. Biden will be a similar figurehead. Except likable. And with better people with actual experience doing the real work of running the government. And better judicial appointments that last a lifetime.
9
I do not see any drama here. It is politics.
I support Bernie.
He can do it!
11
Any one of the serious potential nominees would be an enormous improvement over the incompetent and dangerous fool that occupies the Oval Office presently.
Threatening to stay home and not vote if it is not Bernie, regardless of the political machinations of the nomination process, is a very childish and immature response. Democrats must be united! We are, after all, the adults in the room.
18
@RD MD You don't get it. If the DNC cheats to give the nomination to Biden, they will lose. It won't be Bernie's fault. It won't be the fault of his supporters. It will be because they give proof to the suspicions that they are no better than the Republicans after all. Despite this, Bernie will be out there campaigning for Biden, just like he did for Hillary. Most of his active supporters will vote for him, just like they voted for Hillary. But all those legions of working class people, young people, and people who have felt betrayed by both parties will go back home. They were never Democratic votes, they were Bernie's. If the DNC cheats to favor a weaker candidate, for fear that Bernie might actually threaten corporate profits, they're never coming back. The Democratic Party will be done. Trump will win, and the American Democratic experiment comes to its end.
7
@nickchop
You suggest that Bernie and followers are unto themselves and not a faction of the Democratic Party. That is what I don’t get. I’m of the mind that all ideas can be entertained/included within the “big tent”.
@nickchop
Well, the DNC just canned my candidate, why not Bernie too? The DNC loves to lose. The sweet smell of vuctimhood in November.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Last go round, in June 2016, you (you being the mainstream press) announced that "it was in the bag for Clinton" the day before I got to vote here in California.
Today, the day before I get to vote, you announce that all these people are throwing in for the terribly weak candidate Biden, in an effort to derail the honorable Bernie Sanders.
So, this 78 year old will go proudly to the polls tomorrow to vote for Senator Sanders. Many polls show him beating Trump.
What do you want, "mainstream" Democratic Party?
My conclusion - you would rather have four more years of Trump than have real change - as reflected in a Bernie Sanders' presidency.
My answer to you is - NO. Bernie 2020. If that makes me a "Bernie or Buster", so be it.
26
Clearly, it's The Machine against the Democratic Socialist. The Machine May be in for a surprise.
17
"That Ms. Klobuchar and Mr. Buttigieg decided to align against Mr. Sanders reflected their assessments of him as a general-election candidate: Both have warned he could lose to Mr. Trump, skeptical that his liberal policy agenda would win him broad support in battleground regions like their Midwestern base."
This is either disingenuous or their read of the electorate is as wildly off today as it was in 2016. Personally, I think it's the former: they oppose Bernie because they fear he'll beat Trump, not lose to him. That's a wild proposition to consider, that establishment dems would rather fight the monster on the right they know as oppose to an ally they've historically ignored from their left. But that's certainly what this hysteria looks like to me. It makes no sense otherwise. The red scare excuse doesn't hold water given how reviled Trump is outside his rabid cult. Whatever few squeamish boomers choose Trump over Bernie because of some atavistic fear of the USSR will be dwarfed by the number of people that love Bernie.
Even if Biden did somehow manage to beat Trump, which I think is unlikely, the status quo would ensure that the next Republican president would potentially be even equally or more ruthless than Trump, and our planet would continue this global warming death hurtle.
13
@Justin. You're absolutely correct. There is very little reason to believe anyone but Bernie can best Trump--certainly not some declining candidate who needed the whole DNC machine to put its thumb on the scale to get him the nomination. They're afraid of Sanders because the movement he represents might actually succeed in making the government accountable to people and not corporate sponsors and the wealthy.
7
Whether you agree with Sanders’s views or not, in many ways he is a liability. Many people, including Democrats, violently dislike him.
We cannot afford any liabilities in this election. This is the biggest and most prolonged national crisis in my lifetime. Trump must be defeated —this is an emergency.
And Biden needs to be more forthcoming about his stutter, which can explain his apparent bumbling. It’s a stutter, and substituting words that are easier to say. (As a stutterer myself, I know exactly what he is doing.)
Tom Friedman’s outline of a national unity cabinet is brilliant. Read it!
It is also imperative that Sanders be defeated at the Convention absolutely transparently and fair and square. No monkey business (or appearance of monkey business) that could cause bitterness like last time.
Democrats who sat out the 2016 election are to blame for the Trump disaster. This is an emergency!!!
12
Why are so many Sanders's supporters blaming the DNC for Biden when Biden has won the votes of a majority of voters in the contests thus far? It is unfortunately reminiscent of the far right's conspiratorial thinking and disdain for institutions. Well-meaning, hard-working, ordinary people have different views than you, Sanders's supporters. They might even outnumber you. This could mean that your preferred candidate loses. Such differences are a part of life. Learn to live with them, even as you argue for your opinions.
20
Huh?
Biden has not won anything near a majority of voters, and lost to Sanders in Nevada and New Hampshire.
He hasn’t won the majority of votes in the states so far!! Not Nevada...that was Sanders. Not New Hampshire...that was Sanders. Not Iowa...tie between Sanders and Buttegieg. Biden only won South Carolina. Where have you been?
A perfect illustration that Democrats are the party of the rich and the nobles.
Their ideology is globalization (jobs out, foreign goods in, no view of a united country, a mentality of a zero-sum game between conflict interests, a hatred of the deplorable-poor who don't understand the benefit of free-unfair-trade and open borders).
The poor have no other choice than to vote red if they want to avoid further relegation and demotion.
Sanders, the eternal Pied Piper of Hamelin, is just a diversion.
3
How much money does Trump have?
Does the Democratic party have a cogent platform or is it just one giant self-help group for those with grievances?
Bernie should form his own Socialist Democrat party (along with AOC, Justice Democrats, etc), instead of cannibalizing the Democratic party, but once again that's the fault of a party without a cogent platform.
Sad to hear Chris Matthews caved in to the left wing "emotionally aggrieved" movement. Insightful commentary replaced by "reflections of the hurt".
5
The venomous hate against Sanders from all sides is ... well ... something. I only hope it backfires in a big way and voters thumb their noses at all the sudden Biden-endorsers.
14
After four years of Bernie Bros making death threats and shouting down their opponents, calling anyone who disagrees with them a sellout to the establishment or a globalist or a corrupt elite or privileged or stupid—we have been trained to hate Bernie by those who love him the most, ironically.
1
@Mrs_I - Ever see Sanders supporters booing Hillary? Or Biden? Ever read their hate-filled comments on social media? Ever hear Bernie himself disparage the Democratic Party over and over, for decades? No other candidate trashes the party he or she belongs to — except Sanders. Those are just a few of the reasons people hate him. He is a narcissist and a cult leader. We have that already. We don’t need another one, this time on the left. Okay, Trump is worse, and Biden is far, far better than Sanders.
The senior candidates of the Democratic Party have strongly shown that they want to unite the country behind President Trump. Biden, Warren or Sanders are each ideal foils to ensure a Trump victory in 2020, however improbable that seemed just six months ago. I am stunned by the Democratic loyalty to Trump. It is almost indecent how much they must love him!
2
I don't get all the indignation from the Bernie voters. Sanders enjoyed a situation where the moderates were divided, which weakened each of their candidates. The fact that the moderates are less divided now is not unfair to Bernie, it's just less comfortable for him. If Bernie's base is so strong, he will will the nomination fair and square in a 1 to 1 with Biden.
20
@Fabrice - Thank you! But Bernie’s supporters don’t want to win fair and square. They want to win any way they can. Here’s to Biden!
@Fabrice what is not readily realized by the folks that are trying to steer folks to biden is that 2/3rds of “pete” supporters are going to migrate to bernie, not biden ! and dont worry, there is no stopping bernie. bernie will be the nominee.
1
Klobuchar and Buttigieg were my favorite candidates because they had well thought out and well articulated ideas that might have actually made it through a divided do nothing congress. Their ability to compromise gave me hope that something would be actually done, rather than simply stalemated with rhetoric.
Now it seems their ability to compromise was a serious weakness. Bitterly disappointed that they did not stick it out for the conclusion of Super Tuesday voting so that we could have had serious tally of each of candidates. Recommending other candidates should have come later. I already voted deliberately and early, and NOT for Biden.
6
Quoting Bernie Sanders tonight: "Our campaign is about two fundamental issues. First, we must and will defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country. ... Now all of the Democratic candidates...we all share the understanding that together we are going to beat Donald Trump. We're all united on that. So let us be clear, there are obvious differences of opinion, that's true. But all of us understand that our difference of opinion pale in comparison to the differences we have with Trump".
Because I agree with Bernie 100% on the above, I will be voting for Biden next week despite the fact that he is not my first choice for the job. If I thought Sanders (also not my first choice) could beat Trump I would vote for him, but I don't think he can get it done.
So I don't want to argue or fight with Sanders supporters and I'm not interested singing Biden's praises. This is now a calculation of how we can get the 270 electoral votes necessary to remove the Trump virus from the presidency. I think Biden has the best chance. If the Democrats decide to nominate Bernie I will send him money and spend time doing whatever I can to get him elected. I simply ask Bernie supporters to embrace his words above and do the same for Biden if he is the nominee.
25
@Chas. I agree completely. It comes down to a cold calculation about who is most likely to beat Trump based on the best available evidence we have at the moment. With a second Trump term looming, the country is about to go over a waterfall. This is no time for the Dems to be arguing about their favorite flavor of ice cream.
5
there is just so much data that says otherwise... biden plays right into trump's hand, and he's uninspiring and not really even that sharp. we will get destroyed if we try to go moderate again
@Chris Francis
You're right.
Vote Bloomberg.
Why is the media putting in their opinion instead of stating facts. They endorsed Biden because they wanted to. Why does it have to be because they're after Bernie. People have choices and if I choose Warren, it doesn't mean it's because I'm against Bernie. It's because I'd rather Warren to be prez. Despite trump worshipers saying universal healthcare is impossible, I believe it is not impossible and I like his message on that. But I'm concerned about the health. We need a president that doesn't hide things.
6
I guess I will wait to see what Bernie says next. He does not, surprisingly, seem prepared to compromise on anything. If he will wait until the convention, lose on the delegate total, and then declare his support for the winner, he may as well save his breath. His supporters will go home disillusioned and sit out the general election a la 2016.
If there is one thing Bernie is not, it is being a team player.
8
@Tom,
The time to compromise is when your opponent holds cards.
You don’t compromise your position before the contest even starts.
Prediction:The Democratic Party engineers the nomination of Biden even though voter analysis, surveys and polls make it obvious that his chance of beating Trump is very slight. As predicted, Biden loses the election and in addition the House of Representatives becomes Republican controlled. The Democratic Party disintegrates in a whirlwind of recrimination and acrimony.
6
In 2016, I caucused for Sanders, and then with my hair on fire ran howling 'We must vote for Clinton or we'll get Trump. That is Inevitable.'
Since then, I've buttonholed anyone who'd listen 'Electability is not about a candidate's qualities. It's about the voters determination to unite and win.'
Personally, I am left of Sanders. I've never had to trim my sails to stay afloat in politics. As frivolous Republicans destroyed their party and threaten our nation, Sanders unwavering loyalty to Democratic ideals informing New Deal and Great Society programs, pointed the way out of the desert of Clinton big money centrism. That should suffice. Even Moses did not enter the promised land.
It looks like Biden will be the Democratic pick. Is this process I wanted, is this the candidate I preferred? It absolutely does not matter. I will work my heart out for the Democratic nominee. Whomever. This time we need to win.
Seriously. Trump. Again. Did I really have to say that.
9
@pi
Then work for Bloomberg.
1
what a display of desperation and weakness on the part of the moderate and establishment democrats. getting two of the candidates to drop out before super tuesday so biden, in theory, can have their voters is not my idea of democracy ! if the democratic party truly respected the democratic process they would embrace the front-runner, who is bernie sanders, or at least be impartial and neutral, but definitely not try everything they can think of to "stop" him. bernie has created a passionate, and very large movement. ... one that will beat trump. cramming uncle joe biden down everyone's throats when they do not want him, (ala hillary 2016) is a sure recipe for failure and a loss to trump if biden is the nominee. the establishment and moderate democrats would rather lose to trump with biden than to win against trump with sanders. though they are too full of themselves to clearly see this fact and that is NOT ok.
11
Well, it was hardly a "dramatic" move. They certainly wouldn't endorse Sanders or Bloomberg. This still doesn't mean Biden will get the nomination, although it does clear that center lane. I've become more and more impressed with Bloomberg. He doesn't answer questions like a politician who is trying to score points. He's much more sincere and communicates honestly. I think he'll look at situations in a complete manner and will make sensible decisions for the good of the country....and not for the benefit of the Party!! As for who should be VP, I think Amy fits well with both Biden and Bloomberg. She is well-versed in the Senate rules and processes. And she works effectively "across the aisle".
5
@J. G. Smith
Bloomberg is the guy we need.
1
I’d have voted for Amy,... she reminds me of my mother, and who wouldn’t vote for their own Mom.
Joe reminds me of my kindhearted but forgetful uncle, just make sure the Garmin is programmed with his home address before he takes the car.
Bernie reminds me of my uncle who spends all his time reading National Geographic and tending his organic garden. He had a lot of interesting opinions, and you are in trouble if you don’t agree.
On the other hand Donald is the uncle who has a bit of a secret life, you sort of want to know what he does when he’s not around the family, but then again, you sort of don’t.
I think America has had enough, I think we’ll invite the forgetful uncle and the opinionated uncle to Sunday barbecue, but conveniently lose the invitation for the one that creeps out the wife and kids.
8
This is a mistake.
The enthusiasm, and the hope for change, lies with Sanders and Warren.
Vote for real progressives....not for a man who helped put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court and for the War on Iraq. No to Joe Biden.
29
@Larry You make the same mistake that every other commenter makes about Sander's ideas.
His ideas are not the "socialism" of Cuba, Venezuela or East Germany. You are reaching for the fearful response toward reasonable ideas regarding healthcare and you can not offer any better alternatives either.
1
@Larry,
That sounds like someone who hasn’t a clue about Sanders’ platform, or about the kind of Western European social democracy to which it aspires.
Spouting nonsense about Stalin and Pol Pot, you would think a communist revolution was around the corner.
It’s the same old baseless red baiting we’ve put up with from the far right, led by the billionaire class, for decades.
2
And who also talked about finagling with SS
1
South Carolina ranks near the bottom in both healthcare and education and much of its future looks to be underwater. It is the most conservative state in the union. The state does not promise a really great future and its elderly population chose Joe Biden. Do the Democrats not realize the information is out there.
That the Democrats decided to fight Sanders and Warren, yes and Warren who is the only viable uniter at this moment seems counter intuitive. Are they really hoping for riots in Milwaukee to unite the party?
9
A week ago, I felt socked in the gut and morbidly depressed after volunteering 4 days and $500 to canvas in Nevada for Biden. I felt so morbidly depressed and ashamed of our country it took me 2 days to get out of bed.
Am I manic? I can't believe what has happened in the past 10 days. Tonight, while watching the "revival" in Dallas, I wanted to go down to the alter, get down on my knees, and rededicate my life to the spiritual, to benevolency, to HOPE.
9
@Dolly Patterson
I don't back Biden but I love your dedication and your creative and heartfelt post.
1
OK DNC, we see your game. If you want to go this route then go for a Biden/Sanders ticket. The moderates and progressives need to unite to win.
7
It’s clear the Democratic establishment has learned nothing at all since 2016. Well ... I plan to vote for Bernie on Super Tuesday. Maybe the DNC wants to hand Trump another victory in 2020 but I don’t.
17
@Dissatisfied I hope you will have the integrity to vote for Biden, or whoever is the Dem nominee for Presidency. I will vote for Bernie if he is the candidate but I certainly hope this won't be the case. :-)
3
"Before a roaring crowd in Dallas, [Klobuchar] hailed her former rival as a candidate who could “bring our country together” and restore “decency and dignity” to the presidency.'"
No one, even his revolutionary supporters, is claiming that Bernie will do either of those things.
11
@MarcosDean Bringing back the past?
That bit of nostalgia politics sounds like "make America great again", wrapped up in different clothing.
How about fixing the problems that are long outstanding? Is Joe Biden going to do this or is his campaign merely that of another nostalgia trip?!
No, Sanders doesn’t deal in such vacuous platitudes and generalities.
He has specific proposals for which he will fight to shake the dictatorship of the rich and improve the lives of working people.
That scares the functionaries of the DNC to the point of panic. They would rather lose to Trump than win with Sanders.
1
@Jerry Engelbach
Bringing back decency and dignity to the presidency is a platitude? Bringing our country together after Trump has torn it apart is "vacuous"? I feel sorry for you if you really believe that, Jerry.
1
The top Democratic candidates biggest enemy is not Trump, it is the shameless democratic leadership who again doesn’t trust voters. With the most of undemocratic systems of “super delegates” (meaning super qualified to make the vote the party wants) which takes over to “protect” the poor unqualified voters of making mistakes (in the party’s eyes).
This democratic leadership still behaves like the old ‘union bosses’ and want to keep it that way using all their power and money.
A two party system is per definition un-democratic, it smells like the wheeling and dealing in dark back rooms.
That is why politicians love the status quo, in which the rules will never change and very little if anything will ever be achieved.
In a time in which the world changes so rapidly, politicians have been standing still and have avoided any dramatic change that will improve the health and welfare of most Americans.
For over 30 years there has been zero progress.
One or more new parties have to be created to give people real choices.
15
...Counting the minutes until Hillary gives her endorsement to Biden.
Then, (just before the delegates are counted using a new untested app developed by Shadow), she can give the 'unity' speech at the convention.
A predict a very uneventful Convention.
7
These latest development show that the only person in the field left with integrity is Sanders. Everyone else is playing a game and the only one serious about caring for the people is Bernie.
23
And Warren and Tulsi.
If the Dem leadership were truly concerned about beating Trump, wouldn't they be more interested in promoting the candidate (Bernie) who is polling best against Trump? Perhaps they do really believe Bernie can't do it, but when California is figured in, polls show Bernie is way ahead of anyone else. The argument that the Dem "moderates" must unite behind lackluster Biden against wildly popular Bernie in order to defeat Trump simply rings hollow in this scenario.
A far more likely motive is what we saw in their identical (disastrous) strategy to promote Hillary in 2016: they detest and fear Bernie's rise for rattling their corporate sponsorships, without which they don't know how to function politically. As an openly brokered Biden candidacy would disgust half the party and could generate a fatal split, the leadership is holding urgent confidential meetings to ask all other candidates to drop out and swing behind Biden. Judging by the last two days, promises and horse-trading, if not threats, must be as thick as
cigar smoke in these closed back rooms.
But what the Dem Establishment still don't get is the real mood of the Dem electorate. Half the party is terminally fed up with the party, as it has become so alienated from them and neglectful of their needs. While they detest Trump, they are in no mood for the foggy old guard being forced down their throats yet again. Watching these endorsements is like watching a collective suicide.
18
Why isn’t none too impressive Elizabeth Warren getting out of the race?? Her numbers are as bad as Amy’s and Mayor Pete’s. A political ploy of some sort?? Here in Minnesota, there is speculation she is angling to be a king maker of some sort at the Milwaukee Convention.
5
The only reason that she refuses to concede is that she is by far the most qualified to be president. I think that explains it.
6
@MarkG this idea is backward. Warren is THE candidate that actually has the brains, the experience, Solid strategies, the ability to form a cohesive explanation of her strategies, and progressive ideas. If people are so worried about Bernie they should be flocking to warren. She could actually make some peace AND progress.
4
I never was in favor of early voting, and now I am dead set against it. When you vote early you take a risk that nothing will come out between the day you both an election day that would have changed your mind. For super Tuesday voters, that risk played out because two candidates dropped out of the race. Even in a general election, What happens if you vote a week early and then three days later your candidate is caught in a scandal, or says something outrageous, or any number of things happen that could affect your decision?
Obviously, we need absentee ballots for those who are away on election day or otherwise cannot make it to the polls. But for people who have the option of voting on election day, they should wait until then to vote.
3
Not surprising that Buttigieg and Klobuchar would endorse Biden. All three are said to be "centrists" or "moderates."
He certainly didn't have as much "clout" as Buttigieg or Klobuchar, but Tom Steyer had some. He dropped out too, but he hasn't endorsed anyone. He was generally thought to be in the same camp as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but he hasn't said he'll endorse either of them -- only that he'll support WHOEVER gets the Democratic nomination. True enough, that's not the same pro-Biden statement that Buttigieg and Klobuchar have made, but it's not ANTI-Biden either. If Tom Steyer endorses Sanders or Warren, that may hurt Biden, but unless and until that happens, he's basically neutral, staying out of the battle, siding with whichever side wins.
2
Remember that GWB's brother was supposed to be the primary winner in 2016 GOP race. How did that work out for establishment Republicans? Very well I might say since they now love Trump. Let's give the voters and Bernie a chance and see where this goes.
9
Seems like the DNC needs a few more trips around the sun before being ready to embrace a progressive candidate and win.
The party is headed toward Warren and Sanders, but I think Republicans will win for awhile longer first.
13
I fear that this we will have a repeat of the 2016 election with the Dems nominating a candidate with a great of deal of ethical baggage and who can't inspire much enthusiasm for his candidacy but is considered the "safe choice." And once again, Trump wins.
If the only alternative to Sanders that the Dems have been able to come up with are Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, perhaps it's come a time for the party to call it a day as the Whigs did in the U.S. and the Liberal Party in the UK.
And it's not surprising about all those others lining up behind Trump. They want all the big money donors who are frightened by Sanders to still back them. I see very little that is selfless about what they are doing.
18
It is so simple. The democratic establishment prefers four more years of Trump, rather than someone who has been fighting for social justice for more than 30 years.
38
@Sigmatutors
Yes, Bernie has "been fighting for social justice for more than 30 years." The problem is that he hasn't accomplished anything. Time to go away, Bernie.
11
@Sigmatutors
But not that many accomplishments. This is worrisome about Sanders. He appears as a talker that didn't accomplish almost anything major. We have seen another cult falling for words. Don't need another one.
9
Sanders has been in Congress for 30 years and has been behind only seven bills (of which two were about renaming Vermont post offices). All talk, all posturing in the name of an outdated, inflexible ideology quite more radical than anything practiced in Western Europe today. And his nomination will re-energize Republicans, who will drown Sanders’ promises of free stuff under waves of scare tactics about his plans to fling open the borders.
Let’s keep Sanders in perspective. He does not have nor has he ever had a majority of Democratic Party support. He had appeared to hold a plurality because the majority of the party was divided into so many candidates that stood for an essentially identical platform.
Klobacher and Buttigieg are helping to effect its overwhelming preference in choosing a moderate.
20
You are right that Bernie has never had a majority of Democratic Party support. However, he is getting a majority of Democratic voter support.
6
@JSD, did Trump ever get republican support? Only after the people rallied behind him. I recall many republicans saying Trump was a disgrace. Who now support him. Because the people support him. Bernie has the support of the people. No other metric matters.
I prefer evolution over revolution. I will vote blue no matter who, but I really hope it's a moderate like Biden. Bernie is too far to the left, and reminds me of Trump in the way he only plays to his base. He does nothing to bring the party together, and would not be able to heal the nation, which is what we need now.
28
There are a lot of comments about “the Democratic Party establishment.” If not a myth, this is at least a major exaggeration of the power of the Party as an organized force in the primary election. The power of the party is predominately in the voters, and the efforts of the Sanders campaign after 2016 played an important role in increasing the power of primary voters.
So vote for the candidate you align with most closely. And in November vote blue. That’s what I’m doing.
9
What these reporters don't seem to get is that Bernie Sanders's only path to the nomination was to bring a majority of delegates to the convention.
He has to win the first vote there or he loses the nomination because the moderate "wing" is the majority of the party. On a susequent ballot, moderate candidates' delegates (and most super delegates) will vote for whomever is the centrist/moderate candidate -- Biden, or, extreme outside possibility on a ballot after the second, Bloomberg.
Most or all Buttigieg and Klobuchar delegates will go with Biden in the second ballot. So will most Bloomberg voters if he lets them go (which seems more likely than a protracted fight). Warren delegates won't all go the Sanders; they're likely to be a wash -- or a slight majority in the Biden camp if he puts the world out that he'll have a female VP candidate, her or Klobuchar.
Warren is a great combination of idealist and realist. She advocated, then gave up on, M4A, a dangerous political loser (See any Kaiser Family Foundation survey). She took super PAC money late after trying to get along without it.
Call that caving in if you please; I call it smart and practical -- centrist thinking.
Finally, I've been watching the movement in state-by-state polls in the past few days. I don't see any Super Tuesday state, other than possibly Massachusetts in which Sanders will get a majority of delegates. How does he win the nomination with no majority?
8
The people voted for Trump because they wanted a change from the political status quo at the time. Now, Mr Sanders is offering a change vs Mr Biden who is very much representing the old democratic establishment the people walked away from during the last election. Even though it is good that there are less candidates, who try to discredit each other continuously, making the political goals and promises look non achievable, the backing of Mr Biden is the obvious political agenda push back to the old democratic establishment. This purely political maneuvering will deter many voters and likely assure Trump's reelection. A very dangerous move for the USA and the rest of the world. It is sad to see that the term 'What is best for our country' is confused with 'What is best for our political party'. The democrats would do well listening to what the voters are actually pointing at!
7
So it seems the DNC would literally prefer Trump over Sanders?
A good way to try to get a objective analysis for political things is not to look at the news, where everybody has an agenda and bias, but to Vegas. Their entire business is based around setting accurate odds. And it's unsurprising that Trump's odds have started getting better and better. He's currently on about -160, that's a 61.5% implied probability to win.
Biden has an immense amount of baggage including "gaffes" which have increasingly become more like outright lies, extremely awkward behavior around women (and little girls), and Ukrainian corruption with Hunter. His most recent "gaffes", such as stating he was running for the Senate or arrested in South Africa (he wasn't), also make one wonder if he is pulling a Reagan.
And unlike Hillary who was running against a relative unknown (in terms of politics), Biden will be running against the incumbent who is polling well into the 90s among his base according Gallup's most recent numbers.
This isn't unifying to beat Trump, this is unifying to beat Sanders.
13
Prediction: At the end of tomorrow (Super Tuesday), Joe Biden will be cruising toward the Democratic nomination. The reason:
Biden's only remaining competition, Bernie Sanders, though a good person, is too old, too cranky, too loud, and, most crucially, too out of step with what the U.S. direly needs post-Trump: a Moderate president.
12
I SO wish that Bernie Sanders had talked about moving to universal coverage as a careful PROCESS, step-by-step, instead of his "Medicare for All or bust" push.
He wouldn't have scared so many people.
I support Medicare for All, but I see it as a long-term conversion, about 10 years.
FIRST -- save the ACA and boost federal support to bring down premium costs, to everyone who doesn't qualify for subsidies.
THEN the big Medicare for All brainstorm. The nuts and bolts laid out. Launch it in stages.
This is more what Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Biden had in mind. And I think it plays a role in their endorsements.
5
@Jules you obviously don't really support medicare for all. The coronavirus should let you know we need it now, not in 10 years. Sheesh.
Sanders needs to drop out this time, instead of ensuring Trump would be elected in 2016, despite losing the popular vote by 3 million.
At some point, what you say has to match what you do.
Sanders claims he will do anything to defeat Donald Trump. He knows he is being supported by the Russians, and many of his supporters are doing nothing but sowing chaos and discord.
To stop a repeat of 2016, Sanders must drop out and stop Trump cold.
He can choose either to be a patriot, or part of a Russian conspiracy.
5
@David Parsons, coming from a guy who has consistently said the same thing for 30 years? Are you mad? Bernie is the only candidate who is doing what he is saying.
6
@Teddy - By “doing what he is saying,” do you mean he’s trying to destroy the Democratic Party he’s always said he disdains?
It's like Church before God. The party is working to force its decision on people - exact opposite of what its job is. And, it has not even been four years since the last failure along the same lines.
6
I hope Warren comes out in third place today, wins at least Massachusetts, leaves Bloomberg behind and puts pressure on all the moderate nothing-shall-change-fans, so they can decide between Bernie and her!
7
Biden and Bloomberg are shills for pharmaceutical and Silicon Valley companies. Not to mention their ties to China. If you think Bloomberg cares about American middle class, take a look at his company. It’s a major sponsor of H1B visas, of about 500 a year. They will undo any protections that the current administration implemented, whereas Bernie would strengthen them.
4
Bernie has 25 years to propose and work across the isle to promote his big ideas he is running on. Accomplishments? Minuscule. Why in the world we would believe his talk, when he already has/had a position to act?
"A Georgetown University study last year found Sanders to be the least bipartisan member of the Senate -- ranking 100 out of 100 senators two years in a row."
12
The real question is what has Biden promised Buttigieg and Klobuchar in exchange for ending their campaigns and lending their support? Fortunately, Biden cannot coopt Warren. Simply being better than Trump isn’t enough; the DNC should have learned that lesson in 2016. Only Sanders or Warren present a clear alternative worth fighting for. I’m sticking with Warren, the most intelligent and noble candidate in the race.
24
From an "outsider", since we in Chicago won't vote until St. Patrick's Day ... a challenging concept unto itself ...
I am 66 and don't remembering having this challenge.
I STILL prefer Sen. Warren [and Mayor Buttigieg as her "running mate"].
But my guess is now that in 2 weeks I will have to chose the candidate I dislike the least.
6
I understand and support Klobuchar's and Buttigieg's decisions when it came to dropping out as neither one really had a decent chance as of today. But why did they have to throw their support behind a specific candidate? They could have just bowed out.
With both publicly supporting Biden, they have sent a loud message to the country that the front-runner, Bernie Sanders, is not electable. What then happens if Sanders wins tomorrow? The party looks fragmented and uncertain about its new "leader." (I support Bloomberg, for the record.)
6
@blondiegoodlooks
Why do you support Bloomberg? Seriously... He disturbs me the most. I want real change for the country! ... not another authoritarian billionaire Republican. Ugh that would be so heart-breaking, so sad for us.
4
@blondiegoodlooks
I also support Bloomberg. His platform dovetails with mine and his resume of work in NY is luminous.
It is unfortunate that Klobuchar has not endorsed Warren.
16
@Patricia -- Klobuchar didn't endorse Warren, because to do so would have been unreasonable for the Party.
I hope that a Democratic woman wins the presidency someday. But not this time. It will take a tough man, either Biden or Sanders, to stand up to Trump.
That said, I can't wait till the debates start. Whether the Democratic nominee is Biden or Sanders, either one will make Mincemeat of Trump.
2
@Patricia
Why? Because they're both women? Why would Amy endorse an extremist like Warren; they don't agree on anything.
Unreasonable for the party but essential for the country.,
Stop kvetching about WHO they endorse in these comments. All that matters is defeating Trump. And that means backing the nominee passionately by ALL Democrats, from Bloomberg to "The Squad". Anything less is inviting Trump's re-election.
20
@C Can we not learn? It’s going to be impossible to win with any candidate who backed the War in Iraq, Nafta, or (especially in Biden’s case) the Crime Bill. Every Democrat candidate who has done so has lost. We need to turn the page. Sanders may be old, but his vision has a big future. The old guard Democrats are dead and have dead ideas.
DNC just doesn't get it. They didn't in 2016, they don't in 2020. They are just too in love with their donors and their dicta. Well, guess what, we are NOT going back. If they don't stand with at a minimum with Warren, at least Trump is right on trade, immigration and NO WARS.
Bring it on!
16
As a liberal Democrat, I feel more kinship with Warren’s and Sanders’ values than Biden’s. But I am voting Biden because of the horrific risk we face if Trump is re-elected. All the progressive causes I care about - universal healthcare (including single payer), free college tuition, etc - would be lost for decades if we lose the presidency, the Congress and the Supreme Court.
If a Democrat wins, even Sanders, those causes will remain a distant possibility. But they will remain possible, and millions of people will not immediately lose their health insurance.
It is not 100% certain that Sanders would lose to Trump, but multiple lines of evidence strongly suggest he would. Voting is a game of probabilities, and Sanders seems a foolish bet, given what’s at stake.
28
@ChrisFrancis Biden is a disaster in the making. Why in the world would you think he could do better against trump than Bernie when all the polls say the opposite?
4
@ChrisFrancis Sanders beats Trump in 68 of 72 polls, more than any other candidate! We beat Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan where it counts! What kind of bad press are you listening to? Let’s eradicate Trump completely... with Sanders!
4
@J.Phillip The latest Quinnipiac polls I’ve seen show Trump winning over any Dem in WI and Sanders and Biden doing comparably well against him in MI. But these are just snapshots. Sanders’ statements and views will become huge red flags in the general election. Russia’s pro-Sanders propaganda machine will be switched into reverse after the Convention.
Glad to hear about this. I love Bernie, but since my (and many others') biggest priority is to get Trump OUT, I feel that a more moderate candidate (such as Biden) is the better bet. Bernie is too radical, and many of his constituents, polarizing and judgemental.
I know for a fact that there is a good percentage of voters out there who previously voted for Trump, but who were willing to vote Dem, based upon who ended up being the Dem candidate. These folks would never vote for Bernie, and in fact, many of them were excited about Yang. Now that Yang is out, hopefully many of them will consider Biden. But these particular ex-Trumpers will never consider Bernie. If it's Bernie who wins the Dem ticket, these particular voters are going to go back to Trump.
23
Bernie is too radical? Have you seen the Republican Party lately? They’ve moved so far right it’s insane. Biden has no shot against Trump!
I am a moderate Democrat, and my preferred candidate is Bloomberg, then Biden, then Sanders. I have several like-minded friends and even my husband tell me they are terrified of Sanders and would never vote for him, and it seems there are several commenters that share that sentiment.
Yes, I agree Sanders’s ideas are crazy and not grounded in reality. I agree that some his supporters can be militant and uncompromising. However, PLEASE think about what’s at stake in this election:
1) The Supreme Court — at least 1 seat will open up in the next 4 years and Dems can not afford to have another young conservative justice put on the bench. SO much is at stake here — reproductive rights, social justice, individual liberties, and almost every facet of American life.
2) National security — I would trust Sanders over Trump to not get us into a nuclear war. At the very least, I don’t think Sanders would surround himself with sycophants and would entrust experts, not his gut feel or poll numbers, to make decisions.
3) The environment — none of this matters if we don’t get the environment right. We don’t have the luxury to be purists around ideology. Any Dem candidate will be better than Trump.
As you are asking Sanders supporters to get over themselves and support Biden (or whoever the Dem candidate is), I am imploring moderate Dems to PLEASE do the same if the candidate is Sanders. And please do not conspire against him at the DNC convention, that will ensure a Trump victory.
18
The Democrats would have a much better chance if Sanders were not a candidate.
8
@HLN,
Not according to the polls.
I was a Pete supporter. I like somebody who recognizes the role of expertise in decision making.
But, I made my first campaign contribution to Biden's campaign earlier today.
The thing is I'm pretty liberal. I want universal healthcare. I want dramatic action on climate change.
I'm broadly in agreement with Sanders on policy. But, I do have a stubborn streak of pragmatism.
As I see it, there must be a backstop to 4 more potential years of Trump. I don't think the odds of either Biden or Sanders defeating Trump are better than 50/50. People tend to re-elect Presidents if the economy is doing well.
Sanders is probably slightly more likely to defeat Trump. But, Biden is more likely to keep the majority in the House. He might even help the Democrats take back the Senate even if he loses in the electoral college to Trump.
I'd rather have 4 more terrible years of Trump with a Democratic House and Senate than a Democrat in the White House and a Republican Congress. We've all seen that story before.
And, as for VP, personally I'd love to see Pete on the ticket. Imagine the VP debate! This gay man would love to see that gay man drive a stake through Pence's heart... you know, assuming there's a heart to be found.
But, Pete doesn't help Biden. Klobuchar doesn't help Biden either. After all, they both have a mixed record on race. Besides, according to Klobuchar, she's the only Democratic Senator who can get legislation through the Senate. Sounds like she's needed there.
15
Sanders doesn’t have any chance to defeat Trump. There are people who voted for Trump and are so disappointed they decided to vote for a Democrat next time, but they won’t do it if the candidate is Sanders. Too many people who are neither Democrats nor Republicans and would vote just to remove Trump, won’t vote for Sanders either. You need a Democratic candidate who has a chance.
9
@HLN,
The polls say just the opposite.
I’m more inclined to trust them than off-the-cuff, unsupported opinions like yours.
What will matter most with Biden is his choice of VP, should he become the nominee. There is no denying his age, for starters. And we've all witnessed those terrible awful moments when it wasn't clear he would grab the thought he thought he had. Yes he is decent, authentically so, and yes he is experienced. I am not sure how he would handle the debates with Trump out for blood in that particularly cruel manner that for some scary reason speaks to lots of people. But that will be true for any one of them, minus Bloomberg maybe.
All that said, it's depressing to witness once again how absolutely impossible it is for the women to get significant support.
11
I'm not particularly concerned about Biden, he's consistently imploded at the worst possible times. Fortunately Warren is still running and has a plan for that. I must live in some reality bubble outside mainstream Americans. No one here wants Biden or Bloomberg. Most want Warren and a few prefer Sanders. And of course we all humor that one guy pulling for Gabbard and quietly wonder about his long term well being.
I can't help wonder what's going to happen if/when Biden implodes on super Tuesday? the 'moderate dems' have put all their eggs in one very broken basket and it's entirely possible Biden will continue to do poorly. South Carolina isn't exactly a hotbed of the Democratic party. I'm not seeing California following the SC lead.
15
@Richard,
Time for a reality check.
“Most prefer Warren”? Based on what criteria?
It’s Sanders who leads in all the polls and handily beat all the other candidates in two primaries and came in second in one.
Everyone in entitled to an opinion, but not to a distortion of the facts.
Check back on Tuesday night. California has a surprise in store for the "virtual nominee" crowned on the basis of one, count them, one primary win in 32 years.
The desperate "Thank God" sighs of the centrist do-nothings who don't want to do anything but float farther down the river as huge challenges face our nation, are sighs of "Maybe everybody who already has it made can keep their gig and not have to deal with change."
Biden is NOT a strong candidate. He a comforting plush toy for those who do not comprehend how weak he will be against Trump.
So, again, check back Tuesday night and we'll find out that the flush of false hope will quite likely have evaporated.
We have to fight for what we believe in and stop this decades long third way defensiveness against what is now a far right that has captured one of the major political parties and is quite unconcerned with leading it down a path of crumbling the very fabric of our democracy.
We are more than them. We can win. Fight for something worth winning. We can beat Trump and work to solve the challenges this country faces with dedication and resolve.
11
Although Biden feels safe for moderates now, he will feel much less so after a long slog and a brokered convention.
I just can’t envision the fairytale that the DNC must have in mind coming true.
15
Please explain to me what is so scary about Bernie Sanders. What's there to stop? Because he calls himself a Democratic Socialist? We already have socialist programs in place, Medicare being one of them. Is it because he wants Medicare for all? Or is it addressing climate change that's so unpalatable? Or maybe voters can't stand his attitude of human equality or belief in a livable wage for workers. Please enlighten me about how Bernie's ideals are so contrary to what the Democratic party used to say they believed in, because I'm mystified.
41
@Kristin The 100% outlawing of private health insurance for one? His favorite countries (Denmark, Norway, etc.) have lots of private health insurance.
6
@Kristin Bernie’s ideas are NOT contrary to what the Democratic Party believes in or what is good for the country. Medicare for all would be great. The problem is that too many voters don’t understand this. It highly likely Bernie would be wiped out in Nov and we will lose it all. This is why the Republicans and Russians are covertly supporting his candidacy in the primaries. They are ruthless and know how to win
1
@Kristin
He wants the government to confiscate 20% of the stock of every public company, and give it to employees. He wants to take 45% of the voting stock of every public company, and give that to employees as well. That's scary to veryone who believes in private property, and who has a brain.
1
No number of DNC-staged endorsements can breath life into Biden’s candidacy, even though it seems impressive now.
His ideas are not inspiring, his communication fails to, well, communicate, and he promises status quo.
22
Until this minute, I had decided not to vote in th MN primary tomorrow morning because of the state (MN) legislature's decision to release private information to all political parties. Now, I will be voting for Biden. Kudos, Mayor Pete--and all honor, Senator Amy. May your stars rise given your decisions to do the right thing for our country.
13
It isn’t just the Democrats who have watched the the rise of Sanders silently on the sidelines. It’s also the media. Every time Sanders or his somewhat arrogant surrogates spout on tv or in print that only Bernie can broaden the constituency, the media should come back with “But where has it broadened ?” In every caucus or primary so far, the numbers for Sanders in 2020 vs. 2016 have plummeted-not broadened.
9
@Martin that is nonsense. Nevada had its largest primary turnout ever.
This paper reported last week that top Democrats were willing to do damage to the party in order to stop Sanders. The title of the article alone was breathtaking. In light of this reporting and the DNC’s recent history (2016) of unfair treatment of Bernie, how can anyone expect Bernie supporters to be anything but suspicious of the sudden change of heart by two of the most fiercely competitive candidates? Biden was awfully quick to say that he’d have Mayor Pete in his administration and that we’d be seeing a lot of Klobuchar. The back room dealing isn’t being done in the backroom anymore. Way to go DNC. Way to win the future!
17
This is exactly how and why we lost in 2016 and will again if Biden is the nominee even though he has the best chance of defeating Trump.
Bernie's myopic supporters stayed home in 2016, which cost Hillary the election. I fear they'll repeat this if Biden is the nominee.
The good news is that African American voters seem to be nearly unanimously supportive of Joe, unlike 2016 when young African Americans stayed home and didn't support Hillary.
And there are enough White suburban women who voted for Trump last time who will support Joe this time.
9
@Ken Solin So why is it then that in Nevada Bernie basically matched biden in black voters? SC voters, black or white, are not the same as voters everywhere.
4
@BC Fair question. While Black voters aren't monolithic they have a long history with Joe Biden as Obama's VP for 8 years and perhaps most see him as an extension of Obama.
I think it's fair to say that White voters are somewhat predictable too. Older White men in the South and Midwest voted for Trump and likely will again.
@Ken Solin
Hillary lost the election on her own. 100%. She was too stuck up to campaign in Mich, Penn, and Wisc.
Right decisions. Wrong reason. Bernie’s supporters will not be denied this time.
8
Tomorrow, California and Texas will show who the voters really want. Iowa and South Carolina are both tiny, Republican states that mean nothing compared to the real democratic base that's constantly ignored. If the polls are correct, Bernie will sweep the floor after Super Tuesday.
13
There is one strategic way of looking at this:
A significant part of the Republican base vote against their own interests because they hate the Democratic establishment with a burning passion.
The Democrats have now openly declared war against Senator Sanders.
This will only encourage the working class republican base to consider voting for Sanders.
Bernie is best positioned to defeat Trump, and that’s what all this hysteria is about: the corporate Dems would much prefer to lose to Trump.
But this time, the Democrats won’t be able to blame their mind-boggling failure on the Russians, Comey and Bernie.
The Democrats are incompetent. I’m an independent who changed registration to vote for Bernie in the primary, but since I live in NY, my vote is irrelevant in the general election. The Democratic candidate will win, but they’ll do it without my vote.
8
I mean gosh this is crazy!! You folks should know that Biden and Hunter will be at the very least testifying before the Senate soon about Ukraine. Trump could also get Barr to arrest the Bidens on "evidence" supplied by Rudy.
3
GladF7, please explain in what Alternative Reality the Bidens will be arrested by Barr and made to testify about Ukraine.
Thanks.
1
@J, right after Trump testifies about all of the women he has sexually assaulted, then paid off to keep quite.
@Ken okay easy. 1 The US Senate subpoenas the Bidens to testify about what ever Trump wants. The Senate GOP is 100% corrupt they will do what Trump wants.
2 Barr is Trump's henchman. If Trump tweets Biden should be arrested for extradition to Ukraine for a corruption investigation, you think it won't happen , grow up.
It's a nice looking rally, but this is the implosion of the Democratic party. It has now become the Republican party, while the Republican party has essentially become the KKK. There is no room for progressives in the Democratic party anymore. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
23
Yes! It is the political realignment david Brooks describes!! Bye bye to the fringe!!
1
What a pathetic Hail Mary for Uncle Joe. I see even Beto the billionaire scion is helping to whip up the crowd, but I can't bear to listen to what kind of platitudes are coming out of his mouth. Uncle Joe just looks on the wings.
15
This was all predicted in Das Kapital! Do not fear the end of days...
That is the way it was supposed to go. The Democrat establishment is in control. Warren will be next and then Bernie-the-clown.
1
@Gennady
In my opinion Warren has also gone full establishment, rhetoric notwithstanding. I expect she'll stay in, long over due, in an effort to split the Bernie vote.
5
That’s her job.
3
Yes. That’s her job: to split the progressive vote.
1
The torture chambers in the DNC basement were quite effective in persuading Buttigieg and Klobuchar to drop out of the race and endorse Biden. Anyone who thinks they are acting on their own volition, I have a bridge to sell them in the Sahara desert. I will not vote for Biden. I will not vote for someone who voted for the Iraq war. Enjoy another 4 years of Trump, DNC! Booo!!!
19
Amazing what a phone call from Barack Obama can do...and promises for the future. And no less, a former Prez with absolutely no coattails! Poor, poor Bernie...they are doing you in again! Can I tell you how much fun this is to watch?
6
It’s not fun for me at all. Medicare for All is a life and death issue for my family.
6
Bernie or bust, democrates elites WILL LOSE. Those so called 47 % deplorables want a democracy not an Oligarchy!!
10
I said this in 2016 and I’ll say it again - if the DNC superdelegates Biden as they did with Hillary, I’ll just write in my candidate like I did in 2016
15
If the DNC doesn’t want progressives, I don’t want them
3
This is the DNC's big plan all along, they've been panting and freaking out since before the primary voting began. Read this -- sorry I can't do link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-party.html
This is the most treacherous thing I've ever read. The DNC have been hyperventilating over Sanders winning streak and his donations and in general, all the enthusiastic support -- so much so they've been conniving on who to get behind, how to do it and how to get the two other "moderates" out of the way. They call themselves "moderates" -- another word for it is who ever the DNC and Democrat fat cats coronate. They have no respect for who the people have or will vote for, they don't care what the people really want, they have no regard for their own rules. They don't even know why they are so afraid of Bernie Sanders other than he'll stand up to the big fat monied interests the elite have always protected. They they barely acknowledge Elizabeth Warren, one of the smartest people to run for president. This ought to make everyone outraged whether you support Bernie Sanders or not. So you thought we voted in this country? HA. You thought Russian meddling was a problem. HA. It's the DNC and the other Democratic elite who rather do the back door dealing than have an honest vote, so they can ram Biden at us. Heck he lost the first three primaries and only won South Carolina with pulmonary resuscitation.
17
We have a loud, abrasive, divisive president rocking the national boat capsizing us to the right. We don't need another loud, abrasive, divisive president capsizing us to the left.
24
God forbid that Americans have what citizens of every other first world nation have had for decades. The DNC abandoned the middle class some time ago to cater to Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Big Banks. Hence Trump. Yes he lied. Now the DNC lies.
1
After the results come in on Tuesday, I will listen to what my candidate, Elizabeth Warren has to say. I trust her more than the pundits and political establishment. I believe in the progressive solutions that she and Bernie espouse but I am so afraid of losing this election to Trump, that I will consider carefully what she says. Trump has to go. We will be voting as if our lives depend on it and it will.
9
The corporate wrecking crew is coming out in force to stop Bernie. Someone might be hoping for a place on Biden’s ticket.
11
It’s going to be so fun watching the democrats self destruct. Well, if anyone deserves it...
10
Thor -- Naw. It's much more fun watching Trump self-destruct: nonstop entertainment for nearly 4 whole years....
3
So much fun—for you. I bet you can afford to see a doctor when you are sick. I bet you have no trouble paying for your prescriptions (that cost 5x what the same drug costs in Canada). I bet your kids have trust funds that will get them through college and then some.
5
Can you Bernie lovers ever understand there are a lot of us life long Democrats out here who don’t want a government-can-cure-all socialist as our nominee? And don’t sit home and cry about it rather than vote as you did in 2016.
13
@David W, the Bernie supporters want to end medical bankruptcy in this country. How again does Biden plan on doing that while still fighting off the wolves who want to torpedo the ACA?
10
So it’s ok with you that your server, your Uber driver, your child’s daycare worker, your mothers home health aide, your grocer’s cashier, your retail store clerk—and some of your own neighbors—can’t afford to see a doctor when they are sick and can’t afford their prescriptions anyway.
It’s ok with you that a diagnosis of cancer means, for most of us, spending down savings (that’s me), going bankrupt or starting GoFundMe and begging for money to pay medical bills that their expensive for profit insurance won’t.
It makes me livid with anger.
6
@Teddy - We ALL want a vast improvement in our healthcare system. But we don’t ALL believe in the wonder of Bernie and his magical waving hands that will
"...the liberal front-runner, Senator Bernie Sanders..."
Sanders is a socialist. Just ask him. Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg are liberals. Warren is left of them but an avowed capitalist. No, not all Democrats are liberals, e.g. Joe Manchin but those three I think qualify. Get it straight.
10
@kgeographer Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg are in the hands of big pharma and insurance companies
Smells just like when the Democrats conspired with Clinton to cheat Sanders out of the last primary election. That’s how we ended up with Trump. Deja Vu.
25
Sanders lost in 2016 fair and square.
Tom Perez and the DNC are living in the past. The 1990s, to be precise.
Remember Bill Clinton? "It's the economy, stupid." James Carville. Dick Morris and triangulation. "We're gonna end welfare as we know it." The DLC. "The era of big government is over." Big Macs and SUVs. Repeal of Glass-Steagal.
That worked exactly one time. Bill Clinton was a one-trick pony. That dog won't hunt today.
It is time for the Democratic Party to return to its roots. Our roots are FDR and the New Deal. Our roots are the Great Society and Medicare. Our base is the working men and women of our nation.
You might counter that Barack Obama was a moderate. It is true that he governed as a centrist. But he campaigned as a progressive. And that is why he won.
Remember "Hope and Change"? That progressive campaign is how Obama became the only Democrat to win the White House since Clinton.
Al Gore lost. John Kerry lost. Hillary Clinton lost.
And I fear that Joe Biden would lose, in exactly the same way.
30
Dramatic turn!?!? R U kidding me? It’s scripted. Totally predictable. As is the loss to Trump of Biden. I’ll give this much to the GOP, at least they recognize the populist sea change. Can’t say the same for the DNC.
35
When will conservative democrats realize that Bernie is not THAT liberal!! On a scale that compares all leaders of the world, even Boris Johnson is way left of Bernie. It's y'all who're behind on the times.
Democrats have totally lost their way in the name of appeasing the republicans and boomers. Biden has NO new ideas to speak of and the way he keeps namedropping Obama is embarrassing. I feel Obama wincing in his living room.
Also in a poll on a Trump site asked who they'd vote for today if it was between Trump and Bernie. Over 70% actually said.... BERNIE! So please stop saying you're gonna vote for Biden cause he's the best chance to beat Trump. Biden is safe like Hilary was. Trump is gonna rip Biden apart. Trump supporters will not change their minds for Biden.
23
Why didn't they just throw their support behind a sack of flour, because that's what you're getting with Biden. No ideas, no plans, just gauzy memories of a time long gone. He's a candidate made to order by our plutocracy, just like Hillary, and Obama.
51
Seriously... Biden.
Add Trump to the list of 2 term presidents.
28
Bill -- Seriously...Trump 2 terms? (Not.)
3
In our nation -- so divided, as it is, by hyper-conservative viewpoints on the right and socially progressive on the left -- the decision by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to endorse Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination is spot on, because it calls upon this Party of the People to cast its Moderate net: the net of inclusivity, fairness, and equality.
The Democrats are realizing, just in time, that the way to defeat Trump is with a Message that serves All Americans, not just a "base".
13
@Ken, which is why Bernie will be nominated, him having support from the greatest diversity of voters. Biden got SC and a whole lot of lip service from the two drop outs, but only Bernie promises to make America great again only without Trump at the wheel.
5
@Teddy -- sorry, not so fast. Stay tuned...
2
Reading some of these comments is depressing.
The mean spiritedness is what most Americans want to move away from after years of the toxic Trump years.
Nevertheless, that’s what these messages sound like.
The Sanders and Trump folks are sounding awfully similar...
33
The meanness is being directed at Bernie. The DNC wants to protect Big Insurance , Big Pharma and Big Banks.
5
@AC good point, I think there are a lot of people here repeating talking points written by foreign agencies seeking to undermine our open election process. The goal is to keep Democrats away from the polls in November.
5
@AC imagine Trump but instead of self-serving despotism you get a system where no parent has to file for bankruptcy over their children’s cancer treatment! Wake up!
2
Why any woman would endorse Biden is beyond me. We just got through with Weinstein. Anyone remember Anita Hill? The guy would do or say anything to get ahead. Warren and Bernie are the only folks at the dais who are committed to getting to the root of our problems. Joe is just up there mouthing the same old slogans with no specifics and barely making sense.
32
Whoever they endorse, by the end of the day it's us the people who do the actual voting. Be a responsible american and vote for your oen future.
9
It’s not “last minute.” Please let the nomination play out. It is healthy, and I am hopeful.
4
Sad that Bloomberg started so late. He missed the opportunity to get the early momentum. All that finally happened for Biden, thanks to Clyburn, or he'd be dead in the water. At least Biden's on the moderate side, which i support, but I know Bloomberg is a much stronger leader. He doesn't get all wordy like all those politicians. Bloomberg tells it like it is. Should be interesting to see what happens tomorrow: Super Tuesday. Will there be a 3-way race?
11
I quote: "The strategy on which they (the DNC) are now explicitly relying to prevent Sen. Bernie Sanders from being their 2020 presidential nominee —(will be ) a brokered convention at which party elites (!) anoint a nominee other than the one who receives the most votes and wins the most delegates during the primary process" (Bernie Sanders).
Taking in consideration of the composition of the crowd who vote for Sanders, a majority of them under 30, and the high expectations at play, this will be a revolution, I mean a real one, an uprising in the streets, something that America has not seen since the civil war...I hate to predict such a dantesque scenario, but the bubble accumulated of infinite greed for too many years and the supreme anger that has resulted from it in every side of the electorate and not only the Democratic one, will not forgive the unforgivable corruption as usual.
7
@Chacay people under 30 don’t turn out to vote.
The Dems showing unity behind Biden.
If you step back and take a good look at the political landscape, you would not be surprised that Trump and Sanders overlap in so many ways, which was evident in 2016 when a great portion of Sanders supporters voted for Trump.
The Dems have realized that after Nevada, 2020.
Unlike the GOP’s in 2016, where the candidates fought each other till the end which allowed Trump to slip through, the Dems, in 2020, are uniting behind one candidate and they did so early.
Senator Sanders have his work cut out for him starting tonight.
4
If you think Sanders and Trump overlap you do not understand the issues or the vast difference in integrity between the two.
Surrounded on the Conservative Eastside of WA state by closeted democratic leaners who I ease drop on, the party must disengage itself from any candidate heavily associated with Clinton or Obama to capture these folks. Yes Sanders is too liberal for on the fence or crossover voters. If Sanders and Biden are the top two then its another 4 yrs of Trump. We need to clear the way for new representation.
3
@Worn Out no worries because Western WA will carry the state and it will go blue no matter who is the nominee.
2
Frankly, I think it matters less who we choose to be the Democratic candidate versus economic headwinds.
The only thing keeping Trump afloat at this time is stock market returns. If that bubble keeps popping, Trump will go down in flames.
1
Can you Democrats just admit it. Your party is FRACTURED. If Biden steals the nomination from Bernie, the Bernie Bros will take their toys and go home, Trump wins. If Bernie WINS the nomination, the center-left Dems won't vote for Bernie, Trump wins. See you in 2024.
12
Amy schooled Pete in how to exit gracefully. She simultaneously announced her exit and endorsing Biden. Then, she joined Biden at his campaign.
2
Soooo... with all the Biden endorsements pulling on what happens if his campaign flames out again tomorrow? Seems like the Democratic establishment is foolishly putting all it's eggs in one badly mangled basket. Fortunately there's still Warren in this race and she's got a plan for that. :)
16
The spin cycle insists on accusing Sen. Sanders of fighting the Democratic Party, of being the totally inflexible one.
To me, this speaks to just the opposite.
This rally around the fragile former Vice President, who loses focus so easily he thinks he's running for the Senate, is a purely corporate move to protect the elitist Democratic Party's status quo: "Never trust the People. We must tell the People what they should want".
37
Will important latino leaders endorse joe too ? So far an influential black leader and two white candidates,one a woman has endorsed him. the black, latino and to a small extent the asian vote will be crucial to joe biden and democrats in the november election.
Biden puts me to sleep. Bernie's base will never vote for him.
19
Politics can be very dramatic. But it slides very easily into melodrama. Every new wrinkle is either an epiphany or a catastrophe. Partisans cheer the cadences of candidates speeches without listening to positions. On Monday, Biden is big news. On Wednesday the lights will go up on ring number two in this three ring circus. For most people politics is entertainment. Far more heat than light is produced. Everyone is an amateur prognosticator. Never mind that in 2016 the professionals couldn’t even do it. The rest of the world thinks Americans are fat and stupid. We do our best to live up to this reputation every four years. Rallies look like clown shows with the peanut gallery clapping and screaming and stamping their feet. With great ignorance comes great confidence. The horse race is all. We might as well choose choose the president based on which team wins the Super Bowl. Our politics reflect our decadent culture. It’s all bread and circuses. The only thing you can count on is that in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.
3
All the strident feelings about which Dem it should be...just give me any of them to get rid of the madman Trump. This year is not the time for hurt feelings. Bernie or Biden...we need to save the Republic.
9
The Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden Democratic Party is terrified as never before at the prospect of the exposure of who it is they really serve, such being corporate America, especially Big Insurance and Big Pharma.
Bernie will sweep the nation, become the nominee, because he is an honest to goodness representative of all of the people; he is our modern-day FDR, unapologetic, ready, willing and able to lead our Democratic Republic into a sustainable future with real opportunity for all.
Contrary to the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Biden plans, the people now know that Medicare for All is not only possible, but will result in hundreds of billions of dollars saved over our current corporate for-profit system, which on its own has all but beggared the poor and the middle-class, driving them to near penury and economic slavery.
See Lancet excerpt and link -
"By contrast, a universal system, such as that proposed in the Medicare for All Act, has the potential to transform the availability and efficiency of American health-care services. Taking into account both the costs of coverage expansion and the savings that would be achieved through the Medicare for All Act, we calculate that a single-payer, universal health-care system is likely to lead to a 13% savings in national health-care expenditure, equivalent to more than US$450 billion annually (based on the value of the US$ in 2017)."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33019-3/fulltext
12
It seems ironic that Klobuchar endorsed a man instead of Warren.
25
@Steve C.
It is about policies. She knows what can pass the Senate. It is also about down-ballot races. There are only 4 toss-up seats and 1 is in AZ - all of the rest of the open seats are in red or red-leaning states in 2020.
Even the AZ Dem Senate challenger, Mark Kelly, endorsed Biden today. The GOP have been running ads pairing him with Sanders to try to win with captions like too radical and socialism, etc.
Joe Biden was a friend of John McCain and I bet if he is the nominee John's wife and daughter will endorse Joe. They speak so highly of him - not Trump
We can win the AZ Senate seat. Mark Kelly is an awesome candidate. Go to his website.
2
Only if you think people have just one identity. Amy is able to be a women, a Democrat, an American, and a humanitarian. I admire her for thinking beyond divisions, and I admire Joe Biden for giving her ideas and endorsement the limelight they deserve.
4
Because Warren is political toast
2
Bernie should not win because the majority of voters, who want a moderate, split their votes amongst several candidates. I’m so hopeful, now that Pete and Amy have withdrawn, that my voice and those of the majority of voters will be heard above the nastiness of the Bernie supporters, who seem to think only they know what’s good for our country. Their insufferable sense of superiority, not to mention outright viciousness and robotic regurgitation of Bernie’s slogans, makes me fear that they can gain control at this point. Biden CAN beat Trump.
9
It seems that all I’ve heard from Biden is that he best knows what’s good for the country as well. Isn’t that a natural consequence of wanting to be President?
1
@A Dot You are mistaken. The majority of voters do NOT want a moderate. All the polls indicate Sanders has the lead in most states, a sizable lead in many of them. Been there, done that, got many of the moderate t-shirts, and the Joe Bidens of the world have not gotten it done. Why not let a progressive try their hand at the wheel? Just because a lot of NYT posters say we want a moderate and the media says we do doesn't mean it's correct. Super Tuesday will tell us for sure.
6
I guess Amy thinks that 4 more years of Trump is best for the country right now, because that's what we've got if Biden is the nominee.
13
What many in left refuse to understand is that Bernie Sanders cannot sun against Trump.
For most Democrats, even in the far left, there is no policy position from Biden that is a deal breaker. Maybe Biden doesn’t go far enough, or maybe some do t care for him personally, but nothing about Biden is a line in the sand.
Not the case for Bernie. I’d have a very hard time voting for him. He’s way too comfortable with people and ideas that I find as objectionable as Trump. This is not just me.... this is how many Dems feel. He’s a nonstarter within his own party for a significant number of Democrats. If you can’t get out of the Democratic gate unscathed, you’re bleeding when you hit the street.
Beyond his ability to consolidate the Democratic Party, Biden also appeals to a large swath of independents. It’s a choice comes between Trump and Biden, I don’t know a single independent who would choose Trump. His ineptitude with the coronavirus, as an example, is so vast and so self evident, that many people just want someone trustworthy and competent who won’t make too many crazy moves. Biden is a proven entity and a good man to boot.
..... Lastly, he will appeal to many Republicans. He’s the only one going to win against Trump.
Let’s go do just that!
4
Trump will stomp Biden into the floor on the debate stage. The only 2 candidates who debate well enough to pound Trump are Sanders and Warren.
7
I am so disheartened by all the commenters planning to “sit this one out” if X isn’t nominated. NO! Any of them are better than the current chaos. Do you realize most of our government is now run by incompetent loyalists? Another term of Trump will seal the fate of our dreary, polluted, ripped off country. Vote Blue No Matter Who.
13
It might be a Biden presidency with a Republican house, senate and supreme court. All combinations possible
Happy SCRAPPY campaign is what she said.
1
You are so right. I hope the NYT corrects this.
Biden seems to want to announce Klobuchar as his VP candidate at the Dallas rally. I hope I'm reading this correctly.
2
@Missy a few days ago he floated the name of an African American woman. Was that because he was in South Carolina??
Sheer opportunist!!
@Tullymon I'm holding off judgment on Biden being an opportunist, he sure is holding off until we go vote that's for sure and have to live with our decision...
Why are these Dems looking to trip up Sanders, who is clearly more popular than Biden? I know he won SC but most states aren't SC. I hope the NYT doesn't decide to back Biden, we need someone who has some fight, to fight not only Trump but his minions in Senate, Congress...
11
Does anyone know what Joe Biden is promising to do if he wins? I read the Times and the Wapo everyday and I’m addicted to Twitter. I can’t think of anything.
11
@Rick He is running on nothing. Note even hope.
It is extraordinary to see the unity and passion of Mayor Pete Buttigieg's and Senator Klobuchar's endorsement for VP Joe Biden.
This is the Unity Ticket Thomas Friedman just wrote about, is essential to defeat Donald Trump.
Sanders is supported by the Russians, by his own admission and that of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
He did not reveal this fact to voters before it was revealed by the Director of Intelligence, who was fired for telling Congress the truth.
The Russians want to sow discord in US elections like they did in 2016.
This explains why Sanders was going to primary President Obama in 2012, why his supporters attacked and divided the Democratic nominee Clinton up to the 2016 Democratic convention, and why Sander's supporters continue to sow discord, hate and chaos today.
The Russians want Trump to be re-elected, so by dividing the opposition they will achieve that.
Sanders is essential to The Trump-GRU-Putin plan.
Sanders is an egoist, inflexible with mandated government solutions to every problem.
If the Democratic nominee, he would lose the Democratic majority in the House, and end the chance of a Democratic majority in the Senate.
He claimed he only cared about defeating Trump, but we will see if he continues to run for an office he cannot win even with vile support from the GRU.
Americans cannot support the Russian choice for Democratic nominee (Sanders) or president-VP (Trump=Pence).
4
Agreed! I read that Tom Friedman op ed piece and thought it was brilliant. One force. Pool our strengths and get our country back. Kudos to Pete & Amy!
@David Parsons
Interesting that people who don't seem to know a lick of Russian purport to know what Russians want, what Russians think and what Russians are hypnotizing Americans to go vote for Sanders in a zombie-like state.
When Trump mops the floor with Biden, you'll still blame the Russians. How very not-bigoted of you to insult over 1 million Russian-Americans.
@GirishKotwal For goodness sakes. Sanders is not a “soviet style socialist”. Stalin was a mass murderer. There will be no “nationalizing the means of production”, there will be no forced collectivization of farming, no gulags. There will simply be a chance for the common man!
11
@Samantha Kelly
Really? You don't seem to know much about your own candidate. Sanders wants the government to confiscate 20% of the stock of every public company, and every company with more than $100 million in assets. It's right there on his website.
Trump will not only trounce Biden in a general election, but it’ll be very embarrassing getting to election day.
Some of Biden’s so-called “gaffes” are truly bizarre:
It’s just within the last month that he repeatedly told the story of getting arrested in South Africa during apartheid, before eventually acknowledging that hadn’t actually happened.
He informed voters during a previous run that he graduated in the top half of his law class. (He was 76 out of 85.)
The list of “gaffes” that Biden has produced over the last 40 years will provide a non-stop laugh fest of commercials just relying on old Biden footage.
Biden will be an absolute punchline long before election day, and Trump will look like the strongman that America needs to protect us from the hapless incompetence of the Democrats.
And then there’s Biden’s center right Republican policies: the Mastercard Senator who overhauled the bankruptcy laws, co-sponsored the 1994 Crime Bill, enthusiastic support for invading Iraq, driving force behind ramping up the drug war...
Mr. Biden has served his corporate masters well.
The American people, not so much.
I find it incredible that the elites are really coalescing around the most vulnerable candidate, but I guess it’s absolutely true that losing with Biden is preferable to winning with Bernie.
18
Biden and Bloomberg collectively will keep Sanders from obtaining a majority of delegates, forcing a brokered convention...at which point the Democratic machine will likely hand it to Bloomberg after a few more Biden whoppers get exposed. I’ve had it with the Democratic Party. I don’t care who wins, but I expect it to be the will of the voters, not the will of the power brokers.
5
@Annie Gramson Hill "he repeatedly told the story... that hadn’t actually happened" -- that's bad, but how can Trump call him out on that, when he does that even more?
1
Dear Democrats:
You are doing it again. You are annointing the wrong candidate. You don't seem to have the guts to nominate a candidate who can actually carry the hearts and minds of the country. 2016 all over again.
24
@Jacky Williams
No learning curve here - they're flatlining.
@Jacky Williams
I'm not sure who the "you" is in your comment but if you are referring the NYT they poured gallons on Warren and she still stunk in the voters opinion.
I wondered what happened behind the scene and who pulled the strings. I saw Biden on Chris Wallace on Sunday. He is not carrying his age well, he looks fruity and well over hill. At the end of the interview, he called Chris Wallace Chuck, just he had dodged questions about his gaffes. He is a weak candidate.
17
@Alexgri I suspect Obama is pulling the strings, making calls to Biden and Buttigieg even thought publicly he's saying he is neutral. He's trying to get Biden the nominee to restore his legacy. It's not going to end well. Trump will win against Biden.
3
The people supporting Bernie Sanders have a mammoth fight in front of them.
Societies everywhere - not only the USA - are divided into three groups - Those who lack, those who have enough, and those who have too much.
The middle group is the key to the outcome. Will they help those below, or will they protect those above, because they themselves aspire to be there one day.
The world is watching America, the exceptional country that wants to lead the world, and that trusts in God.
The last time I heard, God, or at least Jesus, was on the side of the lacking.
5
Jesus is on the side of the cheesemakers, assuming I heard him right.
@Joe43 Wow. So beautifully said.
I listened to Chris Matthews increasingly often during this election cycle, as so much of the press went to sportscasting and sticking millennial and uninformed thumbs on the scales. Now LEBassett and the Bernie Bros have knocked out his voice. So I am no longer going to watch MSNBC anymore.
As for Bassett, I see little difference between her and Guccifer 2.0, slutshaming or any of the other anti-democratic and anti-American voices on the internet. So Sam Stein can complain all he wants that she is being unfairly blamed. She shut up a voice I respected, and put her own rights above mine. I see no reason to agree with Sam Stein. I owe her nothing for putting her thumb on the free press scales.
1
Is there a special prayer we say as a country self destructs. Bernie Sanders is not the enemy but how smart is it to alienate about half your party by declaring them the enemy.
Donald Trump is not the problem he was a symptom.
Why is hate more important than love.
America didn't get the hope and change it was promised. Fool me once.
There is nothing that can be done about the past and too many young people fear they have no future.
If the DNC wanted to win they would have avoided this display of disunity. The Democrats are not Trump's audience.
8
This is simply depressing. Party politics at its worst, and a disastrous misread. The mood is anti-party and pro-young. The party has it wrong and have made an independent of me. Appalled.
13
It is not the mood, much as you wish it to be. South Carolina made it clear. Not everyone is so rapt by Bernie Sanders.
5
@Robert Stoner It is 2016 all over again. The DNC and the establishment have learned nothing it seems. Serving up leftovers like Clinton and Biden as the main dish. This is the end of the DNC as it exists today. The way I see it, if Biden is the nominee, then progressives will leave the party. If Bernie is the nominee, the party will change, as it should.
3
@Robert Stoner
"Party"
what about actual voters?
As much as I despise Donald Trump, he hasn't gotten to where he is in life by misreading people in general, opportunities, and his enemies. He knows exactly who threatens his Presidency and he didn't get himself impeached because of Bernie.
10
I am deeply concerned to where this might be heading. Should Mr. Biden be the nominee, I fear that what happened in 2016--the Sanders-Clinton divide among the supporters of the two candidates--will repeat itself at the Democratic convention on an even grander scale. Make no mistake: while my heart is with Bernie--and no, I'm not one of his 30-something supporters, more like their father, their grandfather even--if Mr. Biden happens to be the nominee, I would vote for him a hundred times over, if that were possible. What irks me to no end, though, is the fact that the party bigwigs are overtly putting their thumbs on the (voting) scale. What in heavens name, I wonder, is the use of these caucasus and primaries if the party bigwigs are seemingly actively scheming to sabotage the campaign of one of the candidates in favor of another who they, rather than the voters, prefer? Where is the fairness and democracy in that? Yes, you bet I want DJT out of 1600 Penn Ave. But leave the decision up to the people. If they want to take the risk of putting someone at the top of the ticket who may lose to DJT, that is their choice; admittedly, a stupid one, but theirs all the same. For a party that carries the word "Democratic" in its name, what the party bigwigs are doing is far removed from that notion, and that I find deeply appalling and offensive.
17
@steffie
I prefer Warren, though I'm very supportive of the Sanders campaign. Nonetheless, If Biden enters the Convention with more delegates (won outright through caucus and primary victories), I will be happy to respect (well, at least honor) the choice of the Democratic voting populace and vote for Biden in the General. Same way I did for HC in 2016. If, however, Sanders enters the convention with more votes and delegates and leaves as something other than the nominee; at that point all bets are off.
8
@steffie
So sensible....
Warren still gets my vote with Bernie a close second.
9
Why are all the Warren and Sanders supporters think Buttigieg or Klobuchar would support Warren or Sanders? It's almost cruelly blind or funny. Did you hear the debates? Buttigieg and Klobuchar are both moderate centrists; their ideology is obviously closest to that of Biden. Who else can they support?
9
Joe Biden is NOT a "nice guy". Look at his outbursts on Youtube. Look at his votes. Look at how he treated Anita Hill. He's a typical corrupt politician. I for one will vote Green over any of the Republicans posing as Democrats. Sanders or Warren are the only hope for beating #45.
The canard that Biden is the only one to beat Trump, and therefore everyone must support him even though very few actually like him, is absurd. I don't have to vote for anyone except those I believe in. If rich boomer Democrats want to be Machiavellis and nominate a candidate for purely strategic reasons, they must accept that Biden as this choice will be very weak, since millions of progressive people simply cannot vote for him (or Hillary, another corporate warmonger with a long trail of shady dealings).
20
"Dramatic Turn", sure, that's what you can call a payoff for candidates to clear the Democratic field Joe Biden. Biden is going to get shellacked in California. He's not of sound mind and proves it with every speech and interview. Good luck Dems. Trump is going to clean Joe's clock in November and you know it.
13
I hate that young people all get grouped in as “Bernie Bros.” I am a 25 year old female and I will certainly be voting for Biden.
Sanders is just as isolating as Trump. I am tired of Trump/Sanders supporters saying it’s their way or no way. I would like to see some unity. This isn’t a big conspiracy against Sanders, it’s people uniting against what we see as dangerous rhetoric on the left as well. I don’t like Sanders. That isn’t because the DNC told me not to. It’s because I personally disagree with him.
Elizabeth Warren has always been the smarter, more stable, more unifying progressive candidate. Those actually looking for feasible progressive policies rather than idealogical language and a bunch of empty promises should have looked to her. I may have gotten behind that. That didn’t happen. I will cast my vote for Biden.
21
I am so alarmed by the petulant, paranoid conspiracy theories expressed in many of the anti-Biden comments. Mayor Pete and Amy are not puppets of the DNC, and Bernie will never have the support of the majority of Democrats. So wake up and smell the coffee, folks. Vote for whomever you want tomorrow, but for better or worse, we have a 2-party system in this country. If you aren't supporting the Democrats in November, you're supporting the Party of Trump (formerly known as the Republican Party).
11
@DogHouse49
Well, you just demonstrated that having a two party system is a problem when neither party represents a large swath of people. We need a third party.
@Pat
Third parties have always tended to harm the left. Also, if you think politics is dirty now, look at the experience of countries with multiparty parliamentary democracies. Backroom deals are the coin of the realm. The "large swath of people" you want to defend ends up breaking into splinter groups.
Wise strategy. Thank you Ms. Klobuchar and Mr. Buttigieg. We have a two party system. We must narrow the candidates down. And we must get ranting, raving Bernie out of the mix. He's got great ideas, but he does not belong in the White House.
8
Look. Obama was a purely conventional thinker too deeply in Wall Street's pocket to respond properly to the Great Recession. That left only Sanders or Trump talking about the pain of the working class, and the Obama-Hillary-Biden wing of the Democratic Party stopped Bernie and elected Trump.
I know for a fact that Bernie would have beaten Trump in 2016, but I worry about 2020. It will be too close for comfort.
And so, my only real hope (although I will sustain hope of a Trump defeat until it does not happen) is a brokered convention and a Warren nomination.
If the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party remains as insensitive as it has to the systemic assaults on the working class, I have to hope that Bernie shatters the party and the Obama-types return to the Republican Party where they belong, or that they join with the George Conway types to create a party that supersedes the Republican-cum-Trump Party.
The "stop Bernie" Democrats are acting spectacularly out-of-touch with how bad it has been for working people since the Reagan recession ('83-'85). Many people have been living in grandpa's house, driving grandpa's car (the last good wage jobs in their families) and now every last remnant of good working class wages is running out.
The ignorance or indifference of the Obama-Biden-Hillary types disgusted me in 2016, and now my mind is blown, ending in contempt.
9
Yes they are servants of democratic corporatism which has plundered middle class wealth.
I favor democratic socialism which provides for health care for all, a decent minimum wage , relief of college debt and an end to regime change wars.
However the so called establishment is more powerful than the people and will prevail. Very, very sad.
5
@Craig Mason
But do you really think a Harvard Law professor would have much appeal beyond the Democratic party, which only accounts for a quarter of the voting public? All polls I've seen have her way down there when ALL potential voters are measured.
4
@carl bumba - Dear Carl: Then I guess Bernie it is, and we can see if the anyone-but-Trump crowd means it.
3
So let's see how many of the softer-headed Bernie Bros end up cheering on the assertion of our honorable incumbent that Senator Sanders is once again having his nomination "stolen" by the Democratic establishment. How many of them will buy into the disingenuous outrage being expressed on the Senator's behalf by a "president" who's been hoping all along to have "Crazy Bernie" opposing him in the Fall? Divide and conquer- eh, Mr. Trump? Let's see how well that works this time.
2
I'm with Vlad in believing that Bernie will get us 4 more years of 45.
5
Biden is a drop-in replacement for Clinton, including the dismissive attitude towards progressives. Either the DNC is incapable of learning or they prefer Trump over Bernie Sanders.
25
@Liz They prefer to keep their power and wealth, something elites on both sides share. Biden, Hillary simply do not understand the struggle of the working class. They are both adept at saying the right soothing thing to the working class so that they seem to care while quietly catering to the elite. Typical politicians.
3
The NYT editorial board's recommendation that the Democratic contenders had to be narrowed to two is now nearly a reality. With Klobuchar and Buttigieg now coming out for Biden, we just need Warren and Bloomberg to bow out and let voters decide between Biden and Sanders. What cannot happen is going from a splintered party to a divided party. If Sanders gets the nomination moderates must rally behind him and if Biden gets it, Sanders supporters cannot do what they did in 2016 by not voting for Hillary Clinton. Differences within the Democratic party are nominal compared to the difference between reelecting a national menace and a Democrat who can restore sanity.
6
Right now, there are two campaign rallies being held for Biden and Sanders. Biden, with Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Beto as guests, has filled a small entertainment/dining room. Meanwhile Sanders has filled every seat of an arena.
Who do you think has the best chance of winning?
20
I would just like to say that it’s happening again.
All of these overhyped comments (especially comments with a “Bernie or bust” feel) are very possibly part of the cyberattack on our election.
I’m out in the world and I’m talking to regular people every day.
I have yet to hear a real person say that they think there is a “conspiracy “ agains sanders or that they won’t vote if he’s not the nominee.
Let’s not get stirred into saying and doing things that are not in our best interest.
Let’s try to listen to each other, keep level heads and stay together.
7
It’s kinda sad but kinda funny to watch the greedy billionaires spread contempt for their establishment candidates. Instead of growing panic over Bernie Sanders the attacks reveal he is THE anti establishment candidate. Isn’t it obvious whose bought and paid for to spill delegates while the only other anti-establishment candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, is still in the race? And who is Warren fooling with her super PAC?
The same big donors that back Republicans back establishment Democrats. Now that we’re all caught up, here’s the bitter irony for those donors;
They relied on voter suppression
But Greg Palast remained independent from Stacey Abrams through his Palast Investigative Fund after Bloomberg made that $5 million dollar bribe-donation to “Stop the Purge” (more like NDA the Stop the Purge effort). As a result, a major lawsuit was won in Georgia to release the names of Democratic votes that were purged in 36 participating states during the Republican Interstate Crosscheck Program that stole the 2016 election for Trump and the GOP... and establishment Democrats. Last names like Jackson and Martinez that had no idea their votes were purged can now be informed to reregister to vote for Sanders. It’s unclear if efforts were made in time for the primaries but voter turn out in South Carolina, a Crosscheck state, seems to suggests so. But not every state in the south has a Clinton built Democratic church Establishment machine to tow the line for black voters.
Revolution is here.
7
I am from Appalachia and when Trump and Hillary were the nominees, I knew in my gut Trump was going to win so the shock in 2016 wasn't as bad as others. With Joe, I get that sense again. Trump won the region, and PA, because he railed against globalization, trade deals that sent jobs overseas, and the political establishment. Thousands of Obama/Biden voters in PA voted for Trump and he continues to have favorable ratings with this group. Joe Biden offers the same things before Trump came into office and the disillusioned won't buy into it. I'm under 35 and many of us are just not inspired by Joe. I'll vote for him but won't be shocked when Trump wins re-election and the DNC is in meltdown wondering how they could lose PA again. Most of Trump supporters are not racist. They were angry that their towns are decimated by manufacturing jobs going overseas and a political class that didn't understand them. Trump won because he attacked the political machine of the RNC and it really resonated with people like, "Hey, this guy is finally doing something about the system that has harmed us (especially since NAFTA)" - Maybe Bernie is too far left. Maybe not. But acting as a moderate from the establishment is not going to motivate the masses. And if there is a concerted effort at the convention to totally block Bernie at any cost by the DNC, the Democratic party will die at that very moment.
23
@Drew
The concerted effort is in concert... and establishment Democrats and Republicans are invited to either purge or throw the fight.
But Justice Democrats that are voting for Bernie are not going to the convention to throw a fight... and thanks to investigative reporter Greg Palast lots of suppressed votes from last names that have and will vote for Bernie are now reregistered. The DNC is going to get called out for cheating and a lot of pledged NDA’s are going to walk out of the convention and go to Africa like Dave Chapelle.
And I for one, will be laughing when recently elected Democratic Governors have to recall their state’s miscounted votes.
@Drew
I will also add that Trump voters are angry because they have been called every name in the book and because they have seen the Dems try to invalidate their choice for the last 3 years.
I voted for Elizabeth Warren in CA. But, if she drops out, I may vote for Biden in the primary. I agree with Bernie’s policies, but his aggression toward Warren and in 2016, Hilary, and the toxic behavior of his supporters I find really hard to stomach. Joe is not perfect but I don’t see him coming after his female competitors or his supporters being vitriolic to anyone who supports a different candidate. And before a Bernie bro suggests it, my issue isn’t anti Semitic: I’m a proud jewish progressive. I have spoken to others who feel the same way so I am not alone in this viewpoint. Bernie is splitting the dem. vote and at this point, he should drop out if we want to win back the White House.
8
@Emily
You're joking right? All the low blows Warren took at Bloomberg and you complain about Bernie? Warren showed her true colors and they're awful.
Of course they were only in it to attack Sanders.
The conservatives--beneficiaries of the status quo--want to control both parties.
The oligarchs/moneylords are the biggest beneficiaries (Bloomberg)--but he's not electable. Thus their vassal knights support Biden.
Go Bernie! Time for government FOR common people.
12
I don't understand the establishment's thinking here. Yes, Bernie scares them, but Biden care barely string two sentences together without losing his train of thought.
Listening to him try to make a simple point is PAINFUL.
He has been woefully ignored for the last few debates so people have forgotten just how bad he is. The man is not "all there."
Neither is Trump but Trump is vicious and he will eat Joe alive.
Sanders had a far better chance of taking Donnie on than Biden does at this point.
11
Will the democratic party still choose to shoot itself in the foot. We have a chance now for unity and a fresh start and still we quibble over this and that. Trump feared Biden enough to set a well planned trap for him in the Ukraine and that shows his fear of Biden's candidacy. So let's get on with the business of beating Trump and finding sanity in our government. As I have said before no democrat will have any of its policies approved or even considered unless we take back the White House, the Senate and retain the House.
1
Bernie is a political disaster waiting to happen and the Democrat swamp knows it. They are doing everything they can to send him packing. And do you expect a true believer like Bernie to pick a moderate VP? No, it will be someone like AOC. 4 more years are on the way for Trump.
3
I am a Bernie supporter who has been hoping that he would choose a moderate candidate like Amy to balance the ticket and unite the party. The knee jerk reaction by the Democratic establishment makes this much less likely. FYI - I am a white college-educated suburban woman who voted third party in 2016 in protest of the Democratic establishment in a state where it didn’t make a difference.
9
It’s hard to buy the theory that Sanders is unelectable. He is running precisely half a percentage point behind Biden against Trump in national polls, leads Trump in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and is virtually tied in Wisconsin and Florida. Biden would have a better chance in red/purple states like North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia, but even those are not totally out of sight for Sanders. Bernie is the one with ideas and enthusiasm. I’m sticking with him.
13
@John Duvall We need to hear from Bernie supporters from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Michigan. Then I'd feel more comfortable. Bernie's got my NY vote in November, but not sure about the other states.
4
@JulieB I'm hoping there's an army of "sleeper" voters out there that we haven't heard from or heard about, that are all geared to voting Bernie in.
2
Thank-you Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. A difficult decision to be sure. Both of them were my first choices but alas if we are not acting strategically Sen. Sanders will be the Democratic candidate and Donald trump will be awarded a second term. Even if Sanders were to win he would get little-nothing done.
We need to replace a dishonest, populist, authoritarian with a moderate. Big change can come in 2024 after we have regained the center.
The stacking of the courts should alarm everyone nearly as much as climate change in the short term.
The Senate must be retaken.
4
How is this a "dramatic turn"? These candidates have to drop out sooner or later, and the moderates will endorse the moderate---as our politics defines the term.
Implication: universal health care for all-- common in dozens of democracies for decades-- is definined as immoderate, or extremist, in American politics.
We're cut off from the modern world by 2 vast oceans and a Canadian border.
This is inevitable when corporate mega donors set the political definitions and limits, as they've financed our elections.
7
We know that Mr Sanders' campaign has claimed that an energised record youth vote will propel him to the Presidency. With no sign at all of that materialising in the primaries so far, it really is time for Mr Sanders to now explain how he will replace these voters who had been at the core of his claim to be electable.
I am not convinced. More choice should be better as long as the candidates don't ravage each other. In fact, I wish the candidates that dropped out earlier were still in the nomination race because some of them look at least as good to me as the ones still in the race. Candidates ganging up to try to stop another candidate may be because the candidates don't trust or respect the voters enough to allow them to make the choice for themselves or may be because they are angling for the vice-presidential spot on the ticket - either way the 'love of country' claim seems a bit of a stretch.
2
@Doug Karo It's not "ganging up", it's called consolidating moderate voters to fight the most difficult monster incumbent in history. All the voters know they can't risk a candidate who could lose.
1
Biden-Sanders would be a legitimate eye-opening contest where Democratic voters would have a clear choice between two distinct visions for the party and the nation. Why not have it? As long as both sides believe the process is fair, then whoever comes in second should wholeheartedly endorse the winner. And the winner will then have the support of a unified party in November. And that’s our only shot at winning folks, IMHO.
1
I hope that Mike Bloomberg and Senator Warren stay in the race until the end denying Biden the carte blanche support the Democrat establishment assume he will get from those who can not bring themselves to vote for Bernie.
Any national poll I have seen has Bernie and Biden both beating Trump in November. There is nothing in my view about Joe Biden that would compel me to support him over Bernie Sanders .
I look forward to seeing Bernie score big wins in Ca and Tx on Super Tuesday, with Mike Bloomberg coming in a close second . The assumption may be that with the party behind Biden Bernie will not be the nominee. I am not at all sure that will be the case.
5
The party elites waited as long as they could for one of their "moderate" candidates to catch fire and prove they could beat Sanders, but they finally realized that isn't going to happen - democratically at least. So they asserted their will once Biden showed he has a pulse and "convinced" (coerced?) Amy and Pete to drop out and support Joe. They are having to come out into the open much more than they'd prefer because their way of life is at stake.
But this isn't their only or final move. If necessary they will find a way to deny Sanders the nomination. That much should be clear by now. They've secured the Super Delegates, and made sure their media outlets are all pushing out the same anti-Sanders message. They are a powerful and entrenched political machine, every bit as powerful and ruthless as Tammany Hall, but much more polished and sophisticated. They WILL have their way, whatever it takes.
But...the People still have a say. Even if in the end it's overridden by the bosses, they can make themselves heard, and send their own message: thwart the will of the People, and suffer the backlash. It's not Sanders or his supporters that are threatening "party unity", it's the DNC that is. "Moderates" present themselves as "reasonable" and open to compromise, and yet listen to their words which convey the opposite.
It's going to take energy and passion to beat Trump, and Bernie is the only one who has generated this. If the Democrats want to win, they should back Sanders.
6
@Kingfish52
2020 vision!
1
I am proud of how well they did, but I am incredibly proud of them for then backing a strong candidate and helping to give the Democrats a united front so we can beat trump. I can never forget what Bernie did during the last election. He lost the nomination to Hillary and reminded angry and riled up his supporters so that when the election came around, they chose to stay home and not vote. Sander is just one of the reasons why trump was elected. I PRAY this time around if he does not win the nomination, he stands behind the candidate and works hard to help us defeat trump. But I fear a repeat of 2016 where Sanders will be defiant and angry and will not unite with the nominated candidate again.
1
This looks really bad for the Democratic Party elite. Now we have 2 out of our 2 political parties that are elitist and not democratic. And this DNC maneuver was really foreclosing early on in the primary process
We have had 4 primaries/caucuses, but the DNC can't stand it and cannot be patient and let the primary process at least play out through Super Tuesday?
If they had at least waited through Super Tuesday, they might have learned something, so might we voters, with many of us saying we will vote for whomever the Democratic candidate is against Trump. But why can't we at least register our choice in the early primaries?
And why does the DNC's choice for a moderate have to be Biden, who as far as I am concerned, was the most lackluster of all the moderate Democratic candidates? But they were desperate to boost Biden's dismal performance in 3 out of the 4 primaries so far. So cut out Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and the other guy, so Biden looks better than he has so far against Bernie.
If Biden is the Democratic candidate and Trump beats him, we can blame the DNC, because we will always wonder if one of those who dropped out might have proved a stronger moderate than Biden.
10
The DNC doesn’t care if you “blame” them or not. It doesn’t care what you think. It only cares about its donors because they are the ones who keep them in office.
1
I care nothing about uniting the soul of America. What are you doing about climate change?
I'm feeling something akin to nauseated shock when I read comments suggesting that it would be preferable to stay home and not vote vs voting for a Democratic candidate that doesn't share the voter's ideals. Let's be clear, anyone who petulantly sits this election out IS voting. For Donald J. Trump! Could it be that lessons of 2016 were not learned?
4
There is nothing surprising about the wealthy protectionist Democrats rallying the troops behind same-old same-old to avoid a candidate wanted by regular folks. What change is Biden advocating? None, which is exactly how much change will happen in the White House if this is the Democrat nominee.
Would anyone guess all moderates drop out while Warren stays in with Bernie?
9
Unfortunately, we have to remember that when it mattered on 2016, Warren endorsed Clinton.
The Democratic establishment talks about unity, but they don't really mean it. What they mean is that they assumed they would control the primary. Then all the critics and skeptics would have to unify behind them once again.
They talk about electability, but they aren't serious about that either. When a progressive wins 3 of 4 primaries, leads the national polls, and polls best against Trump, they pretend to actually believe that disregarding the will of the voters, alienating their base, and proceeding by brokered convention is a better path to victory.
Now their vessel of unity is the candidate who voted for the war in Iraq, who was the party's face of the 90's crime bill, who supported Clinton's cruel welfare reform and opposed his health care efforts, who negotiated Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court and the extension of the Bush tax cuts, and who supported slashing the social safety net at every opportunity.
Now their great hope for electability is a conservative old white man who has no support among the young, fails to excite much of the base, has always been a weak campaigner and debater, has always been prone to gaffes, and is now clearly facing the decline of his mental capacity.
They never really cared about unity or electability; it was always self-serving. They cared about power and now they are losing it.
Now is the time for them to get over it, just as they have told progressives to get over it for decades. What are they going to do, vote for Trump?
5
Dear Tom Perez and DNC,
I will give the Republican Party one thing. In 2016, they let the primary process play out, which ended in Mr. Trump's nomination.
Don't try to override the will of the Democratic primaries. If Sanders wins, so be it. That is the will of the people.
And guess what. Mr. Sanders can beat Mr. Trump in November. He polls as well as, or better than, Biden or Bloomberg against Trump -- especially in critical swing states such as MI, PA, WI, NC, and AZ.
Sanders has single-handedly reframed the issues that most people are now talking about: healthcare, climate change, income inequality, and so forth. That is leadership.
And Sanders is nothing like Trump. He is honest, and he truly cares about people. He is not a radical; he would be considered a centrist in Canada or Western Europe.
I get that some people truly don't like Sanders personally. They think he is an angry old man who yells and a demagogue. But even if you feel that way about him, he is still a vast improvement over Mr. Trump. And his policies are straight out of the FDR New Deal playbook. Remember FDR, the most popular Democratic president of the last century.
Let the people choose the Democratic nominee. I will enthusiastically support that nominee, whomever she or he is.
11
It's great - Biden most definitely stands the best chance to defeat Trump. SC proved it - Super Tuesday will confirm it
I like Mike Bloomberg, but he needs to step aside if his results lack expectations. Biden needs the moderate support - many of which would move from Bloomberg.
Warren's out....now we need to eliminate Bernie - that will happen tomorrow.
He will go back to anonymity in the Senate - where he does nothing.
1
@JMS
Hillary won S. Carolina in Dem primary. S. Carolina is a red state. Trump won it in the presidential election.
1
Democrats fall in love, the GOP fall in line.
If Bernie's the nominee, Trump wins in a landslide which is exactly what most Bernie Bros want.
@Futbolistaviva I agree, Bernie Bro’s don’t exist, they’re fake accounts, GRU operatives posing.
Watch out that if Sanders loses to Biden he doesn't get on the ballot as the leader of the Democratic Socialist Party, sealing it for Trump. Sanders has a big ego, which his supporters love, but he, like his supporters won't accept Biden if it comes to that. I predict that win the nomination or lose, Sanders will join Nader and other third party egotists in ensuring a Republican victory in November.
1
My older grand daughter is at a Bernie rally in MN tonight.
My wife and I supported Bernie in 2016, were going to support Warren when we vote in WI but now we are all in for Bernie.
We gave Klobuchar money early because we thought she would be a good candidate and a good president. We were wrong on both assumptions.
The DNC and the East Costal elites in the press and the professional Democrats are doing HRC redux.
They have learned nothing from 2016.
10
They are losing an entire generation of voters. Terrible choice. At least drip the news out bit by bit.
Regardless of these endorsements I think Mike Bloomberg needs to stay in the race.
First and foremost, Bloomberg is the best candidate and the only Democrat who is likely to beat Trump in November. Compare Bloomberg‘s well rounded real world accomplishments with Biden’s years of government service. Bloomberg has really done a lot as compared to Biden. I’m an independent centrist who volunteered for the Obama campaign and think Obama was the best president of my lifetime – so far. However, Biden is way too yesterday as a presidential candidate to successfully go up against Trump.
Furthermore, all three of the leading contenders -Bernie, Biden, and Bloomberg are in their late 70s. Biden sometimes appears as if all cylinders are not firing and if he falls apart and Mike has dropped out we are then left with Sanders- who Trump will tag as a radical commie and also destroy in November. I don’t think Warren has a chance and for me her vindictive behavior during the campaign makes her an unappealing option.
And finally, Bloomberg is the only candidate with the financial resources to beat the Trump disinformation machine which will have tons of money to spend in the general campaign.
2
Thank you, Amy and Pete, from the bottom of my bleeding Heart. This is an extremely classy and unifying move that others should emulate in the Future.
I’m so excited about Super Tuesday. Please VOTE. I won’t presume to tell you WHO to Vote for, except this : Who can defeat Trump, and reclaim the Senate ?
You KNOW who.
2
Well, this is interesting. Two of the three remaining candidates have heart problems and none of them are under 77 years old... right at the average life expectancy for US males. I'd feel a lot better about Joe, if he'd pick Obama as a VP. As it is, I'm heading into Super Tuesday still undecided...
2
Brannon, if you’re still undecided, I’d like to point out that Warren is a (comparatively) youthful 71, under the average life female expectancy, and remains a candidate.
2
My hope is everyone stops jumping the starter pistol. How all of this plays out is still not crystal clear. There are four months until the Democratic Convention and several more primaries between now and then.
While this may be the Democratic Party SOP, I would venture a guess that the vast majority here have not yet cast a primary vote. You still get to have your say.
And, at the end of the day, any one of the remaining candidates has more intelligence, more experience, more diplomacy and more understanding of our Constitution and system of government than what’s there now.
2
If anyone was still wondering about the sclerotic and self-defeating mindset of the Democratic Party's centrist wing, the lurch back to the man who played a starring role in giving us Clarence Thomas and the Iraq War should be plenty clarifying.
Uncle Joe will somehow "restore the soul" of the nation, says Wall Street Pete. More likely, he'll offer reassurance to billionaires and other, less-fabulously wealthy Democrats whose primary motivation involves preserving their assets. All others can eat cake.
6
Oh, the irony of it all!
Watching the Democrats on this slow train wreck of a primary campaign is even more mind-boggling, hilarious, frightening and disheartening - all at the same time - as when Trump trounced the Republican establishment in 2016.
That being said, I don't fault either Klobuchar or Buttigieg for getting out (I contributed to Amy's campaign and identified with Pete as a gay man).
What I do hope is that their motives were based in an acceptance of reality (neither one had a shot at this point) and pragmatism (both may be thinking of their future political viability).
My fear is that it may come out that one or both were more mercenary, by succumbing to pressure from the 'mandarins' of the Democratic Party to take one for the team and/or to have had the prospects of the VP or a cabinet slot offered up. I wouldn't put either past the DNC and the hacks that run it.
The only sure thing in a Biden v Sanders race - the winner is likely to lose to Trump in November. Thanks a lot Democrats!
2
Regardless of these endorsements I think Mike Bloomberg needs to stay in the race.
First and foremost, Bloomberg is the best candidate and the only Democrat who is likely to beat Trump in November. Compare Bloomberg‘s well rounded real world accomplishments with Biden’s years of government service. Bloomberg has really done a lot as compared to Biden. I’m an independent centrist who volunteered for the Obama campaign and think Obama was the best president of my lifetime – so far. However, Biden is way too yesterday as a presidential candidate to successfully go up against Trump.
Furthermore, all three of the leading contenders -Bernie, Biden, and Bloomberg are in their late 70s. Biden sometimes appears as if all cylinders are not firing and if he falls apart and Mike has dropped out we are then left with Sanders- who Trump will tag as a radical commie and also destroy in November. I don’t think Warren has a chance and for me her vindictive behavior during the campaign makes her an unappealing option.
And finally, Bloomberg is the only candidate with the financial resources to beat the Trump disinformation machine which will have tons of money to spend in the general campaign.
1
I have never believed that Sanders and Warren would do half the things they professed they would. America, as a country, is too centrist to allow extremism to exist in any form - right or left. However, i am happy that their candidacies now appear to be headed for the exits. Angry people do not make for good leaders. And we certainly don't need another loose mouth in high office after what we have been subject to since November 2016.
2
I’m sorry but Warren is angry? She’s the most positive energetic person around. Her campaign is classy and her supporters respectful. She’s an utterly brilliant thinker and passionate about our country. You may not agree with her politics but she is not angry. I think she has a very narrow path to the presidency but would make a stellar VP for Biden.
The Democratic primary was supposed to answer the question "Who will make the best President?". But all it has been reduced to from the start and I'm afraid now till the end, is "Who do you think the Republicans will vote for?" In fact specifically, who will a few white men in the midwest not mind voting for if they were kind enough to ignore their first choice? My goodness, can we bend over backwards anymore? They might as well nominate Trump.
As for me, I will still believe in the adage "Be the change you wish to see". I think Warren will make the best President and I'm with her. Everyone should vote for their favorite candidate and let the general election chips fall where they may.
7
Doubtful if the Klobuchar and Buttigieg votes would transfer so easily to Biden.The reaction of Sanders voters to this sea change is also to be reckoned with.
1
If they were going to pull this back room nonsense they should have at least had the sense to space it out over a few days. How inept are these ppl? I am on the progressive side for sure but I was willing to get behind any Dem. Now I’m in a rage.
We learned NOTHING from 2016.
This is great to see that these people are joining forces to defeat Trump and, hopefully, his enablers in Congress. It's time to bring decency and character back to our nation.
1
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the DNC is trying to "stop Sanders." Look at the companion article:
- How Democratic Leaders Struggled to Confront Bernie Sanders
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-party.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
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If Tom Perez and the DNC are so incompetent and inept that they can't even defeat Bernie Sanders in their own primary, how can we expect the DNC to be effective in November against Trump?
The DNC is repeating the same mistakes of 2016. It's like deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra said.
For the first time in my life in 2018, I gave money to political candidates. (A small fortune for me, over 10% of my gross income.) I helped elect our Democratic House majority. I helped elect Senators Sinema (D-AZ) and Rosen (D-NV). I helped elect Governors Laura Kelly (D-KS) and Tony Evers (D-WI). Among dozens of other Democrats across the nation.
I did not give one red cent to the DNC. Instead, I gave to individual candidates directly. And I shall not be giving one penny to the DNC in 2020 either. They are incompetent. I will instead support Democratic candidates directly, from president to senator to dog catcher.
I believe that Bernie Sanders has at least as good of a chance of beating Trump in November as does Biden or Bloomberg. And the polls in swing states, such as MI, PA, WI, NC, and AZ support this point.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/
28
Democrats are learning how dangerous is Bernie Sanders.
2
Biden is old and has old ideas that prolongs the democratic agony..
Bernie is older but has young ideas. He is the voice of progress in America.
Oh, how terrifying oh a notion, to be progressive.
Shame on you Buttigieg, shame on you Klobuchar. You sold out progress for no other reason but to justify your inability and yes, courage to fight for a better future of America!
15
I’m happy to bet anyone $5 we’ll have a Biden-Buttigieg ticket when this is all done.
3
This is so simple...to most people in the world, not so much for the average American. Ever since 1876, virtually all liberal presidents have been chosen by the black vote. If you have it, you win. South Carolina showed that and the media said "diverse populations", because they didn't want to say "black". It's their little way of not letting black people know they are the strongest voting block in the country.
And although white college educated liberals like to bash the "Democratic Machine" they have no one but themselves to blame. White liberals give black people weird vibes constantly; correction: white American liberals. Look how they never gave Obama credit in the debates, except Biden.
I guess the yankee-doodle-dandy European liberal dream manifested after their trip to Barcelona will have to wait. So save your vicious troll attacks against Biden. Stop blaming him because Bernie does not understand black and working class voters. It's laughable to think Bernie can get a 67 year-old man from Arkansas or West Virginia to vote for him.
You know Bloomberg does not like Sanders, so if he drops out Biden is a shoe in.
2
When was the last time Arkansas or West Virginia voted democratic in the general election?
Ah & here we are, the corrupt Democratic Party closes ranks....shameless in plain sight.
12
Biden is corrupt. Trump will crush him under the Ukraine scandal.
11
Only Biden can defeat Putin/Trump.
2
The Democrats look scared. Trump must be having a good long laugh.
8
If you like Bernie, then vote for him. But it’s a big country and people don’t agree on everything. That’s democracy. But not voting, staying home for a sulk while the world burns?
Disgusting...
9
I live in California so I won’t have to compromise myself by voting for someone I don’t like. A vote is an endorsement of the candidate and his/her history and stated objectives. If you can’t endorse a candidates view, don’t vote for that candidate. If Trump gets re-elected, at least we’ll know what we’re up against. It’s better than having a president like Clinton or Obama who profess one thing and then act differently once elected.
1
The Establishment Strikes Back.
11
Desperate and self-serving is more like it!
8
The DNC has just committed suicide. I guess America will get what it deserves: a country so divided and so out of touch that it might soon mirror Harlan's world of Altered Carbon fame.
The DNC must really think that the American electorate are complete fools! The ''American Dream''... well the myth must be preserved at all cost so shoving democracy aside ain't a big deal.
The DNC script takes from Donald Trump's ''If you do it in plain sight then it ain't a scheme''. They did it behind closed doors in 2016 and they got caught... so in 2020... just do it the ''Trumpian way'': in plain sight.
16
Exactly! They are more Trumpian every day!
3
In the last UK election, Jeremy Corbyn & his hard-left, take-no-prisoners supporters/trolls destroyed the Labour Party.
Bernie is Jeremy.
7
I'll vote for "Super Thursday" Biden, but it seems that the DNC just bribed Pete and Amy by promising them support in a future election if they endorse tired, old Biden.
10
I was planning to vote for Amy tomorrow. I think she was the best moderate candidate running, and I think a moderate stands the best chance of winning in November. However, now that it's essentially down to Biden, Bloomberg, and Sanders, I'm rethinking. While I'll gladly vote for any of the three if it comes to it, I think Biden and Bloomberg will struggle to drive turnout.
Bernie it is.
11
Biden is the least inspiring, bumbling candidate. He is a step backwards.
23
As I said to my friend last night, I vote for any Dem against Trump. But voting for Biden is going to feel like swallowing a bottle of sleeping pills, crawling into bed and whispering “I give up.”
bloomberg is the only way to beat trump.
4
@Rob C
He is the only Dem I would vote for. Absent him, I vote for Trump.
anybodybutBernie, anybodybutBernie, anybodybutBernie.
Dems BELONG to the corporate overlord caste which has bought them lock, stock and barrel just like the GOP.
What NERVE has that obstreperous upstart Sanders to attempt to upset the applecart of the corporate GOP-lite Dem aristocracy?!
12
This is the way I hoped the Democratic candidates would act. Unite for the betterment of the country. Excellent. I'm not totally sure about Biden, but I'm glad to see the Dems pulling together.
427
@Ms. Pea Totally agree. Democrats are pulling together. Last time Bernie helped get Trump elected and seems his supporters will walk away again as Bernie is so divisive, saying things like "it's rigged" They are all out to get" when of course, moderates support moderates.This time Democrats will pull together when Bernie pulls the same stunt.
37
Yes I understand the sentiment to recognize the moment and drop out to allow for more votes to go towards the eventual nominee and create an appearance of party support. But as you’re not sure about Biden, if the whole country sees him on the debate stage they will be sure. A Biden nomination seems a guaranteed Trump victory, because Democrats like me will go to polls meekly, with a feeling of ‘I hope this works’ instead of ‘There goes our guy!’ They’ve made a great mistake in these endorsements. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
74
@Vickisea many Obama voters went to Trump. The sanders effect, of creating an anti Clinton effect isn't as much as people think.
4
EMILY’S List just endorsed Elizabeth Warren! Of course, that’s not mentioned anywhere in the news, especially the NYT.
She’s the most intelligent, capable, and YES ELECTABLE candidate! H
Vote Warren!
17
@TJ You are entitled to your opinion and your vote. EW has dropped off the radar. She had such a strong presence and run. In case you did not notice the NYT endorsed both EW and AK as their choices of nominees--weeks ago.
3
The New York Times endorsed Elizabeth Warren.
1
And the least authentic!
Last night I was able to switch my vote from Buttiegieg to Biden since as a voter living abroad, I had not sent in my ballot. Like many voters, I just want the party to unify around a candidate since all of them are excellent as compared to Trump. I am just scared that Sanders would lose. I prefer Warren and do not understand why she did not perform better. If Biden chooses a young, strong running mate - and there is a lot of talent out there - I think we have a chance.
2
@science prof
How can candidates perform better if everyone is like you and votes on who they believe *other* people find electable?
How have your predictions of electability worked out in the past? Not great I bet.
Yet even as a science prof, you defy the evidence in front of you and still keep doing the same thing, expecting a different result.
2
The DNC will say since they both are endorsing Biden, all of Buttigieg's and Klobuchar's votes should go to Biden to preserve the integrity of early votes not going to waste.
3
So we're having a primary. Calm down. This is good.
4
If Biden wins, OK. If Biden (or Bloomberg) gets the nomination through unseemly maneuvering to thwart the will of the people, then it's a 3rd party for me and many others, so be careful. Klobuchar was nastier than HRH, I mean HRC, and Buttigieg was a gay man with an Arabic name; how long would it take for he who shall not be named to run with that? It is frightening how the Democratic establishment is so unified against and frightened of Bernie who speaks the truth about wealth, status, peace and justice. There are those who are more worried he will be elected than that he will lose, just look at the polls.
7
Really? Sanders supporters tout their idealogical purism and you just trashed Klobuchar for being a “nasty woman” and Buttigieg for being gay and “having an Arabic name” in a single sentence. No wonder people find “Bernie Bros” as isolating as Trump.
1