After this race, I am only able to reach one conclusion: Democrats don't really want change and are just using Donald Trump's corruption as an excuse to vote in passivity once again. Bernie Sanders represents change and they are so scared of changing they refuse to entertain his ideas. We have wage stagnation, unaffordable childcare, our planet is burning itself up, no family leave or vacation time, no universal healthcare, housing is so expensive our homeless problem is an epidemic, all this in the richest country in the world. Joe Biden will give us more of the same nothing white bread establishment that we have had for decades. The people have spoken and they don't want progressivism.
I respect that, but they have no right to complain about our problems while voting for the same moderates who have not accomplished anything for decades (except Obama). Voting Biden in because he's a do nothing centrist is a cop-out. Donald Trump is corrupt so voting him out for that reason is enough to choose a progressive who wants real change for Americans. Trump run on a campaign of change. Democrats could have also. But they did not want to.
8
We are living our own Dystopian movie...
Our political candidates cannot hold rallies; it may be we are being discouraged from showing up to vote. We're not to gather in large groups, including political rallies and musical concerts (where we come together for enjoyment and connection).
Elderly people are not to be visited. We're not to touch one another. Areas of the country are quarantined.
Our economy is precarious at best. We are encouraged to stay home. Information from our government is inconsistent and data may be being withheld.
Our wake up call has arrived.
Time to be awake, aware, and ready to act to protect the spirit of this nation, to work in community, and step to in to hold our leaders to account if need be.
Time to be kind and generous with one another; to seek opportunities to genuinely connect and share our fears and our humanity.
Time to acknowledge that without our humanity...nothing we possess is of any real value.
Time to abandon any belief in entitlement. Time to be our brother's keeper here in our country...and across the world.
May God bless America...we need it in order to live up to our title as "Leader of the Free World."
248
@Kelly Grace Smith: Amen to that, but faith and good intentions, to paraphrase Martin Luther, are empty unless accompanied by good works. Imagine how tough it is, much tougher in "developing nations" which do not have good health care systems, and those which do exist are inadequate.What we as a people are going through is nothing compared to ordeal of wounded veterans for whom every day is a test of endurance, or what oppressed women in abovementioned "developing nations"must endure, stamina required to feed one's family when supply exceeds demand in the labor market, where there are no unions to represent the rank and file.1 solution is to go to your local animal shelter to rescue a sentient 4 legged creature who would not otherwise have a home. It's not what we say but what we do that counts.
17
@Kelly Grace Smith -- The one vote scanner at my polling place displays a count of total voters for the day. It is normally 50% higher than it was today. I always check it.
The parking and polling place were obviously slow, and the polling place workers confirmed that had been all day.
Maybe that was just because it was a primary. The Presidential race and one referendum to fund the Detroit Institute of Arts were the ONLY things on the Democratic ballot. A very blank sheet of paper, just mark two boxes and you're done.
6
@Kelly Grace Smith
Yeah...I need health insurance.
I came home from my 30 hr/wk grant-funded job as support staff at a public elementary school where I pull in a cool $14/hr, which is $84/week too much for Medicaid and far too low to afford any decent insurance.
Asked the principal today if I could teach the kids somewhere besides the supply closet turned reading room. There is a possible coronavirus case at the local college, and no matter how many times you ask, kids don't cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. In such a small room it just makes me nervous...for all of us.
Bernie was my hope. Bernie is gone.
24
What happens, if God forbid, something happens to one of the two candidates that take him out of the running?
4
There is a post here which claims that Southern Black voters are “uninformed.” Seems to be gaining popularity with the Bernie supporters, too. Maybe the mentality which leads to such an insult, and it’s uncritical acceptance, is why is they won’t vote for your guy. Maybe that’s why Bernie rallies are overwhelmingly white. Maybe that’s why he will lose. Poetic justice. Have “progressives” now become so “post-racial” that they feel comfortable painting black voters as ignorant and inferior? Sad.
17
@Ben
Ok, enough of the trolling.
Why would anyone who supports the candidate who's slogan is "Us, not me" want to alienate black voters?
7
I don’t know. Good question! But that post exists. It is written by a Bernie supporter. They seem to be the one who is trolling, and it might be a good idea to confront them instead, That’s what I’m trying to do. I found it troubling. I was more troubled by the people who recommended the post as a sort of reflex than I was by the original poster.
2
@nom de Guerre—They were probably trolling. I was bothered by how quickly it seemed to be getting recommended though. I skimmed back through the posts just now and it seems to have been flagged and removed, unless I missed it. It seemed like people were willing to dismiss southern black voters if they didn’t vote their way. I find that troublesome. I even saw someone earlier say that other blue state voters should be weighted in the primary, which I found too similar to the 3/5 compromise.
2
Biden all but said last night he will veto Medicare For All, and his campaign floated a cabinet list of 1 percent, plutocrat, neoliberal all stars. His scores of billionaire donors are getting exactly what they bought and paid for.
Biden is a weak, deeply flawed candidate with a freighter-full of ugly baggage who represents four more years of Wall Street running rampant in the destruction of the American middle class.
So go ahead and keep playing electoral strategist parlor games and convince yourself this is what the American people want. And while you’re at it go ahead and convince yourself that Trump won’t destroy this doddering, visionless sellout.
And keep in mind the Democrats won the House by focusing on helping the middle class, not by forcing a referendum on Trump. Biden is the polar opposite of that strategy and he will fail in the arrogant futility of a neoliberal restoration effort.
Go ahead and vote for this travesty. Have a good time.
203
@Jay
"...and convince yourself this is what the American people want."
People are voting listen to what they have to say. They are not idiots just because they don't think like you do.
33
You really can’t get all your news from Twitter. The campaign list has been proved fake and is absurd.
Biden says he will veto a Medicare for All bill if there isn’t sound logic where the money comes from. The principle of M4A is defensible and laudable but the disruption that it will cause to the American PEOPLE is what Biden says he needs to consider. Which is of course, a moot point because a M4A bill will never make it through Congress.
There are 50 states in America, thousands of counties. The sheer majority of them dont subscribe to champagne socialism.
36
So funny: I plan to have a good time. Now, NY votes a little later. But my buddies and me, we usually vote before work and then we get together after work, usually at Chuck’s place, and we pop a few beers and watch election and have a really good time! You should come as you seem to enjoy a good election too.
So thanks for the kind words and you enjoy as well. And we’ll do it again in November, yes we will!
9
"Looks like Bernie's fanatical groupies of extremists are just not enough to push him anywhere near majority needed to win the nomination since other major candidates dropped out. Like Clinton said "No body likes him". "
A lot of people like Bernie Sanders. It's just that more like Biden. And comments like these are a great way to get Bernie voters to vote for Biden, huh? And people vote based on their feelings. If they feel attacked by other Democrats, that makes them feel no different than being attacked Republicans and they won't vote at all. The black vote will not be enough for Biden to win. Biden's support among younger people is nil. At this juncture, the Dems need all the votes they can get. Progressives know under Biden, little will change. They don't like Trump. They don't like Biden either. Another four years of Trump will hurt us all.
So Biden supporters, a little decency on your part is sorely needed. Nonstop gloating and bashing is all I'm seeing and reading, which doesn't make sense considering that's all we have gotten from Trump. Aren't we better than that?
2
Joe Biden is taking distance from Bernie Sanders.
Another thing to glean from this primary since SC is young black voters came out for Sanders but not in the same numbers as their parents for Biden. So they weren’t able to convince their parents to change their minds about Sanders.
These voters are about issues and policy and need to see Biden offer progressive policies in some way shape or form. One way is to have a progressive VP. That person need not be a person of color but if it’s a white man not named Buttigieg that won’t cut it.
1-Stacey Abrams
2- Elizabeth Warren
3- Amy Klobuchar
2
@Oliver
I think there’s more of a chance that Biden will choose his son Hunter as his running mate over any of the women you listed, all of whom I believe could be successful, competent VPs.
Dear god, could you even imagine? Can anyone out there provide instructions on how to pressure wash my brain, just for thinking up the Biden-Biden possibility, as far fetched as it may seem?
Honestly though, nothing surprises me anymore in modern politics.
2
Black voters can’t afford for more years of Trump. But the Sanders supporters who denigrate them for not voting Sanders can actually afford to sit out the election if it’s not their candidate.
Funny how that works.
2
Vote for the guy that talks gooder. What have we devolved to?
3
@gene
We’re screwed bigly, that’s for sure. So many unpresidented acts in such little time. Educatuon is officially irrelevant in American politics.
I’m going to go drown my sorrows in a spiked cup of covfefe. I’d be honered for everyone to join me.
4
I’m seeing a lot of animosity coming from the Sanders supporters. This feels much worse than 2008 Clinton/ Obama and Clinton/ Sanders 2016. I don’t have any confidence that the Sanders supporters will be voting for Joe Biden even if Sanders endorses Biden.
5
@Oliver 100% correct.
5
Will Biden come out and tell the progressives that he will not have Wall Street Bankers in his cabinet. Didn't think so. He will get a list just like Obama got from Citigroup with the people he has to hire. Google it.
6
Don't forget, there were THOUSANDS of right wing voting for Biden in Michigan. Strongly encouraged by The Federalist and other sites. No way could those Dem totals be occuring in solid Republican districts. Very easy to ask for a Dem ballot either at the poll or via
mail.https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/10/why-republicans-and-independents-must-help-joe-biden-defeat-bernie-sanders/?fbclid=IwAR0NgfHj1WJJjmMa4vBYr37Focps8z2XnI58ZaU-7VLzRPZ_60TdTxg1MDA#.Xmhvf7PAxWh.facebook
Sigh. Bernie, god love ya, but you’re way ahead of your time for this country. It’s a shame.
12
Oh no. The Democrats are in massive trouble. Biden has all of Clinton's weaknesses, and many more that belong to him alone.
Trump will eviscerate him. Think Trump's appalling treatment of women makes him unacceptable? Is a creepy hair-sniffer the one to deliver that message?
Think Trump is a liar and misrepresents his record? A catalog of Biden's misleading statements about himself is mind-boggling.
Biden is the swamp that Trump said he was going to drain. No matter that Trump was lying: the rhetoric will play even better against Biden than Clinton. Hunter Biden, Jim Biden. You'll hear it over and over.
Joe will crumple like a piece of paper. He has no stamina. He has no message. If you think he does, please tell me what it is. "No Malarky"? Is that really what he's running on? He avoids campaign rallies and often doesn't seem to know where he is anyway. He can't even make it cleanly to the end of a sentence.
The DNC has given us a pushover. I wish I were wrong, I really do.
But this means four more years of Trump. Biden is a terrible candidate, and all his weaknesses, that you've been struggling to avert your eyes from, will be exposed. It will be painful.
7
@Jim The only bright spot is the establishment will be able to blame progressives and keep their money making machine called the resistance going unabated.
1
If America wasn’t so regressive Warren would have and should have won. She was by far the strongest and most qualified candidate. This country keeps getting its comeuppance: first in Trump, now, Biden. Trump’s handling of the current crisis could shore up Biden. The ship needs someone at the helm, even if he can’t turn the wheel.
I hope Trump is sweating bullets right about now. He feared Biden so much, he impeached himself to smear him.
Tick-tock, Mr. President*. Your days are numbered.
2
Progressives need to stand together and say just like Hillary you cant win without us. So what policy will you say you will stand behind and work to implement in your first 100 days?
I'm talking to progressives not Republicans that like to get stuff done.
4
Makes sense. Further south you get, less likely people are to think for themselves or have decent education. Besides, those closest to the border know that Canada is far more intelligent and probably want to be more like them.
4
I wanted to defend our national pride against yours, but the first thing that came into my mind was a koala with chlamydia, and I realized I can’t take your country seriously.
2
If you truly want unity put people like Nina Turner, Ro Khanna or Auanna Presley into cabinet positions. Actions speak louder than words.
3
@Mathias
You lost me at Nina Turner.
2
Well you can now put me in the category of 'I could care less' .
A Bernie Sanders supporter here. I will never vote for Biden mainly because Biden voted for the Iraq war that killed and maimed thousands of our soldiers, Iraqi civilians and cost our country trillions of dollars and our credibility. Further,Biden was VP when Obama was willing to put cutting Social security on the table. There was also the Ukraine, Syrian, Libya and Yemen wars under the Obama/Biden administration. Never, never, never Biden!
6
@es from Cleveland: I kind of consider you my white whale. You know, from Moby Dick, of course. I have followed your posts intently over the last several years. You haven’t been as active lately. But what interested me about you was your consistent interest in one subject above all others, the on,y subject you usually posted about immediately after the election and during the Mueller investigation. Russia. Boy, did you always argue in favor of Russia. That got my attention, and I soon realized that you never posted anything at all which wasn’t in the Russian interest. And now here you are, trying to divide the Democratic electorate from the Bernie side in order to elect Trump, exactly like you did in 2016. I remember mostly everything. It is a curse. But it is also a blessing when it helps me see through people based on their patterns of behavior.
7
I guess the Democratic establishment prefers four more years of Trump to a progressive agenda
9
@ Paul Schejtman. "Biden is not MT candidate and I will not vote for him." So essentially you'll be voting for Trump then. You really want four more years of that and another Supreme Court pick or two by him just because you didn't get your way? Seriously?
3
Oh the horror. If Hillary couldn't beat Trump than what chance does sleepy Joe have? His only chance is to attract minority voters because Trump has the white voters in the bag. If sleepy Joe can do that he just might pull off the greatest victory in the history of US politics. If only his opponent weren't a political mastermind.
6
Depressing. This country will never change.
5
The morning of Super Tuesday I was listening to the Daily. You guys spent the entire episode talking about how great Biden was and trashing Sanders. I'm sure it was a coincidence of course, OF COURSE--- but it made me wonder...
7
Goodbye, Bernie. Time to go home. You’re down 50 points in Florida and you aren’t winning Ohio either. You have absolutely no legitimate argument anymore. There’s no excuse for “taking it to the convention” like you did in 2016 when you had clearly lost and were only damaging the Democratic nominee.
Go home. Goodbye.
4
@Mike I think he should hold you Corporate Dems hostage for policies concessions. They can promise that no Wall Street Bankers will be on his cabinet for starters.
2
Looks like Bernie's fanatical groupies of extremists are just not enough to push him anywhere near majority needed to win the nomination since other major candidates dropped out.
Like Clinton said "No body likes him".
3
Just stay alive Joe. The free world is riding on it.
2
Something worth noting as we seek to bring the party together: the Bernie voters I know in real life are nowhere near as vile as the Bernie supporters you see online. I have a feeling that Trump and his “war room” stoke the flames of division by making Bernie voters look angrier than they actually are. They did this with Antifa and they did this with Hillary’s emails. I honestly wish everybody would just stop using social media and talk to to each other face-to-face. But not too close (because Coronavirus).
4
Progressives will never vote for Biden.
5
Omg. It’s 2016 all over again. The Dems are going to let Trump win again.
5
Joe Biden will be a good President.
4
@Barbara Too bad we won't get to find out.
1
Does Mr. Biden even know what’s going on right now? He sure seems out of it.
3
Bring out the butter ... Bernie is toast. Thankfully, for any Democrat that wants even a remote chance at beating Trump.
1
I’m sure the NYTimes has been itching for days now to run its canned political obit of Bernie Sanders, and today the Champaign corks are popping in newsrooms across America.
But consider what Bernie means to his supporters, many of whom are NYT subscribers like me. Bernie was, and is, our Donald Trump. He railed against the establishment, annoying the NYTimes and CNN and MSNBC et al., but doing it without the hatred, mendacity, cheating, corruption and shear criminality of Mr. Trump. Bernie is the anti-establishment candidate of the left, a virtuous counterpoint to the vitriolic and loathsome Donald Trump.
Bernie has already won this campaign, as the Times’ Frank Bruni noted Monday, by getting every other candidate talking about healthcare, income inequality, the green new deal, and corporate welfare.
The Times should give Bernie credit for what he has accomplished, all of it with millions of small-dollar donations. Ask yourselves: How has Biden defined this campaign? Silence. Blank stares.
By contrast, Bernie offers us so much. His biggest sin was not that he admired Castro’s literacy program or Daniel Ortega’s land reforms in Nicaragua. It was that he wanted America to be more like ... Denmark!
Biden cannot win with a return-to-normal message. So congrats NYTimes on assuring another four years of Trump, just as you did in 2016 when your left-right approach failed to comprehend the fundamentally anti-establishment pathos driving Trump’s success.
5
@Phil G ,
When Sanders fails to win even ONE county in Michigan, the NYT is not the problem. Even Sanders will admit to this. If he doesn't he is as ignorant as Trump. IMO Yang had a better grip on reality of our economics than Sanders.
2
Sad. Biden is old hat in every way. Like Trump, just a Dem instead.
5
It's time for Sanders to drop out and pledge his support for Biden. In fact, all democrats should unite behind Biden and a female vice-presidential candidate (Warren, Harris...) and focus their energies on getting rid of that inept, insecure, inane and possibly insane character in the WH.
3
Biden should drop out and pledge his support for anyone else
1
That sound you heard? Old people slamming the door in the face of their children and grandchildren.
Liberals are the people who were suckled at the teat of capital, when capital still needed people like them. It no longer does. All the money and attention goes to the other sibling now. The one with the guns, the flag, the pick-up-truck, and the MAGA hat.
All liberals can muster in response is a tantrum of injured pride. "We want moderation and civility!" "We are electable!"
But for what? Biden will not address any of the causes of Trump-brand fascism, same as with Obama. If Biden wins, it will be getting worse.
8
@Lars Maischak ,
No. Take a deep breath. A Sanders Presidency without the House and Senate (which would be the case) would be as useless as Sanders 30 yrs in Congress.
2
I’m glad I live in California so I don’t have to vote for Biden.
7
The Democrats have done it again. Trump is assured for another four years.
7
Biden hit home runs with his speech on Philadelphia.
I am totally behind BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT!
4
Seems Biden has a great amount of vote, I hope you take down Donald Trump keep it up!
2
Well, you centrists got your way again.
Don’t mess it up this time.
3
US Media would do a signal Service to the American people if they Fact Check Senator Sanders’ claim that NAFTA led to millions of jobs lost. Diverse reports show NAFTA led to millions of better-paying jobs created in the Service Sector of the American economy. NAFTA provided more-value-for-money to all American consumers with lower-cost products. But NAFTA led to large job losses in American Manufacturing. US Administrations failed to foresee the negative effects of NAFTA on Manufacturing Sector & failed to plan, budget & provide Govt-driven reTraining of vulnerable Workers in new Skillsets of the emerging Tech Economy. The Failure of Govt to foresee & Act pro-actively to provide a better life to vulnerable Americans is being loaded onto NAFTA. Like blaming electric bulbs for the job losses of gaslight makers.
Trump and the RNC already have close to a billion dollars in their campaign war chest and they don't have to spend it on a primary. There will be so much cash thrown at creating chaos amongst the dems that we must steel ourselves and resolve to support the nominee, be it Biden or Sanders.
Their cash coupled with the foreign entities that seek to destroy us from within by using tactics our democracy enables, must be met with a singleness of purpose, defeat Donald Trump and everything he stands for. If we don't achieve this goal in 2020, America will be gone.
2
You would think in the face of this virus that people would be smart enough to vote for a candidate like Sanders who supports HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!
9
@Bonnie ,
In the face of a virus people chose the doable. They saw that M4all would not happen during Sanders 1st (and likely only) term. Not without flipping the Senate.
The Democratic voters are clearly signaling that a far left agenda is off the table. The numbers just aren't there. Continuing to rely on new voters (younger voters) is a fool's errand. They simply aren't reliable on election day. That may be a bitter pill to swallow but enduring another four years of Trump is swallowing poison.
All Democrats realize that unless Black voters support a nominee, that nominee won't secure the presidency. They aren't supporting Bernie. The combination of stronger Black support and unreliable younger voters can only lead to the conclusion that Bernie can't be the nominee, Hope is not a viable strategy for Bernie any longer. He needs to step aside.
Now.
5
@Tom Q "All Democrats realize that unless Black voters support a nominee, that nominee won't secure the presidency. " There is a problem with your assumption. Black voters tend to live in Southern states which vote R, states that Biden won't carry anyway. Biden needs the white vote. Trump will take a big chunk of that white vote. Hillary Clinton made the same assumption. Democrats dismiss the importance of the white vote, and it cost us the election in 2016. I fear we will have a repeat this time.
1
I’m sure the NYTimes has been itching for days now to run its canned political obit of Bernie Sanders, and today the Champaign corks are flying in newsrooms across America.
But consider what Bernie means to his supporters, many of whom are NYT subscribers like me. Bernie was, and is, our Donald Trump. He railed against the establishment, annoying the NYTimes and CNN and MSNBC et al., but doing it without the hatred, mendacity, cheating, corruption and shear criminality of Mr. Trump.
Bernie is the anti-establishment candidate of the left, a virtuous counterpoint to the vitriolic and loathsome Donald Trump.
Bernie has already won this campaign, as Frank Bruno noted yesterday, by getting every other candidate talking about healthcare, income inequality, the green new deal, and corporate welfare.
The Times should give Bernie credit for what he has accomplished, all of it with millions of small-dollar donations. Ask yourselves: How has Biden defined this campaign? Silence. Blank stares. In contrast, Bernie offers us so much.
Biden cannot win with a return-to-normal message. So congrats NYTimes on assuring another four years of Trump, just as you did in 2016 when your left-right approach failed to comprehend the fundamentally anti-establishment pathos driving his success.
8
@Phil G
I find it plain out disgusting what the powers which be have done to this man, twice. It’s beyond vile - it’s filth, and if I thought about it long, I would spill my guts. (Wish they could see what I see!) Like I wrote, when we look to other countries enjoying universal care, higher life expectancies, free education, we’ll know who to blame.
2
Joe Biden is delivering debate closing comments written by a speechwriter and delivered via teleprompter. Sad. I wish he had a solid progressive agenda instead of being a FITB [fill-in-the-blank] stale vanilla cookie blank slate that anti-Trump voters are projecting onto. Of course I'll vote for whomever is running against Trump but with the same massive lack of enthusiasm that got me to pull the lever for Hillary. How many years will it take to right the ship of state?
WARREN 2024. I sure hope so.
4
Sanders is a demagogue and some of the comments reflect the naivety of his supporters.
7
Twenty one likes right now for a post which describe southern black voters as “uninformed” and so lazy they didn’t bother to look up the candidates’ records. It is in the service of Bernie Sanders, an excuse for why the people who voted against him shouldn’t really count. I pointed it out earlier and someone accused me of trolling. But it is the most troublesome thing I’ve seen from the left this election season. I hope it isn’t a harbinger of worse to come. I get it, people get desperate and lash out. But to act like black voters shouldn’t count because they don’t vote your way, or to say that white voters in reliably blue states should have weighted votes which make them count more than southern black voters, that kind of thing really bothers me.
7
At this point, there is no time for 'moderate views' when it comes to climate change. We shall see if Biden is the nominee, and if he gets elected, what actions, if any are taken outside of just joining the Kyoto.
2
I think Joe Biden is a step slow. But the election results in Michigan tonight tells you that Joe Biden is very capable of winning WI, MI, OH, PA and a host of swing states. He is in fact from Scranton, PA. No wonder Trump got himself impeached for Joe Biden. He can’t beat him in the states that really matter.
3
American voters must realize that if Donald Trump is re-elected, the 2020 election may be the last time they can exercise their right to vote. This election is about Americans' civil liberties, nothing less. If he Coronavirus is keeping you at home, use the opportunity to hit the history books, folks.
4
Please stop comparing Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton. Hillary was a very poor candidate who was unable to connect with people. She ran an awful campaign. Like him or not, Biden connects with people.
1
The only revolution that happened in the last twelve years was Obama became president and transformed our healthcare system as a first step towards Medicare for all. He also championed gun reform, gay rights (Biden first), rebuilding our infrastructure, access to education and increasing the minimum wage.
The Republicans said no, and are still saying no to healthcare. Biden was there by his side, trying desperately to push things through.
Where was Bernie and what did he accomplish in forty some odd years in the center of the “establishment?” It is time to stop polarizing and address the most important task to save our democracy and that is getting a Nationalist and Fascist out of the White House
5
How desperate is Bernie right now? How resigned is Bernie right now? These are important questions for someone of Bernie’s power, age, and ambition. I hope that he does the right thing and accepts this defeat graciously. A last ditch smear campaign and scorched earth policy will kill us.
1
Don’t be sad Bernie voters - when we look to other countries enjoying universal care, higher life expectancies, and free education, we’ll know who to blame.
3
So you’ll be blaming yourselves — the Biden supporters — for not voting for a candidate who would advocates universal healthcare. Because Biden won’t push for M4A. He wants status quo and will definitely not give the American taxpayers social services that other advanced nations have. Only Warren or Sanders will do that.
1
Just a note from former Secretary of Defense (under Barack Obama) Robert Gates about Joe Biden:
“Joe Biden is impossible not to like. He’s a man of integrity, incapable of hiding what he really thinks, one of those rare people you know you could turn to for help in a personal crisis. Still, I think he’s been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of over the past four decades.”
Joe Biden has been in politics for many, many years. This is his fourth try at the presidency, but Joe Biden only won his first primary in South Carolina this year. And this is the guy who is going to get the Democratic nomination?
5
When did Trump show any sort of qualifications for office again?
2
He didn’t but he lowered the bar.
1
Biden did very well. Also, if you add in Bloomberg and Buttigieg's votes, especially in Washington State, Biden's platform did very well. If the numbers keep adding up for Biden I think we'll have an election in Nov.
3
So, this is democracy? In Europe and many places in the world, there are more parties in power to reflect the diversity of thought---what are we to take away from this sham election? That Americans dont have a gamut of ideaologies, that all political thought can be crammed into two parties that are nearly identical? A true democracy would have even the deplorables of the left and the right. As it is, the US still careens towards the future cliff,i n a political system driven by two bickering parties that, in any other country , would be one party. They have both been for war, for Big Oil, for more war, Big Pharma, smashing dissent, crushing other voices, war, oil, opiates..the cosmetic differences, guns abortion, gays, they like that these issues define us, once defined we can face the party of our choice, blue or red. Its all so beautiful. So simple. But the major decisions, our health, war, infrastructure, medicine, the future of the nation, a nation of a myeiad of peoples that may be better off apart instead of together.These issues we can never control with these two parties in this current " best system in the world". Congratulate yourselves on one more farcical victory, on the myth of America, of its dream that is dead, that died with NAFTA, applaud your old men who will kill your unemployed sons with another war far away, applaud your one party with two faces, red and blue, such perfect colors, angry, dead, the colors switch from one party to the next.
4
Bernie needs to run as a third party candidate to demonstrate that there are options and DNC shenanigans are done. Yes we will suffer with Trump but just maybe that will end the games. Coincidence that other candidates dropped out on Super Tuesday eve? I have found coincidences are generally well planned
2
Trump was smart enough to get where he is. We need to acknowledge this, and realize that he went after Biden because he knows Joe can beat him.
4
I think he went after Biden because he knows Biden is an easy target. Trump is going to crush him.
2
All of us, including those blathering about Biden's cognitive decline should see and hear his clear, heartfelt speech in Philadelphia tonight. By his own admission, John Adams was old and tired after a lifetime of public service, but he was called to lead the new United States through a critical period. Biden, like most of his supporters. recognizes he is a bridge to the future.
3
@Bruce Joe has a stutter. Most of the public gaffes you hear are because he has a stutter.
A stutter is not a cognitive disability. I wish the media would at least mention it now and again.
Hopefully Joe realizes we do need to enact a more progressive agenda quickly to address climate change (whether man made or not)
No more subsidies for big AG & the Big food/Pharm monopolies that are destroying American's health.
Address the worthless & expensive college degrees people receive and instead guide students into viable careers.
Stress will decrease, the young will survive, good health brings prosperity.
The above are just a few things that need immediately action plans. Along with equal education, (especially K-12 and free tech/occupational schools for students who don't want to go to college) teach STEM, less religious interference in government, infrastructure modernization, etc...
Feel free to add your suggestions on what needs to be addressed ASAP.
Boy, the people who vote in the democratic primaries are old. About two thirds are over 45 and one third under 45. And, the young people vote almost entirely opposite of the old people. I think the democratic party is dying. It's just all old people and a few disappointed young people. And the old people always vote for being good serfs, not reaching for too much, for knowing your place. Blech!
5
@Chris The young radicals of today will be tomorrow’s moderates.
1
If you’re a Sanders supporter and you are going to sit out the general election if your candidate isn’t the nominee then you are operating from privilege.
You are so completely comfortable that you would rather four more years of Trump than be deprived of your revolution.
The rest of us can’t afford another Trump presidency. We will do anything including voting blue no matter who.
8
If what you say is true, then why oh why did the DNC not bring those Bernie into the fold by standing behind Bernie? Instead they pushed bumbling old Joe Biden on everyone. You may not like the truth, but you are asking Bernie supporters to vote for your candidate... Why is that you did not vote for theirs?
2
This will be Sanders’ final shot at the White House and his support will be less than the peak of his candidacy in 2016.
There was an interesting underside to the hippie dipper flower power movement. I have always been interested in it. The Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders are two very good ways to start investigating that scene. A very talented musician who was part of both of those bands just died. The Times covered his death but didn’t provide a space to talk about it,
1
Wait, what? I thought this was going to be the year when one of the parties had a brokered convention. People were talking about how the superdelegates were going to come into play and all these other interesting and exciting political ploys. And suddenly it's over?
No fair!
1
The Democrats are the Charlie Brown to the Republican Lucy. With wishful thinking the Democrats are not up to the challenge of defeating the Republicans.
Ops she moved the ball again!
And I trusted her to do the right thing.
2
I don’t understand any of the analyses of the Democratic primary election that speak of “turnarounds” and “shocking reversals.” The primaries are moving in orderly fashion to winnow out those with least voter support and lift those the voters choose in largest numbers.
Other ways of looking at this easily understood series of outcomes are reflections of the pre-election noise masquerading as definitive prediction, or incipient panic about a race with a lot of announced candidates debating with fervor and remarkable intelligence, as if such a process somehow assured that the incoherent Trump would emerge victorious.
I love the Democratic Party. My 10 grandchildren, a marvelous mix of white, black, brown, and, as the 9 year old insists, tan, they look like a snapshot of the Democratic stew.
And, Republicans, put the ridiculous guns away and calm the heck down. These kids aren’t a threat to you. They are our salvation.
4
The one thing that is for sure is that Corporate Democrats to this day say that Bernie supporters stopped Hillary from being president. So what is Biden offering them to get their vote? Anything? Does he even have policies? We will not vote for him if their is no offer. This is politics right? What do we get?
5
Can this coalition garner 270 electoral votes in the general election?
Sorry -- that's the only question that counts tonight.
1
Was Sanders support in 2016 more of an anti-Hillary vote more than anything else? If that is so, can’t we say the Trump also prospered from an anti-Hillary vote?
Joe Biden is proving he has what it takes with voters to defeat Trump... mainly, there is no reason to vote against him. .. which is the most important thing in an election
3
Sanders could still win. If he manages to outlive his contemporaries in age. The demographics of the electorate could change by November.
Coronavirius DEATH RATE
all cases
AGE
80+ years old
14.8%
70-79 years old
8.0%
60-69 years old
3.6%
50-59 years old
1.3%
40-49 years old
0.4%
30-39 years old
0.2%
20-29 years old
0.2%
10-19 years old
0.2%
0-9 years old
no fatalities
Congratulations. You have re-elected Trump.
That should have been impossible.
Yet you did it all again.
A stubborn refusal to learn the lessons of defeat has produced another defeat. Hyper-capitalism cannot win with a base of Democratic workers abandoned to their fates.
True, the Republicans played that game for years, using people against their own interests. However, the Democratic base was the people they could not do that to. Now, the other guys can't do it either, not to enough of them to beat the Republicans at that game.
6
The current political zeitgeist means that the Democrats need to put forward a candidate that is seen as a outsider/someone who will shake up the status quo and is also a fighter to match Trump. Collectively the party seems to be in such a tizzy about how Trump behaves, understandably, that we are simply running back to mama (or should that be Obama) thinking that a candidate like Biden will be palatable to a electorate and turn back time. Looks like we will get stuck back in time, roll on 2024.
1
Anyone who voted for Mr. Biden to beat Mr. Trump risks having a very bad evening in November, like it was four years ago. I hope I'm wrong but I think Mr. Sanders was the only one who had a chance to win in November. Mr. Biden will lose for the same reasons as Mrs. Clinton (or almost). A "moderate" program led by a man like Mr. Biden and his affair with Ukraine (whether the President's accusations are true or not) will not be enough to defeat someone like Mr. Trump. I think that today, in any case, only a program that can seem extreme can beat a candidate who really is.
I am French so I may be wrong because I do not know American society well enough. But I think the Democrats are making the same mistakes as they were four years ago. In France, our president also bases his campaign on the fact that he can beat our French Trump, but he is paying him heavily and that may well cost him his job in two years. Many European leaders have already tried this strategy and have failed. But I hope I am wrong for the security of your democracy.
5
Good comment. I think you have your finger on the pulse of American politics better than the majority of Americans and the American media.
1
My personal opinion is both Sanders and Biden should never have run because of their age. That said. What is not being looked at is the amount of votes that were cast both last Tuesday and last night for candidates that exited the race, in some cases months ago. To me that says neither Biden or Sanders is a choice among hundreds of thousands of Democrats which raises the question of whether Biden can actually unite every Democrat to vote for him in the general election or were some of the votes cast for him because people do not like Sanders .
2
I will be voting for Bernie Sanders in my state's primary on March 24. And then I will vote for the ultimate Democratic nominee on November 3 (which may well be Joe Biden).
Sanders and Biden would both move our country forward. They are not that far apart on the issues. By contrast, Donald Trump is on another planet.
I personally believe that Sanders has a better shot at defeating Trump in November. Against Trump, Sanders polls as well or better than Biden, including in the swing states, such as MI, PA, WI, NC, and AZ. I also agree with Sanders' positions on the issues more than I agree with Biden. That is why I will support Sanders in the primary. I also want Sanders to have a voice at the Democratic Convention, and the platform, even if he is not the nominee.
But make no mistake. I will vote blue, no matter who, on November 3. Our very country depends upon it. Our fate as a nation is hanging in the balance. And Trump must be defeated.
13
A couple of very interesting and telling statistics from the votes in these states. In both liberal and conservative states, women voted for Biden over Sanders much more than men. People who rated healthcare as their most important issue also went overwhelmingly for Biden. Biden again shows that an important demographic, the middle of the road female voter, prefers him. And people just actually don't like Sanders' health care proposals that much. These are not alternative facts. You can fulminate all you want, but Democrats have spoken in these states, some of which will determine the electoral college vote. Mark my words, the same thing will happen in Pennsylvania and Florida, and probably Ohio.
7
I'm glad they are taking this epidemic seriously. VP Biden and Senators Sanders are at high risk of fatality. I hope that they can keep themselves and their supporters healthy.
6
Sanders complains that his droves of supporters don’t show up to the polls. To the layman it sounds like his droves of supporters don’t exist.
14
I think every poll I've seen over the last few months show Biden beating Trump by large margins and I don't think that will change.
My cousin, who up until recently was a strong Trump supporter, raised a scary thought that Trump would use the Corona virus to suspend the elections due to a national emergency. The legality of this would be decided by the Supreme Court.
I can't believe I've come to the point where I don't just dismiss this thought as ludicrous paranoia.
9
CalBergenser, with all this talk about Donald Trump possibly doing crazy things I can't think of a single crazy thing he's done in his 3 years in office.
He does talk big, I'll give you that. But when it comes to action everything he has done has been orthodox and thought out. Of course he's not going to try to postpone elections or (another one I've heard mooted) try to stay in office if he loses.
1
Democrats across the country may admire Bernie Sanders, but they know precisely how dirty the GOP can be when winning elections. Bernie's easy pickings. Democrats want to win, simple as all that, and to deny Trump another four years to stack the Supreme Court, another four years to destroy our democracy, another four years to embarrass us all, they will back the only candidate who will get us back to decency. Progressive ideas always take shape with the Democrats and they will with Biden. All that matters is getting rid of Trump. The Dems have spoken. Now Joe, get all those new faces into a new administration.
7
The Coronavirus crisis is showing Americans why you need a solid, professional team running the executive branch. They know Joe Biden will have that team on day one because he was part of such a team for eight years.
Of course Bernie supporters will tell you -- and they're not wrong -- that this crisis is the best argument we could have for national healthcare policy.
The task for Democrats is to get behind our front runner while keeping our eyes on the ball regarding policy. This is no time to ape hypocritical Republican talking points about the evils of socialism. Don't misread the electorate here: our healthcare system is still an abomination and no, people don't love their insurance company.
3
@Simon Sez
My friend, that all sounded good until the threatening statement at the end. We as a country are better than that and have no need to approach others in that manner.
Vote Blue 2020
4
Well I hope Bernie does not give up.
I am tired of candidates who say they have the
best solutions for America and then right before
Super Tuesday the DNC holds out a promise of
plum Cabinet Position or Vice President and suddenly
Joe Biden is the next coming of George Washington.
The Middle Class is being eaten alive in this country
and the Elites could care less.
Joe Biden is a slave of the Elites and he will do nothing,
nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing
to really help the lower classes.
Bernie you are our last hope don't extinguish the only
candle we have in the Dark Night that Has been America
since 1992.
15
So if trump wins, will the moderate democrats finally admit that they are at fault and take responsibility? I doubt it. They will probably blame everyone else but their insipid choice of candidates.
13
Yeah, the progressives which can’t beat the moderates have a secret plan to dominate in the national elections which they haven’t yet shared with the rest of us. No. If Trump wins, it means that the modern USA is a far more fascist and right-wing country than progressives, liberals, or moderates previously imagined. I hope it doesn’t come to that.
1
Biden has extended an olive branch to Sanders and asked for unity. Let’s see how Sanders responds.
10
@Elizabeth Wong The primary is not over.
3
In the face of the most disastrous presidency in American history the Democratic Party has spoken. The threat of a fractured party, a brokered convention and a move towards an impossible-to-achieve slate has coalesced the electorate behind Biden with a laser focus. We have to be unified to bring about not just a win in November, but also to take the Senate and keep the House. The cream on top will be getting Godzilla out of the White House.
8
Biden 2020. And that’s how we died. Hope I’m wrong but until Biden does real retail politicking instead of hiding out or speaking for a few minutes I don’t see him being able to debate the sitting president. Perhaps an interview on MSNBC, you know the network that has been cheerleading him (and other “centrist”) while disparaging or pretending Sanders doesn’t exist, that might convince me.
Other than wanting to turn back time I don’t get what older voters see because Biden like a lot of “safe” candidates have never delivered, at least not for Democrats. Biden 2020... talk about the tyranny of fear and low expectations. Again hope I’m wrong but not seeing anything to counter it at this time.
7
I agree. Well I agree that since it looks like the DNC has decided Biden is the one does he have the stamina or capacity to actually run. I personally am bracing for another four years of this current disaster of a presidency. What are people seeing now that they didn’t see in the prior year regarding Biden, ‘cause it alludes me how this HRC 2.0 is going to win anything.
Not saying it would have been a cakewalk with Sanders but at least he knows where he’s at and what he’s running for. The only thing Biden has going for him is that the DNC in its self-serving glory has chosen itself over what people need. Can’t say I’m surprised though.
9
The DNC chose Biden? Are you trying to say that they always choose the candidate? Why on earth did Sanders run then if it was hopeless? Why is he taking so much money from poor people if he really believes he hasn’t stood a chance of winning? No respect for the voters seems to be the common theme of these Sanderites. What kind of voice of the common man or woman is he when his supporters and staff continually downgrade the efficacy of ordinary people voting?
4
@FDRT Have you seen our president speak lately? He won't debate anyone either.
In 1988, reeling from a devastating loss by George McGovern, the Democratic Party made a deliberate decision that they would become more business friendly, more like Reagan, to win the next election. It worked, and Bill Clinton was elected in 1992. He pursued economic policies that were far more business friendly than even the Reagan administration and these policies increased economic disparities that we now refer to as income inequality. These policies were continued during the Bush and Obama administrations. Obviously, the people who suffered most from this shift in direction toward increasing economic injustice were the poor, many, if not most, of whom were black. In 2016, democratic voters were offered a choice between Hillary, who would obviously keep the Democratic Party business friendly and increase income inequality and Sanders,who ran on a platform of economic justice. The choice was repeated in 2020. Now here’s the question. Since black voters overwhelmingly supported “new” business friendly democrats from 1992 through 2020, how can the economic disparities that exist today be blamed on racism?
6
I breathe a little easier today knowing that Sanders' campaign is all but finished.
No longer will I have to worry about the Democratic nominee bashing the upper middle class who have worked so hard for their money.
No longer will I have to worry that I am going to get taxed to death by a socialist who believes in "free everything" but has no idea how he is going to pay for it beyond taxing corporations, increasing taxes on the top quintile of earners, and going after inheritances.
No longer do I have to worry about my health being compromised by a quack who wants to implement Medicare For All without realizing what a disruption that is going to have on the healthcare marketplace and considering how people like me with chronic conditions would get treatment in the short- to medium-term.
No longer do I have to worry that my heard-earned dollars are going to subsidize an art history major's degree because some millennial decided that was their calling without doing any research on how much that profession pays before taking on $50k in debt, whereas I chose my profession carefully after considering the earning potential.
Yes, tonight I can sleep peacefully.
16
Comments like these are the reason I’m ready to move out of USA, my home country. Some day hopefully its citizens can be dignified enough to realize not everyone finds meaning in life through “earning potential”.
12
@John—I have lived and traveled across Europe and Canada. These kinds of comments are pretty typical among the right in any of those countries. I mean, picture Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, and the Alternative for Germany. They all say and believe crazy stuff. There are many reasons why other countries can be better than much of the USA, but don’t count politics among them. Actually, when I lived for years in Europe, I felt like I had no say about local politics for the most part and pretty much ignored it except when I was protesting or donating in order to help my friends. Culture and geography are much more important to where appeals to you.
1
@PK
Long live art history, which beautifies and ennobles an often ugly but "real" world. Long live also my art historian daughter, who chose here major wisely and graduated with very little debt that she paid off soon after graduating. She, also, has added much more to the world than "earning potential," without herself becoming a burden to anyone.
2
Elections boil down to one fact: who actually votes. The millennials Mr. Sanders depends on historically have a very poor voting record, particularly when an issue gets 'boring' to them. Those of us in the 50 plus age group ... Well, we understand that all of Bernie's promised 'free stuff' ain't going to be free for taxpayers. It would be dang outrageously expensive. And by the way, we vote, and vote accordingly.
Pretty easy to understand the dynamics if you take just a moment to look at the situation. Today's results should be no surprise to anyone.
14
I’m a Michigan voter. I was going to cast my vote for Klobuchar, but it wasn’t meant to be. My thoughts are that Bernie’s admiration for Castro and commitment to ridding the US of private health insurance make him unelectable in the general election. Bernie doesn’t give the impression that he’s willing to compromise. With the prospect of pulling in independents and sane republicans with a moderate candidate, Biden is the only way to go. I sincerely hope the Democratic Party opens a serious dialog with the more progressive wing and bring everyone under one umbrella to begin moving our country to a place of honesty, respect and decency. In addition, basic, affordable health care, clean water, and equivalency in educational opportunities should be a right, not a privilege.
I have a suspicion that a lot of the Bernie or nothing posts are Russian trolls.
22
@Shannon Taylor
Many Bernie supporters are independent like Bernie.
1
@Shannon Taylor So you what to keep the most expensive and inaccessible health services of any western nation? Health care should not be a business. Health care should be about the health of the patient not the insurance industry
1
@Shannon Taylor
...and the irony of ridding the US of private health insurance is that it will rid millions of people of their livelihood.
Poverty brought to you by Bernie Sanders, the so-called champion of income equality.
The interpretation of this election on the Democratic/democratic side is not so much an endorsement of Biden as a person and his politics, but a truly desperate feeling among so many of us that to save our country from shameless lies, flagrant abuse of the Constitution and executive power, and the need to restore even a small sense of human decency to our governing as a democratic country, we absolutely must find the presidential candidate who can beat Trump.
If these were routine political times where we could feel relatively secure whether a Democrat or a Republican wins in 2020, we could go ahead and fight for our favorite candidate among the Democratic contenders. Biden was not mine, but he is mine now.
And shout out to young people, if you love Bernie so much, then you needed to get yourselves registered to vote and to the polls to tell the country your choice.
So we wring our hands, and wear our minds out trying to figure out who, of all the Democratic candidates, can pull in sufficient votes in the popular and Electoral College elections to defeat Trump once and for all and forever. The stakes couldn't be higher.
So grow up. Some things are more important than others. If democratic politics is the art of compromise, Biden is it.
10
As a former Warren supporter, I am happy that it seems we are settling on Mr. Biden as nominee.
If people do not act foolish and pout as they did last time, then Biden will win. Anyone who doesn't go out and vote for him wants the "crook" to stay in office.
It is my hope that VP Biden, who has sometimes been on the wrong side of issues but has also championed many good policies, will show his belief in the progressive platform by inviting Senator Warren to join his ticket.
I would, also, like to think that Mr. Biden would invite Sen. Sanders for a long meeting to assure him that he understands the problems and wants to find solutions. With those assurances, Sen. Sanders would be willing to do what's best for the party, suspend his campaign and throw his weight behind Biden. That kind of solidarity would be a formidable force. I hope it happens.
10
It is clear that the Dem establishment conspired to outmaneuver Sanders. Got it. It was on full display. Now, moving forward it would be in everyone's interest if Biden appealed more to Bernie's base (at least a little). You get more flies with honey than
vinegar, and Bernie and his base have done this country a great service. So they should be welcomed, admired, and magnanimously brought into the fold.
5
@Ken B Do Sanders supporters ever realize that the Dem establishment is really older African American voters?
Bernie is happy to blame everyone but himself. He becomes more like Trump every day. He goes on about the Democratic establishment; he’s not even a Democrat! He might consider not trying to take over the Democratic Party the way Trump did the Republicans.
9
Are the Democrats serious? They had an historically large and diverse field of candidates and Joe Biden is who they're going to settle on?
10
For the Democratic primaries, the candidate who wins all of the states he will lose in November becomes nominee.
4
Just keep in mind: not voting Dem in 2020 will likely result in a 7-2 conservative Supreme Court. Truly terrifying and will truly alter the future of this country as we know it.
8
@SG
Yep. Try changes like an end to the union type stuff.
I think voters want a return to decency and stability this election. I think voters want to right the ship of state first before making big changes. Sanders voters think everything can turn on a dime, and it just can't. For example, Trump's eliminated pandemic response team and now we need it back. Whole areas of the government will have to be rebuilt. It will take some time to recover from Donald Trump. Then we can talk about changing things.
I think Biden can accomplish the most of what we need in the next couple of years. He has the coat tails to flip the Senate and keep the house. He knows who to put into the right positions to rebuild. I trust Joe Biden. And I am apparently not alone.
17
@Cyclopsina Biden is a one term President-most voters know that. But at least he can steer the ship away from the icebergs and get us on steady footing.
I fully understand why there are people who are strong and dedicated supporters of Bernie Sanders. For years they have been abused and repressed by the republican party, and virtually ignored and taken for granted by the democratic party.
I am hoping that we end up with a Democrat to replace Trump’s fetid swamp and Mitch McConnell's delusional gaggle of lying sycophants. Whoever becomes our president must recognize the need of millennials and the middle class and give more than lip service to us all. He may even win over Trump trolls. Otherwise, 2024 is going to be even nastier than 2020, and disenfranchised voters are going to search for an independent alternative.
6
Here is a true story which has informed my view of elections and made me sort of fanatical. In 2000 I was a young (21 years old) fan of Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. I voted for Ralph Nader. I thought that Nader had a good chance of getting five percent of the national popular vote, which would result in equal funding for the Green Party. Nader ended up getting about three and a half percent of the vote. And Bush beat Gore by about 2000 votes in Florida, where I voted, and which proved to be the decisive battleground. So I think I have about a 0.05 percent responsibility for electing Bush over Gore. That is a huge burden and one I never want to add to.
22
@Ben
You are not responsible for the actions of evil men. They are. Especially in this horrible zero sum system we use.
1
@lupito: I only voted for Hillary in the general election. I actually supported Bernie in the primaries. This time around, I haven’t gotten to vote for anyone yet in the primaries, and I doubt I will bother. My vote for Biden will only be in the general election. So, to review, I have only ever voted against Trump and have never voted for Hillary or Biden in the primaries. What I am I supposed to feel responsible for? You presume, sir.
Perhaps Joe can step up his game but it is clear to see why the DNC continually changed the rules to qualify for the debates he'd be no match for Tulsi!!
2
Tulsi? Trump is planning to add her to his ticket. She’ll fit right in. Pence can be tossed overboard. Trump set that one up when he appointed Pence to handle the coronavirus crisis. She is a gastly choice for anything.
1
If there is a debate Sunday Sanders will win easily. Joe Biden is no match for Bernie Sanders in a one on one debate. And this could change the trajectory of the primary.
If the DNC finds a way to cancel the debate then this would give credence to the conspiracy theories about the DNC, MSM and Establishment trying to block Sanders from the nomination.
21
We’re not electing a debater in chief. There are many other qualities that Biden has that will make him a good leader. He knows how to listen and he knows how to cooperate with others. He has vast experience and he is a good person.
12
@Oliver
The coronavirus pandemic and the looming recession have changed the primary, and facts are that Biden is winning. Large gatherings are going to be cancelled because of the virus, not due to some conspiracy theory.
Debates won’t have audiences, which may upset the media but they’ve outlived their usefulness anyway.
12
@Jerry Totes
And debating skills have little to do with governing skills.
2
Only in politics is someone past their expiration date even a consideration.
13
Sanders supporters are probably most disappointed that this is Sanders’ last shot at the White House. Biden will be the nominee, win the Presidency, and Sanders’ career has peaked.
10
@John
Why the schadenfreude? Do you want to alienate Bernie supporters and have them not vote for Biden?
Tulsi Gabbard, anyone?
Sigh. I really want to like Joe Biden and have confidence in him. There is no way I'm not going to vote for the Democratic nominee - but, ugh - Joe Biden...
8
Yeah, Biden is old and problematic. I completely agree. He was one of my least favorite candidates this election cycle. But here we are. Now, I focus on comparing Biden to Trump. Biden beats Trump. Biden is better than Trump. That is what matters. That’s what we need to concentrate on. If nothing else, a majority in the Senate, a future of being able to appoint Supreme Court and other federal judges, and a basic national decency will be a nice change.
7
@KG The way I think of it. Who is a better human and will surround himself with competent people? Who would I want nominating the next Supreme Court Justice when RBG steps down?
The answer is Biden, full stop.
1
@Tardisgal Really? The guy that gave us Clarence Thomas?
1
Really, Joe Biden? As someone who supports Bernie, my next choice would be Warren, then Booker, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and then Joe Biden, slightly ahead of Mike Bloomberg.
Is anyone really excited about Joe Biden? I'm flummoxed.
24
Sorry. Not to be patronizing. But our job at this point is not to be excited about anything, other than defeating Trump. Refer back to McGovern for how this movie plays out for those who insist on purity in the face of evil.
5
@Seanchai I have only been excited about one candidate in my life, Obama. The rest I have chosen as the lesser of the evils. Biden is the lesser of the two evils. Think about another four years of Trump. That should make you want to vote him out tomorrow.
2
Ok. Time to move on. I’m not interesting in recriminations and conspiracy theories and excuses for why Bernie didn’t win. Let’s move on and do what is important—get Trump and his toadies out of office. No more whining and pouting and trying to undermine Biden’s chances. If you continue to do so, you are supporting Trump and deserve to be treated as a Trump supporter.
31
Biden never won a state primary in his life before a few weeks ago but this year he’s gonna beat Trump. Good luck. Solid thinking.
17
So...am I to understand that Joe Biden will win MO AL MS and SC in the 2020 presidential election?
10
@Bob
No he won’t win those states. But those states are already in Trump’s column. They are NOT swing states. For every one of those states there is a blue state in Biden’s column. 
2
@Bob Kavanagh
Yep. Because clearly those states matter! They aren't deeply red and regressive at all.
1
@Oliver No but it does tell you that Biden has solid African American support especially from women who are the most consistent voters.
2
NYT has just announced that Bernie will not speak tonight.
In the face of such an overwhelming defeat what is he supposed to say?
Is this how the would be future president wants the world to see him as his enthusiastic shock troops who have given their all to help him win wait in vain for the Leader to guide them?
Instead, Bernie retreats to his bunker.
It will only get worse, Sen Sanders.
When will you admit defeat and do what everyone else has done and suspend your campaign?
14
@Simon Sez
Calm down. Congrats to a Biden.
I’m sure he is considering the best path forward. You don’t just say something off the cuff. Weigh the options and make a rational best choice for the people that have fought so hard and will now be a focal point of attacks until the general is complete.
This is important. Not a simple choice nor easy words. And math is still math. I think the debate could potentially be good. After next week it will be over either way.
3
@Simon Sez I've never been a Sanders supporter, nor one of Biden's, and it's distressing that these two are where the primary ended up. But this taunting and gloating about Sanders and his supporters right now is pretty poor. We can--I think--do better.
6
@Simon sez—No, that is the wrong attitude. I will fight to the death against someone who can fight back, but when someone loses the fight and can’t fight back anymore I will help them heal. It’s time to heal the divide, not rub salt into wounds.
1
I do not get the tone of the top comments. It's great if you were a Bernie Sanders supporter -- I was a Bernie Bro in '16 -- but he has *zero* chance of winning the nomination. It's Game Over. It's time to come to grips with that fact and support the eventual nominee, as distasteful as you may think he is. Yep, he absolutely has a *terrific* chance at beating Donald Trump, and I hope ya'll come out and vote for him in November.
23
@dack
I know many independent progressives who will not without a reason to do so. Biden is a Rockefeller democrat. They don’t believe their voice and goals are represented even after millions of votes.
2
@dack With that attitude so course he he won't get the nomination.
Supporting the same is why we have Trump...Let the Democratic Party implode.
4
@Mathias Anyone who calls themselves a progressive and doesn't vote to end a Trump presidency is not a true progressive. You can't expect to burn down a country and then think a progressive will win next time. After chaos most voters go for the comfortable, safe choices.
Sanders is opposed by the AIPAC, he referred to them as "a platform for bigots" and called Netanyahu "a racist reactionary", so he has no friends there. He is also opposed by Wall St., the Media and those who favor military interventions abroad and sanctions galore on other countries. Well, Biden has the support of all of those groups. He represents continuity, more of the same. Biden was resurrected just to bury Bernie Sanders. It's anybody but Sanders. Will Biden be chosen as the candidate, will he refrain from making those now familiar "mistakes" when speaking? Will the DNC replace him or keep him, once Bernie is out?
7
I never want to hear another person describe any US politician as "far left". It's absurd.
22
People say, he may not be inspiring, or give a good speech, or be able to articulate what he stands for. But Biden's at least a decent man.
Except for the hair-sniffing of course.
And the way he went after Anita Hill, that too.
And his support for the Iraq War. But at least he tried, years later, to make people think he was against it all along.
Then there was his carrying water for the credit-card and banking industries in Congress. There was that.
Oh, and of course his dodgy record on abortion rights. The Hyde amendment, that kind of thing.
And the family corruption, but aren't they all corrupt, really?
And his contemptuous comments about young people. (Don't we need them with us?)
And...wait a minute, why is he our candidate again?
25
I'm seeing a lot of outpouring of animosity toward Bernie Sanders and his voters. It's important, as we likely move forward with Joe Biden as our nominee, that a spirit of unity and acknowledgment emerge. I don't want Sanders voters to simply be kicked in the teeth and told to shut up and fall in line. There are millions of us, and our political concerns are legitimate, regardless of what easy internet meme-slur you want to slap us with.
170
@Dominic Yeah, and you can't trust who's making those comments. A real humble democrat would behave as a real humble progressive would given that both sides are at best around 70/30 and perhaps 60/40 so one side could easily derail the other if pushed far enough.
I'm worried about foreign actors or Republicans doing this online than the supporters of two sides since I've not met anyone IRL who was not nice about who they supported. So I don't get this online vitriol.
24
@Dominic Yes, the kicking in the teeth has been going on for a very long time and it continues tonight. How about being gracious winners, folks! However, whatever happens, Sander’s supporters are not going home and shutting up.
Pandora’s Box is opened now and most are not going to forget that Medicare for All and Free University and other great ideas. They’ll be back!
4
@Dominic , there’s been rough stuff on both sides. But it’s time to unite now, and to bear in mind that provocateurs— republican and other—will try to set us against each other. It happened last time, too. We need to understand this tactic and tell others. It may be our adversaries’ most effective weapon.
24
Bernie cancelled his appearance tonight, ruining the chance for a re-enactment of the Jim Mora "Playoffs?!?" response.
Shame on the DNC for announcing a format change for the debate that will most likely soon be cancelled. The first many debates changed nothing and now there is nothing more to decide.
3
How depressing. We've done the same thing we did with Hillary -- pick a dull insider who picks or will pick a garden-variety vice president. Meanwhile, Trump's base is whipped up and motivated. Still, the virus and the stock market may make a difference, sadly. The voters may just be ready for calm and the appearance of competence. I wouldn't bet on it though.
20
@Emma Ess I would as most of my friends and family just want a return to normal. As for not being fired up, most Democrats I know would vote tomorrow for any candidate to get Trump out of the WH.
1
@Emma Ess If Biden is the nominee I look forward to lighting my ballot on fire, photographing it and posting it to social media for every Biden supporter to see. #BurnTheBallot2020 Good luck without the left come November corporate centrists - the election will be your mess to worry about.
An endorsement from Warren could have delivered both Idaho and Washington strongly into someone's hands.
Her inaction lessens the value of the hand she held, and that was a poor hand to start with. She may have ghosted herself into irrelevancy
15
Or she is betting on a brokered convention- hinted at with her campaign ready (they think) “all those little girls and their pinkie promises”, ick.
I like her plans, I want to vote for her, and won’t get the chance.
But sometimes- the pandering and marketing become a thick miasma, producing nausea even tho I know she is the best medicine.
2
Biden is toast in the General Election: his "status quo ante" pitch is unappealing and his cognitive decline will hamper him on the campaign trial. It's painful to write this but Trump will be re-elected.
20
Unless they have had the wit to prop him up with E Warren’s plans and fans, I don’t see how he lasts.
3
It's time that we work to restore the honour of the White house, America and out families - TOGETHER.
Let's begin to kick this GOP menace out of our country, which we can do w/o a vaccine or any false tweets. It's in our hand.
9
Why are people voting for the same old thing and expecting it to change?
23
@MTorres Because the young voters complain about no changes and then never show up to vote. Changing the country means voting not social media.
1
If Joe Biden can convince the people that his administration will always put science and provable facts first, and that he will confront public-health crises head on and never wish them away, let alone march off to play golf and fundraise, he's got this election hands down. A true leader calms the people and gives them resolve, and I'm sure Mr. Biden knows that.
17
Sanders has a fighting chance against Trump and to then begin the transformative change this country so desperately needs.
Biden as a candidate will be a disaster. Not because of his retreaded policies. No, because he just might win.
A Biden presidency will be a return to the tired, establishment status quo that has been failing us since the post-Reagan era. We’d be better off falling apart as a nation under Trump than standing together under the somnolent, regressive reign of Corporate Joe.
9
@Common Sense Most countries who've falling apart due to social unrest and economic change have voted in dictators to quell the unrest and they usually are pretty conservative.
Plus, the next POTUS picks the next justice replacing RBG. How does a 6-3 conservative court sound?
All of this has very little to do with the rank and file. Biden has everything to do with the Democratic establishment, which has been in decay since the 1980's. In all that time, they have given us only one candidate, Obama, who was actually a person of the people.
Democrats who chose Biden are making a colossal mistake. This is not 1992 where we were forced to accept the neoliberal Bill Clinton. Biden is a disaster.
15
@Walter Biden has a coalition of working class voters that Sanders could never muster. Sanders only appeals to white progressives and a percentage of Hispanic voters.
3
I'm one of those young, leftist Sanders supporters you hear about. Watching Biden win state after state is absolutely heartbreaking. Bernie may not be get enough votes to overwhelm the larger cohort of moderate, capitalist, and/or wealthy Democratic Americans, but heed my words; Biden MUST reckon with the fact that there are a staggering number of Americans on the left and right who are not being served by the current, centrist status quo. That dissatisfaction won't dissapear if Bernie is off the ticket and when Trump voters go to the polls in November.
28
@tessa
I certainly believe that Joe Biden knows that this Country has to make some changes and it is up to everyone to support him. ...unless you want the GOP to be redistricting and locking even more districts up for the Republicans.
Sen. Sanders says that it is paramount to defeat Trump. If he truly believes that, then he should do everything in his power to make that happen, and the best way to do that, at this point, is to suspend his campaign and try to help Biden in every way he can.
15
@tessa
I hear you. But Trump’s base is not large enough to win. He needs those “status quo centrists” to get him over the finish line. The same can be said about Sanders. He needs moderates.
The energy is on the far right and far left bet it’s not enough. Conversely, moderates need progressives or they can’t win either.
10
Mr. Biden still doesn't get it. It isn't as if everything was perfect under Obama and that if we just return to that, everything will be fine. To just say that all that's important is beating Trump indicates that Biden has no plan and no intention of doing anything about the major issues facing the country including income inequality, a failing health insurance mechanism, and climate change.
I'm sorry Mr. Biden, but that isn't good enough this time for this Sanders supporter who held his nose and voted for Clinton in 20016. If you want my support, I expect you to provide real answers to these problems. And saying you're for a public option that will do nothing to fix real problems isn't going to do it.
20
I was ready for you, Bernie.
Seventy and still hoping for change.
Many are called but few are chosen.
Bravo, Bernie.
22
Bye bye sanders. Glad two candidates are not getting knotted up and hope it is smooth sailing to the nomination from here for biden. I would support sanders anyday over trump if he manages to pull out a miracle from here but realistically it is goodbye
6
Sanders has projected a false picture of his strength. Politicians do that. He's not the first. No, a conspiracy of the wealthy didn't defeat him. Sanders's fans posting conspiracy here are mistaken. Biden won with a broad group including working-class plus suburban affluent. That is not a conspiracy. The great mass of voters he long predicted to rise up and overthrow the establishment somehow never rose up. No revolution.
Voters are not at ease with what he proposes to do. The substance appeals to them. But too many question his ability to overthrow the power forces in Washington, mostly Republicans, to push through what he wants. You may hate your health plan but too many don't want him to take away their plan. And the cost? That's a turn-off too. Younger voters didn't help him again. Maybe that is a false impression too. There may be fewer of them than he projects. Why do they otherwise disappear when most needed? I hope he can be gracious about his defeat and find a way in his heart to support the Democratic ticket fully.
19
What percentage of Sanders voters were republican's voting for a weaker opponent. Info please.
2
Probably the same amount for Biden. I mean you couldn’t ask for a weaker opponent. Seriously.
They had a debate and nobody showed up. They know something that the voters do not know. Neither can win against President Trump.
2
Mark my words.
The DNC must be sure to make Biden win.
Biden is not a cognitively well person.
As we all know. Unfortunate, but true.
Sanders will lose to Biden.
Biden will be in a position to step down and make Hillary his replacement. Or Hillary will be his VP.
Biden cannot be trusted to explain any of this in a coherent manner.
Hillary is making sure of that.
Hillary in a landslide! Oops, that was in 2016.
5
@Elizabeth Carlisle Voters have made Biden win.
Seems to me that it’s now up to the dem establishment how much they can redirect their policies to attract progressives.
63
@Kaz
They won't because their wealthy supporters who went all out to stop Sanders won't allow it to do so.
6
Can somebody please lay out who exactly is part of the establishment and who isn’t? I don’t get it. To me it seems like “the establishment” is the dissident term for people who have the power they wish they had.
5
@Ben Most people in the 1% who are politically active with their money speaking (i.e. lots of disposable income) are part of the "establishment." Perhaps even the 10%. This is about the rich remaining rich or not doing anything that would threaten them. Probably the 90-99.9% are probably a bit more insecure than the 0.1% but perhaps old habits are hard to break too.
Then there are those who depend on the 1% for the jobs, including many or most of our politicians.
I know the term "elite" is used as a pejorative whereas I think we should use it with respect but I will say that as we've gotten wealthier, I can see how the entire societal landscape is tilted more and more in our favour. It's far from a linear increase.
3
I hope tomorrow Sanders makes the speech of his lifetime in support of Joe Biden and urges his supporters to join him in ridding the nation and the world of the scourge of the Trump Presidency. The Senator announces he will redouble his efforts to help where he can and invites all to join him.
That would be a legacy speech, and it will be delivered and received with tears of joy by all.
24
@Lawrence
And Joe's Team of Rivals could include Senate Majority Leader Sanders.
3
@Lawrence Reality Check if Biden an sanders do right thing an give women chance this election .Tulsi Gabbard would be fine president.Up to now guys arnt doing much for american people time women have chance. Our nation turne into bunch deplorables Who have zero respect for our president or any president.Blaming those who represent us deplorables is futile .Like kenndy said ask not what your government can do for you but what can you do for our beautifull country.
It’s disheartening to see Bernie and Biden supporter’s extreme criticism of each other. Millions of people voted for Biden in primaries, calling him as establishment candidate and belittling his victory is insulting to the people who voted for him. There were dozen other candidates earlier, right or wrong but he is the only one who could create a consensus among the Democrats. Democrats are betting all in on him.
Bernie’s impact is more outsized than any single candidate. There is no doubt he made the party more progressive. But unfortunately the country is not ready for him. Most of supporters are young and have nothing to lose. They are just one part of the electorate. Our Healthcare system is a mess but burning the forest solution is an option not many people will find it easy to embrace. What about the millions of people working in Pharma and Insurance industry? I’m not saying his policies are right or wrong but his policies created more anxiety as much as the current healthcare system. I’m not convinced that he can make the ultra rich to pay for his policies. Only the middle class will end up owning the cost.
If Bernie can’t convince enough Democrats to support his plan,how will he win general election?
23
I honestly think it is Bernie supporters vs. everybody else who doesn’t support either Bernie or Trump, rather than a Bernie supporter v. Biden supporter situation. I was a Warren supporter. I would guess Biden has the support of some of us, some Pete voters, some Amy and Bloomberg voters, and the original Biden supporters.
3
@Ben
Many of us supporters Warren and Bernie because of policy. I don’t care who leads. It’s about the policy.
5
@Mathias—I know very well that there are Bernie supporters who completely act and speak in good faith. You seem to be one of them. I am not trying to include everybody in my generalizations, I am just trying to address seemingly prevailing sentiments. That’s a weak apology but an honest one.
2
Normally I would think Sanders should go all the way, to leverage those delegates he has and can, and to demonstrate the depth of his appeal in the party. Staying in the race grants him leverage, leverage to better our lives in some way and I believe he would.
HOWEVER, this is not a normal primary situation. People are scared of the virus right now and asking them to gather raises moral questions. Should people be asked to gather to hear speeches and to vote when the race already leans heavily? Sanders seems to genuinely care about voters. He may decide to drop out so as to help keep them safe.
4
Not giving a dime to the Biden campaign since the billionaires can fund him. Donating to senate campaigns now. Thank you Bernie Sanders for saying what needed to be said and for getting the other Democrats to hear it. Always knew there’d never be significant change in my lifetime. A lifetime of holding my nose and voting Democrat.
38
I thought I was the only one who felt this way (including only donating to the Senate candidates) for the same reason you gave. I figure they chose him they can pay for him. After all it’s not like they don’t have the money.
4
What is California doing to implant Democratic Socialism? Too much NIMBY that you won’t build affordable housing. Why not free tuition to the UC system?
You don’t implement Democratic Socialism at the local level yet you are angry that America isn’t ready at the national level.
I'm not sure Biden can beat Trump. But I am sure Sanders would never have beaten Trump. Younger voters just do not show up at the polls and older voters - right or wrong - are anti-anything-with-the-word-socialist-in-it. I do think that Biden will pull together the Democratic party and not inhibit House and Senate races that can possibly keep the House Blue and turn the Senate Blue. Biden wasn't my choice, but I will support him. (And Sanders wasn't my choice either.)
28
All roads to the White House go through Michigan and, with five minutes to spare before the polls closed, I ran two blocks to my precinct and practically punched a hole in my ballot filling in my "anyone but Trump" bubble with the felt tip of my pen. Nothing less than the weight of my children's future and the future of our democracy depended on the effort, and I would have run five marathons, uphill, in the dark, if I had to.
40
Hard to believe that Biden is the return to normal. In normal times he never won one primary because he was always a flawed candidate. His campaign managers will try to keep him hidden as much as possible, request sit down debates, limit his public speaking time, do whatever they can to protect a candidate whose brain cognitive functions are literally dying in full view.
I read that the party is in command, but the party is not a candidate. There are months left before Election Day. Biden will be exposed. His mental decline becomes more evident day after day.
23
Considering Trump’s cognitive lack of capacity, it’s hard to see how this is an issue
2
The idealism and bubble of the sanders campaign is precisely why he would beat Trump. What is Biden offering, other than more of the same. I would be surprised he even proposes something that is even slightly progressive. In fact, if we are lucky enough to elect him, expect the trump tax cuts to remain, more low level war, and more status quo. It will be incredibly dis appointing to vote for nothing.
16
@MC The Sanders campaign hasn’t turned out voters in 2020. His appeal is diminishing.
2
@MC
Trump will be able to attack him from the left. Just a warning for moderates.
Sanders lost for a simple reason -- the important thing is to defeat Trump, and, rightly or wrongly, voters concluded that that Biden was the safest choice.
I'm a Sanders supporter, but I agree with their thinking. I only wish that I had more faith in Biden, who appears to have a cognitive deficit and as a friend put it, has a plan -- to make things the same as they are. I fear that Trump will demolish him on stage.
But I can understand why people who would otherwise support Sanders decided to go for the safe choice. I just wish people wouldn't descend on Sanders like harpies; it isn't his message that failed, it's just that given the situation, voters are afraid to take a risk.
9
@Josh Hill
We're in new territory on a variety of fronts. I wouldn't expect either Biden or Sanders to serve a second term, so the perceived safe choice of Biden grooming a hopeful successor may make sense. Like it or not -- and I don't -- this is a center or center-right nation and will likely remain resistant to ideas like Sanders is pushing for some time. I still hope 2020 will be the last gasp for the old white men like me, and our younger, more diverse generations hungry for such progressive ideas will finally take the wheel.
11
Voters were told Biden was the safest bet. It is so obvious that the DNC, you know the gang that can’t shoot straight, decided on this guy and the older voters were like “OK”. Funny how among all those other “centrist candidates” the guy who can’t speak for a few minutes is now artificially being pushed as the presumptive nominee.
Once again, the DNC is so busy patting themselves on the back, they aren't acknowledging that Warren and Bernie supporters (e.g. voters that want change) collectively exceed Biden votes.
Those votes won't translate to Biden in November unless he puts a change candidate on his ticket.
18
@Hope If you chose to bundle Sanders and Warren votes together and compare that total to Biden’s vote total, then it is really only fair to compare the Progressive total to date with the Moderate total to date. Who wins that one?
@Hope...and this is categorically not true. Fact-challenged.
To end with Biden versus Sanders, when the slate included such a diverse, exciting candidates, is nothing short of depressing. If Biden gets the nomination, as it appears he will, I will hold my nose and vote for him, provided that his VP is someone who brings substance to the ticket, but please don't ask me to get excited about uncle Joe. Yesterday's bowl of cold oatmeal holds about as much appeal. If it wasn't for the bag of orange Cheetos currently sitting in the Oval office, I would sit this one out.
16
Joe Biden has most of the former Democratic presidential candidates backing him. Who does Bernie Sanders have supporting him? The Squad. I guess their support was not enough to win the votes.
18
Well if you know your funding is going to get cut off and you are a career politician who is much more interested in maintaining the status quo... the same status quo that gave us the current occupant in the White House because people wanted something different, then I guess they (and presumably yourself) can pat yourselves on the back when it becomes clear Biden is incapable of bringing himself fully clothed much less the fight to the current president. Hope I’m wrong but until he can give a speech that lasts longer than a few minutes or debate standing up I’ll brace myself for another four years of the worst thing to happen to this nation.
3
@KMW
In my opinion, The Squad hurt Sanders more than they helped him. Nina Turner is a Sanders campaign co-chair, but her efforts didn’t improve black support for Sanders. Michael Moore says he’s not a surrogate for Sanders, but you could’ve fooled me. He didn’t improve Bernie’s outcome in Michigan.
How much of Bernie’s problems are due to the candidate himself, versus the problems voters have with his surrogates?
2
@KMW is an enthusiastic Trump supporter. We’ve had a few of them weighing in on both sides tonight as though they care. Divide and conquer.
1
Just a reminder that according to American intelligence agencies Russia is still trying to influence the out come of the election in favour of Trump. So I usually take any crazy anti-Biden pro-Sanders theories with a grain of salt. Let's remember that the goal is defeating Trump and that both Biden and Sanders are from the same party.
7
Its time to have a 3rd party in America
Canada has a 3 party system
The third part is call the New Democrats.
There is no reason to continue a 2 party system in America
Joe Biden is not my candidate and I will not vote for him.
In Canada the New Democrats split the vote and get things they want for themselves.
Sanders should run as an Independent till then.
Biden didnt win by all that much did he now?
The New Democrats need to be heard.
20
New Democrats in Canada have have never come close to forming government. The majority still fall centre-right or centre-left and one of the two major parties always win, at times thanks to the third and fourth parties splitting the vote on the opposite side.
5
@Jay P
Don’t forget the NDP became the official opposition party for the very first time, under the leadership of Jack Layton in the 2011 federal election.
I often wonder what Canada’s political landscape would’ve looked like today, had Mr. Layton not died of cancer.
2
@Paul Schejtman Nobody asked Bernie to run as a Democrat.
1
With Biden the virtually certain Democratic candidate and likely the worst President we have had in my lifetime getting to run against him as an incumbent, I suspect if none of the above was on the ballot, that entry would win in a landslide. If you think back over the last twenty years, frequently we have had the duty to pick between the lesser of two hacks that most of the electorate wished had a hobby that didn't involve our interests. As a citizen we have the duty to vote (and many will), but I wish the equivalent of the two search firms that decide the viability standards (the Democrats and Republicans) could be fired and replaced by other organizations capable of producing two finalists that we didn't have to hold our noses when we made a selection as we moved through each stage of the process.
9
Bernie is in this race not to change anything, but to promote his own ego. If he had declined to run way back a long time ago and deferred to Elizabeth Warren, we would be in a very different place tonight than we are now. But the ego, or maybe the latent sexism, got in the way, and he clearly did not learn what he needed to do differently from four years ago. So it's over, barring those bad things that can happen to people as they get older (and the older they get, the more likely such things can happen). I don't particularly care for Joe Biden, but as of tonight, he's got my vote, and if he moves to reconcile with fellow party members who are more progressive than he is (parse that carefully, folks), I will feel better and better about it. A nice progressive female running mate who happens to be of color could do a lot to cement things in November.
13
We The People Must Win This RACE FOR PRESIDENT; FOR
THE SENATE; FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES;
FOR THE JUSTICE DEPT.
AND; THEREFORE if it takes two elderly men to do so; then
let us all support Joe Biden for President; and Bernie Sanders
for Vice President; and the best of the other contenders to
get rid of the Trumpists who ruined the GOP..
7
Hopefully, Bernie declining to speak tonight is foreshadowing a concession tomorrow.
What would be the point of continuing? In 2016, it was ostensibly to make his ideas heard; well, they've been heard, and they haven't changed.
Bernie could end his political career as a uniter or a divider, as a leader or a loner. He could spend his considerable energy between now and November campaigning for the foregone nominee, or he could spend it on another futile and divisive ego trip.
I'm sure he knows what he should do; the question is whether he has the strength of character to humble himself for the greater good.
13
@Patrick
Would the others campaign for Bernie?
If he concludes his does he let him rest. After all guys you told us for months he just had a heart attack.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Bernie won Silicon Valley overwhelmingly. https://www.latimes.com/projects/2020-california-primaries-precincts-results/.
This is one of the richest place in the country with average home priced at $1.2 million. Silicon Valley also has the poorest. The point is this is a very diverse place. The richest locales within Silicon Valley went for Bloomberg and Biden. Bernie won California, Nevada and Colorado with strong support from Hispanic electoral. Maybe we Californian and other western states voters went for Bernie are ready to move on to European style states. Rest of the country and voters don’t want the same thing base on their votes.
8
@Song
It would be really nice if the rest of the country didn't use our tax revenue.
3
@Song
The west coat need to leave the union. They don’t want us and we don’t want them.
I keep commenting that I want to move abroad, but I’d rather move to Cascadia or the like.
Does everyone remember the Apple Newton? The PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that predated the iPhone and iPad by about 15 years? It was a total flop in the 90s, way ahead of its time.
Bernie Sanders is the Apple Newton, personified.
7
@Sarah
in more ways than you know. The Apple Newton was buggy, disfunctional, way overpriced, and did not work well with other devices and systems. A perfect Bernie metaphor.
2
Joe Biden won the nomination and lost the war. I'm a lifelong Democratic voter but after three years of the Trump nightmare, I can't believe the Democrats would nominate such a weak candidate.
26
I know it is a tough loss. But please let all the Democrats stick together and defeat Trump. Don’t worry. Sanders has a lot of leverage. He will force Biden to adopt policies that progressives believe in. Biden will need progressives just as Sanders needs moderates.
I’m disappointed too. I wanted Warren to be the nominee. Biden is a step slow. Everyone can see that. But this is who the Democratic Party wants to represent them. So please Sanders supporters we need you. Please don’t sit out the general election. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
18
@Oliver
Just to support someone because he is not named Donald Trump, but will in fact be a continuation of many of his policies, does not make sense. We need meaningful change in this country. Something really different to what Trump and the establishment Democrats represent. Not voting for Biden, regardless of what Bernie Sanders might say.
3
@Oliver
Many are independents that I talk to. They will need more than to simply remove Trump. That’s not enough.
I personally will vote blue but if I see constant hatred and bias targeting progressives from the media and hateful posters I will reconsider and potentially support Trump. On pure tactics of forcing this country to reckon truly with a its issues the hard way.
2
NO protracted delegate and primary battle to a brokered convention. We cannot afford a repeat of 2016.
Bernie needs to drop out.
On MARCH 17th, one short week from now, if Bernie is still in the race, keep voting big for Biden to effectively end the primaries.
Bernie must eventually join YANG, BUTTIGIEG, KLOBUCHAR, BLOOMBERG, BOOKER, O'ROURKE, HARRIS and unite behind BIDEN in a unity Democratic coalition and WARREN must do the same.
All these good people should have a place in a Biden administration.
The party must unite and moderates need to reach out to progressives. They also need to reach out to Independents and Republicans disappointed with Trump.
It is time to build the largest voter coalition, all assembled behind JOE BIDEN and turn to November and defeat Donald Trump!!!
9
Bernie Sanders - he's like the establishment's anti-establishment candidate. For every good idea he's had, he undermines himself with equally bad ideas and comments.
Maybe we get the candidates that we deserve? Its hard to tell given the nature of the media, business, political parties, unions and government these days.
But, amazingly, these are the best of times.
1
Joe Biden is calm in the face of turmoil, stability in the face of chaos. He is also feisty and does not suffer fools. in the same vein as Harry Truman and Teddy Roosevelt.
Biden will be able to right our ship of state and set us back on course to repair U.S. foreign policy, achieve universal healthcare by expanding Obamacare and protecting women's reproductive rights, do what needs to be done to address the climate crisis, get the infrastructure project going that will create millions of good jobs, get sensible gun legislation passed and once and for all get fair, humane and intelligent immigration policy, and so on.
To do much of this, we need to help by ensuring through our votes that Democrats keep the House and win the majority of the Senate. Then there is nothing we cannot achieve, perhaps even an American renaissance.
But to get there, we also need to embrace those on the right, left and middle and bring them along. There are some who will never stop supporting Trump and Sanders, but they have a place at the very big American table. We need to reach out to them and bring them along.
We won't agree on everything, but we will agree on enough to pull America out of the swamp in which Trump has tried to smother it.
8
Ok, somebody's winning and somebody isn't. Both are doing their best, and their supporters can be proud of both of them. Now they both have to stay away from this virus, and stay alive.
10
For all those who are telling Bernie supporters to accept Joe Biden, I will not. It's not just because I have read and heard nonstop criticism of Bernie Sanders, whose progressive position and ideals I hold dear, but also because Joe Biden is not mentally competent to work as a cashier, let alone be president. His nomination disappoints me. Is this the best you think we can do out of such a talented field of candidates? Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, Michael Bloomberg, and we ended up with the weakest candidate of them all.
I am upset, not just because me and other Bernie supporters are expected to take all the attacks in stride without apology, then vote "blue no matter who" anyway. Compromise, but only on the progressive's side again apparently.
17
@Kristin "Compromise, but only on the progressive's side" -- on both sides: moderates will vote for Bernie in the general if he's the nominee. It's the same compromise on both sides, conditioned on the same outcome.
3
Great thinking! Let’s get another 4 years of Trump destroying this country because your feelings got hurt.
That’s how evil wins while the rest of us squabble about petty stuff instead of banding together. Now the choice is Biden or Trump. If you don’t actively support Biden, you implicitly support Trump.
If Sanders had won the primaries, I would have supported him wholeheartedly, even though I have been wishing with all my heart that he didn’t win the primary.
2
@Kristin You'd prefer four more years of Trump? And a Supreme Court stacked with right-wingers for the next generation? Get on board with Biden or that's what you're asking for.
I will write in my vote or cast a third-party vote. I’m no longer OK with “the lesser of two evils.”
It has to start somewhere.
13
A lot of people said that about Gore in 2000. How’s the view from there right now?
It does have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is local: councils, school boards, state legislatures. The presidency is for all the people; it’s a vehicle for incrementalism, not radicalism.
3
@Jeff D It already started. Thanks to those like you we got trump and thanks to you we might get 4 more years of trump.
@Jeff D ,
It started with 2016. Jill Stein got 300,000 votes and DJT won the rustbelt by a mere 10,000. So go ahead. You are not breaking new ground. Just copping out.
I think what we are really seeing here is not that Sanders was a strong candidate in 2016, but rather how weak HRC was. I’m guessing his show in 2016 falsely inflated his and his followers sense of his actual popularity.
When paired up against someone with less baggage than HRC, Sanders just didn’t that appealing. Don’t get me wrong, I agree our government could do more for citizens and less for the .1%, but I have no interest in Sanders “my way or the highway” attitude, that’s Trumpian and I’m sick of that.
15
@Aluetian
So the drum of the safe candidate to beat Trump but now used to attack progressive policy.
1
@Mathias I think you misunderstand me. I support many progressive policies, but believe we get there through winning buy-in not by shoving it down peoples throats. There's a lot of folks out there who would benefit from these progressive policies but need a bunch of handholding to wrap their minds around it.
When you "safe candidate" I think the votes show that actually means "more popular" perhaps you might consider that.
Bernie Sanders must be feeling deja vu after he was railroaded out of the 2016 nomination by the DNC. But this time it's different. Yes, the DNC is all-in on Biden but for good reason. He's clearly better positioned than Sanders to defeat Trump. Sanders' avid supporters are mostly younger persons who are enamored with his call for free college tuition. But that is far from enough support to carry Sanders into the White House. Biden's stature on the world stage and his highly successful eight years as Obama's right hand man make him the most formidable opponent Trump can face. I hope that Sanders concedes by tomorrow, and, more important, I hope he implores his ardent supporters to swing their support to Biden. This is the most consequential presidential election of all time, and Democrats must be solidly united behind Biden to end this horrific presidency.
9
#BernieOrBust is now permanently bust. populism isn't so hot after all. Go Biden!! I wanted to vote for you 4 years ago!!!!!
13
@Tim
Populism works much better when it gets to compete head to head with Hillary Clinton.
Heh. Joe Biden used a cuss word at an automobile plant to a worker in a hard hat! Probably first time ever on both counts, right? Well, maybe not. But I would still be scandalized except for the fact the hardhat’s accusation was, indeed, full.
1
@Yeah
Funny how moderates change this tune when it is their guy. If it had been Sanders what would you have said?
That’s the bias that we see constantly and was quite obvious for the last few weeks.
I’m sure they are all popping their Champaign in high places and celebrating their win. No matter what happens those that have are protected from the little people having a fairer society.
1
I feel for Bernie.
13
separate topic but equally enjoyable:
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested for driving while intoxicated early Tuesday morning, according to the Travis County Sheriff's Office.
Jones was booked on a DWI charge at 12:37 a.m.
His bond was set at $3,000.
Travis County says Jones was released on bond just after 4 a.m.
12
If Joe Biden is who black voters are choosing, fine. They have been marginalized for decades - centuries.
Black Americans, if Joe Biden is who you want, I will vote for him on your behalf; but step back and ask yourselves - and be honest - how did Barack Obama make your life better in real daily life and how did Joe Biden assist in that? Then ask yourselves, what is Joe Biden saying he will do to make my life better in real daily life? Then, when Joe Biden is in the White House, make time to take yourself and 10,000 of your closest friends and stand at the gates of the White House and remind Joe Biden why he is there; because you will have to do it, every day.
17
Biden and Sanders are both in their mid/late seventies, and prime targets to die from Covid19.
Seriously? You don't like to choose young, bright entrepreneurial types, do you?
I sure hope you've got a back up candidate somewhere.
5
As much as I enjoy the fratricide, let us not lose sight of the fact that getting rid of the Grifter in Chief and his family of con artists is Job One. Would I prefer Bernie ? Sure. Does my dislike of Biden make me wish I had another choice ? Yes (I wanted Liz, really). Does my existential dread of 4 more years of a demented President being used by the GOP, the Koch Bros. and owners of Fox News to turn us into a Hobbesian Fantasy where life is nasty, brutish and short, unless you are a 1%-er over run all of this ? Yes. Blue no matter who, even Rockefeller Republican-DINO Biden....
23
Time for Bernie to drop out.
17
I'd love to know if Covid19 was on the minds of voters, especially last week, on Super Tuesday (1). That is, was there some subconscious leaning toward safe and familiar, e.g. Biden, as we faced mounting uncertainty. As far as I could tell, it was a question asked in exit polls.
3
@Lisa Kraus
It was *not* a question asked in exit polls.
4
Politics is a spectator sport. So who are the sponsors?
Even Condeleeza Rice wanted to be NFL Commissioner. She knew
3
We are so doomed!! The world must be watching in horror as we once again find ourselves choosing between 3 candidates and, once again, discard the only remotely sane choice
17
@Will
Unlike you, most adults do not see any "sanity" in choosing a no compromise ideologue, a "let the world burn" candidate like Bernie Sanders, especially after nearly having nearly four years of Donald Trump.
1
@Will
I take it you’re referring to Elizabeth Warren as the only sane vote?
3
How can anyone be winning if votes are still being counted? This obsession with turning elections into more clicks and views is destructive and irresponsible.
11
The turnout explosion in Michigan tonight for Joe Biden is Donald Trump's worst nightmare. It now seems clear that the candidate Trump fears most will be the Democratic nominee.
43
"We". We the people.
"We" are the top of the civic organization flow chart. Try that in China or Russia. It is far more likely that Trump is figuring out how to do a Putin, and add time to the sentence his Presidency is serving the corrupt, the greedy, and the violent, than spending even a moment on how to make sure the voice of every citizen in this country is heard.
"We" choose who we believe to be the best. My personal favorite, and who I voted for here in Colorado, was Bernie Sanders. I'm 64, not 24, and I get where he is coming from politically. I'm not scared of him, or his ideas.
"We" the people, seem to be choosing Biden. I swore that I will vote for whoever the Democrats nominate. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and even the 34 voters in this country who are Socialists, have one choice on election day.
Defeat Donald Trump.
There is no "We" with that man. "We the people" is a foreign concept to him, a man who admires Putin, who shares his affections for his favorite dictators and murderers publicly.
Even as Spring makes its arrival, there are dark clouds in nearly every corner. Climate change is in full throat, denied by Trump. Democracy is in a slide, no thanks to Trump. Violence against women and children is rampant, with Trump, our President, guilty of misogyny .
His supporters seem hopeless, lost in the throes of a charisma hidden to the majority. "We" the people must vote in this election: "We" have a precious right and a duty: Vote!
19
@ David Roy Thanks - now please convince your brethren Bernie supporters to get behind Biden if he is the nominee. I voted for Warren but will also vote for whoever the Democrat nominee is.
Vote Blue No Matter Who.
1
@David Roy We will vote. We'll vote for Trump.
And you will then have a 7-2 conservative Supreme Court. How does that play out with your progressive ambitions?
Either a Biden or Sanders Democratic nomination will test voters' determination to win. Any Democrat will do, to put an end to the Trump administration. If Democratic voters are determined to make that our priority.
In 2016 Republican voters had to hold their nose to win. Trump was the path to their goal. They wanted the courts and they got them. For starts. After the 2018 Blue Wave, they're mad as hornets and will stop at nothing.
As Michelle Obama said, 'when they go low, we go high.' We don't want to beat the GOP cheaters at their own game. We want to out smart them and out strive them. This is more about us getting the job done than about our candidate. And we can do it. We must.
15
Interesting that CNN called for Biden's winning in Michigan when polls hadn't closed in some counties. CNN should have waited for all the counties to close; This would have blunted many of the Sanders' supporters. On the other hand, when in California, Washington States, CNN waited for polls to close completely to make announcement. If they had followed the Michigan model then people in last Tuesday's race would have voted for Bernie knowing he was winning in CA and WA. Appeared to be deceitful.
10
Pick a VP NOW, Joe - seal this deal!
16
I have grown to despise our political system. It is a complete fraud.
27
@DSD Why is democracy disappointing? We all have the ability to vote and make our voices heard. Biden’s winning is proof that democracy works.
3
@John
Because our system is zero sum. Those who lose have no voice.
1
So just because it didn’t go your way, it’s a fraud?! Got it.
1
So disappointing. It's more plain white bread.
19
@ Mike. Better than more Orange Squash.
@Mike
"It's more plain white bread" ... and not first quality either.
Okay Bernie, you gave it your best shot and a good run. Now it's time to back Biden and when he is elected claim a useful job in his administration. If you continue to pursue your ego driven quixotic adventure you will only succeed in reelecting our current fool of a president. Is that something you want to be known for? Time to move on, cut your losses while you are still able to be of use to this country you say you love. Let me spell this out for you, while our country might need the changes you propose, it doesn't know it as yet. Back Biden- please. He will do what you cannot no matter how right you maybe and how much you try.
50
This will be the first year In my life that I may stay home in November. I have come to the conclusion that fellow Dems have to get hit on the nose with a rolled up magazine. Republicans took a chance with who they wanted, Trump, and Dems always play it safe with the big business candidate. I’m done. I’m very disappointed in the black community. They vote for the guy who has fought relentlessly for credit card companies because black leaders said Biden is the friend of black people. You want him, you got him.
31
@Matt You cannot declare your disappointment with any voting group, as if you were superior and control them in some way . Everyone is an equal free agent and is free to vote for whoever they want. People are voting for Biden because they fear Bernie will lose to Trump. That is their right. The people have spoken.
12
@Matt ,
What about all the college-educated women, non-college white men? They are all going for Joe.
Bernie banked on youth who can't seem to tear themselves away from twitter long enough to vote.
2
@Matt
"I have come to the conclusion that fellow Dems have to get hit on the nose with a rolled up magazine. "
We were already hit in '16 with a sledgehammer, not a rolled up magazine. Lesson Learned.
I don't understand how anyone can think of staying home to let the wrecking ball lose again.
Letting yourself be manipulated by credit card companies pales in comparison to a president who is tearing up environmental regs, ruining international relations, preventing CDC from giving us facts, cozying up to Putin at the expense of our INTEL and turning DOJ into something Kim Jong Il would admire.
So if you think it's ok for a man who would be sitting in jail alongside his lawyer, Mr. Cohen, if he were not president, to be reelected, then stay home and let the gerrymandering continue until you will never get a democrat, of any stripe, elected.
6
I support progressive reform. The Democratic party must respond to some of the needs of the Trump supporters and the progressives or it will fail like Hillary. The slogan DUMP TRUMP must be a united effort. The country needs to throw the Republican crooks out of power. To do that, there needs to be a Democratic senate, house and president. It will be nasty fight. It will require everyone to pull together. Biden will have to rally a united collation.
13
@Allan
"coalition", probably. A "collation" is just a bigger snack; bon appetit all the same, and forgive the intrusion.
If democrats are serious about winning the presidential election, then joe Biden needs to select Barack Obama as his Vice President. Obama was the greatest president in my life time, trump has been the worst. He and Biden would beat the most corrupt president in our history , trump.
11
@john ...He can't. But he might appoint him to the Supreme Court. Secretary of State?
2
@W.A. Spitzer I'd like to see Clinton (Hillary) and Obama as justices.
So we're all to believe that our fellow citizens are so stupid as to prefer more extortion-priced healthcare, perpetual student debt (good luck paying that off in a post-coronavirus economy!), extortion priced pharmaceuticals, our tax dollars going for perpetual war instead of our own infrastructure, and environmental policies that threaten our very existence. I cannot be the only one who doesn't buy this. It's time we stopped rolling over every four years.
20
@David Veale
David - Unfortunately, the "we" you refer to doesn't comprise a majority of the voters. Perhaps it is "you" who is a bit out of step with the rest of "us"?
2
Perhaps some younger voters finally seeing reality? They are not in control or as big as “influencers” as perhaps they think. People over 40 vote, regularly. The college bubble of future socialism has burst-the United States practices democratic capitalism, join the game (the capitalist part).
14
To all Bernie-supporting friends. Take a deep breath. Let this bitterness subside and come out on Nov 3. Please vote blue. Stay in the game. Don't walk away or worse throw your vote to Trump or Green Party or Tulsi Gabbard. Less than 100,000 votes tipped the EC for Trump.
58
@Greenfield
I am not bitter. My first choice was Elizabeth Warren. I would have voted for Sanders without hesitation, but Biden? No, thank you!
6
What do we get in return? What are you willing to pay for our support?
3
@Greenfield
No, I will not be voting for Biden. Voting for those who represent your ideals, beliefs, is not throwing away your vote. Of course, I will not vote for Trump either, God forbid!
3
Where are the results of the Republican Primaries? I seriously wonder how Bernie might have done by running in that conest.
5
A least a third of Sanders’ support in 2016 was an anti-Hillary thing. The fact that Biden, an inferior candidate, is crushing him in the same states she was struggling is telling enough.
Sanders was never that popular.
37
@Chris
I don't know if Sanders is that popular, but the reason so many vote for him and support him is because what he says is what many people believe. That will be the case, even if he never makes it near the White House.
4
@Chris Bernie never grew his base. I think Trump's own base is far larger, but still barely 33% of total voters, at best.
Please can we unite against our common enemies now? Trump and the McConnell GOP.
63
The political opposition is not an enemy. Russia and China are enemies.
3
Things aren’t black and white. I recommended @DRS’s post because I thought it was a valid and important point. But it depends on semantics. What we define as “enemies.” I think anyone who opposes action to combat climate change is basically an enemy of humanity, for example. But I’m not going to go to war against them.
1
@DRS—I used to believe the exact same thing before I saw people wearing “I’d rather be Russian than Democrat” T-shirts to Trump rallies. I don’t look for enemies. I don’t consider anybody my enemy until they declare themselves as such.
1
Whatever Biden ‘s rhetorical incoherence and intellectual diminishment, it is time for all of us Sanders and Warren backers to accept reality gracefully and support the emerging Democratic nominee- a decent human being who inspires respect and who has suffered much. A faithful husband and bereaved father, a supporter of equal rights for minorities, honored by President Obama with the Medal of Freedom,Biden’s exemplary compassion and humanity powerfully contrast with the faithless, feckless narcissistic man now disgracing the White House. We could do much worse than Biden- and the people have spoken. All Democrats, however disappointed we may feel at our particular candidate’s loss, must unite to defeat Trump.
46
@Kate
"... a decent human being who inspires respect and who has suffered much. A faithful husband and bereaved father... "
You must be kidding! His first wife died in 1972 and he certainly got a good electoral mileage out of her death, in spite of the fact that he remarried in 1977. I find that grossly indecent, asking for votes just because his wife and daughter had died, and his son Beau more recently (2015).
Also, do not forget that he still have "an only surviving son", Hunter Biden. Any indication that Hunter Biden will "know his place" and behave, if his father gets elected?
2
Say what you will. Biden is still a lot sharper than Trump, who speaks in disconnected fragments, buzz words, and cliches.
45
Agree -?but it’s amazing that they are the only two choices we have - two dud candidates- hopefully someone else will emerge.
5
@proffexpert I should have added “lies” to the list of Trump’s speaking traits.
@proffexpert
"a lot sharper", but a very small "lot".
Throughout the primary season I have seen comments, often from Sanders supporters, comparing him to McGovern in '72.
However you may feel about their differences, here's a similarity. McGovern was supposed to turn out the youth, who would overwhelmingly vote for him. It turned out youth weren't so liberal as everyone thought. Many of them voted for Nixon. Just like many youth today support Biden.
A lesson for future candidates: the silent majority is real.
23
@Steve
Manufactured consent and 24 hour propaganda by the media is what is real. Not very different from what may take place in a dictatorial, third world country.
Andrew Yang did the math. He’s Endorsing Biden. Even the non-establishment says it’s GAME OVER.
65
@Vicki
"GAME OVER" and Trump gets four more years (in the White House, I mean).
The November election (assuming we have one) is now in the hands of Bernie voters. If they have the same tantrum they had in 2016, they'll hand another election to Trump.
(see: https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds)
Oh, and as for Bernie's "revolution" that young voters love so much, apparently they don't love it enough to show up and vote. Instead, they'd rather blame Boomers for all their problems.
I'm a proud Boomer. I'm a person of color in a profession that for many, many decades, kept my people (and many other non-whites) out. I'm also a woman and recall many job interviews I went on, in which the interviewer plainly stated that he would never hire a woman. My brother is a disabled Viet Nam veteran. Our family didn't have the financial means to give him fraudulent medical papers after he was drafted, unlike Cadet Bone Spurs. My generation fought for Civil Rights, Women's Rights, and the end of an unjust war. And we won many of these battles.
And Millenials have no earthly idea what this country was like then - and they certainly have no call to preach to folks like me, who fought the fights that needed to be fought, so that younger people would have these opportunities.
Bernie has shown that he will never grow up. It's all about him. Millenials, don't follow his example. Grow up. And don't hand another win to Trump.
68
Excellent!
I’m cheering in gratitude for your post!
3
@Orion Clemens Thank you for this. I'm a child of a Boomer (so late Gen X?), and also a woman of color in a predominantly white/Asian male profession (comp sci). I grew up hearing that good people fought and *died* so I could vote. The concept of "staying home" on Election Day has never occurred to me.
Sanders offers a Hollywood picture of 60s rebellion without the "boring" policy follow-up. I thank him for activating so many non-voters, but lament that they pin all their political will on him, personally. The motivation to *be* the change you want has to come from within.
Once young (or new-to-voting) people find their way to doing, instead of just wishing, folks like you and I will be here to help.
3
@Orion Clemens
Judging from your choice of candidate i'd say you're doing just fine under Trump. Enjoy the new tax cut and 4 more years.
4
That Joe Biden is cruising to the nomination surprises me. He's a lousy candidate in so many ways. He's past his prime, and his prime wasn't very good. I'm just not sure what so many Democratic voters see in him.
46
@John Smithson supports Trump. Just thought Sanders fans should know who they are agreeing with.
3
@John Smithson Well, John, he's like democracy. Really lousy -- except compared to the alternatives.
3
Just a note from former Secretary of Defense (under Barack Obama) Robert Gates about Joe Biden:
“Joe Biden is impossible not to like. He’s a man of integrity, incapable of hiding what he really thinks, one of those rare people you know you could turn to for help in a personal crisis. Still, I think he’s been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of over the past four decades.”
Joe Biden has been in politics for many, many years. This is his fourth try at the presidency, but Joe Biden only won his first primary in South Carolina this year. And this is the guy who is going to get the Democratic nomination?
1
As it becomes increasingly clear that Bernie cannot win, that the numbers make it virtually impossible for him to get the nomination as we head into states that he lost against Hillary, he should consider the country and our need to beat Trump.
Bernie needs to drop out.
Andrew Yang just endorsed Biden tonight.
So should Bernie.
Our sole goal is to beat Trump.
The longer Bernie refuses to join the American majority who have so far rejected him and his program for a Socialist Revolution, the worse will it be for him and his supporters.
If you want any say then leave.
Otherwise, expect zero input in the next Dem government.
26
@Simon Sez
Jamie Dimon is tapped for Biden's cabinet, we had no say to begin with. Why not undermine it instead. I may not have a future but I could definitely make things worse for my class enemies.
2
Watch out for foreign actors posing as Americans to try to divide the Democrat party. If you see a hostile Bernie supporter online, launching attacks against all Democrats and not focused at all in uniting the party to defeat Trump, probably not an authentic account.
We already know that Russia has created Sanders supporting accounts and Trump supporting accounts to fight with one another and inflame conflict and tension within the United States. Now is the time for party unity. We are stronger together. Our adversaries know that.
44
@Austin Ouellette , absolutely. And the reverse. Whoever is stirring up hatred and fomenting lies against any of our candidates or each other—tune them out. Don’t answer them, don’t get mad. Tune them out. Pass the word.
1
Biden will far outperform Hillary from 2016. It’s not even close at this point. Sanders’ support is slipping instead of increasing.
15
After tonight, Biden will have decisively beat Sanders, and will be the presumptive nominee - not based on media hype, or the Twitterverse, but on the outcome of actual voting.
What basis is there to keep talking about Sanders’s supposed broad appeal? Biden’s victory demonstrates that the DNC is a center left party. Period!
17
I am still planning to vote by absentee ballot and be out of the country on Election Day this November. Not that I have anything planned as of today, but something will be figured out.
4
It was always a long shot that the Democratic nominee for president would end up being a person who is not actually a Democrat (Bernie Sanders). There are actually very logical reasons for why a man who wasn't really a Republican (Donald Trump) ended becoming the Republican nominee for president in 2016.
George W. Bush's presidency was such a disaster that it destroyed the credibility of mainstream Republicans and paved the way for Trump's takeover of that party. For any non-Democrat to become the Democratic nominee in 2020 would have required huge numbers of primary and caucus voters to conclude that Obama's eight years as president were as disastrous to the Democrats (in terms of morality and credibility, not just in terms of seats lost in the House or at the state legislature level) as Bush's eight years were to the Republicans.
Were they? Seems like most Democratic primary and caucus voters are concluding they were not.
12
It is time for Mr Sanders to leave the race. The constituency that he claimed would power him to the Presidency either has not turned out or does not exist. Either way, there is no way now that Mr Sanders will be the nominee. He should bow out gracefully and throw his full weight behind Mr Biden to ensure that a united Democrat party does everything possible to oust Mr Trump.
23
I fear it’s not in Bernie’s character to do anything “gracefully”. Unless one can sulk gracefully.
Biden would be well advised to select a female diplomat for VP. An individual with gravitas, character, intelligence and experience.
12
@Pia Diplomat? Who would that be?
I’m a millennial and I don’t like Joe Biden. I mean, I’ll vote for him over Trump but he ALMOST makes me feel like not voting at all.
Every time I hear him speak it makes me cringe. He is angry and defensive when he talks and I’ve never heard him put 2 sentences together that make him sound like a coherent person. He is old and gross and I just don’t get what people see in him. I was for Elizabeth Warren. She had drive and a vision and made you want to listen to her. Joe Biden makes me want to call a nursing home.
26
@JasmineD
I was a Warren supporter, too, but Biden will be a calming influence and I do think everyone will be surprised at the progressive things he will do.
If he can shore up ACA and stop the bleeding there and create a public option and compel the states with republican governors who would not expand Medicaid to fix this, then a Democratic president would, instantly, help millions.
Please do not sit this one out because, if you and others do that, then count yourself as saboteurs in the fight to give everyone affordable health insurance.
...and that is just one difference between the GOP and the Democrats.
4
@JasmineD
I am four times your age, at least, and yet I agree with you. Elizabeth Warren was the president we need. Joe Biden belongs in a museum, not in the White House.
You have only one vote, and so good luck!
5
@Fran
Joe Biden is a good man who is not going to be paling around with Putin, threatening and betraying our allies and trying to sabotage ACA.
Though I was for Sen. Warren, it is not helpful to speak about Mr. Biden in that way. We need him to win and we need to be the sails at his back...right now.
I started to do that as soon as Sen. Warren dropped out and it is my hope that he will pick her as his VP and that she will be President in four years.
I will be very disappointed if he picks someone else but I will definitely be still watching his back as I do now in this post.
2
Looks like Joe has a strong night. I don't think I will stay up for it. If he wins congratulations.
My disappointment is the media. For hiding his faults and laying upon the scales constantly. You helped defeat any meaningful change and the evil communist socialist Marxist that would end life as we know it goes down in defeat. Haven't seen anything meaningful on Joe. Don't even know what he represents but a Rockefeller democrat.
We lose that chance for cheaper fiscally responsible medical care, education reform that is focused on education instead of loans for bankers and attempting to end the legalized bribery that has hijacked our democracy.
Congrats to Joe. Hope we can defeat Trump.
8
As a Bernie supporter (who likes Elizabeth Warren and contributed money to her campaign), I'd rather put up with another 4 years of Trump than support another lame "centrist" Republican-lite "Democrat". Four more years of Trump and the country will be in such a state of shambles that there will be a strong majority for a Democratic Socialist, whether it is Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or someone else.
Wall Street and credit card companies love Biden, the man who gullibly supported wars in the Middle East, made it harder for common people to declare bankruptcy, and wants to cut Social Security.
18
@Simon Taylor Thanks for the view from Santa Barbara City College, Simon. The theory that four more years of Trump will give rise to the nation suddenly turning into a leftist commune is certainly an interesting one.
2
And post your four more years of Trump fantasy, what do we end up doing about the ever more stacked courts? Progressive legislation would stall left and right all the way to the Supreme Court. What about the immigrant children who die in appalling conditions during that time, are they just acceptable losses? What if next time a situation like the Iran tit-for-tat happens Trump actually decides to start a war? Even unpopular wars have a way of dragging on once started, see Vietnam or Afghanistan.
There are plenty of things we can lose betting on another four years of Trump that can’t be undone, that’s worth remembering when you decide how/if to vote. I genuinely hope we can count on you.
4
@Simon Taylor
"Four more years of Trump and the country will be in such a state of shambles that there will be a strong majority for a Democratic Socialist, whether it is Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or someone else."
Be very careful what you wish for. Once systems, that have been forged over hundreds of years, get crushed, they don't magically rise from the ashes like a Phoenix.
I believe I can say with surety, here in the South, that the civil war left us in ashes and we're only just beginning to recover. That's the way with most revolutions.
What has to change is that people need to stay involved and march in the streets as we should have done when William Barr tried to tamper with our Justice system for the benefit of DJT
When they know we're paying attention and their propaganda machine called Fox News can't deceive us, then they'll take notice.
2
And this is how the Democratic Party lost again.
23
If Trump can win, so can Biden. No more sour grapes and doomsday predictions. It is time to kick Trump out.
19
Your mean by Bernie bros throwing out the baby with the bath water, sitting out the general election like cranky 5-yr-olds?
14
@MS You give yourself and your fellow Sanders-supporters far too much credit. Judging by the paltry turnout by the "youth for Sanders" contingent over the past two weeks, it's clear the Sanders movement is in serious decline. And Biden's appeal to swing voters in the middle (center-right Republicans and independents) will more than make up for any of the youth vote he might lose, especially in the battleground states that are important in November (which does not include NY, which will vote overwhelmingly for Biden as the Dem candidate).
8
Dr. Jill Stein🌻
@DrJillStein
10m ago...
No, concerns about #BidensCognitiveDecline didn't come from Trump, Sanders, or Russia. They were raised from the start of his campaign by Democratic officials, candidates, & pundits. If you're in denial about the state Biden's in, they're duping you. It's textbook gaslighting.
19
How about #TrumpCognitiveDecline? I wish the Russians would publicize that some more among Trump’s followers. The guy doesn’t know the name of his favorite food, “hamberder” he calls it. How is Trump not demented?
10
@Ben
It's all Trump all time as he continues to live rent free in your fevered "brain".
The main reason that the loony left has become impotent is that they simply refuse, or are UNABLE to examine themselves and their own candidates, critically - without becoming hysterical, juvenile and pejorative, and/or changing the subject entirely.
Dispassionate, true knowledge of ones' self and ones' "enemies" is indispensable in a battle to defeat a powerful opponent - which Trump undeniably is. Particularly important is to acknowledge your opponents strengths and to not ignore ones' own weaknesses.
Joe Biden is a TERRIBLE candidate - far worse than Hillary - and Jill Stein is absolutely correct in her assessment of him and the people anointing him currently.
2
Biden will be the nominee.
There is no way that Bernie can win.
Yang just endorsed Biden. Many of his supporters, a lot of whom went for Sanders after Yang dropped out are now having second thoughts about Bernie.
We are all uniting around the only person who can beat Trump.
It is time for Bernie to drop out for the good of America.
33
Joe Biden is running on a more Progressive platform than Barack Obama did.
Biden supports adding a Medicare Buy-In Option to Obamacare; raising the Minimum Wage to $15; and sensible gun safety legislation.
Why is Biden's Platform as Progressive as it is?
Bernie Sanders
Bernie probably won't be the Democratic Nominee, but he is the Democratic North Star.
27
The Democratic primary is a snapshot of a pie. In 2016, that pie was larger because we have been told that a number of individuals (white, working class) supported Bernie in the primary before defecting to Trump once Hillary was the nominee.
So, is it fair to say that these results reflect that smaller pie? In other words, not that Bernie is losing votes, but that he already lost them four years ago?
3
Andrew Yang just endorsed Biden.
He said on CNN that for the good of the nation we need to beat Trump and unify behind the only person who can realistically do that.
That is Joe Biden.
He will begin to bring in the Yang Gang, the young people, who supported him.
Bernie is not getting the youth vote. He admits this.
He cannot win the nomination.
The numbers are not there.
For the good of the nation he needs to suspend his campaign.
36
@Simon Sez - Of course he does, but he won’t. I suspect he’s going to keep trucking along until the last possible moment and then, when it’s all over, his followers will have another voting booth meltdown that hopefully won’t hand Trump another four years. Honestly, the right thing for Bernie to do would be to end his campaign and then work with the Democratic Party to oust Trump so that we can get someone in office who can perhaps try to achieve some of the things Bernie wants. Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake, and Bernie is blocking the road. He needs to get out of the way.
3
there is no more yang gang, yang has proven himself to be just another hack angling for his own political gain, a cabinet position that will never come when djt sweeps in nov.
2
It's time for Sanders to step out gracefully and support Biden. This is not the year to play victim or blame. We're on the brink and there are two choices: Falling into the permanent stink that is Trump's swamp and being lost as a nation forever. Or realigning ourselves as Americans with common decency and a respect for the middle class. We've heard and seen Trump's false promises, and Bernie's didn't take root, which might indicate a good health overall. I feel as though the voting patterns we are seeing might mean that good people are collectively raising their voices, not by race or gender and maybe even not by political affiliation. Maybe we're all just tired of what's wrong and want to get closer to what's right. We are a nation defined by common people working side by side for a better good for all. Let's turn off the reality show, folks, and get back to being good Americans, for real.
25
Now that it's becoming clearer and clearer that Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee in November, it is high time for him to tell us more about his plans besides beating Trump. A key reason for Trump's victory in 2016 was that eight years of Obama/Biden left a lot of necessary changes undone. A clear idea of what Joe Biden intends to do and how he'll do it, even if the Senate stays in Republican hands, would put me and a lot of others at ease. Right now, I doubt he really knows how to deal with a Republican party that basically wants to make sure he will fail, and sabotage him just as they did Obama.
6
@Pete in Downtown - "A key reason for Trump's victory in 2016 was that eight years of Obama/Biden left a lot of necessary changes undone." - did you show up for the 2010 and 2014 mid term elections? The elections that put Republicans in charge in Congress? That could explain a lot.
Americans really don't get it.
Clinton didn't make it, and she had 3 millions more voters.
Biden is the same. He is THE. SAME.
He won't get more votes than Clinton did. Trump will win.
Sanders or Warren were different. The US desperately need change.
19
@Martin The difference is Biden has more support than Clinton did. Sanders support has fizzled out.
17
Trump won because of two primary factors: 1. A depressed turnout in the African-American community (a turnout too small to overcome rampant voter suppression in Florida and other winnable Southern states, it should be noted); 2. Tens of thousands of Midwestern voters in key districts who switched over to Trump. Biden’s recent victories in the Southern and Midwestern primaries show that he has brought together a coalition that neither Hilary Clinton nor Sanders managed to. I am, personally, a Sanders supporter, but it’s time for him to bow out. The math favors Biden, as have the voters thus far. Sanders and his supporters should endorse him publicly while putting pressure on him privately to ensure that Biden accepts some of Sander’s proposals and provides new roles for progressive figures in his administration. This is the way forward.
14
@Martin No, Biden is nothing like Hillary and never will be, thank you. The email problem killed her and her campaign handled it poorly throughout the election. Hillary had an ego problem, just like Trump. Biden doesn't. You can't jam change through a Republican Senate either. Bernie would have been a disaster and now he is ...........done.
4
I see many people arguing their candidate has the best chance to beat Trump.
The truth is, neither do.
Sanders has too much negativity, and the more people see and hear Biden the worse he does.
Elections are about enthusiasm, and Trump has that in spades over Biden.
5
@Rob Enthusiasm? You mean all that "enthusiasm" locked up in those nursing homes, no relatives allowed to visit, and not a testing kit in sight?
I'm thinking "enthusiasm" isn't the right choice of words for what people are thinking of Trump these days.
4
I still have no idea what Bernie Sanders stands for or what he intends to do if he is President. I've waited 4 years for him to tell me.
8
@Jeff... You’re kidding aren’t you? If anybody’s had a consistent platform it’s Bernie Sanders. He’s been saying the same thing since 2016. I will concede he’s probably not going to win the nomination, but he certainly had a platform. Medicare for all? $15 minimum wage? And so on...
15
What Sanders never explained was exactly HOW he was ever going to get all his free stuff through Congress. He’s been there for THIRTY years and accomplished nothing. Why would anyone ever think that suddenly he’d be able to fundamentally change the focus of the entire government? It makes no sense whatsoever.
4
@Lany ...And how is he going to pass it? That is sort of critical.
It does look like Biden's winning, but we're not even at the half way point on delegates, so there's no need to wrap up the contest now, and there's certainly no need to keep attacking each other.
The staggering of the primaries and the media's focus on the horse race are really not helpful to democracy.
10
our country has been broken for along time. With our political divisions we often have not been able to speak to some neighbors and even in our own families. now we are not even supposed to touch each other. Its as if we have a long term fever.
but adversity tests us and perhaps struggling with a common illness will bring us together. Are our differences so great that we would go down as a nation in anger and hatred? Some how that seems worse than suffering physical illness. But in compassion and kindness we can heal our selves.
1
Joe Biden is a kind man who will fill his Cabinet with highly competent advisors and experts.
He is not afraid to admit that he doesn't know everything, so he won't be afraid to seek the counsel of others.
He won't lead with his gut.
He respects science.
He will lead the country in a good direction.
42
@Barbara T
Mr. Congeniality.
What an accolade.
7
That means a bunch of unelected people will be running the country, because Biden is losing it and is making less sense than ever. He seems like a really good guy but I doubt he has the mental faculties to make presidential decisions.
13
I voted for Warren but confronted with this vote I would have voted for Biden. Why – because of the potential for a stronger coalition. The Bernie supporters here sound resentful and downhearted. I felt some of that when Warren dropped out, but the reality is Sanders split the progressive/liberal vote when he decided to run again, and has done so without successfully restructuring his message style or outreach. The fact that he remained an Independent Democratic Socialist after the 2016 election – and after the DNC bent over backwards to accommodate him in primary rules and delegate counts didn't really send much of a message of healing unity. Sanders is an old fashioned hardline leftie and talk about "garbage" that the Republicans can use, Bernie has plenty. Trump is the one who deserves the ire here, remember even Sanders has stated upfront this time he would support the nominee. And no one can win the nomination without support from the African American community: period.Sanders won a good amount of the youth vote there but not as much as he hoped or people thought he might. In fact Bernie hasn't galvanized the vote particularly. "They haven't turned out." Bernie will probably win WA. But I think it will take a miracle for him to win outright. Folks want to get on with things and turn their energy to defeating the Trumplicans. Vote Blue no matter who & don't sell Biden so short. He wants to be a good president for the sake of all Americans and the soul of our nation.
29
Tomorrow will be a very interesting news day.
The reality is that there is now no successful path for Sanders to travel in order to secure the nomination. Will he do the right thing and endorse Biden so that we can avoid needless, and possibly dangerous, mass rallies, rope lines and all the usual campaign hoopla?
Simply put, let's unite behind Biden and let all the former Democratic candidates work with him to prepare a Party Platform that unites all segments. This is the 21st Century, the Platform can be debated and decided via virtual meetings etc.
And then (sorry Milwaukee) let's cancel the actual convention in light of the Covid-19 virus and roll up our sleeves and work together to get Trump out of the White House.
15
Another depressing set of developments, and I am quite sure that the youth in this country will remain extremely apathetic. Why not? Every election cycle seems to be effectively a Bush, a Clinton, or a Biden on ballots. Biden is about the least exciting candidate I could pick from the first dem debate stage, now here we are.
15
@John F. Thurn It’s hard for the youth of America to place the blame on anyone but themselves when they are not showing up in large percentages to vote.
8
I agree. But there is a reason for that. Could it perhaps be that numerous 70 presidential candidates are uninspiring to the youth demographic? Or, that public education became such a low priority and minimally funded part of basic US culture that our young citizens are bereft of critical reasoning skills?
As an Independent disgusted with Mr. Trump, I have long had concerns about Mr. Biden. I see an old line, big smile politician who craves attention and says a lot of goofy things in that pursuit. The goal is to remove Mr. Trump, and no, I don't think Sen. Sanders is a better choice for that. But it looks like Mr. Biden is the choice of the Democrats, and I do see a trump card (pun intended) in his favor. Mr. Bloomberg will back him with nearly unlimited resources, honoring his pledge to support whoever the Dems nominate in order to remove Mr. Trump. I am optimistic. Next step: Mr. Biden's VP choice could be a big factor.
13
I sense it’s Harris. Biden has a big debt to pay.
3
I’m terrified that Biden is not going to be able stand toe to toe with Trump if he wins. The primary voters are making a grievous error. Biden’s handlers don’t let him speak for long for a reason. I think that Biden is a nice guy and it pains me to see him get his words jumbled up all the time. Bernie is being nice to him because he too is a decent guy and they are friends. Trump is going to rip him to shreds. Please fellow Dems, don’t put Biden up against Trump. Bernie has the better chance in the general election. He is sharp and knows how to brawl.
11
So we've demonstrated that it's not only Republicans that vote against their own interests. As a country, we suffer from a massive case of Stockholm Syndrome, where middle class voters identify with their plutocratic exploiters and continue to do their bidding. I now have more sympathy for FOX viewers, having seen how susceptible everyone is to corporate brainwashing. It was either going to be Biden or Bloomberg from the beginning, and in a few years, people will again be wondering why their circumstances haven't improved under "Middle Class Joe".
11
Yes, I’m just a middle class robot primed to do the bidding of my plutocratic exploiters since I’ve been brainwashed by the corporate mainstream media. This is the ONLY reason I did not fall at Bernie’s feet. I just can’t help myself.
1
The most important challenge after tonight for Joe Biden is to keep healthy. We must have him to defeat Donald Trump. Like Joe or not, that's what this election is about.
9
Just two quick messages to the ether.
1. Dear Andrew Yang, your "math" statement leave a lot to be desired in terms of substance or policy development, which is among the reasons you are no longer a candidate - your reliance on this verbiage is not "owning" a stereotype, it is leaning into it in a degrading and insulting manner to people your professed to want to lead.
2. Joe Biden's nomination will mean that any investment I have in the future will be lost. It is possible Bernie may not have been the answer, but he resides on the path we must take, a path which will not be available forever. The existing crises will not be solved by market activity, we have divorced ourselves from problem solving and exist to perform "Yangian" calculations at every turn, and gape with astonishment when outcomes defy expectations (every time). When Joe Biden loses this election because he has nothing to offer to either poor Trump supports or alienated (and often insulted progressives) we will watch Putin and Trump march toward a salted earth they will occupy only briefly, until it collapses in a grievious nightmare.
6
I love Bernie. I could never vote for him. His revolution needs to wait for another time. I want trump out. I will defer to the people that get out the vote. They want Biden. I’m for Biden.
22
Time for Bernie to bounce.
17
The same thing happened in Oklahoma. (yes, we have Democrats! About 738,000 democrats to a million republicans. Over 300,000 independents, too). The state went for Sanders in 2016 but for Biden now. After Obama, progressive change seemed more doable. Now people just want sanity and stability back.
39
We simply want #competence2020
4
LOL! will you tell us now that the single biggest one day bump in Dow Jones history was because they knew Sleepy Joe was going to win tonight??
6
Fellow political leaders endorsing each other, a new FISA legislation that dictates a Secret court in which a government man represents a defendant against a government and the defendant's attorney can never see the warrant?
Now both parties are obviously knowing how stupid we are. I'd like to know who owns and runs their Television industry? After all, the actor Trump appointed a Verizon attorney who was knowledgable of Verizon's Television service, as head of the F.C.C. to oversee the Television industry.
Wow, nobody else noticed all this. We sure are dumb.
2
My son will be old enough to vote in November, he has been following Bernie for quite some time and is disappointed in the way things are going for Bernie. Even though I want Biden to win at this point, we need to keep in mind there are a lot of young Bernie voters out there who will be disillusioned on their first time voting. I think Biden and Bernie need to have a long talk about unity , Biden needs to make sure Bernie young people are included, he should probably do that tomorrow.
11
@Missy A high percentage of voters are dissatisfied with every election. Hopefully Democrats can get behind Biden for the win in November.
5
Think how disillusioned young voters were when H.R. Clinton lost, or Al Gore, or McGovern. Some of them even became members of Congress, Governors, and even candidates for the Presidency.
Gee. Funny how that can work.
10
@Missy
If your son needs to be inspired to vote for Biden, just tack a picture of babies locked in cages onto his bathroom mirror to “inspire” him that evil thrives when good people do nothing.
5
My question to Mr. Biden: are you ready to stop being silly about questions regarding your kid and face a man who is shameless?
5
@Mixilplix I don't think Biden should bother debating Trump, I think the debated should go to the VP's. Trump will just drag the debate into the mud.
3
Running from your opponent is always a winning strategy.
1
Feel the spurn.
17
I contributed to Sanders after his filibuster during the Bush era. I love the guy. Contributed to his campaign in 2016. Several times. I hope he drops out, now.
Warren for Veep. Actually she was my first choice for Potus.
11
Now that it's clear Biden will be the Democratic nominee, my vote for Trump is sealed. If it had been Sanders, it would have been a harder choice. I'm not a leftist, but I do believe everyone needs access to healthcare. If anyone could have gotten it done, it was Sanders. With Biden, the best we could hope for is an expansion of Obamacare.
6
@Mark I’m an independent who always votes 3rd Party but I am voting Biden this year.
11
@Mark So you will vote for a man who wants to take away health care for millions? Good luck when Trump takes away coverage for pre-existing conditions(part of the ACA and Obamacare).
17
@Mark
And with Trump, the least we can fear is an elimination of Obamacare.
Your guy lost. It’s a gut punch. But please, be pragmatic.
8
Thank you, Joe Biden, and thanking Michigan for pulling through! Amy Klobuchar should be commended as well, for her endeavors in showing the strength of her support for our country.
20
Congrats, Boomers. You win again.
17
@Mixilplix Bernie is not a boomer?
3
Last time i checked, Bernie was a Boomer. Go whine elsewhere.
Signed,
Non-Boomer
11
I’m Gen X and I support Biden over Sanders.
9
I think democrats are wanting to just get on with it. Keep it simple, eyes on the prize. A Biden - Warren ticket sounds fine. Let’s go. We have a job to do.
14
@Stevenz
Have fun! See you!
2
When you say that Sanders "arrived to" his home, that's incorrect. He "arrived at" his home
5
How can you call a primary with 0% reporting? That’s just irresponsible. If it’s a projection then label it as such...
9
2 career politicians close to 40 years each , both 78 the average age life expectancy, and they Both LOOK there AGE as one forgets and the other just had a heart attack.....Unhealthy is the best word to describe the Democratic Party!
3
Pleased Biden won here in Michigan. He'll be able to get back the votes of the Blue Collar workers here and the Blacks will turn out to vote for Joe. Plus suburban women are really turning out for Joe. Joe is far exceeding votes compared to what Hillary did in the 2016 primary against Bernie. Trump just lost Michigan. Love you Bernie voters. We need you nationwide to win it all.
21
Hmm... Michigan went to Sanders four years ago and then went to Trump in the general. Tells you that Sanders supporters aren't Democrats at all. They're entitled uncompromising narcissists just like their demagogue.
31
And as intolerant as extreme right wingers. Many voting merely for the promise of free stuff (nothing is free.).
2
@J.S. This analysis is flawed. Obviously it's not as simple as that, and you are just saying those things to convince yourself that you did the right choice in choosing a candidate how is senile.
3
I just came here to say that the "live" photo of the woman in the red jacket with the white hat seriously looks like it's from The Handmaid's Tale. Don't think that was intentional but perhaps it's apt.
1
Biden is the only one I could comfortably eliminate from my choices of who to caucus for and now he is headed to be the nominee. Now we will have to incompetent men running for president? Sure, for different reasons, but incompetent nonetheless.
10
@JES Even if that's true (which I don't agree) which "entourage" do you want to be actually in charge of the executive branch.
4
@JES Difference is that I trust Biden to surround himself with intelligent people.
5
It takes a populist to beat a populist. Biden is no populist. :(
12
@Kevin slight problem: Biden just beat a populist. deal with it. i understand it's never fun to lose, but it's over for Bernie. Do you really want to vote for Trump?
11
@Kevin Biden just beat Bernie the populist.
5
Trump is no populist either, except for his racism and nativism, which are part of right-wing populism.
I personally hate populism. It is the voice of the mob when they latch onto some new idea which inevitably turns out to be worse than what is tried and true.
1
Is WA providing a way for people under voluntary or involuntary quarantine to cast a ballot that will count?
1
@Smarty Pants
If you read Egan's Op-Ed piece you'll find the answer to your question. WA probably has one of the more progressive early (and absentee) voting systems. Albeit much to his regret in one sense.
2
@Smarty Pants My understanding is that most of their voters mail in their ballots.
1
WA votes by mail. Any ballot postmarked by today will be counted. So, everyone can vote.
2
Gore - centrist - lost
Kerry - centrist - lost
Obama - ran as a progressive, won NC, FL, OH, IN, IA, MI, WI, and PA. Governed as a moderate, and Democrats lost almost a thousand seats nationwide
Clinton - centrist - lost
Biden - centrist who can barely string two thoughts together - I'm getting a sinking feeling from 2004
20
@Ted B I don't care. I will vote for Biden. And the day after his inauguration there will be no angry tweet about his crowd size. That is change I can believe in.
14
@Ted B Current political climate: a significant portion of Independents (especially suburban women) are sick of Trump's shtick, and are willing to vote for someone who is not threatening to shake up their worlds. If we get their votes, we win POTUS and (fingers crossed) the Senate. In the near future, that's the prize. As a 70 year old, I've realized that there are times to press the most progressive agenda, and times where the neo-fascists are "winning" and we need to build coalitions to push back. I think this is the latter. Anybody but Trump.
10
I believe that each race was different and that Biden should be able to win in those midwestern states that Hillary lost.
5
I’ll admit that I’m happy that Joe will most likely be the nominee but now is not the time to gloat. Now is the time to address Sanders’ supporters concerns, show them that they are being understood, and provide possible solutions. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and the only way that we achieve anything is to do it together.
29
Eventhough we keep hearing that CV19 is most dangerous for older folk, they are schooling the youngsters in turnout. Hats off to them. Voting is a precious right. Don't take it for granted. Show up on NOV 3...everyone!
26
@Greenfield
All states should follow “no excuse needed” for absentee voting.
4
If Bernie plays the spoiler he will dilute Biden’s juggernaut and, possibly, result in Trump’s reelection. That would be like opening the gates of Hell. Bernie, be a mensch: Tell you supporters to get behind Joe Biden. Unite the party against the tyranny and fascism of Trump and his criminal syndicate. The history of the country — and the world — depends upon it. Step up. All in for Joe Biden.
34
@H. Clark we do, unfortunately, all depend on Bernie and his Bros... I am not hopeful to tell you the truth - I’ve heard (and seen on Facebook) too many horror stories from good friends in the States about their behaviour towards people (especially women) who don’t agree with them for the past 4+ years. If past behaviour is any indication of future behaviour Trump will win in November as they will never vote for Biden.
3
@H. Clark
Two differences this year...
1. Joe Biden won’t be anywhere near as polite as Hillary was when dealing with Sanders attacks.
2. Last time around Sanders and his supporters used every republican attack line against Clinton to hurt her, such that when the general election rolled around all Trump had to do was repeat them with the Zander that “I’m just repeating what Bernie said, so it must be true”. This time around Trump was caught red-handed trying to fake up a scandal on Biden, before Sanders supporters could pick it up.
5
Biden is on a role.
He had the momentum to beat Sanders and Trump.
2
Biden as nominee equals four more years.
3
@Carl
Role playing.
Unless Biden guarantees Medicare For All, I will not vote in the General Election.
5
@Poseidon
No one can guarantee Medicare for All, not even Bernie.
15
Why, because you’d prefer no health insurance to some health insurance? Doesn’t make a lot of sense.
13
@Poseidon: You really think Trump guarantees Medicare for all, even Medicare at all? Dream on...
5
Biden is the presumptive nominee. So the time for Bernie-bashing is now over. He ran an admirable campaign that contributed to the national dialogue and his contribution will be ongoing. Good job Bernie. Now let's go win the White House.
20
The leader of the largest super PAC dedicated to supporting the Democratic presidential nominee said Tuesday that early results out of key primary states showed former Vice President Joe Biden had built an insurmountable lead in the race for the nomination.
Guy Cecil, who heads Priorities USA Action, said in a tweet that Tuesday's results made clear that Biden would be the party's presumptive nominee, even before polls closed in two western states.
"The math is now clear. Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee for President and @prioritiesUSA is going to do everything we can to help him defeat Donald Trump in November. I hope others will join us in the fight," Cecil wrote on Twitter.
5
Well this is more good news for DJT. Biden can barely articulate sentences beyond 3-5 minutes. Thank you corporate democrats for giving us DJT in 2016 and promoting Joe Biden in 2020.
19
@Nature
Just don't ask Bernie to be his debate coach.
There are limits...
2
Egregious.
I can see the Trump banners now: “Biden admits that if he wins nothing will fundamentally change, so vote for Trump!”
4
Thank goodness for the Democrats. Otherwise, trump would win re-election by the largest landslide in history. You go Joe.
11
After Biden’s victories tonight, Sanders has an amazing opportunity. He can suspend his campaign, enthusiastically endorse Biden, plead with his supporters to transfer their support, and make himself an American hero. Imagine that. Bernie Sanders…the next Nathan Hale…the metaphorical “I have only one life to give for my country.” At the very least, Bernie has a chance to be as big a hero as John McCain’s thumb. The party has spoken. Time to all march to the drum of beating Trump.
28
I really like Bernie. I supported him in 2016 and this year up until a couple of weeks ago.
I hope tonight Bernie will drop out of the race and endorse Joe Biden - a wholehearted and enthusiastic endorsement.
Of course Bernie should thank all his supporters who helped build this extraordinary movement that has excited so many of us.
Now the focus has to turn to the Democratic nominee beating Donald Trump.
Trump is crazily making pronouncements about the coronavirus that don't reflect reality and are even endangering people's lives. We need to get Trump out of offie - he's a security threat to our country.
Biden is basically winning this race by acclamation. He's done it with no money and very little staff or coordination.
Voters are looking at Joe Biden and seeing a trustworthy, stable, experienced public service who should be able to beat Trump by miles.
We're tired of Trump Crazytown and we want our country back.
We want a Secretary of State who truly represents American values to the world. And we desperately want an Attorney General who respects the rule of law - and that's not Bill Barr.
And we want a president who isn't insane.
Enough of having a president who's crazy, erratic and doesn't respect the American people, our laws or our values.
The Democratic end of this is coming to a close, coalescing around Joe Biden. We need to unify the party and prepare to beat Donald Trump.
Love ya Bernie. But the fat lady has sung.
33
This is Joe Biden's third try at the presidency...well, in baseball three strikes and you're out.
I am attempting to reserve judgement until I watch his debate with Bernie Sanders this coming Sunday. But my early observations are that his record, his misspeaks, and his forgetfulness will show in the glare at the debate.
I believe Bernie Sanders has the platform for the future. Too bad the neo-liberal Democrats have put their chips on him.Is the goal here to stop Sanders or stop Trump?
7
@EB Many voters have decided that Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump. Too bad they didn't agree with your brilliant analysis. Some of us want to stop losing elections where the results determine "the platform of the future". I agree with much of Sanders' agenda, but this election is going to be won in the middle; in suburban districts with significant turnout. Realize that this is a fight against neo-facism and work with your allies.
2
@EB
The goal was to get rid of Sanders.
If we see a repeat of this next week with Ohio, Florida, Illinois and Arizona, as we almost definitely will, Bernie must stand down. Study the delegate numbers for yourself - he'd have no realistic chance after March 17. This will be the point at which he will only be harming Democratic chances in the fall by continuing. Hopefully, Bernie will do the right thing.
Trump is an abomination and must be defeated.
26
@Frank Roseavelt He has no realistic chance now. No need to drag this out.
4
This is the only win some democrats will be able to taste--the democratic nomination--with the help of a crooked establishment. Biden will not win the presidency.
10
@PegeenMike "deep state" and "establishment"; it's boogeyman comedy and smart Democrats aren't getting suckered by it. bye Bernie Bros. you never really helped Bernie at all.
14
@PegeenMike If establishment you mean minority voters and women then yes that was how he won.
6
@Tim Amazing how the "wave" of young voters (<30) that Sanders was going to mobilize showed up less than in the 2016 primary. I'm 70, and my cohort votes at a much higher percentage (usually for the worse). Please don't show up at the polls at around 13% (Super Tuesday) and expect you can complain that "the crooked establishment" is controlling things.
1
Only 25% of voters voted on the Republican ballot. There was a huge cross over vote, something Michigan allows.
It did not happen with Bernie/Hillary because Trump was deep in his own contest for the Republican nomination. Now he got over 98% of the Republican ballots, and half of those voters dabbled instead in the Democratic race.
Two things:
First, the Trump voters will go back to Trump in a general election, but many Bernie voters won't go to Biden. Biden is going to lose Michigan in a general election.
Second, in this primary, the delegates are going to split rather evenly, even though one or the other "wins" the state. The net advantage will be slight. A lot of districts are going to split their delegates 2:2 no matter what the vote it, because nobody was ever going to get a 3:1 blowout. In fact, due to a small number of uneven numbers of delegates, a slight win in the right spots could produce a Gerrymander effect for one or the other candidate.
8
@Mark Thomason A committed Trump voter isn't going to "dabble" by casting a sincere vote in a Dem primary. If by dabbling we mean mischief voting, those Trump voters were much more likely to vote for Sanders, the weaker candidate.
5
@Mark Thomason
Or maybe those Republican voters are so fed up with DJT that they voted for Biden now so as to have a chance to vote for him again in November?
Perhaps there are more Republican "Never Trumpers" out there than you imagine?
1
OK. It's Joe Biden. Let's unite and get this done. We need to work to get back to normal and repair the damage that Trump has inflicted on our nation.
45
Why are there still caucuses? The results seem to be systematically flawed and delayed... perhaps the good old boys network needs to take a seat for everyone to truly have a voice in the US (yeah, we need all of your voices to be counted as you are still the largest economy in the world (for now) and Canada’s BFForever.)
5
It is time for Bernie to quit and spare everyone of more events and rallies.
16
Biden most likely to win the nomination of the Democratic party with a significant lead over Bernie and the establishment Democrats including other wannabe drop out presidential candidates circling their wagons around him. Both Biden and Bernie are in the age groups, CDC has said should stay home as much as they can. Both have cancelled their rallies and have done the right thing.
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii , the only woman still in the race should not be encouraged to drop out and endorse either Biden or Bernie even if she does miserably in the today's primary. Tulsi is approaching 40 and about 30 years younger than both Bernie and Biden. Tulsi has been reliably against the regime change war. As the only woman left standing after 5 other women running including the 2 endorsed by the NY Times Edi board, one would have hoped that she would be the front runner. But no she is not the establishment darling like Hillary was. But Hillary did not win did she? Tulsi will appeal to the independents without which, the divided Democrats cannot take back the white house.
With the recent uncertainties in life, who expected a nano sized virus wear a crown would terrorize the world and make a home in over 100,000 inhabitants of our planet and kill several 1000s? We cannot be sure of anything and therefore do not be sure that Biden will take the WH for the Democrats even if he is around to be the nominee. Democrats need the young and dynamic woman, Tulsi waiting in the wings.
3
@Girish Kotwal
Tulsi should pack it in. No way she’ll be the nominee.
5
It’s clear now: Bernie needs to get out. The world needs to unite against Trump and the virus.
28
More than 300 million Americans and these two old white men are the best the United States can produce to take on Trump. The US political system is broken.
The entire world will watch in horror as Trump will get another four years to wreak havoc both domestically and internationally.
14
@Bart Said like that… it is sad.
1
670 Biden delegates - 574 Sanders delegates = Means Biden has 96 more pledged delegates than Sanders.
5
The youngs stayed home and Warren's vote is going to Biden. Explain to me how those facts represent an "establishment" plot?
45
@Blair The Bernistas couldn't even get their prime demographic (<30) out to vote as much as in 2016. I really hope that demographic can be persuaded to come out in much higher percentages in the future, but it's not happening now.
6
Vice President Biden, I am glad you are doing well, but here is what I fear from you: that your campaign theme, “to restore the soul of this country,” will simply not be enough to beat Trump.
What policy messages will you hammer on, to restore the soil of the country?
What forgotten communities will you advocate for, to restore the soil of our country?
What will your positive message be, other than you are not Donald Trump?
We have to hear more specifics from you. Right now you have a tailwind, but I fear it will be squandered.
8
I hate that people aren’t voting for the candidate they agree with but who they feel will beat trump. Have we not learned from history with that this usually never works. The way you beat trump is bringing new voter to the table. why isn’t Election Day a paid government holiday so that people can go. Bernie had a hard chance in the primary. Still hoping for the best but look getting Biden isn’t getting you back Obama. Biden may talk that way but hes not Obama
6
Glen,
People aren’t getting philosophical. They want Trump and fascist brand of conservatism out.
Election reforms are a long term battle. Today the goal is to beat Trump with the rules in place today.
Black people in the South know this more than anyone. They know Sanders has no shot of cross over voters. No shot.
10
@Glen Exactly. It never works. Oddly, the oldest generation which supposedly has more experience doesn't seem to understand that.
1
@Practical Thoughts And those are the voters who will be deciding this election (in key electoral states).
I for one am very depressed about the vote today, but the people have spoken and I hope that Biden wins the general election. I do feel bad for Bernie and I wish him the best.He’s fought a hard fight. His movement was well-intentioned. One thing that the media never stresses is that he was backed by the people..not corporations... millions of small donations. The nurses union and our revolution aren’t rolling in dough!
I think Biden is a weak candidate but obviously millions don’t agree with me. I will continue to support blue candidates running for the Senate and hopefully we can win there as well as the White House. Our country depends on it!
12
Sanders losing Michigan, and after the shellacking he got on super Tuesday, spells the end of his campaign. This was his last hurrah. Sanders voters have some serious questions that they must ask themselves about wow they will proceed. I respect their right to vote how the want but hope the will support Biden.
18
Now is the time for Bernie and all his supporters to do what is right for this country - help defeat Trump. Bernie and his fans need coalesce around Biden and not drag this out any more.
12
@BMD
Biden needs to give a reason beyond, "I'm going to defeat Trump."
3
Sanders deserves a lot of credit for supporting a platform that seemed more extreme four years ago, and that is now largely accepted by most Democrats. But his “movement” has simply not come to fruition. The youth turnout hasn’t happened, and he has been incapable of expanding his base - most likely due to his own reluctance to compromise. The big question now is when and how Sanders will bow out. Will he fight to the end and then grudgingly support Biden as the nominee like he did four years ago with Clinton? Or will he enthusiastically back Biden and do everything he can to make sure his often rabid supporters get out and vote Democrat? How Sanders handles this could make the difference in ousting Trump and taking back the Senate.
10
At this point in time, I'm hoping people realize the goal is to defeat the current POTUS. I understand and would be upset if "my candidate" didn't get the ticket but we have to band together for the "greater good "- something which didn't happen in 2016...unfortunately.
At this point in time, I think a 5 year old can do a better job than this current POTUS.
8
@thewhigs I think you should refrain from telling voters what the goal is. This is not a game. Voting is a serious responsibility that each of us must decide on for ourselves. One person, one vote.
4
It’s over for Sanders. And since his supporters certainly won’t enthusiastically turn out for Biden, it may be over for Biden too,
8
@Chris No, I don't think. Bernie Bros seem large in number on the internet, but real progressives are not going to help Donald Trump stay president. Not a chance. I seriously doubt all Bernie Bros are actually "liberal" and really just want to yell about things.
5
If I was Joe Biden, I would stop campaigning, this race is over. I wouldn’t even do the next debate, why would you. The American people are speaking loud and clear. With Corona flu out there no need for political rallies and meeting the people. Just TV commercials from here on. It’s over. Biden has reached the point where he doesn’t have to even spend a lot of money. If Sanders wants to stay in it then let him campaign, Joe stay home and stay safe, you are the most important man on the planet now.
9
@Lonnie
A good point others have missed. Joe must stay healthy. He's all we have against Trump.
4
If Mr Sanders fails to win Michigan he should exit the race. A loss there would make clear that his self-proclaimed turnout power has failed to materialize.
8
The goal now is to beat Trump. Bernie hates the Democrats and has always scorned them. It would be nice if he got on board, but he won't. He's too into himself. We need to win without his people, sadly. This is a national emergency.
10
Thank you Senator Sanders. Good effort. But accept the math and join the good fight against the greater evil.
13
bernie's expanded electorate of voters are like the Emperor's New Clothes. We hear a lot about them but we cannot see them.
11
Sanders is done. It only remains to be seen if he does the decent thing.
12
At some point, Bernie Sanders is going to have to drop out and the unrealistic expectations he set for his followers will have to contend with reality. When he does that and how he does that will have broad implications for the general election in November and what percentage of his supporters vote for the Democratic nominee.
18
Since the results from Michigan are going to be slow coming in, I wonder what the over/under is on the first, "The system is rigged!" cry coming out of the Sanders camp?
Also, if Biden wins, how long before the Sanders campaign starts screaming about how the DNC fixed the vote?
We really need an office pool!
29
Really wish we’d close schools in nj now rather than later
3
@GWE
just find a "safe space" and curl up...you'll be fine ;O
1
Whenever Sanders supporters threaten-brag about how if Biden is nominated, they will sit out the election, always look at where they live. Chances are good that it's a dark blue state. This is where the Electoral College comes in handy: It allows the rest of us to ignore these pot-stirring malcontents.
42
Wow your remarks are so blatantly wrong, they sound like they could have come from a foreign interference factory.
You seemed to forget that when Biden was overrun by several candidates everyone wrote him off.
It is that exactly at that moment that the Democratic dictatorship in charge performed a coup with the help of a large part of the media and started one of the most negative campaigns against a candidate in history.
Biden a man with no programs, no idea just a boorish Obama follower who had lost each presidential debate program, became without a single change in his presentations the leaderships favorite for one reason only.
He wasn’t a real democrat, he was a very conservative democrat and like before was and is willing to execute the leaderships demands exactly as they had dictated to them.
The Democratic party as is, had finally shown its ugly face.
They don’t want any change unless approved by their masters, corporate masters who had put them in power in the first place.
No difference between the two corporate endowed parties leadership.
They both pretend to be for the average American, they were and still are both lying.
You might be so naive to think that no dramatic changes are needed in our society, nobody is on the verge of bankruptcy when there is a medical
catastrophe isn’t it? Your wages are in line with inflation, healthcare is affordable and education is cheap isn’t it? Banks are not controlling your life and inequality doesn’t exist?
Where do you live?
3
I’ll take you one further. Although I will never vote for a Republican, I’m switching my affiliation from Dem to Independent after this election.
1
If Biden wins the nomination, I will switch to the Green Party for the general election. I realize this doesn't make too much of a difference since I'm voting in NY, however, I cannot, in good conscience, vote for slow. steady, incremental change. We're out of time. People who can't afford to take off work when they are sick (maybe with COVID-19) are the same people who don't have health insurance. I know this because I once worked in the service industry. We need the Green New Deal. We need bold change, fast.
32
Your goals are laudable, but Sanders is not electable in the swing states, which the Democrats need to win, and even if he were, he would not be able to accomplish any of the things that you espouse, given the current makeup of Congress. It's worth voting for Biden just to vote against Trump, even if you have to hold your nose to do so. I agree with your substantive goals, but think we need to be realistic about what we can accomplish right now. Getting Trump out of office before he does even more damage is the highest priority.
10
Go switch. Sanders is not a Democrat. He’s a Euro styled socialist. The Democratic Party never was an advocate for socialism or state control of the means of production
4
Can tell you are millennial, because that was some of the most disjointed thinking ever.
4
Old Bernie is angry as old dude Donald. Same species to destroy establishment. Biden is like an old insurance policy about to run out. Bloomberg is the dude against Donald.
7
@Uly
Dude!
1
@Uly Lol
1
Trump isn't cancelling anything. He's holding “Catholics for Trump” next week. I would love for a Catholic Trump supporter to explain how they rationalize his corrupt, profligate history and his lying about being pro-life with Catholic doctrine.
36
@apparatchick
So Trump is pro-choice?? I'm confused now...or is that you ;O
2
@apparatchick
Misogyny is a potent glue that binds them. Whatever form sexual assault takes matters very little to them at this point. It can be an assault in a room at the top of the stairs, in the dressing room in a department store, in a dark alley or a Supreme Court ruling to control women's sexual and reproductive freedom.
3
@Eyes Wide Open Yes, there are clips of Trump stating that he is “very pro-choice.” He asked his former mistress (and later ex wife) to have an abortion when she was pregnant with Tiffany. That’s also on record.
It wasn’t until he landed the nomination that he changed his stance. I have little doubt that he is still pro-choice, but—as with other demagogues—simply promotes a position that he believes will keep him in power.
2
Don't stay up late waiting for Trump to do the same. Though he had close contact with members of Congress who are now self-quarantined, he isn't even taking the c-virus test. It's not necessary they say, so Trump rallies full speed ahead!
8
So the guy who confused Super Tuesday with Super Thursday gets to win again at no charge. Feels like Trump 2020. Why? Trump has no shame. He will destroy Biden.
26
Biden has certainly destroyed Bernie, so I guess we lucked out in not letting Sanders have a disastrous finish against Trump.
2
reports... Bernie is retreating to Vermont. Seen this before. Tomorrow will decide how history views his revolution. Lets all hope it is not as the leader of a suicide pact.
8
I want to see the actual vote counts for each race. Not just that Joe Biden won a state, like that's enough information. Right now with less than 1% of the vote in, they're calling states and not showing any vote counts.
NY Times, please show the actual vote counts for each state!
On Super Tuesday when NYTimes showed the vote counts, the progressive vote was split between Sanders and Warren. IF it had been together, Sanders would have surpassed Biden's votes in several other states (such as Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Texas. . .) , thus won in those states. And in some of those states, Sanders was pretty close to Biden's votes on his own.
The day after super Tuesday I couldn't find the vote counts any more, even when I clicked on full election results. It just showed Biden had won states, without showing the distribution and number of the votes for all the candidates. It's a form of propaganda when the actual data isn't showing and it's made to look like Biden made a bigger sweep than it was.
7
You’ll get the vote counts.
The demographics, exit poll margins, and very early results from Mo and Miss were more than enough call for Biden with near certainty.
He’ll win Michigan too, but the margins are not nearly enough to call the race definitely at poll closing.
9
@Lina
I think you are incorrect that Warren's votes were "progressive" votes and that Bernie could expect them all.
A large portion of Warren's support was simply based upon her being female. All along through her campaign she made a sexist appeal for support as well as her medicare for all appeal.
I suspect that Biden will get at least half of what was Warren's support. Biden will also get virtually all of what was Bloomberg's support.
Voters are not really voting for Biden.....they are voting rejection of Sanders and his many nasty supporters.
1
@Lina and if the Warren and Biden vote had been combined Mr Biden would have won every state.
I will not vote for President if the Democrats nominate Joe Biden. I don't care if Trump wins.
17
@Louis Anthes ok
9
You mean if Democratic voters in primaries give Biden over 2000-some delegates, triggering his nomination by the rules Sanders agreed to? Guess you have a problem with elections and the voters who showed up. Scale up that attitude and you have given up on democracy in the USA.
36
@Louis Anthes You live in a state that will vote for Biden in a landslide, so go ahead, don't vote for him. Just know that your silent protest will not only not be noticed, it won't make a bit of difference.
31
When will we learn who won Democrats Abroad?
2
I’m starting to get the uneasy feeling that the coronavirus pandemic may very well be the plague of biblical proportions we human beings so richly deserve for our misbehavior in modern times. Far too many of us have been selfish, materialistic, lying, insensitive, unserious, racist, sexist, elitist, clannish fools. We abandoned social responsibility and the community ethic a long time ago. Now that we may need these moral values to defeat this epidemic we appear to be caught flat-footed. I hope those of us who survive this scare learn the lessons the Good Lord may be trying to teach us.
5
Oh relax. It's not that bad. We didnt invent sinning. God isn't picking us as the worst in history any time soon. Read a little history and you will see, people have been sinning pretty badly for a while now. Especially if you consider genocide, slavery and war grave sins.
2
@Howard Gregory While we should learn any scientific lessons we can from this pandemic (i.e. prevention and treatment), there's no reason to believe any "superior being" is trying to teach us a lesson, just Mother Nature.
1
Bernie was finished last week. If Bernie doesn't win Michigan and doesn't get out Biden should ignore him completely including pulling out of the debates with him.
It's time to focus on defeating Trump.
I'm far less worried about Biden's gaffs and occasional stuttering. He's been doing that for decades. He's a decent, honest man who's a progressive Democrat.
Donald Trump has been talking like a stark raving lunatic. He goes from totally subdued to maniac. He clearly sick both mentally and physically. If he's own cabinet won't act and the Republican Senate won't act we need to act now.
Bernie had his moment in the sun. Like the other honorable democrats it's time to get off the stage.
62
@HL Decent you say ? Maybe only when people don't confront hom or ask him difficult question ! Look at all the videos which are already circulating...look at the last one...fresh of today..
Trump has never been so rude !
8
Joe handled the NRA stooge perfectly.
4
@HL Progressive?That seems a stretch. At best he is a corporatist, and more likely he is a republican.
5
Can we all call Bernie to support Biden to defeat Trump. Can we all get on board on this now. Get Trump out now.
36
We need to revamp the Democratic Primary process. We can do much better for the candidates and the voters.
8
with Biden sweeping the south it’s like reconstruction never happened. What a way to heal the wounds and unify the country, Joe.
3
Its so funny that they would cancel. Everyone thinks the Virus is so bad but yet we have more people dye because of weight.
1
Die. Not dye.
8
The more school closings and event cancellations that take place, the greater the likelihood that Trump will ousted in November.
Three cheers and a hip-hip-hooray for everyone who is closing things down.
7
I'm hoping that Bernie pulls off a miracle and wins big tonight.
But unless that happens, in order not to fall into a deep depression, I'm preparing by researching how I can help elect a "climate congress". Not just flip it blue but elect leaders to address this climate crisis head-on and enacting a Green New Deal even if we have a Biden presidency.
I live in Colorado and I'm supporting Andrew Romanoff who supports a Green New Deal as well as Medicare for All. He's running in the primary against John Hickenlooper who does not support a GND nor M4A. Please join me.
15
Green New Deal and Medicare for all. And who's go'n pay for that?
Seriously, the utopian fantasies of the Green Left make the USSR sound like a market economy.
15
If you want to see the troglodyte Cory Gardner re-elected keep supporting Romanoff. He is sure to lose.
12
@Buster BRONX Romanoff won the caucus.
Why? In large part because Hickenlooper doesn't go to the debates and town halls that have been happening all over Colorado among the candidates. He just doesn't show.
People want someone who will work for them. Hickenlooper isn't that person.
1
Polls close in about 30 minutes, I can't believe it hasn't been called yet.
2
Both Biden and Sanders should request a meeting with Fauci, Redfield and any other top experts in coronavirus epidemiology so that both can speak in complete agreement with the government experts who know what the evidence based recommendations are. That would be a stark contrast to Trump's statements that contradict the experts.
This is not politicizing a public health crisis, It is spreading truths instead of fantasies.
19
as expected
1
Biden should wrap things up tonight. It’s time to learn if Bernie Sanders truly loves his country. Trump is a formidable opponent, and it will take a United Democratic Party to best him. If Sanders loses big tonight, he should drop out of the race. This will take Joe Biden off the campaign trail and out of danger. It will also take voters out of polling places where they too can get sick, and out of rallies, where they can get sick. Maybe if the Corona virus had not turned up when it did, for instance if it had come last year, than sure , stay in the race, but the virus is here, and it’s nor safe to campaign, for either man or the voters.
In the end it will not be the virus or even Biden that brought down Bernie, it’s the young people, all those young people who said they were going to come out to vote and as always, as history says quite clearly ...the young people do not vote, lowering the age to 18 was a complete waste of time, they would rather stay home and play video games.
Bye Bernie...do what is right for your country and throw all support to Biden. That would be heroic in a time of national crises.
26
This nomination process is a joke. I haven't been allowed to vote yet and it's down to two people. Basically my vote doesn't count in this party and the more I think about it, this part deserves 4 more years of trump because they STILL don't get it.
14
@Monsp
A lot of people haven't voted yet.
7
I think the commenter is talking about the risk of Biden contracting Coronavirus on the campaign trail.
1
Maybe 3 of these states at an optimistic most matter as far as delivering electoral votes for a democratic candidates.
Delegates should be weighted on a basis of discoverability.
@Lawrence
Deliverability, not discoverability.
1
Next debate will have no audience. Hope that cuts down on the yelling.
I think it should be in a living room set. A fireside conversation with the two candidates and one thoughtful interviewer who asks good follow up questions. Forget the current debate format.
21
@Mary What an excellent suggestion. I so agree.
What took them so long? Waiting until the day of to cancel? How dare they criticize anyone else over the handling of corona.
As someone that had an event canceled days before I can attest to the impact on those of us looking for clear and decisive leadership. They both had plenty of advance notice to decide.
Disappointing
2
Keep Sanders in the Senate. We will need him to help boot Mitch McConnell out of leadership of the Senate where all good bills go to die.
15
My wish is for Bernie and his supporters to quit and pledge support to unseat our most egregious President in history. Thats right. The most despised President ever in the history of the United States. Let's be clear about this. We all would love to live in Bernies vision of America and I hope one day to see that come true but the reality of this inept corrupt lying President has me on edge that he could continue. Bernie, Joe Biden, stop him.
29
With all that has been happening and watching the destruction of this country, it doesn’t matter who the nominee is. Everyone vote blue because we need to turn this country around.
It is impossible to live not believing a word this administration stated.
Everything has been run into ruin by this administration
They are successful in fulfilling simple concepts but nothing heavy
11
Biden is smart enough to listen to others who are well informed and can guide him, just like Obama was. He's also very experienced politically. He's not my favorite Democratic candidate, but since he's electable, unlike Bernie, I am happy to support him.
5
Lupito, no it is the way to get Supreme Court justices like Sotomayer and Kagan or Ginsburg instead of Kavanaugh, Thomas and Gorsuch. It is the way to address climate change, reduce inequality and secure our people from pandemics.
5
@ Lipitor
Your comments here for the last several months have become increasingly inflammatory & irrational. Time for you to accept the fact that Bernie’s run is over. Get over yourself & your rhetoric, & prepare to vote Blue - all the way down the ticket. If you don’t, you will enable the final shredding of our constitution, the destruction of the environment, & every thing else you pretended to care about when posting Bernie Bots here previously.
1
I'm expecting this "race" to be over tonight, with Biden pulling out to an insurmountable lead.
And it will likely be due to a visceral reaction to the coronavirus. Sanders "revolutionary" plans are all long term solutions and, as a congressional back-bencher his entire career, there is no way he is capable of pulling together a broad coalition on such fundamental changes.
So the immediacy, uncertainty and discomfort that voters are feeling since a few days ago will likely result in the "safe choice," namely Biden.
12
In any other year I’d vote for Sanders. But this year I want to get Trump out of office. Trump is salivating at the thought of running against Sanders. He knows he can make Sanders’s running mate Fidel Castro. I know it’s not true or fair. But since when do republicans play fair?
25
@Lupito
I voted for McGovern in 1972. I’ll never do anything like that again.
5
@Lupito
I’m to the left of Sanders. But I know America is nowhere near where I want to go. So I’ll go for my revolution another time when a maniac is not in the White House.
11
And don't forget, we're talking about DEMOCRATIC voters here. Imagine Sanders' washout in a general electorate contest.
21
I'm a Bernie supporter. I'm tired of hearing other Bernie supporters say that Biden will lose to Trump. If Biden's the nominee, you'd better believe he's going to win and win big. Why? Because we're all going to come together, organize, volunteer, donate money, and MAKE SURE he wins.
Yeah, I want Bernie to be the nominee, but please, stop spreading cynicism.
117
@Bubbles My understanding is that on Super Tuesday Sanders' youth vote was outpaced in open primary states by center-right Republicans and independent support for Biden. So Biden will likely target his message to the latter, even if it results in less youth support.
5
Thank you thank you! This is the positive togetherness that will win the 2020 for the Democrats. I wish we could publish this message all across Twitter.
15
@Bubbles - Oh my God, thank you for saying this. I wish more Bernie supporters felt the way you do. I’m terrified that if Joe Biden wins the primary, disappointed Bernie supporters will have a collective hissy fit and vote for Trump, or the awful Tulsi Gabbard, or a third-party candidate who is going nowhere, or will simply just sit home, pictures of petulance, on Nov. 3. We need them, and we need their votes for a Democrat in November. Everyone’s got to work together to save our democracy from Trump, and I’m so afraid Bernie supporters will simply not be able to see the forest for the trees and do that. It’s really very simple: our democracy is more important than any one person or candidate. Trump is trying to destroy it. We can’t let that happen.
8
I know what Sanders stands for, and I would vote for it.
I haven't a clue what Biden stands for, so I would not be able to vote for him.
22
@Greg
Well then go find out what Biden stands for.
13
If only there were a way for you to find out what Biden’s policy ideas are, where he stands on the issues. If only there were a device with the technology that would allow you to learn that information and have it at your fingertips ... maybe someday, that will happen and won’t be just a pipe dream!
1
@dlb
As soon as Biden finds out what he stands for.
1
If you're an American - and you have the sense you were born with - vote for Biden.
He might actually win and be able to do something positive - something possible and realistic - for the country and the world...
17
Good for both of them for leading by example, heeding the advice of the experts, and cancelling their rallies. Painful, but the right thing to do. What a concept. Hopefully a harbinger of the next administration.
7
A vote for Biden in the primary is a vote for four more years of Trump. Trump will eat Biden alive in a general election because (as voters have been loudly yelling now, for years) he has zero authenticity. Whatever you think of Sanders, he has credibility, consistency, and integrity. He speaks coherently and with passion about the policy issues that have always mattered to him. You can count on the above to be major Republican talking points against Biden if he wins the nomination.
42
@Jason
Yes Sanders has all those positive character traits. But he has another character trait that isn’t so becoming: He’s hopelessly delusional to think he has 60 votes in a Democratic Senate let alone a Republican one.
24
@Jason
Yes, Bernie is authentic. An authentic failure. 30 years in Congress without a single meaningful accomplishment.
23
@Oliver
You mean as delusional as Obama was to believe Biden's much-crowed about relationships with Republicans?
Why did Obama have to govern by executive order if Biden was able to work so well with Republicans?
Biden had 8 years as VP to prove himself. He failed, repeatedly.
6
Mr Biden's support of the Iraq War is indeed problematic for those of us who opposed that war and vowed we would never vote for anyone who voted for it. It is one of the reasons that Mr Biden is such a deeply flawed candidate. But, you know, we also couldn't foresee President Trump...
12
I had hoped to vote for Warren next November, but I’ll be happy to vote for Biden. If it’s Bernie, I’ll have to vote for him—but I’ve always seen Bernie as a shrill, angry old man with plans he can’t pay for. Biden will surround himself with smart, knowledgeable people when he wins the White House and I’ll be looking forward to decency instead of idiocy in Washington.
17
God help us if Biden gets this nomination.
31
It's so depressing again and again to see so many voters who are against Bernie because they are afraid of having a little bit less cash in exchange for, finally, giving EVERYONE access to services those same anti-bernie folk take completely for granted.
every, single, antibernie comment can be deducted to "I don't want to give up anything I have to help those who never had anything"
48
No, that is a gross simplification of many different opposing views. Would it be fair if I said every single pro -Bernie post can be reduced to “I’m young and nobody will hand me anything. Give me free stuff!” No, that wouldn’t be fair.
14
@just every, single, antibernie comment can be deducted to "I don't want to nominate someone who is going to be beaten by Mr Trump".
5
@Lupito
Not me us, but all their fault.
1
If Bernie does well tonight, one reason may be COVID-19. Older folks, who favor Biden, may be more frightened to go the polls (especially if they think Biden will win without them.) Meanwhile younger voters, who back Bernie, will not fear being infected and will venture out. Not the main reason,I'd think, but one that should be considered in evaluating the results. Hopefully, the virus will be long gone in November.
5
Worst outbreak is in Washington and thankfully we have mail in ballots.
4
We should not forget how atypical Michigan is. Before the illegal Ukraine scheme came out, Michigan was the only swing state that Sanders was doing better than Biden in against Trump. At that time, in all of the other swing states, Biden was doing better than Sanders against Trump. It goes without saying that the Ukraine election cheating scheme hurt Biden about as much as it helped Sanders.
2
Well, now we have the corona virus hysteria as another reason why some people will not vote.
Meanwhile, life goes on.
5
@Simon Sez Or, for some 4000 people, it doesn't.
6
@Viv: When African American voters are told that they can’t vote for whatever spurious reason when they get to the polls in a general election, that is indeed voter suppression. When young Bernie “voters” can’t be bothered to go vote for their candidate in the primaries, that isn’t voter suppression. It is apathy.
23
@Ben
If you can't be bothered to get a state IDs, and make sure you're on the voting rolls, how is that not apathy?
People don't bother to go vote when you repeatedly hammer them with ridiculous propaganda that they're voting for Castro and Hitler and Putin. That is a form of voter suppression whether you want to believe it or not.
There's plenty to criticize Sanders on policy grounds, if you want to actually have a respectful debate. Funny how Biden Bros aren't into that.
2
So much typing tonight, Viv. Are your fingers tired yet?
1
@Viv—Biden Bro? That’s a funny way of being pigeonholed. Biden was my last choice along with Bernie—except for Bloomberg. I was a Warren Warrior!
1
Regarding the guns confrontation, the helmeted gentleman doth protest too much.
Gun control is more a matter of stopping people owning certain weapons than taking away what they already own.
Their right to possess weapons, guaranteed by The Second Amendment, will not be infringed because the idea is self-defense not combat.
8
If Sanders loses heavily tonight will he put country above ego and withdraw from the race?
If not he is a trump supporter in Leninist clothing.
12
what exactly is it about the man with the campaign slogan "not me, us" that makes you think he is an egotist?
13
You know that saying about not putting all of your eggs in one basket? I feel like that’s what progressives have done. All of their eggs are on the Bernie presidency. Nothing else will do. Nobody else will do. Forget organizing at the local level and trying to get more progressives into Congress. Forget supporting other progressives like Elizabeth Warren, because they aren’t Bernie. Now that the basket is about to hit the ground and break all of those eggs, the bitterness and the resentment are palpable. What I worry about is Bernie taking progressivism down with him for the foreseeable future. All of our progressive ambition was tied to one cranky old man whom many people just don’t like. A resounding defeat of Bernie will be seen as a defeat of progressive ideas. But what many of us are rejecting is Bernie the man. Bernie’s fans can’t see that, so they think we are stupid or evil or corrupt. This is what happens with a cult of personality.
17
@Ben
Actually, I would have happily voted for Warren at least. And would prefer ranked choice voting overall.
But nevermind that. It seems that, especially if Biden does as well as expected tonight, the Dems have put all of their eggs into one very shaky basket, now that the party has induced all of the other non-Sanders candidates to drop out. (Ok,except Tulsi). What are you going to do if that Hail Mary pass gets fumbled?
5
@Ben
Nonsense. I supported Warren and Bernie. Donated money both. Ran two horses hoping one will make it. I don’t care which.
Policy matters. Though I am making fun of moderates claiming to vote Biden for decency while he says people are full of — and dog faced pony soldiers. They don’t see Biden for what he is.
Bernie is an old grump guy but he has long supported the right policies which is focused on civil rights, fighting inequality and stands against participating in legalized corruption.
The constant attacks on people who support progressive policy is all consuming. Like a hive mind cult of moderates protecting their dragon hoard of riches they greedily guard.
7
@Ben
When will people realize the vitriol they read on social media and in comment sections is often trolling and/or election interference (see: U.S. Intelligence agency reports)?
Every Bernie supporter I know plans to vote for the eventual Democratic nominee.
And we are working to get progressives into office down ticket.
7
Wow... reading these comments the Bernie Sanders Bros are out in full force. Sorry, kids. Biden's supporters will be wheeling out our chairs to support him, regardless of the coronavirus calling our senior names.
Vote your heart for the candidate of your choice, then vote Democrat come 2020. Our end goal should be to remove Trump from Office. I will proudly vote for Biden or Sanders.
12
@Valerie - As a 57 year old woman, I’m continually amazed at being called a Bernie Bro.
10
@Valerie This 74 year old female Sanders supporter is not a “Bro” or a kid. I support universal government health care. You sound like maybe a Medicare beneficiary. Many are left out of the health care safety net. I am voting for Sanders in the primary to send the message that we need health care for all!
8
Here's an idea. Next race in 2024, the Democratic party should award an additional 10% delegates to states that the Democratic candidate carries this year. Although I appreciate the loyalty, voters in the deep South just can't deliver in the Fall. Minority voters in these states could turn their electoral college results if they just turned out. I know there are historical reasons why they do not, but now, more than ever, is the time to stand up and be counted.
Another alternative could be that only states that deliver can have super delegates at the next convention.
2
@TH
Or how about majority. Straight forward, honest and lines up with eliminating the electoral college.
Anything less is hypocrisy when we go to take down the EC.
1
The coronavirus crisis has thrown into relief just how much this country needs a Sanders administration. Bernie will take us
in all the right directions on health care, college affordability, investment in infrastructure, climate change, and greater income equality, among other issues. What's more, he is respected and admired around the world, and will restore America's soft power.
Go Bernie!
21
A Biden nominee is a Trump victory and a hard fascist dictatorship. When Biden has another senior moment during one of the debates Trump's base is going to go rabid. RIP democracy, if it ever existed.
35
Trump can’t speak. He slurs his speech and goes off on weird tangents. Who is this mythical Trump who is a master of debate and intellect and sanity? I’ve never seen him.
18
@Samuel Scott Unlike the articulate, thought provoking, well spoken messages dished out by Trump? Too, funny. I'm sure Biden or Sanders will do just fine going up against Trump and Trump's "brilliant, stable mind".
14
@Samuel Scott
If Biden is the nominee, who gets your vote?
4
With three hours left to go, I've gotten 7 votes for Bernie to the polling place. On a roll. Everyone needs to help.
29
@Mark Thomason
I admire your energy, though I don’t prefer your candidate.
If he’s the nominee, though, he gets my vote.
If he’s Not the nominee, who gets yours?
8
@Mark Thomason
Here, let me finish your sentence:
"With three hours left to go, I've gotten 7 votes for Bernie to the polling place. On a roll. Everyone needs to help [Trump get re-elected]."
Because that is really what you're doing.
2
@GMooG
Is this a Mod Bro? I don’t think so because I don’t care but it seems like moderates should have the same standards applied to them as they have for progressives.
Helping people vote is the most Americans thing you can do for our democracy.
Good job original poster. Don’t let the Mod Bros get you down.
3
Do Biden supporters have amnesia? Remember what Trump did with a simple rumor of missing emails in 2016? How much more will he do with the inappropriate Ukraine mess? (Maybe not illegal but certainly not appropriate).
There is a major health crisis and even talk of bailing out energy companies while those in quarantine get hit with $8k medical bills from the gov.
Bernie’s solution’s fit the moment like no other. Our only chance to avoid a repeat of 2008 melt down.
19
@Townsend
The missing emails were not a "rumor"; they were a fact. Even Hillary acknowledged that reality.
6
It is sad to see how the Democratic Party is aligning to make Biden the nominee. The Monday before super Tuesday it was Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar who endorsed Biden at a rally. Yesterday it was Harris and Booker.
The claim is that a Biden is the best shot at beating Trump. At this point in the midst of global uncertainty do to the coronavirus and stock markets, Donald Trump has shown himself to be the fool we all know. I think Republicans will finally start to take notice when their finances and health are affected and have to listen to the President ramble. Having said that the democrats continue to make it about beating Trump. A sack of potatoes should be able to beat Trump at this point. So the question that now remains in my mind is why not vote for the best candidate now instead of the guy who is perceived to have a better shot at beating Trump. That guy is clearly Bernie Sanders.
What Bernie is talking about for America is something I have taken for granted as a Canadian. I never once had to consider cost when going to a doctor or hospital - that would be egregious.
Yet for some reason Biden's plan which is much less substantive is drawing in all the presidential candidates to endorse him.
It seems odd and highly suspicious, especially for Corey Booker who I feel is much more aligned with Sanders' policies then Biden's. It is also odd that Warren has remained silent and not endorsed Sanders which should be obvious.
Let the people decide!
31
@Sam Yes, let the people decide and don't blame Democratic establishment like Sanders for Biden's victory in last Super Tuesday. I'm one of the many people who decided with all my hearts and confidence to support Biden. I'm an independent, and Sanders scares me.
14
@Sam
By endorsing they have a chance for payback to be in the administration. It also doesn’t upset the legalized bribery that funds their campaigns.
4
Doom looms for AOC because of her support for Bern.
11
AOC dropped out of sight after taking office. Entered with a bang, then fizzled out. There's a reason she was a bartender and not a mover and shaker. She just isn't bright enough.
12
@BorisRoberts
Excellent! Keep it up with trashing the working classes, that should bring the swing state votes home for you.
2
@Brewster’s Millions
She was in trouble before the Sanders endorsement.
1
Everyone breathing a huge sigh of relief that you can keep your taxes low while thousands die because they can't afford insulin just remember, everything you did to us in the primary will be done to you twice as bad in the general. That army of hardcore support and volunteer network Bernie has will be completely demobilized and nowhere to be found in the general. A general election will not be one that Democratic Party can control like they do the primary. Biden can still win if coronavirus does enough damage to the economy, but on his own he won't win. He's ahead in polls because he's being protected. He's barely even showing up in public, and even if he does win the GOP takes back the house easily, keeps the Senate and will impeach and remove Biden over the Ukraine stuff because they're a real political party that has principles (awful evil ones to be sure) and understands power. A vote for Biden is a vote to say no to a better future, to the chance that things could improve. It's more government shutdowns, more grand bargains, more belt tightening, more gridlock.
22
Yes, shame and threats. The main tools of those who want the rest of us to vote for their candidate but don’t know how to use logic and persuasion.
12
@Bo
'A vote for Biden is a vote to say no to a better future, to the chance that things could improve. It's more government shutdowns, more grand bargains, more belt tightening, more gridlock.'
Plus it is the answer to trump's prayers (I doubt he prays, but if he did that's what he'd be praying for) someone almost as corrupt and senile as he is, and with such a looong history in politics to prove it.
10
@Bo
This Bernie supporter will vote for Biden if he's the nominee. Anyone who refuses to vote Democratic ticket up and down ballot deserves the future you describe, but the rest of us don't.
10
I predict the race will be over after next Tuesday and Sanders will concede and support Biden.
14
@Kevin Rothstein -- If so, what matters next is the VP, because it is likely she will take over from Biden for health reasons long before the next election.
8
oddly our precinct was switched from an easy access zero step firestation to a poor signage, two flights down or a slow elevator church basement.
many voting at schools have encountered locked doors.
7
@brian
Not good. Hope you can find the locations to vote. It shouldn’t be like that.
3
OMG, it's the more than perfect storm for 2020. Bernie cannot be the Dems Candidate because he'll never get his agenda thru the Congress and the American people. AR14 Joe is nothing but a Prop who will be indited and then a mental competency test will let him off the hook. Joe's VP candidate will not be even remotely qualified to be President.
When will someone step-up and tell it like it is? Trump in a landslide!
10
I think the eagerness with which Bernie supporters would discredit African-American voters because they live in red states is sickening. These people are lifelong Democrats who are informed and voting with intelligence and care. How dare these 20 year olds tell us their votes are irrelevant. Bernie Bros are happy to give death threats online but won’t show up at the polls. If they cannot be bothered to show up and vote, what they say carries no water. So much for his coalition of the young.
14
@S Those red state african american voters gave us Hillary, who lost. Now they're giving us Biden, who will also lose. Their voting is not informed, they clearly haven't even looked at Biden's record or they wouldn't be voting for him. They're going for Biden because he was Obama's VP, that's it.
22
@KM
Bernie Bro here. Previously Warren Bro.
I disagree and your words are highly disrespectful. No need for it. What’s going on in the south is a major disaster. Clyburns speech was extremely powerful and motivating. They are putting their trust in Joe to deal with the racism that is no in the open and supported a corrupt administration.
So don’t bash people for their votes unless they swipe at you.
Bernie isn’t doing well with African American voters. His message just may not be resonating with them. Or Biden seems like a safer choice with all the media backlash and headwinds against Sanders.
Their lives depend on us getting our blue leader through the finish line no matter who.
7
@KM
Or they could be pragmatists who think only a moderate candidate will win against Trump in their states.
Your comment reveals more about you than the people you insult.
5
Bernie should just quit. Or at least quit playing the angry old man role. Because they have already stolen this election from him.
4
That’s the narrative of the Trump supporter who hates Bernie but likes using his supporters to divide the vote against Trump.
9
@Brewster’s Millions
Who is "they"? The Democratic primary voters?
4
Angry old man?
You haven’t see the video of Biden shushing a woman like she is a schoolgirl who needs to learn her place. Man is living in the wrong century.
7
I cast my primary ballot in California (where i'm from) proudly for Bernie. But I will definitely sit this election out and probably just check out after this primary is over. If Jamie Dimon and the oil companies get another bailout it certainly won't be done with my help. Honestly I don't see a dime's worth of difference in the lives of my family and loved ones back home under Biden or Trump. Try to shame me with 'kids in cages' but those pics were from 2014. Either way it's a rigged billionaires game and i'm starting to believe that maybe I was a fool to get my hopes up that a better world was possible.
On the plus side I wouldn't mind seeing social security finally get cut. I can adopt the language of the boomers too, 'why should i pay for people who don't support me, for a program that will certainly disappear by the time i'm old enough to collect?'
20
@Bo
For the umpteenth time, boomers are NOT A MONOLITH.
You blame us yet seem to forget the generation before us was instrumental in voting Reagan into office. You know Reagan, the administration that started our slide into Trumpism? Yet I don't blame "the greatest generation" for all our problems because they aren't a monolith either.
And good luck living off a 401K in retirement considering the volatility of the stock market, as it won't get any better with the oligarchs left in charge.
8
The embrace of Biden is achieving something pretty remarkable and highly improbable: making the Democratic Party look even more ridiculous than it has in the past four years.
You've clearly been impressed by Biden and what he's offering. Personally I wouldn't trust him to drive my kids to school.
Let's get real. Would the democratic party establishment support Sanders over Trump if he was the nominee? I think we know where their loyalties are and many of them would prefer Trump over Sanders. Biden is absolutely unacceptable for a country that wants a good future.
79
Could someone tell me why Gabbard is still in the race? Is she hoping to be a spoiler for either Bernie or Joe? She hasn't a chance and needs to get out - now.
14
@Deb
"Could someone tell me why Gabbard is still in the race?"
Actually, I see something positive in Tulsi's still being in the race way behind Bernie and Joe, and polling at maybe 1%.
It shows me that people are taking this seriously and not just voting for the, by far, best looking candidate.
Biden's strength now is mostly a media and Democratic Party creation.
For instance, I looked into the argument (now treated as truth) that YOUTH voter turnout for Bernie so far in these primaries is LESS than in 2016. It turns out, it seems to be simply untrue! The youth have been voting in HIGHER numbers, compared to 2016, just not as much as the older age-classes have. Furthermore, the fractions of older age-classes (that make up "baby boomers") are higher than in 2016, also giving the ILLUSION that youth voter turnout is less this time. The share of the electorate of younger age-classes have gone DOWN. (Beware of misleading, mainstream media data that are based on GENERATIONAL trends rather than age-class trends, because each generation does NOT correspond to the same length of time, i.e. boomers occur over 18 years, whereas Generation Z involve just 5 years.) Furthermore, since Democratic party affiliation is much lower among the youth compared to older age-classes, data from closed and semi-closed primaries ESPECIALLY under-represent the likely participation from youth in the 2020 general election (which is what's really important here).
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/an-early-look-at-the-2020-electorate/
https://vtdigger.org/2020/03/06/politifact-a-closer-look-at-turnout-young-voters-and-a-key-bernie-sanders-strategy/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l5fpK7ysQhQbZPv9hnZ_-PO1J1zBVPXSSQjNejTXecY/edit#gid=1189109697
27
And yet rank and file Democratic Party voters like me rejected the entire premise of your post. Go figure.
4
Biden's campaign is deliberately minimizing the amount of appearances he makes and the amount of time he spends talking. That's because he has early-stage dementia. If you think I'm lying then compare the his appearances to Bernie's. Bernie just did a town hall on Fox news in front of a Republican audience and they were totally with him by the end.
We'll see what happens at the debate on the 15th, but the DNC might be able to push Biden across the line regardless. Then he'll have to face Trump, and Trump will rip him to shreds if he finds any weakness whatsoever. Biden has no more fight left.
35
Today is the day and the media has been casting shade on Sanders for weeks non-stop and driving the electability narrative. Remember when they said Deval Patrick was going to be amazing?
I haven’t seen a single negative article on Biden or his past. Nothing about electability. Strange isn’t it. The guy promotes austerity and has a horrible track record. He is to the right of Hillary.
Complete media silence. Articles casting shade on Sanders voters. Why not interview wealthy people about Biden and cast some subtle shade on them. It seems The NY Times loves doing it to working class people so readers can pick apart their flaws to justify their bias.
Several recent studies show Sanders M4A is cheaper and more cost effective than Bidens plan. No discussion. Nothing.
Single Payer is rational and the better option fiscally and socially. Why is it ignored?
Data to back it up:
The Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, PLOS Medicine, Federal Reserve survey and Journal of General Internal Medicine.
130
We always hear about 'moderate democrats' and the 'democratic left', but the real power broker in the party is the corporate democrats on the right.
50
@Lives in the Misery Ozarks
As a non-American watching this, I always assumed "moderate candidate" was a coded way of saying "has corporate backing". Same as 2016.
7
Bernie won WA in 16 by 40 points. Right now, it's a toss-up. That means that he has ALREADY lost WA in practical terms.
Bernie is much weaker than 16 all across the Midwest according to the polls anyway. MI will ell some of the story tonight.
As for Biden's "...loss of temper..."> Sometimes you just have to tell the truth bluntly. That was one of those times.
That is not going to hurt him anywhere.
Frankly, I hope that he says the same thing to Trump when they debate.
12
I am personally quite happy to see Joe Biden respond in kind when disrespected by voters. He needs to show that he has no intention of just laying down and taking it , Trump especially needs to take heed.
I hope Senator Sanders does well today, whatever happens he does need to appreciate that the Establishment and the DNC have nothing to do with the rise or otherwise of Joe Biden.
Rather huge swaths of Democratic voters have decided to put our focus where it should be , making sure that Trump does not serve a second term, rather than voting on policy issues.
If Senator Sanders spent more time condemning Trump and less time attacking his opponent he would find that an increasing numbers of Democrats may listen to his message.
16
@Alec. If Biden tries calling Trump a dog-faced pony soldier Trump will laugh, and the audience will laugh with him. There's nothing more pathetic than trying to return an insult and failing completely. The debates are going to be a disaster.
12
@Alec.
In what way has Biden been "disrespected" by voters? Is being forced to talk about your record disrespect now?
If Sanders was going around lashing at his critics vicious names, he would be rightfully branded as mentally unhinged. For Biden, it's a delightful personality quirk.
Is that how Biden negotiates with people who disagree with him? By violently lashing out? Certainly explains why he didn't get anything done for EIGHT years while he was VP. Why did Obama have to govern by executive order?
9
Sanders needs to stop blaming at everyone and just look inwards.
Sanders seems to be in denial that the majority of people in democratic party do no want him as president. No matter how hard he tries.
While Biden has problems of his own, he is still much more preferable than Sanders in my opinion.
Strong Sanders supporters keep point to how "genuine" Sanders is. If Sanders is so "genuine" and honest, then why does his need to make a negative and misleading TV ad against his "friend" Biden.
14
If Sen. Sanders gets swept today he should drop out immediately. The rest of the calendar is even more unfavorable to him and we've seen the disaster that a prolonged primary can wreak.
Leave the president to tilt at windmills.
7
It's time for all states to adopt vote by mail, which has been very successful in Oregon.
5
@Barb Gazeley -- I don't trust it. I want to go in to vote. I declined the opportunity to vote by mail, and I will for as long as I possibly can.
3
@Barb Gazeley Except for the fact that in primaries, those early votes have often been wasted on candidates who dropped out.
This is only viable if there is also ranked-choice voting.
2
For four years, all we've heard from Sanders is that he is going to reshape the electorate and usher in a new era. It didn't happen in 2016, when he earned 20% fewer pledged delegates than Clinton. It didn't happen in 2018, when his supported Congressional candidates lost virtually across the board (even as Democrats picked up an unprecedented 40 seats). It so far hasn't happened in 2020. Although the youth vote is up modestly, he has earned less of it -- not to mention that voting by other demographics are surging far more than his base.
It's not going to happen tonight either. It's time to focus on getting liberal policies through candidates who can actually win.
834
What percentage of young people historically vote in primary elections? I would expect that number to be low. Not to mention the fact that young people who have opted not to join either of the major political machines (excuse me, parties) are barred from voting in closed primary states. It is misguided to draw such conclusions about a general presidential election from the primary.
82
@Scott Hillary Clinton lost the white women vote to Trump in the general election of 2016... what do you think about that?
54
@Jules N. Binoculars
Why is that misguided? If they don't care enough to vote in the primaries (I know of few people who change their party affiliation just to vote in primaries - it's pretty easy to do), there's no reason to believe that they'll care enough to vote in the general election.
93
I'm rooting for Biden, but if Sanders is the winner, I'll vote for him as well. Our main goal is the removal of Trump from office.
Biden was asked in an interview if one of the female candidates running for President would be chosen as his VP. His reply was that there are lots of qualified women from whom he could chose a VP and that the person he chose, had to be simpatico with his views. I was disappointed Biden danced around the question, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Female voters who were sincerely hoping that the glass ceiling would be shattered with the 2020 Presidency, would really welcome Biden or Sanders saying "yes" to a female VP. Especially since so many voters said "yes" to a female President and no to Biden Or Sanders.
7
@Valerie I read that differently. It sounds to me that he is saying he absolutely will have a woman on the ticket.
But, that woman may not be Warren.
2
If Biden has a big win in Michigan it’s over. Sanders should drop out and endorse him. And Biden should not wait for the convention to announce his pick for VP. While there are a number of exciting African-American women he could choose (Stacey Abrams, Kamala Harris) an Op-Ed in WaPo convinced me Amy Klobuchar is the best choice.
I would love to hear a Klobuchar-Pence debate. VPs generally don’t have a huge impact, but this isn’t a typical election.
5
Still remember the Palin-O’Biden debate.
4
@Concerned
Too bad Biden can't remember that debate.
7
Will fear keep Biden voters home and reduce his numbers?
If that happens and bernie does a semi recovery, mathematically possible, but highly improbable, will he burn down the house?
1
Bernie promotes a multi-ethnic, multi-generational movement but it isn't. He has failed to gain support among blacks or the mature. He's done worse among blue collar workers than in 2016. He hasn't increased voter turnout; any states with larger voter turnouts have gone to Biden.
These Democratic constituent groups reject Bernie's message. They are the working class but reject the idea that taking away their health insurance or making them pay the college debts of others is in their interest. They will not speak fondly of Cuba because they remember thousands of "working class" Cubans drowning to escape Castro's literacy programs. They know that government provided anything is of inferior quality; they see the difference between the post-office and Federal Express.
Bernie can try to sell his vision. He can propose $40 trillion in new spending on health care alone, a 16% increase in middle class taxes, and still be $17 trillion short (WSJ) but when he loses he can't say, Americans really want me but some villain is stealing it from me.
Health care is a right, yes, but so is food. Do we all eat in the same restaurant? Is the grocer evil for making a profit? US cancer patients have a 10% higher 5 year survival than anywhere else. Does Pharma or the insurance companies get any credit?
He's a socialist with 3 houses. He bought the last one with money his wife made leading a college into bankruptcy. The system is rigged for others?
Bernie will lose. Will he accept it?
10
@jkemp hey! his wife didn't just make $ running a college into bankruptcy, she made a fortune taking a 15% cut on buying his ads, you know, profiting privately from his campaign fundraising. Very capitalist of them :)
2
Vote for who you think is best. I did.
24
The not so big secret is that Biden's already got this nomination, because to leave black voters behind could only lead to devastating defeat for Democrats across the board. The biggest question is how long will it take influencer Hollywood celebrities and superannuated politicos with profiles to bolster to swallow their pride, forgo their forever young personas, and come out whole heartedly and full throatily for Joe, aka America's only remaining hope.
6
@Leigh Leaving black voters in the south behind is fine, those states will go Republican anyway. Winning the rust belt is the key. Bernie does very well there, while Joe Biden will have to spend the whole time defending his NAFTA votes.
Hillary was also put over the top by black support in the deep south. But black voters in the rust belt did not turn out for her like they did with Obama, so she lost.
12
@Leigh
what are your thoughts regarding the Hispanic vote which pulled strongly in Bernie's favor in NV? Don't we risk similar consequences by 'leaving them behind'.
7
It's important to remember that this primary can go one way or another, but these are old men, and there is a virus going around that is particularly hard on old men, and these old men have been exposed to a lot of people in a lot of states in recent months. We could lose either candidate to illness. We could get our nominee by default.
4
Democrats talk the talk but run scared when it's time to elect someone who'll actually implement policies that they claim to support.
To this progressive independent, it's clear that Republicans do support someone who makes changes that they want. Whether you like those changes or not, you have to give them credit for walking their walk.
With Biden, the Democrats will get a repeat of 2016. And we get to listen to their endless whining about Trump for another 4 years.
44
@macindigo ,
I'm a democrat and I'm walking my walk. I like Biden and I will vote for him. Still ignoring us moderate Dems?
3
It’s the young voters’ last chance to change the dynamics of this race.
If Biden wins, they should not complain about issues like college debt or insufficient action on climate change as older voters who reliably do show up will have decided for incrementalism.
15
Spoiler alert - Biden wins tonite, Sanders campaign has no mathematical way to win the nomination.
They had a chance and Warren blew it by running on Tuesday when she should have joined forces with Sander and could have dominated.
Move on people, the progresive movement is done.
8
@AutumnLeaf It will take four more years of Trump for the progressive movement to finally take over the party.
Do people actually really believe Biden can win against Trump or is this just about stopping Bernie and then we’ll see?
24
@AutumnLeaf Why should Warren joined forces with Sanders? How did she 'blow it'? Warren was my first pick and Sanders was my last. Even Bloomberg was ahead of Sanders for me.
Without Sanders the progressive movement has a lot more chances of moving forward. The best think he could have done was not run at all this time around, but of course his ego is way too big to consider what might be best for the country. I, and a number of liberal/progressive democrats I know, do not want in any way to be identified with Sanders.
10
@MMNY The only reason the progressive movement is moving forwards is Sanders. He was the only one with the guts to challenge Hillary and the corporate sellouts in 2016, and Warren didn't even support him them. Now she rides in having copied his platform thanks to the work he did, but then waffles when faced with tough questions she doesn't want to answer honestly.
9
The right answer should have been "yes, we are taking the gun away from you". Pussyfooting around the bogus 2nd amendment explains why gun violence like another the US manufactured virus will persist.
10
@tedc You do not seem to realize this would decide the election in Trump's favor. But please continue the virtue signaling for another five years for all the good it does you.
5
@tedc We can just declare constitutional amendments to be bogus now? I'm sure Trump would love to hear that, he's got a bunch he wants to gut. But don't call yourself the party of law and order if you want to pass unconstitutional laws just because it would be convenient to you.
2
@tedc. The Second Amendment is not bogus. It is in the Bill of Rights and may only be changed by vote of 2/3 of the states. You had best learn to live with it and persuade others to see the wisdom of modifications. Threats and vilification usually don’t work in that regard
2
Maybe if people voted for who they actually wanted instead of voting for who they thought others wanted- we wouldn't have had Trump in the first place. Stop trying to outsmart yourself. Food for thought.
49
Anyone who's unhappy with their current governement or the stress in the life should be voting for BERNIE! If you can'y fathom that I guess you're not that upset. 4 yrs of Biden equals 4 years of Uninspired nothingness.
89
@jack
More incrementalism to the right and austerity.
12
Trump and Mitch McConnell make me upset. If they’re gone, I’m happy. I don’t need your revolution.
14
@Ben
I voted for Bernie today, but agree with Ben in that the Senate has to turn Dem. majority or little will change.
6
The country was already reeling from 3 destabilizing years under the most unstable and unfit president in our history. But when coronavirus replaced Trump in the headlines, the national mood changed. We face so much uncertainty that the only constant at the moment is the continued idiotic behavior coming from the White House, an island of insanity in the midst of a nation suddenly coming to grips with reality.
Joe Biden is not even my fifth choice, but he appears inevitable and will get my vote, if a miracle happens for Bernie, then he will. It’s sad that we need to get to the brink of disaster to wake up.
9
I like Bernie. Always have. Voted for him in 2016. I wish all his policy proposals magically became law. But unfortunately the actual data do not support his main argument regarding electability in November. All the states with surprisingly high turnout have gone Biden. These hordes of new young and working class voters he keeps talking about just haven't shown up. I'll happily support the Dem nominee, but I'd love to see more of Bernie's people realize that not everything is a conspiracy or establishment takedown (in what world are African American seniors in Alabama part of the "establishment"?). Sometimes, the other guy/gal just gets more votes.
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What "actual data" are you referring to regarding electability in November?
13
Voting for Bernie Sanders now is a show that his ideas are right.
If more people voted following their heart we wouldn’t have Biden as front runner and still a chance to change something for good.
Democrats are giving away a dream for nothing in exchange.
And once Biden becomes the nominee there won’t be any more chance to hide is inability to debate.
29
So, the invisible youth vote will not turn out, and Sanders is losing miserably. And this is a conspiracy? Insane. The NYT publicly endorsed left-wing candidates. Sanders’ relationships with brutal and murderous regimes is suspect and newsworthy.
9
The delegate math says a close Sanders win in Michigan, the only kind of win he is likely to get, is actually a loss. He will simply run out of states to close the gap from earlier contests and the Southeast. He needs multiple big wins in medium-to-big states, and those states do not exist.
Michigan matters primarily for perception. I am sure Biden wants to skip the debate on Sunday and a win in the only swing state on today's menu would make the justification for doing so much easier.
4
@Alan Michigan matters more than all the other states combined! Biden winning states like Mississippi is irrelevant. Trump wins Mississippi in the general hands down. Both candidates are close in most states and they will perform similarly in the general election but Biden's 'Strong' states are all in the south. Which is where Trump will crush him. Democrats in the southern states have no impact on the general election. MI, WI, PA, and maybe FL are the only primaries that matter. It's unfair but its what is needed to win.
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@Alan
The fact that Biden hides from the press and would like to skip the debate are warning signs.
I hope Sanders wins. I cannot tolerate another 4 years of Trump.
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@Steve Biden will win by a landslide in Florida. Probably in PA too...
8
You fall in love with Bernie, You fall in line for Biden. Go with your Heart--Life is too Short....
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@That's What She Said You're in love with Bernie?!
There really is no accounting for taste!
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@That's What She Said -- My heart tells me to listen to my moderate leaning brain and vote for Biden. So I did.
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@That's What She Said
My heart and my head are with medicare for all & the New Green Deal.
14
Biden will win. His exposure will be enough to kill rumors of dementia (as a dementia researcher, I assure you he is symptom free, but he will have speech lapses and slip-ups). Klobuchar or Abrams will be VP. I would prefer Warren, since the landslide would make her Senate seat less at risk for Democrats. If she holds off on an endorsement for over a week more, the Sanders defeat will be a sure thing and she won't consider running with him. Yes, landslide. Senate too. Then an end to voter suppression. That, in turn, will guarantee Democratic victories for a decade.
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@Emory Love this wishful thinking or delusions of safety. Trump is going to win. Like in 2016 the only candidate that can beat Trump is Bernie. But we rich Dems love money more than democratic values so gaslight our way to supporting another anemic candidate. Oh well nice knowing you America.
44
Please say what it is: Biden has a speech impediment and has been public about suffering from a lifelong stutter. Sanders supporters want to hang him instead of recognizing that he has triumphantly succeeded in his life despite a disability. He deserves compassion rather than ridicule.
I hope young people with speech impediments feel encouraged seeing someone run for office who has himself suffered from the same struggles.
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@Emory
He is showing mental health issues. He often is confused about where he is. Confusing who people are. He confuses major details of his life.
How do you explain his Mandela comments? Was he lying or having mental issues? How about confusing his wife and sister? How about where he is? How about his memory on stage with Cory? How about receiving his endorsement from Cory and saying he would take back the house?
Now they want a sit down debate for Biden. While the guy the media wanted to drop out because of a heart attack is more than capable of standing and debating.
7
It's depressing to read comments the gist of which is "I like what Sanders could do for the USA and trust him to do it, but I'm voting for Biden because everybody says his win is inevitable." On one hand, get over yourself--yours is only one vote. On the other, recognize the importance of your one vote--it's all you have.
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@Red -- Where exactly is that 'quote'. The only "inevitable" is for Trump to be defeated in November. Your "but" shows me you'd like Sanders to be the nominee. It also gives me pause, because you don't seem accepting of those casting their one vote for someone else. Vote Blue No Matter Who -- please.
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@Red Please vote for the best candidate. Your vote/your opinion counts, not 'everybody's'....who/whatever that might entail.
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@Red I haven't seen one comment ever that said that.
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I like Biden, he's a good guy and will always be remembered fondly as one half of the awesome bro team that was Obama and Biden.
However I do wish the moderate camp had grouped around Buttigieg or maybe Klobuchar. Candidates with a lot more energy and a lot less of the befuddlement that comes with being 70+.
14
Do the right thing, primary Voters. Sanders has NO chance of beating Trump. And worse, less than ZERO chance in the Senate. And that means WE might actually Lose Senate seats, instead of possibly regaining control.
Use your Head, not your infatuated Heart.
Seriously.
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@Phyliss Dalmatian I voted with my head in 2016, and that gave us Trump. Lose-Lose...
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@Phyliss Dalmatian
Please cite your date re: "ZERO chance"
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@Phyliss Dalmatian
Sanders is the only real fighter left in the ring. Biden is a propped up stuffed shirt, he will not win against Trump.
Republicans are not going to save us by having change of heart and voting Biden.
People under 45, who support Sanders are the future of this party.
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I think that once the rural Michigan, Idaho and North Dakota votes are analyzed, an ugly truth about Sanders's strength in 2016 will emerge. A lot of misogynists voted for him against Hillary, and they will easily flip to Biden this time since that is where they are really politically aligned.
This has implications for VP, as I think the calculation is between Klobuchar and Abrams. Where would Biden need more help - Midwest or South and African Americans in general? I think Biden has those swing voters in the Midwest wrapped up without Amy's help. Stacey Abrams is as gifted an intellect and politician as Pete, and a more charismatic campaigner. She could be the key to flipping long shot possibilities like Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and mobilizing more African Americans in Eastern and Midwest urban centers.
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I’m not sure that a VP who refuses to accept election results is a good choice for a campaign predicated on a return to normalcy. Biden needs a VP who reassures people, and I think Klobuchar is a good pick in light of that. Whatever legitimate concerns about voter suppression Abrams may have had, it isn’t a good look.
30
@Yojimbo -- No to Georgia being blue, not with Brian Kemp controlling one of the most insecure election systems in the U.S. Abrams isn't going to overcome that kind of grift. Same with North Carolina, pure suppression. Klobuchar would lock in FL, PA, WI, MI, and any other swing state moderate. (BTW, Pete is a very smart man, but not ready for prime time).
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@Yojimbo - As a Georgian who got to see/know Ms. Abrams better than your average bear during her run for Governor, I couldn't agree more.
As to comment from Grant Erickson in OK, I can assure you Gov. Brian Kemp's machinations as Sec. of State were real and absolutely tilted the election in his favor - by a lot. He won by cheating as republicans do - limiting polling stations, hours, machines and removing thousands from voting rolls under the flimsiest of excuses.
I would be beside myself with joy to see this amazing woman in the office of Vice President and then watch her step into the Oval.
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Whatever democratic party does, they can’t stop Trump. I’m not saying this because I am a Trump supporter. I am anti-Trump and I am a democrat. HOWEVER,
Joe Biden - likely to be nominated as a presidential candidate, VERY WEAK in debates (likely to be eaten by confident, self-conscious Trump)
Bernie Sanders - stronger in debates, Americans do not expect something from him (other than young, working class), unlikely to win the nomination
Good luck ;(
13
@Sebastian we've seen Trump in debates. He's laughable. When he insults Biden and calls him weak and corrupt Biden will just laugh out loud and point out that the only thing Trump can do is call people names. In all other areas he is incompetent. He's trivial to defeat in a debate. Everyone knows he is a one trick pony who's completely incompetent. He is maxed out in his base. He is not adding anyone new and only losing voters. That is all Biden has to say in the Debate, Trump's an incompetent joke who can't speak beyond a 4 grade schoolyard vocabulary.
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@Sebastian Agree that Biden is not the strongest debater, but I also remember the 2016 debates. Trump is not exactly a good debater either -- he is ill informed, repeats things over and over again, and aims to get his point across with intimidation and shouting, not to mention just making things up, rather than on the merits. Clinton, who was knowledgeable on policy and how government works, won all of the debates last cycle and got a temporary bump after each. Unfortunately, her bump didn't last as it didn't take long for Trump's brainwashed cult to return to the comfort and security of believing what they wanted to believe.
Biden will hold his own on the debate stage. I think he'll likely best Trump, but the bottom line is, debates don't make much of a difference anyway. You need a critical mass of fair and open minded critical thinkers for debates to matter, and that is simply not the reality in 2020 America.
6
@Steve
I'm supporting Biden, but he is going to get crushed by Trump at the first debate. Biden is practically incoherent these days. Better than Trump, but still a hot mess.
2
I’m so ready for this country to return to steady, stable, principled leadership. While I am no longer a resident of Washington I’m excited to vote for Biden on April 28. Let’s end this awful nightmare.
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@CP Principled was Carter, Obama was a sham. Who did he people his cabinet with? All moneyed interests. He was not the progressive he said he would be. Grand appeaser in chief. Or maybe you are confusing principled with the practical.
15
Biden will NOT win against Trump, that is the simple fact of the matter. He doesn't inspire anybody, with any of his policies. Seriously, name 2 policies that he has that truly inspire someone to vote for him. I was a supporter of his at the start and even I can't remember. He is a blank sheet of paper who's only qualities are that he isn't Trump and that he was Obama's VP. He flips and flops, lies and misconstrues just like Trump does albeit less effectively and extensively.
Say what you will about Bernie, but the man inspires people. His policies are massively supported among the Democratic party and his vision is one of the future, of the young people who will eventually be the inheritors of this nation. He is the FDR to Trump's Hoover. His programs are for the working man and for the small folk, you and me included.
About electability, does anybody really think Biden will stand a chance against Trump come the debates? Or the propaganda campaign? Have we really forgotten the mess that was the Hunter Biden fiasco? His, what the media calls, "gaffes"? His constant belittling of voters by telling them to vote for the other guy when he's confronted? His abysmal voting record in the legislative? He will get torn apart by Republicans and without that crucial Midwest industrial vote, we will be looking at 4 more years of an empowered 45 that could ruin this nation for decades.
The moral is, vote for what you believe in, not what you're told. Don't be steered into the polls.
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@Xavier -- (FYI: Biden's problem is stuttering.) You hear more "gaffes" listening to Trump for five minutes. I take it you aren't a 'vote blue no matter who' kind of guy or gal. What you stated about each of them can be said about both of them. They each are equally flawed human beings and candidates. I'll vote for who I think has the ability to win in November. You can do the same.
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People can remember Sanders’s policies. But they don’t like them, or doubt he can implement them, or worry about what additional steps he will take with his socialist instincts.
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@Xavier Your certainty is based on...what? Data suggests Biden wins if the election was held today and with the impact of the COVID-19 there's a chance Trump will start to lose states like Montana, Texas, and Utah. Also, insulting people you want to convince by saying we're being "steered" is not a really good approach. I've been around electoral politics since my mother was a congressional aide int he 1960s. My first campaign was for LBJ while in grade school. I'm a knowgable former Warren supporter asking you to reassess your position and come join the rest of us as a unified party. VP Biden has emphasized that he plans to use the talents of some of the candidates who left the race and I believe him. This train is leaving the station, Xavier (or whatever your actual name it), climb aboard.
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Biden's polling number have skyrocketed since Super Tuesday.
This election is over.
The only question now is when will Bernie drop out?
The longer he hangs around the more damage he does to Biden and his chances of defeating Trump.
After today's multi-state wipeout he should do the honourable thing and drop out tomorrow morning.
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@John I hope you are wrong. Biden's not all there anymore. The DNC is still doing its dirty work. It's a crime.
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@Fern
What dirty work are they doing? They aren't forcing anyone to vote for any particular candidate.
14
@Fern The DNC is't doing any dirty work. People are not showing up to vote for Bernie.
18
It truly bothers me that our party is still so afraid of losing to Trump, we will most likely nominate a man who has real baggage from truly bad votes on the Senate floor, has non-stop gaffes to the point his campaign needs to limit his speeches, and can't inspire any enthusiasm from the base.
We tried this in 2016 and in 2004 (remember "Anybody but Bush"?). I've already resigned myself to a Trump victory in November. I hope we can learn from our mistakes.
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Don’t resign yourself to a Trump win. Average Americans don’t pay attention to every debate and news story. Biden is outperforming Hillary against Sanders, showing there was a strong anti-Hillary vote. People trust Biden because he was Obama’s VP and most want Trump out of office.
There is a reason Trump tried to sabotage Biden.
21
@JW Do you endorse his way of handling the Coronavirus crisis?
4
@JW
Biden's spate of gaffes is not because of a stutter or age, it's because even he doesn't believe what's coming out of his mouth. Obama could pull off that level of misdirection, but not him. How is a man so deliberately vague and insincere the "decent" candidate? You'd have to be a millionaire to think that Biden is a "progressive".
4
In my humble opinion, no matter the results tonight, the primary is not over before the next debate.
38
Thank you. I am deeply disturbed that Bernie is hiding his medical records after demanding the same transparency of Trump.
All candidates MUST be transparent about their finances and health, or we can or determine their fitness.
4
@Nils Agreed. Maybe Biden will talk to Burnie the way he treats factory workers he disagrees with.
@Nils
The next debate?
There will be no live audience. There will be minimal viewership.
I have watched every debate and most of the town halls.
The election is over, my friend.
Biden is the nominee.
It is all over but the tallying of the delegates from states that Bernie lost to HRC.
Sorry but Bernie is finished.
And, btw, we owe his supporters nothing. They consistently attempted to destroy our party and now have the chutzpah to demand a seat at the table?
We will easily get enough Independents, Republicans who don't like Trump and Real Dems who actually join our party and support our candidates to win without the Bernie Bros.
1
In the open primaries republicans will show up for Biden. To counter that Trump voters would have to show up for Bernie. That will not happen because Trump voters cannot accept that Bernie would help everyone, and not just white people. Similarly there are many blacks who like that Trump voters are suffering and hope that continues, so they too cannot support Bernie because his policies, again, would help everyone.
2
@Chris Bernie's (Castro lite) policy would only help us get in line for food, while he enjoys his lake house.
I'm guessing you have student loans, if so I wish you'd have taken an econ class.
Talk about a real quid pro quo, vote for me and I'll pay off your loans!!!
I’m from California, which now serves as the prototype of a media-driven and service-oriented “techno-state.” Denizens of these places now vote essentially Democratic (with only declining pockets of holdouts in rural areas who still are GOPers). These articles about the swing states in Super Tuesday II, led by Michigan, reconfirm the truth of the old adage that “all politics are local” - at least in the family-dominated manufacturing heartland of America. However, I suggest that, whilst these “heartland states” have yet to make the politico-cultural transition to become a part of “Hotel California” - that is, a highly variegated service-based agglomeration of diverse residents, they inevitably will. (“You can checkout anytime, but you can never leave” a way of life.) Stated another way, both “populism of the right” (as mobilized by the likes of Trump) and “populism of the left“ (as energized by the Bernie Bros) are merely a product of societies in transition. The times, “they are a changing,” and both Trump and Sanders are outliers to a new normal.
1
Outside of Washington state, Michigan is the only one of the 3/10 Super Tuesday states where Democrats have hopes to win the Electoral College in November.
5
21st century Democracy demands that for anyone to qualify as a Progressive, he/she must first understand, accept & learn to excel in practising Democracy’s imperatives - respect for diverse points of view, finding compromises for forging consensus & moving forward in incremental steps. Anyone hankering for a fight between the people in a Democracy will end up losing everything for everybody. Revolutions have become History.
5
But on the other hand, maybe the problem is too many people with dramatic, yet unsubstantiated opinions.
5
Let's not get caught up in the primary contests and forget about the ultimate price which is winning November 2020 general election. There's something really wrong when a former Vice President finished fourth in the first Contest in Iowa and fifth in the second contest in New Hampshire despite big endorsements including John Kerry; while a Mayor of a small village in Indiana tied as first in Iowa and finished as second in New Hampshire. The Earlier We Address The Elephant In The Room, The Better It Helps In November General Election. Historically, no candidate that Finished Below Third in Iowa and New Hampshire has ever been elected President of The United States. Based on my observations here in Pennsylvania in 2016, I predicted in that Summer 2016 that Trump would become the President whenever Bernie drops out, and that's what exactly happened. That's because a lot of people here in Pennsylvania are Independents who really distrust any Republican or Democratic Establishment Candidates. They mostly said in 2016 that Bernie was their first choice and Trump the second choice because they're both Independents. In fact, the two major political parties we have now in this country is ESTABLISHMENT AND ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT Parties, not Republican and Democratic Parties. I can tell you to brace up for the night of November 2020 general election if Biden is the Nominee.
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@Ukosi
I made your same prediction in 201, only I phrased it this way..."An outsider will win the presidency" (by outsider I meant Sanders or Trump). Most of my friends were shocked with Clinton lost, but I was not.
I feel the same way about 2020. My original prediction was Trump will not be re-elected....this may be true if the stock market totally tanks. Otherwise, unless Sanders is the candidate, I am afraid it'll be Trump again....this is an establishment/anti-establishment time as the two parties fail to help so many.
91
@Ukosi They know Biden is sundowning and will likely lose to Trump. A Michigan general election poll released yesterday shows Trump beating Biden, whereas Sanders would win. I however subscribe to a different view: the elite in this country who buy ads for candidates and appear on cable shows to denounce populism would prefer four more years of Trump than a Progressive in the White House. When they lose again in November, they won't learn their lesson. They'll again blame young people or Russians.
54
@Ukosi Strange how a large majority of people in Pennsylvania voted for the establishment candidate Obama - twice!
7
Voting this morning right after the polling place opened was surprisingly busy for only having presidential primaries on the ballot. So I think that’s a good sign of voter enthusiasm in my rural district.
That being said, I spent the weekend mulling over the Democrats on the ballot. I don’t dislike either Sanders or Biden in terms of policy. They’re different, sure, but compared to the current President I’d happily take either one. So instead, when I had to make my choice I thought about who would draw in more dissatisfied GOP voters. I’m sad to say it’s pretty clear it’s not Sanders they’ll vote for.
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@Matt
Game-theorizing about the choices of hypothetical people is why progressives can't win. Most people agree with the progressive agenda but then they try to outsmart themselves to be the "reasonable" person who "just doesn't think that other people will vote for that agenda". It's infuriating!
41
@Matt That's based on virtually no real evidence, however. National polling has consistently put Sanders ahead of Trump, while Biden has struggled to match.
20
@Matt
Do you think republicans every pick based on who appeals to democrats?
12
Heading to the polling place this morning, resigned once again to voting out of resignation rather than enthusiasm, upon arriving I saw that the ballot still listed the dropouts. So my inner Dr. Strangelove kicked in and moved me to vote for Warren. Procrastination staves off resignation until November.
52
I feel your pain.
3
@Dale Irwin, The Battle of Trafalgar was won by Admiral Nelson with his famous call ‘England expects every man to do his duty’.
1
@Dale Irwin Wow, so lets risk not getting rid of t rump because you feel 'resigned'. Poor, poor, pitiful you.
18
Democratic politicians and voters nationwide have coalesced en masse around Joe Biden because they know he's the only one left who can defeat Trump.
This election is over.
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@John Or, all the candidates who dropped out are angling for plum cabinet positions, and the others have had the wool pulled over their eyes by the media narrative that Biden has some unstoppable momentum, when he isn't much farther ahead in the delegate count. Please explain how gladhanding "quid pro Joe," who can barely string a coherent sentence together, is going to defeat DJT in the general election? Nobody will be inspired to go stand in a long line to vote for him - certainly not young people, whose concerns he openly dismisses - and he will lose in the exact same manner that Clinton did.
73
The electability argument is going to look highly foolish when his numerous gaffes, lies, and voting record on key issues gets brought up in the general. Concerns over his mental health, which have quieted down in left-leaning media sources since he regained front runner status, will also become more of an issue. With Biden as the nominee, expect four more years of Trump.
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@Ricky—My response to that is “Trump.” You are judging Biden by too high of a standard. He just needs to be judged against Trump and that is a very low bar indeed.
16