I'll try posting this without the 3 references. (Maybe this has been a problem for NYT):
Maybe NOW, with the bandwagon effect (for Biden) and reduced "long shot" participation (for Bernie), vote numbers may complete this self-fulfilling prophesy.
But the argument (regarded as truth) that YOUTH voter turnout for Bernie in Super Tuesday primaries was LESS than in 2016 appears 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 shares of the electorate of younger age-classes have gone DOWN. (Beware of misleading articles/data 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).
3
@carl bumba You can try and argue this from any angle that suits you. But the truth of the matter is this: Sanders needed his claim, that only he would mobilize new voters in numbers no other candidate could claim, to be proven by his supporters. And they didn't. They stayed precisely where it was always claimed they would: home.
It doesn't matter that Democratic registration amongst younger people is lower than in other age groups: because the whole point is that Sander's candidacy did nothing to change that, even though he repeatedly (not to mention loudly) claimed the exact opposite.
7
Considering the fractured nature of the democratic party, Sen. Sanders, all the rest of the democratic candidates gave it their best shots. Who could blame them and who could ask for anything more? Of course, it's the democratic voting effort that's needed to overcome the solidarity of the republican base. A fractured coalition of US citizens believing in democratic ideals facing a solid block of US citizens comprised of super wealthy and whatever else is the GOP. It's nearly an even race, but with numbers Biden can begin to make repairs. Only voters can remove McConnell and that day is coming.
3
It's way too soon to write off Bernie Sanders.
Joe Biden still needs to get the 1991 delegates to gain the nomination on the first ballot. This seems highly unlikely, if Bernie stays in the race.
The media go on and on about how many STATES Biden is winning, but that's not what counts. It's DELEGATES that the candidates are trying to accumulate.
A lot can happen between now and the Democratic convention in July. Biden could self-destruct. Bernie could win a brokered convention.
If the Democrats nominate Joe Biden, a lot of Bernie's supporters will vote for Trump, just as they did in 2016.
They will feel betrayed, again, by party leadership.
Many young voters will, simply, not vote at all.
I think the Democrats are poised to make the same mistake they did in 2016.
1
@Peter Rasmussen
Biden will not self-destruct; Bernie will not win a brokered Convention, because there won't be one. If young voters stay home, it will tell me that they are fine with a lying grifter in the WH. That is how Trump got the 77,000 EC votes he needed. And, whatever happened to playing fair? If your team loses, you don't whine, threaten to never play again, take your ball and leave the field, and behave as if you never cared about your team in the first place. You might consider good sportsmanship, the kind I grew up with a long time ago. I don't remember watching my team lose and deciding that the team should never play another game. (Trust me, UC Berkeley lost most of its games.)
FYI: Bernie was an Independent in VT for all his political life; he became a Democrat in order to be the nominated candidate. Clinton was the nominee; she won the popular vote by 3M. She ignored Bill Clinton and did not campaign in PA, MI and WI, losing the needed 77,000 EC votes. Biden won't make that mistake.
4
You talk about party leadership but Bernie is a party of one. He always has been. Most Democrats are progressives and many of his ideas are nothing new. It could be that many voters see another angry old white guy with a mythical narrative of prowess, but not a lot to show for it. His supporters sometimes show the same cult-like zeal as Trump's following.
If his supporters vote for Trump that says a lot about them. First, it is obvious that they aren't progressive. No one with real progressive beliefs would vote for Trump. It also indicates a level of immaturity. If they don't win they will do what they can to destroy what remains of our once upon a time democratic republic.
3
@Peter Rasmussen
The big mistake the Republican party made was making a deal with the devil. For the purpose of winning short term gains, it allowed the Tea Party into its nomination process, thinking it would be able to control these candidates later. The brazenness of these candidates going after long time conservative Republicans in their own districts took the leaders by surprise. Purity tests abounded, and congressmen with 98% ratings from the NRA were cast as liberal wimps by the Tea Party. As long as they won, however, Mitch and the others were happy, as that gave them locks on the districts they were winning. In ordinary times, the outrageous things they were doing and saying would have gotten them rejected by voters, but as the era of Trumpian Lies progressed, they fit right in, and brought legislative success to the Republican Party.
If the Democratic Party wants to retain its values (hopefully improved), then it has to make it clear that in the future, if you call yourself a Democrat, you will vote Democrat, or leave and form another party. If the Democrats don't, they will face the fate of the Republicans, who are about to suffer the worst defeat in their recent history, and possibly the destruction of the party itself.
1
Bernie Sanders is not an electable candidate not because of his policies, but because of HIM. He is not likable, he should smile more, and he has managed to alienate a huge portion of the Democrat electorate calling us "the establishment", when he has been in the Senate for 30 years. I am a progressive and I can't comprehend why no candidate is able to make Americans that the "progressive" agenda (single payer, paid medical leave, paid maternal leave, better funding for K-12, affordable college) is not progressive at all, it is the bare minimum in all Western countries except this one. Americans are very emotional when they vote for president, they don't vote for policies, they vote according to the emotions the candidate sparks in them. Bernie Sanders's personality and style does not connect with the broad American public, that's why he's finding it hard to get votes above his ceiling of die hard supporters who see past him and only focus on his policies. Another issue is that we are not as stupid as people think, the voters may have noticed how ineffective Sanders has been as a Senator in 3 decades.
27
@S Lopez The US spends more per capita than any other large country in the world on K-12 education and gets bad results. The "progressive" agenda may want free college for those who already have more money, but that isn't "progressive," it's a subsidy to the upper middle class. Single-payer may or may not work well in Denmark or France, but there is no reason to think it would work well in the US, with its vast and corrupt and incompetent federal bureaucracy. There is a lot of reason to think it would work very badly and cost even more money. The other two issues you mention are not very important to people, but it is important not to be ruled by outright communists such as AOC, Bernie's main ally.
So there's your answer.
1
@Letmeout
Neither Bernie nor AOC are Communists; let's bury that old '50's canard now. They have not established a winning base within the Democratic Party, so they cannot gain the nomination. Clinton was a Democrat for 26 yrs. She fought for voting rights in Arkansas; she fought to get benefits for single women with dependent children; she fought for medical care for all First Responders; she tried to get funding for the defense of remote Consulates.
She was a First Lady, NY State Senator, and Secty. of State. She was qualified to be President. She ran a poor campaign and lost key Electoral College States by 77,000 votes. That does not excuse a gerrymandered EC left over from the Reconstruction era when Northern mills needed Southern cotton. Slave owners were catered to in order to keep them in the Union; they were allowed to count non-voting slaves as part of their voting population. That is no longer the case.
We need to join Western democracies and go with a national vote, winner takes all. Biden will win that vote; Bernie won't.
2
It's pretty obvious now that his success in 2016 was entirely due to a hidden loathing of Hillary among Democrats.
It was subsequently the reason that Trump went on to win so easily despite all predictions.
10
@J.S. ...
Comey's hand played huge in that score, I'm afraid
4
@J.S.
Clinton won the popular vote by 3M; she wasn't 'loathed' by all.
1
@RAS Along with Bernie and Vlad.
1
Sanders has some interesting ideas, but he's too extreme for most voters.
We've been there before - Goldwater, McGovern, and now Trump.
Someone noted that voters want a President we can ignore 4 or 5 days a week..
We are exhausted by Trump, and he is destroying American democracy. Now we need someone quiet who can bring us back where we belong.
14
One thing we have learned is that dragging the Primaries out for months is a bad thing - but instead of having a one day event, maybe a maximum of 3 so some winnowing does occur, over a 6 week period. Sorry but in this day and age campaigning for months across a few small states does nothing but pad a few local pockets and wear all the candidates down
6
@E Campbell I'd go with the 6 week primary and start with primaries in SC, TX, FL, and NY on the same day.
Bernie's problems also include continuous hostile and biased coverage by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other news media.
Then there is the US political climate which is skewed so far to the right that politicians like Warren and Sanders, seen as far left radicals here, are considered pretty much mainstream in other modern democracies.
5
I heard last night that Bernie says his campaign is not about him but about Ideas. That's nice... If it were ANY OTHER YEAR THAN THIS ONE. I like his ideas on paper but his problem in 2016 and now is that he seems to be unable or unwilling to pivot in the language he chooses to describe that message. He seems to refuse to express his ideas so that a broader audience can see themselves in them. He's a stubborn man and it shows.
THIS election is about the future of our republic.
We need a candidate who wants to do that first and foremost. Who really understands and articulates that there is no progress, no progressive agenda, no nothing if we don't rid ourselves of Trump and his minions in November.
Stop pretending .... stop forgetting... our country is at stake.
Joe Biden 2020.
15
@MelMill yes I agree and I’m a Bernie supporter.
He’s too much of an ideologue at times and like many ideologues (and sadly like many of his flowers) he ignores the realpolitik as it exists in favor of how he thinks it should exist.
It’s been borderline delusional:
-Doubling down on the Democratic “Socialist” moniker vs just saying I’m a New Deal Progressive.
-Defending Fidel Castro’s record when he needs to win Florida a state packed with Cuban refugees and their descendants.
-Not vehemently calling out his most feckless supporters as the hateful knee jerk ideologues they are.
So it’s been a face palm disaster at times. But the three primary issues are:
1.) His inability to get the black vote en masse
2.) Liberal Baby Boomer temerity in fighting a situation they helped create in the first place due to their myopic, narcissistic, vacillating, reckless, gutless and facile politics over the last 40 years. (Seriously the country will be much better off when that cohort is at last only capable of drooling into its oatmeal and opining about their limited cultural impact of 50 YEARS! If we just had more time!)
3.) The awful optics of his Castro idiocy.
Sanders has made too many unforced errors that as an outsider are going to impact him politically more than someone like Biden who gaffs daily with seemingly few repercussions.
Unless coronavirus mishandling takes Trump down I don’t see Biden beating him. Sadly I just don’t see it.
I initially supported Sanders in 2016 but voted for Hillary. My first 2020 choice is not Sanders or Biden but I will vote for Biden. Those who deluded themselves into believing that there was no difference between Trump and Clinton must really ask themselves if they are happy with the Supreme Court choices, curtailment of women's rights, climate change denial and abuse of minorities and immigrants that this anti democratic President has inflicted upon us. And now we are seeing Trump's denial of science put us all in jeopardy. Politics is the art of the possible. It involves compromise. But first you must win.
14
Currently Sanders and Biden are essentially tied in Washington at about 33% each. The remaining third voted for a candidate that had dropped out. Washington ballots are mailed out about three weeks before the election. Almost a half a million people returned their ballots before Super Tuesday. This is close to the number of voters who voted for someone other than Biden and Sanders. The real story in Washington will be how the voters who voted after Super Tuesday voted. My guess is that they broke for Biden big time.
6
Exactly. Bernie supporters need to understand: voters are NOT the DNC. Voters decide presidents not institutions.
15
Bernie's biggest problems are his youth supporters and civics.
Anyone over 45 are smart enough not to bet the farm on young voters, who tend not to show up to vote.
Second, anyone over 45 probably took civics or government in school. We know that majority rules.
We must have a nominee that can help us beat Trump, but also become the majority party not only in the House, but in Senate and state houses/Governors in 2020.
Mitch McConnell has demonstrated that nothing will get done, as long as Republicans control the Senate.
Sanders, as the nominee will cause:
- the loss of the Democrat's House majority
- no chance to take the Senate
- losses in the state races, which will lead to 10 more years of
Republican gerrymandering
This race is also, about the 10 years, when, Trump, Biden and Sanders will be sidelined.
16
Although Sanders has intense supporters a majority of Americans want someone else. There are always excuses and conspiracy theories for why a person, team or idea fell flat. Bernie, like the other 20 or so other candidates who didn’t make it were not the people’s choice. And that’s how elections work; get the most votes and you win, unless it is the presidential election.
23
Well there is a small problem with delegate because there are several states which Sanders won and delegates have not been assigned. Why's that? Long voter lines that winnow out many working class people, votes (Texas) that aren't counted or voting apparatuses that fail are Sanders problem. Yes they are Sanders' voter problems but not because these voters wouldn't have voted for Sanders
@ML You don't think some of the working class people without the ability to wait on line would vote for Biden? It was only Bernie supporters that weren't able to vote?
1
The world's big problem is not the delegate math or the voters, but it is a Democratic campaign that has narrowed its focus to the horse-race aspect to the exclusion of airing the vital issues that unfortunately concern the rest of civilization. How will a Democratic administration address the global warming crisis and international cooperation? How will it deal with the economic crisis? Now that the corona virus is a global issue will it continue its inefficient, bureaucratic and costly health care system at the expense of its own population and the well being of the rest of the world? At this point more beside delegate count is required from the leading candidates about these very difficult issues if the voters are to make the best decision.
1
@shivayon I'll make it easy for you - vote blue no matter who - because either Biden or Sanders would do a heck of a lot more on any of those areas than Trump in the next 4 years. So let's not try for absolute purity and ideology that doesn't fit into a world where the US is still a military driven, gun toting, debt ridden entity. There are a lot of things to work on, and the workers paradise doesn't happen until some fundamentals are fixed
10
If you are a progressive, if progress is your aim, you need to convince people to support your cause without threats or coercion. The far left and Bernie are incapable of this kind of diplomacy. It might not matter if they could motivate any of their peers to vote. But they fail at that too.
Does no one understand what revolutions are built on? Actual anger. A public already motivated for change. Guess what? We don’t all live on Twitter. And for any of this change to stand a chance, the far left will need to do the hard work. It’s called politics.
All the right needs is a battering ram because all they want is to tear down what the left has built. It’s harder to build a house than it is to knock it down.
18
@Matt add to that the :
1. endless circular firing squad
2. myopic preoccupation with the micro social over the macro structural
3. emphasis on idealism over pragmatic implementation
4. lack of ability to both create and accept a priority driven agenda of a few items to focus on. It’s either all or nothing.
So yeah game over.
Bernie has always generated more heat than light as a man who has denounced everybody, always on the outside, even of the Democratic Party, which he now wants to vote for him. His attacks would carry more conviction if he had shown more effectiveness in his long political career. What has he actually achieved in the Senate? Is it enough to attack "the Establishment" and is he not actually a privileged part of it? Bernie has also not shown that he really cares about solutions beyond slogans. How could he even begin to make his signature pledge on healthcare a reality against the combined opposition of the health and insurance lobbies and the Republicans and how will he raise taxes to pay for it in an economy entering recession? And so also with education: Everyone should get access to high-quality affordable education, but he doesn't show how to get there from the terrible situation today when with the protection of DeVos and Trump, pirates are robbing students and American children don't get the skills they need.
18
Truly Biden and Sanders were my bottom two picks for the nomination this year. It's not all too surprising that's what its come down to.
My hope for the next debate is to see a Biden reach out to the progressive wing of party. He's never going to be the radical liberal but he should try to consolidate support; BernieOrBust folks can't be staying home out of spite when the stakes are so high. Likewise with Sanders, if he truly cares about getting Trump out of office, I would like to see him reach out to the center, preach unity and then peacefully bow out in a timely manner after the debate. Unfortunately I'm worried his team will encourage him to go scorched earth on the "establishment" which only benefits Trump.
15
You can say whatever you want. 47% of the population didn't vote in 2016 - they didn't leave their sofa for Clinton or trump - why do you think they're going to leave their home now? It doesn't matter to me who is president. My life hasn't changed in 50 years - Bernie is the first and only person who has run for president that if he won my life would change. The world around me in this country would change - the debt I carry will change, the poor on the streets won't be dying etc. etc. If I don't read the newspaper or watch TV I don't even know who is president. The DNC can push this guy on us, but you can't make me vote. That's the only power the DNC leaves people. I've never heard anyone tell me what Joe Biden offers them - what are his policies? Why do you want him as president? Of all the candidates, after four years of moaning and groaning this is the democrats answer? It's just a different group of people on the government dole - Bernie was the reason I came back to this country, and once he's out there's no reason to register democrat. I'm not alone, but the democrats don't care.
5
@Grace Sorry to hear that. Maybe you are too old to bear the impact of the negative things Trump has done to our country or the world, but I and my kids are not. Have a care and vote Democratic - at least we would be able to reverse some of the most egregious things Trump has done. I say it again, the worker's paradise cannot happen until some fundamental corrections are made. The US is deep in debt, still driven by military spending, and full of guns. Try to move forward in November, in any way possible.
6
@Grace You are assuming that Bernie can implement the things he talks about. He can't, presidents are not all powerful dictators. Most of his agenda requires new legislation, and if nobody in Congress supports him he won't get anything done. It is actually more important to flip the Senate and have Democratic control of Congress for your life to change than the presidency. Ideally we need both executive and legislative control of course, but not voting is a privilege people died for, don't waste it away. Just because a candidate is not perfect, there's always a worse option, vote for the least evil. Tip: any Democrat is better than any Republican.
8
Bernie cannot be trusted to do what’s good for the country. Bernie will follow his beliefs and take the country down with him. Beliefs come before pragmatism!
4
Contrary to Right Wing propaganda, the modern Democratic Party is not, nor has it ever been, a socialist party. Sanders and his allies need to start their own party or join the World Workers Party. Seriously. Europe has socialist and communist parties that are full participants in the political process. They should emulate those groups and stop this pointless and frustrating slog to turn a center-left Party into something its not.
Sanders and his allies are socialists. They believe that profits from enterprise should be distributed the the front line workers and society at large. Additionally, they see wealth accumulation as a defect in the system. Socialists want more worker directed enterprises and a direct hand of the state in corporate affairs. France intervenes frequently on business strategy of its companies.
Most Democrats are not socialists. They believe in some regulation and moderate taxes. Democrats believe in a larger role of government in solving social issues, but are not hostile to wealth accumulation and believe in the independence of private enterprise.
Sanders and the Squad should form their own party. They are not ideological Democrats.
10
@Practical Thoughts I do believe FDR was one of our greatest presidents ever. He was for all the people as a nation as is Bernie. We are all losing this one. SO sad.
@Practical Thoughts
This is just false. You’re playing gatekeeper.
1) Democratic voters are an ideologically diverse bunch and have been for a long time.
2) The Democrat Party has a long tradition of socialist organizing and policymaking, from FDR and The New Deal to Medicare to unions and historical support from laborers.
3) It is a fact that, primarily as a result of Reagan moving American politics sharply right, Democrats moved away from its history as a workers’ party and became a business-friendly party.
4) Bernie Sanders would be smart to frame his policies, like M4A, within the context of the history of American Socialism and the Democratic Party, and to highlight the transference of power in the Democratic Party from working voters to wealthy special interests.
5) A lot of voters understand this and have suffered horribly under both neoliberal and neoconservative administrations - it’s why Trump won.
6) If Democratic voters can’t at least be critical about their own party in a time of major political upheaval and voter realignment, they are in for a shock come November.
7) I can’t believe you would say that a presidential candidate who wins states as big as California, his ideological lookalikes in Congress, and all of their socialist supporters/voters should just take a hike. You realize that Biden barely registers with voters under 35 and that’s like, the future of the Party, right?
2
The New Deal and Social Security are not Socialist programs. They are spending programs. While all have to pay in, nowhere did FDR ban private retirement programs for example.
Sanders calls for the abolishment of private health insurance. That’s state control of the health care system and effectively state control of the industry. Sanders takes away choice. You can spin it, but that’s what he does. Sanders calls for a German like workers codetermination for corporate boards where employees would sit on the board of directors. The board runs the company and is represented lives of the owner. Sanders call to put employees in the board by law is by default taking direct operating authority from the owner.
Those are socialist policies. FDR never fronted extremes like these. He wanted to use government programs to extend help to the white poor and working classes. He DID NOT attempt to take away choice or ownership.
2
Some of the Bernie or bust rhetoric works from the idea that another Trump term would make everyone vote for a socialist. We will (as now) begging for a sane person and also laboring under a truly disorganized presidency and a super-charged hard right Supreme Court and justice department. Gaining the higher ground from that position would be pretty much insuperable. A moderate Dem government would be a place where Bernie’s supporters would find more room for influencing actual legislation than getting frustrated from being shut out from any influence.
Enough with this lathering about “corporatist” moderates. I have been a Democrat all my voting life (except the time I voted Socialist Workers Party in the 70s). Vote however you want, but get the idea of revolution out of your head. It isn’t going to happen. Vote for the government you might have a voice in, not the one that will antagonize you daily.
Please.
8
Bernie Sanders is, in reality, an over-achieving fringe candidate.
Sanders was able to build an early lead as a result of having spent four years running for the nomination, and Biden's own ambivalence. Other than a core group of loyalists and committed "radical" voters, few "regular" voters felt comfortable with him.
Bernie was the "Anyone but Trump" alternative. Most people don't want a Revolution. Especially those older voters who know something about history. The moderates always start the revolutions, and then the radicals take them over, and attack them. And while I don't think anyone wouldn't want to wake up, as from a bad dream, and see a better America than what Trump and the Republicans have done to this country, no one with any sense could help but see that Sander's proposals are nothing more than a dream. We want a better America. A "more perfect" America. That would be enough for now. That would be plenty.
8
Biden would make a good President for a variety of reasons. He is civil which is sorely lacking in the Trump administration, and Biden is well informed, and a good listener who listens to experts and heeds their input. He will work better with Republicans and build bridges instead of walls.
Like with healthcare. Unlike Sanders who wants free healthcare for ALL which means millionaires and billionaires would get free healthcare, Biden will build on the ACA/Obamacare and make it so those who need healthcare but cannot afford it, will get it. More like Pete Buttigieg's medicare for all who WANT it!!
As this COVID-19 issue is showing us healthcare is a national security issue!! And Biden wants to represent ALL Americans and wont make himself the issue like Trump does.
Biden will also build on the ideas Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Kolobuchar, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and others including Sanders have.
These are things I believe the voters in recent primaries understood and why they went for Biden.
9
@Beth Grant-DeRoos Nobody would get free healthcare with single payer. We would all contribute a percent of our salary/income, just like Social Security. This is what all developed countries have implemented, and none of them are "socialist". There's no extra tax either, single payer would cost far less than the monthly healthcare insurance premiums we pay today. I don't think Sanders is a good candidate, but most of his policies would be good for all Americans if they were implemented, and they are not socialist, they are the norm in all Western countries, except the USA, where people will now go to work and spread COVID-19 because we don't have paid sick leave.
6
@S Lopez In most countries with national healthcare also have private insurance for those who want to pay for coverage.
Private healthcare is available through a wide range of private hospitals when accessing private medical treatment, you can go through a provider other than the hospital itself. For example, health insurance providers. Which I also want if we get national healthcare here in the states.
1
@Beth Grant-DeRoos
Obama trusts Biden to keep a steady path forward; Obama knows something about facing an opposition. However, he did not have a loud antagonistic opposition in his own Party. Obama was able to communicate with people at home and abroad. He was both gracious and a gentleman, good qualities for the President of the United States to have.
Bernie is not gracious; he appears to be a gentleman incapable of leading his angry base away from conspiracy theories directed against the DNC. He used GOP smears against Clinton, a decent honorable public servant for 26 years. It was too late when he tried to walk back his attack. So here we are with the remnants of the angry 'Bernie Bros' willing to lose and die on the Hill of purity.
1
Sanders blaming the media. In 2016, they blamed the Clinton establishment. The media had declared Biden dead. The fact is that once the other moderates stepped away the voters expressed a clear preference for Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders. This isn't just a vote against Trump. Biden gave by far his best speech of the campaign on Tuesday night and has the ability to be a positive, shining force as President. Don't whine because your guy didn't get the nomination (neither did mine).
13
Bernie is not able to expand his base. Critics of Biden provide a number of reasons why Biden is crushing Bernie but typically omit that Bernie might be the reason he is losing. He is a cranky old man who can’t build coalitions and that for all his being progressive there are other progressive policies that differ from his. Medicare for all is not popular, and ramming it down our throats may not be welcome, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make real improvements in our health care system. Perhaps Dems should start pushing this during the pandemic. Basically Bernie is a politician who assaults the status quo (and good for him) but as an outsider, not a partner. The young, his most ardent supporters, are unreliable voters and Bernie’s premise, that he can add to the turnout hasn’t proven true. But why vote which is relatively easy when joining the revolution is so much more thrilling. Biden was for many an unenthusiastic vote. Joe, please turn left. Be progressive about student debt, our tax system, free college and please do your utmost to capture that genuine desire for change.
3
When I voted for Bernie in the 2016 primaries, I was more than happy to vote for Clinton in the general election. It was a no brainer even though I personally felt her plans were not ambitious enough.
This time around? I honestly don’t know what I’ll do.
What are Joe Biden’s plans exactly? Everyone is flocking to him as this “savior” of the party but what is he going to do about the issues that got Trump elected in the first place?
And what is he going to do about issues to come? Climate change is not fake news.
It’s amazing to me that during a global pandemic people still want to vote for a candidate that has said he will veto any legislation regarding Medicare For All if it reaches his desk.
You are aware that the coronavirus doesn’t make distinctions when it comes to class, right?
5
If Bernie wins, I'll vote for Bernie. If Biden wins, I'll vote for Biden.
But in either case, I will accept the will of Dem primary voters and not seek some sort of conspiracy theory to blame.
11
Bernie has the same problem that Hillary Clinton supposedly had. He just isn't likable. His supporters are even nastier. I will never forget how they acted at the caucuses in 2016. Thankfully, most of the country has switched to primaries and that doesn't work well for Bernie because his supporters can't bully people in person. They still do a great job on Twitter.
7
Biden doesn't have much of a chance agains Trump. The media and the party leadership controlled the primaries. Why? Because Wall St. and the monied minority kept sending the message how bad Sanders and Warren would be for the economy. It's sstil not too late to turn things around.
2
I'm an independent voter tired of the same old same old. Tired of the two party system. Tired of the electoral college. Tired of people in their seventies dismissing progressive ideals because they will " take too long." What we really need in this country is TERM LIMITS across the board! Senate, House, Supreme Court... across the board. We are no longer "for the people by the people". Welcome to the C.S.A.!!! Corporate States of America
2
Bernie's platform is a goal to head for. First and foremost, we need to undo Trumpian damage, with an eye toward the future and an eye toward all Americans. I long to hear a president address as as "My fellow Americans" and to speak of Congress and the House and the Senate without first designating political party. And I am awfully tired of Trump supporters telling me what I think or believe when they haven't a clue beyond what their cult leader says.
6
The US always wants to hearken back to the 1950's, a time where everyone knew their place and wasn't protesting and trying to change the
"proper way of life". Biden is their man, Bernie will leave the race after he tries to get Joe to recognize the desires and needs of today's concerns. Bernie will help to defeat Trump.
1
@Tom
I grew up in the '50's; graduated from H.S. in '54; went on to UC Berkeley, had a little girl, left school and returned later to graduate. The country had been through a world war, 4 yrs. on two fronts. We rebuilt Europe under the Marshall Plan; we led Japan to a democratic government under MacArthur. We were not European serfs subject to aristocrat landowners. We did not "know our place"; however we respected social norms and supported a Social Contract. My father was a manager who respected Unions. He also promoted a young Mexican to a supervisor position, stood behind him against a cohort of rednecks and won.
Years later my parents supported my protest marching against the Vietnam War when I was young. I think what we are missing is the stability families gave their children at that time. The economy was good, fewer homes were broken by divorce etc. Times changed, progress was made for the benefit of all. We are still moving forward; we are not likely to start a Revolution to effect change. We are pragmatic idealists.
1
It is time for Bernie to face the reality and do what is best for the party and the country.
6
Reading all these comments from those who don't like Joe reminds me of those who didn't like Hillary and look what we got...the worst possible person to be at the head of our country, so I ask you Bernie people, do you want trump again? Our very lives depend on voting trump and all of his criminal co-horts out of our government. Maybe Joe isn't the most inspiring and maybe he says some things you don't like, but do you like trump's lack of ability to not just say the wrong thing, but do the wrong thing every single time. When has trump ever put this country ahead of himself? VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO and stop complaining about the choices we have. American voters have made the decision, not the media.
7
You mean, as in the trouble with voters forced to wait for up to 6 hours in lines in TX to vote, that affected mostly in black, Latino voters and around college campuses? Voter suppression is an ugly thing and the DNC should have spoken out against it, except this time it benefited their 'chosen candidate'.
1
@kladinvt But who exactly were those voters who stood in line , for the most part, voting for? It wasn't Bernie. I know because I was one of those voters who stood in line in Texas. Our county clerk is a democrat---she's not trying to suppress the vote. Lines long because so many dems turned out. We want to win the WH and win downballot. Biden overwhelmingly got the votes for people who stood in line on election day. (except for the Austin area). Election Day turnout was dramatically higher than turnout in 2016 (thanks Beto). Why? Because Texas Dems, who are not washington insiders or corporate shills, but who are mainly moderate and pragmatists and who don't want to see the gains of 2018 undone (thanks again Beto), so we waited in those lines because we didn't want to cast early votes to see ho won in South Carolina. Biden was "the chosen candidate" by the voters of Texas, NOT the DNC. Please, my dear fellow citizen, get out of your bubble. Find some moderates to talk to. Find some moderate republicans to talk to. Build some coalitions with us. Many of us support similar things. But trust me when I say, Democrats are voting for the candidate they want. Biden isn't my first choice, but several good candidates were knocked out too early. We are voting but the majority aren't voting for Bernie just as they didn't in 2016.
5
@kladinvt Under Texas law, the Republicans in each county can insist that half of the voting machines be Republican only. There was nothing the DNC or the state government could do about it.
The long lines were the direct consequence of half of the voting machines being almost idle during the primary. Perhaps when the Texas legislature turns blue, that law will be changed.
3
All I want is to defeat Trump - and Biden can/will do it given his ability to get out the vote.
5
And now we hear that Bernie won't drop out. It's ego and selfishness. I hope Biden calls him out on it.
9
Wow, all that and now we are stuck with Mondale?
Excuse me, I mean Biden.
Just so you know, Democrats, the rest of us out here aren’t exactly thrillsies over Joe.
I could mention the bankruptcy bill, the massive amounts of corporate cash going to his campaign, the really worrying mental decline, his interest in cutting social security and Medicare.
But I’ll stick with the Iraq war.
Biden was foolish enough to believe a not very bright president, and encouraged other Democrats to support the war. It was an illegal war, it destabilized the region, killed over one million people, empowered our enemies, led to the rise of ISIS, and caused us to take our eye off the ball in Afghanistan.
I will not reward him with my vote.
But go ahead. I hear he’s electable.
2
I have no use for Bernie Sanders or the " progressive" movement!! Both Bernie and hisde supporters made t abundantly clear they would support whoever won the nomination. In typical fashion they are now reneging on their commitment. They strike me as a bunch of spoiled brats who pick yup their toys when the don't get their way. Bernie Sanders was a spoiler in the last election and promises a repeat performance for this one.
6
Dear Bernie fans:
I am 52. Since I could vote, I always voted for the progressive candidate, and they never got the nomination.
This election is unlike any before it. If we don't get Trump out of the White House, you can kiss it all goodbye. You will NEVER have a shot at better wages, climate change or health care. You will be living under a dictatorship.
9
Importantly, I think the surge for Biden also sends a message to the GOP. We’re not buying your Hunter Swift Boat!
6
It is not his first rodeo. He lost by 4 million votes and yet, leftwing media and some mainstream media acted as if he actually won. There were no serious postmortems of his campaign and yet, we acted like Clinton, who won the popular vote by 2 million votes and lost by 77k in the midst of misogyny, voter suppression, and Russian interference, was a terminally bad candidate. He had a weakness with Black voters that he did not address. He offered no meat to the bones of his policies. Lastly, he consistently lies about the role of the Democratic Party in the last few years in such a way that he is responsible for their successes and blameless for their failures. None of his electoral predictions have come true and yet, we take him seriously as a candidate. The voters are sending a clear message.
6
I see no difference between Trump supporters and Bernie Bros: it’s always the media, it’s always someone else (immigrants, the establishment). We better move on. We do not want to be hostage to your constant blackmailing, your inability to think with the head. Sorry.
15
A poor workman always blames his tools. It’s the media’s fault. It’s the party’s fault. It’s older voters’ fault. The fact Bernie didn’t win a single County in Missouri, Mississippi or Michigan doesn’t seem to register. After 4 years of the Divider In Chief, primary voters want a unifier as President, not a rigid ideologue who rants like a Biblical prophet and spends 4 days defending his love affair with Fidel Castro.
13
@Waylon Wall Perfect comment!
Bernie should drop out ... Warren could beat Biden.
Bernie, the voters have weighed you, they have measured you, and you have been found wanting.
Vote Joe 2020
10
I vote for Democrats, only Democrats. I would have preferred Buttigieg, Harris, Warren - in that order. But I'll take Biden. I never wanted Sanders. He's not even a Democrat. And now he's a sore loser. He should take the hind and quit. He's done.
13
Bernie is a wanna be revolutionary. His followers fail to recognize this. In his 29 years, with some breaks, in the House and Senate he accomplished a history of three bills he's passed 1. & 2.: renaming post offices in Vermont, 3. a cost of living increase for veterans. Not exactly a stellar record on "revolutionary" changes. The guy can't deliver because he's not collaborative. He's just another autocrat on the other end of the spectrum.
10
The simple fact is the vast majority of Dems view Bye-Don as the best positioned candidate to beat Trump in the general election. For many Dems such as myself, this one factor is paramount above all else.
17
The biggest problem Bernie has is that he couldn’t convince the young voters that he can implement the policies he is advocating. They are with him on what he wants to accomplish, but not with him on his ability to implement. So, they are settling for incremental improvement over nothing.
14
@Kodali Agreed: a history of three bills he's passed in his history in the Congress/Senate: 1. & 2.: renaming post offices in Vermont, 3. a cost of living increase for veterans. Not exactly a stellar record on "revolutionary" changes. He doesn't even have a record of incremental change.
7
I'm between two odd posts:
he overwhelming convinced young voters
Older voters overwhelmed him, play it safe, like Hillary last time. (Reps almost did with Jeb but took a real risk) Maybe only Change candidates win.
his bill passing was comparable to other senators, you can list anyone's little bills, but basically right: do nothing congress.
Just sitting here wondering when defeating trump will become the priority in the Sanders camp. In 2016 it was July. While we are waiting for the vaunted youth vote we old timers need to be reminded that in 2016 but for about 75K votes in 4 states we could have avoided this mess.
32
This was the most depressing primary vote in my 42 years of voting..I had always voted in California, which was 50/50 years ago and solid blue now. Now I live in purple North Carolina, and my vote really matters. I felt like I was walking around with the Daily Racing Form, trying to figure out who was the best candidate to beat trump—a situation I’ve never encountered. In the end I voted, not enthusiastically, for Biden. My heart was with Warren. In the end my desperation to evict (physically and mentally) trump ruled the day.
33
kB,
I live in Carolina, even worked at the polling station in our town but I didn’t even vote because the only Democrat that I would vote for folded for Biden; I was a staunch Sanders supporter in 2015-2916 but he went too far left for me.
I donated to Sanders four times back then but he went totally off the rails trying to compete with Warren’s ultra liberal open doors policies.
Can’t win with that.
7
@JRS ~
OK if you sit out the primary.
If you do that in November ... you might get what you deserve, which will make a whole lot of Democrats very unhappy with all who do that.
1
jhansel,
I have voted Democratic since I was 21 years old since I couldn’t vote at age 18 at that time, even voted for McGovern.
I have mostly given up on the Democrats; I am now an Independent, Unaffiliated with either party; I like it that way as Democrats gave up on me.
I will probably write in Tulsi Gabbard in the general election in November; I will vote my values.
Sorry, but I just don't get Bernie. Yeah, I would have voted for him in 1968 had I not been 11-years-old then. By the time I was old enough to vote, I still would have voted for him. A few years later when I was living on my own I'd grown up enough to know better.
I'd vote for almost anyone over Trump, but I am very glad that I probably won't have to vote for Bernie.
65
@Maloyo56 As they say, "If you're not a socialist at age 20, you have no heart. If you're still a socialist at age 50, you have no head."
5
@Maloyo56
I'm no Bernie bro, but it would help alot if you could tell us why you wouldn't vote for him.
1
@Jerseytime,
Because Bernie Bros got mad in 2016 and helped elect Donald Trump! Trump's margin of victory was less than 2%.
More than 10 percent of Bernie Sanders supporters voted for Trump, study finds. In Wisconsin, 9 percent of Sanders voters picked Trump; in Michigan, 8 percent of Sanders voters picked Trump; and in Pennsylvania, 16 percent of people who voted for Sanders in the primary decided to cast a ballot for Trump on election day.
4
Bernie needs to move out of the way - he hung around too long in 2016 and simply stoked the truculence of his supporters. His ideas are out there like the yeast in a loaf, but the over-riding priority has to be the demise of IQ 45 and 'sleepy Joe' can deliver that!
61
@John M Well 47% of the population didn't vote in 2016 and those same people have nothing in Biden or Trump. So good luck with an America where 47% don't relate to the democrats or the republicans. After thirty years of voting, my life doesn't change depending on the president. Bernie is the only one who offers me a vision of a country that I envision. Millions left the party in 2016 and I reregistered to vote in the primary for Bernie - there's no reason for Bernie to drop out. The people ran him and we don't want him to leave. There are millions who think this country is empty regardless of trump. He tipped it over, but eight years of Obama continued its hollowing out. I have no idea why you want Biden - it would be great if his supporters could talk about what he offers instead of thinking bad-mouthing Bernie and his supporters is a policy. He works for us and not the DNC - We pay for Bernie to run so we have a voice. He doesn't represent himself he represents us. We want what he offers, in fact, we want what the rest of the civilized world has had for decades. I've lived in countries with National Healthcare and education paid for by the country. It's so basic, but it seems Americans don't mind an idiot citizenry and walking over people living and dying on the streets.
2
“This ain’t no party. This ain’t no disco. This ain’t no foolin’ around. No time for dancin’, or lovey dovey. We ain’t got time for that now.” So let’s get to work, as a team, to dethrone the wannabe king.
65
Ooh, Biden has the advantage in Democratic voters in areas where people vote Republican. He's a shoo-in in November! (NOT)
11
@Daedalus Biden has won most of the states in which he's competed. Please study the map again.
3
And where is your youth movement wave? Not at the polls, more likely at a rave.
You have been hustled by a scammer who never had a clue what to do other than yell and wiggle his arms. The voters are speaking and you and Bernie are not listening.
6
@Daedalus
Perhaps.
But in order to get any traction, you'll need to tell us why you think Bernie would attract Trumpist votes. You know how average Americans react to the word socialist.
3
Thank you corporate media, NYTimes included, you got what you wanted. I'm sure all of the Black voters in the South are very much looking forward to paying increasing health insurance premiums to support private insurance profits with little return. Fracking will continue to increase and burn our planet. Inequality will increase. Bravo!
13
@Jesse
The country isn't ready for universal healthcare and fracking isn't all bad. It is allowing us to shift away from the toxic coal industry, lessen our reliance on foreign oil, and provides tens of thousands of jobs in parts of our country that desperately need them.
17
@Seans not ready for universal health care? wait until the coronavirus will strike the US, then we'll talk about it.
And I'm not a Sanders supporter at all.
8
@Jesse "The country isn't ready for universal healthcare." Speak for yourself!
3
Sanders problem is the media... which has written that he cannot win and has basically labeled him a sommunist-- which frankly most of the American public have not read Marx... and don't know what that other word which seems to mean communist?socialist means either. They have drunk the Kool-Aid that we cannot afford Medicare 4 all -- but can afford huge tax cuts for the rich -- Niether Krugman nor anyone else calls for the return of the 10% luxury tax on expensive items so that at least their toys are taxed. It's possible to purches a 100 million ollar painting at auction and legally not pay 1 cent in tax. And I notice we are again talking about a bailout of Wall Street-- note Medicare 4 al.. I will not vote for the supporter of the medical insurance companies-- Biden -- rather let Trump mess things up for four more years if that's what it takes for the American people to come to their senses.. PS Il will not vote for Trump either... It should have been Warren, who knows how to do research...
9
@Anna We know you and other Bernie Bros will not go out and vote for Biden. This demonstrates the overlap between Trump and Bernie: their supporters also overlap, want disruption, want to work outside the system and institutions, and it’s their way or the highway. We know.
36
@Anna Seriously. This is the challenge with Bernie supporters. My way or the highway approach which messed up the previous election. Indeed, Bernie has single-handedly made a huge impact on taking the conversation to areas that wouldn't have received as much attention if he weren't running. But let's remember - this is a democracy. Biden is winning because he is offering an option that is more actionable. Bernie supporters - you need to understand that inaction can be dangerous to the country. Go out and vote for the candidate who atleast belongs to the same party even if you don't agree with him on all points.
8
@Anna, Bernie wants Medicare for All, free college, to forgive student death. Sooner or later we run out of other people's money. I am a lifelong Democrat. I believe in generous benefits but even Obamacare was a huge lift. why do you think M4A will pass Congress?
6
It certainly is impressive to see Jo Biden rack up these victories, considering that his campaign was on life-support barely 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, of all the Dem candidates, Biden is the weakest. He is in the early stages of dementia and barely able string together a coherent statement. Indeed, SC Rep James Clyburn stated as much on NPR, calling for the DNC to cancel all future planned debates, as this is where Biden “gets himself in trouble.” We are now seeing a Joe Biden ‘makeover’ by the DNC, establishment Democrats, corporate media and Black Clergy who are busy promoting him as ‘moderate’ or ‘centrist’. Unfortunately, this is the same Joe Biden who bragged about his close ‘relationship’ with ardent segregationists James Eastland and Strom Thurmond, his enthusiastic support for the ‘Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act’ (aka 1994 crime law) and related crime bills, which increased incarceration of African Americans, his support for ‘Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act’ (BAPCPA), backed by Banking industry, made it more difficult for people (primarily working people, students) to declare Ch 7 bankruptcy. Biden also supported Bush II’s war on Iraq in 2003 (cost to taxpayers circa $6 trillion). To quote Paul Street, ‘Biden, with his brains coming out of his ears for years now, is slated to become a squealing seal in the jaws of the Great Orange Shark Donald J. Trump’.
12
@Paul Yes there are a lot of reasons to not support Biden but he has clearly emerged as the compromise candidate who is generally acceptable to more voters than any of the other candidates. We only get to have one candidate to beat Trump, so now we have to just all support Biden instead of doing the Republicans' work for them by making long lists of reasons to not vote for him. You can always just say, "He's really a good and caring man, and his heart's in the right place."
8
@Paul Not to get into a fight, but to just clear up a talking point: The 'Crime Bill' included the Violence Against Women Act - spearheaded by Biden. Further, Sanders voted for the "damn bill."
6
@Paul Bernie also voted for the 1994 a Crime Bill.
2
Gloat all you want. November is coming.
6
The relentless articles tarnishing Sanders leaves the American public with no viable option for a liberal agenda. Biden represents the same corporate interests that the NYT represents. We don't need a "Democrat" who holds corporate interests paramount.
12
@Eric Jensen Well in this country, you usually just get two choices for president. If you don't need a Democrat who holds corporate interests paramount, then would you rather have a Republican who holds corporate interests - and especially his own corporate interests - paramount?
4
@Eric Jensen , Sanders tarnished HIMSELF permanently by endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016, when he should have denounced her and the DNC for their chicanery (which we know about, thanks to Wikileaks).
He showed himself to be a pliable old man with all the backbone of a jellyfish. He's certainly not presidential material; if he couldn't stand up to Hillary, how could he be expected to stand up to some hostile, bullying foreign leader like Putin or Kim Jong Il?
I'm no Biden fan, but good riddance to Sellout Sanders!
@Eric Jensen, et al. I'm confused. What do you (plural) need? For the last eight years, I've heard whining from Bernie supporters complaining that the Establishment was trying to keep them down. "It's like, man, they won't even let people who love Bernie vote for him in the Democratic primaries where they're not registered Democrats. It's like, man, so unfair."
I do not understand what you (plural) want. The Democratic Party is conservative. It is not the Socialist Party of America. It is not the Green Party of America (which I joined). It is not the Communist Party of America. If you need something that the Democrats aren't providing, why are you complaining? Just join another party and move on. But spare us the complaining that the Democratic Party isn't what you in the minority of the Democratic Party want it to be. Bernie is going to lose the nomination because Bernie is a Democratic Socialist and not a Democrat. I can't understand why the Democratic Party even let him run in their party primaries.
I'm looking forward to Major League Baseball starting soon. I just hope Bernie supporters don't need pitchers to throw footballs...to fight corporate interests.
3
Bernie hung his hat with the folks that love to tweet - love their casual display of political activism - but heck - show up and wait in line to cast a ballot or to caucus - well no - pass the avocado toast.
OK - gen z / millennial.
38
@SteveRR Really? And what about all those black, Latino and young voters in Texas who had to wait up to 6 hours to cast a vote? Were they 'lazy' too?
2
@SteveRR Couldn't have said it better. Action speak louder than political activism on twitter. Bernie supporters - help the democrats win the election. You will make a major contribution to the country.
1
Let Biden and Sanders debate for crying out loud. Biden is terrible without a teleprompter. Does anyone know what he stands for? Bernie, on the other hand, will level him. Stop telling us how the vote is going to go. The media is so corrupt sometimes. We don't care about your opinion. We want to hear the debate and vote. I'm tired of having Biden shoved down my throat.
18
I’d vote for Bernie as the official US debater. He’s pretty good at that. But as president...not so much. We need to win the White House, senate and keep the congress. That will take all of us working together and that is what real revolution looks like.
41
@RCJCHC Bernie is great at debating? Mr. shout and wave the hands?
3
@RCJCHC Bernie can't even explain his policies coherently. You already heard his debate against Biden in his (non)-concession speech.
2
Sanders's Big Problem Isn't the Delegate Math. It's the Media. Biden ran in '88, and didn't win because it was found out he plagiarized on multiple occasions, and he admitted to it. He repeatedly lies about marching in the civil rights movement, after being advised not to by his own campaign. He lied about getting 3 degrees and being in the top of his class, and admitted to it. Now, He can't remember which office he is running for. He can't remember the most well known line of the Declaration of Independence. These are not articles or opinion pieces, but there exist actual videos of Biden doing all the above. Where is the coverage of this? Certainly not on NYT, CNN, MSNBC. This is America voting for someone who can't even correctly quote in a speech the very principles this country was founded on. How is this happening, and why is this happening?
15
The problem with Bernie Sanders is that he still believes it's the 60s, or even the 80's. Everything is the establishment, of which (whether he likes to believe it or not) he is part of. It's an "us and them" situation, and what we need not is not a "revolution" to destroy or remove the establishment, but to build a coalition (which is an alliance for combined action). We don't need more divisive behavior.
His discussions are cloaked in past history, especially his continual drive to entreaty the American public to emulate Sweden's socialist behavior. Sweden abolished this behavior in the 1990's, just before it tanked their entire economy. Read the Cato Institute's paper by Johan Norberg on this very subject: https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-report/swedens-lessons-america
We need to truth, not a lot of outdated information, from our leaders. We want something different than what we are getting from them now, not just more rhetoric from the other end of the political spectrum. The best thing that we can do for ourselves would be to vet everything that these politicians say, decide for ourselves who they are and what they represent and vote accordingly. We are not blind sheep, and we should not act as such. Dig deep, validate what you read, and make informed decisions. It's not the time to cast our fate to the wind.
14
I will never vote for someone who voted for the Iraq War,
and who is clueless about the absolutely unjustified deaths, misery and destruction caused by US foreign policy over the decades.
Just think about those refugees from Latin America, and read this 1960 speech by JFK, quick read
https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/cincinnati-oh-19601006-democratic-dinner
JFK had wisdom.
Sanders has the same wisdom.
Biden is clueless.
I don't care if Trump gets a second term.
Whatever it takes to open the eyes of the Establishment to the need for policies that will enable a better society, with citizens having a more equal opportunity to thrive, and the same for the world.
I'm not sure the US can change.
I suggest taking the US's unrealized ideals and emigrating.
I think the US is too deeply captured by the religion of Capitalism, with profit as its god, to be much different.
The US can just marinate in violence, debt and poverty,
while the richest live like kings.
Once it was, "Go West, young man",
now I suggest, Go Elsewhere for A Future To Believe In.
Biden has been pushed to his front runner status by the warmongering, Wall Street supporting, status quo protecting Republican and Democratic Establishment,
not by his merits.
But Sanders keep on!
The debate with Joe is very important!
Sanders, please be very clear in the debate why Biden is a terrible choice for President.
Your ideas still need to be heard!
14
@Lucy Cooke Great, help re-elect Trump!
7
@Lucy Cooke You don't care if Trump gets to pick more US Supreme Court justices?
7
@Lucy Cooke You will vote for an NRA supporter though. See even Bernie had gotten the nomination I would have held my nose and voted for him. Im old enough to accept no one is perfect and hope you will too soon.
6
Sanders, attack Trump at the debate, not Biden. You have already lost to Biden. Let's beat Trump.
40
Well, the NYT has done a great job of discouraging support for Sanders.
If Joe 'Nostalgia' Biden goes on to be the nominee and then loses in November the NYT's role will not be forgotten.
15
@william The NYT didn't do it. The voters in all those states where hardly anybody reads the NYT did it. And nobody had to do anything to discourage my support for Sanders. All it took was hearing him once. He sounds like a bad comedian playing an angry old grouchy guy who just likes to complain all the time. But I love his Brooklyn accent! His act wouldn't be half as good without it.
3
@william
But it was largely forgotten when the played the same role in 2016.
No one seems to be troubled by the fact that most of the states Mr. Biden is carrying normally vote Republican.
13
@Alex Levy No dog in this fight truthfully, but why don't wait and see who wins the 5 or so states that actually determine the presidency? A can of beans on the Democratic ticket would win California (and be the best candidate, in this case). So to me, the most progressive candidate winning the most progressive state is no surprise or real accomplishment.
5
@Alex Levy As opposed to Sanders who isn't winning anything republican or democrat?
Biden is winning repub and democrat states. people writing off normally republican states is partly why trump won. Run a 50 state campaign and you never know what can happen...might pick up Texas
1
@Alex Levy Novel idea to hold primaries in only states we won in the previous election....yeah that will work.
Democrats have effectively hitched their wagon to a donkey, and Bidens diminishing mental acuity will be put on full display now, beginning Sunday. Biden is the safe choice, the lesser of evils, the establishment pick, or whatever else cliché you prefer. Sanders, and his supporters, progressively out of the main stream, are the only principled voters in the Democratic Party, as they believe strongly in their candidate and their mission. They won’t show up after another rigged primary. Bye bye Biden. 
11
@HENRY Then sadly young progressives risk feeling the effect of a US Supreme Court with 2 more justices picked by Trump.
2
All this circus and all this money spent on an election process to end up with such an incredibly weak candidate.... Totally uninspiring, and worse: Inventing jail time in South Africa (how did he get away with that?!), corruption issues with his son and Burisma, on record for pestering Anita Hill. No woman could have run with such a dismal record.
He could appoint Anita Hill as his promised black woman to the Supreme Court, though.
10
@Elisabeth I like the idea of Hill on the Court, and I think she would be fabulous.* But, I also think we need a leaf from the Republican copybook and appoint younger Justices.
* I'm not at all sure it would be a good or kind thing to ask her to serve with Thomas.
4
@chris Hah, let her make Thomas flee! If all we women would avoid places where we were harassed, we would have the freedom of movement of the average Saudi female!
2
Look, there is dignity in losing gracefully.......I have yet to se that dignity in Sanders. Not in 2016 and most certainly not now. He and his family own his needy spotlight addiction..
I am ready for us to firm up the candidate that a majority of us voted for..I wish Mr. Sanders would join that team.
Mr. Trump, you opened up this issue with your bullying and crazy thugs over in the Ukraine. Guess what? Americans don't like sleazy people working so hard to spread around their cruelty......It is downright offensive to those of us who still believe the "American Way" involves kindness, decency and truth.
Your reality, Mr. Trump is facing the reality that YOUR behavior helped Biden win.....A special thumbs up to Mr. McConnell for making the Senate your co-conspirators...
We want sensible , steady, and intelligent leadership. I hope we get that....
22
Sanders isn’t a Dem and never will be.
Enough of his riding on their coat tails.
Please go retire at the lake house you had the money to build after the last election.
29
If Biden chooses a strong vice presidential candidate, one who is young, energetic, smart, and not white and male, I will be able to vote for him without feeling desperate. I think everybody will feel more secure knowing that the vice is someone we would be happy to live with if we lose Joe. If he goes for a white male candidate it will just be so painful to be forced to vote Democrat. The last three and a half years have been exhausting and dispiriting. This situation is not ideal, but anything to get rid of trump will be okay. But I'm sick of that feeling. I want a young, energetic, smart president, not my grandpa.
15
@Annie Towne
We don't have a JFK or a Bobby Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated. We had years of peace with Clinton, and a hard won Agreement with Iran forged by Obama, now being shredded by Trump with his allegiance to Israel and his business interests in Saudi Arabia. Biden will be steady; he knows other world leaders who won't laugh at him as they do Trump. Bernie has never left the country; he barely left VT.
The problem for Sanders or anyone with a liberal/socialist view running for office are twofold...first the overwhelming support for such views are young people, the problem they don’t vote in large numbers...second young people get older, marry, have kids they may not become conservative in their views but their socialist leaning days are long gone. The old saying goes “if you’re not a socialist at 20 you have no heart and if you’re not conservative at 40 you have no brain” I don’t believe that because I’m in my 60’s and I still have some liberal leanings...but I’m not a socialist.
22
@doug mac donald To be fair to Sanders, whom I do not support for other reasons, he is isn't really any kind of socialist, at least not a type worth crowing about. He's a kind of FDR liberal with an authoritarian streak.
1
And this attitude is why the US is about to be overtaken by coronavirus.
Who needs universal healthcare during a global pandemic, am I right?
We’ll show those socialists how it’s done. Coronavirus is no match for our bootstraps.
except that the countries which DO have global healthcare are having virus nightmares, too ... sharpen up your logic and play again!
1
Bernie, and many of his followers, never figured out most Dem voters want fairer access to the elements of a better quality of life--health care, education, jobs--WITHIN our system, not to knock the system down for some "revolution".
24
I remember, back when Bernie had risen and Joe looked dead in the Blue No Matter Who campaign. And I was not disappointed. Bernie is a smart man. Now he will move toward center a bit. Toward me. He would need people like me now. But he instead focused even more on revolution, believing he could expand the electorate with even more of the more young and brown. That was his mistake. That well ran dry. And now I am disappointed. I liked his little-man spirit to go up against Big Corporate, Big Pollution and Big Pharma, Big Anything. I would have followed him, might have hit the streets and phones with him. But he turned father left. We were not ready for that yet \ I knew it. Why didn't you, Bernie? You are smart. Did you catch your own Bernie fever? Anyway, go joe.
12
@Tony Bickert
I agree, but I too was disappointed to hear that when he was advised that Putin was backing him, he should have gone public with a disavowal immediately. Instead we had to hear about it a month later. Many people are turned off that we already elected one president based on assistance from Putin; we surely don't need to have a choice of both candidates supported by Putin. That was a situation which isn't Bernie fault, but nevertheless, was a brick in the wall.
8
@IndyPen Instead of Putin interference, we may get Biden by a take-down of Sanders by establishment democrats, staging a coup when they realized that Sanders was probably going to do very well on Super Tuesday. Lots of parties behind the scenes manipulating democracy.
This country was never going to elect a socialist.
In fact it never will.
14
@Larry Thiel
Nor should it.
@Larry Thiel Except for Social Security, which is extremely popular (and a socialist policy), and Medicare, also a socialist policy and very popular. And of course we have socialist policies for the banks, which were bailed out by our taxes instead of capitalistic policies of allowing them to fail (as would have been proper) or at least forcing them into a position where they would have had strict regulations forced upon them so this would not reoccur. Instead the banks got bailed out (and weak Dodd-Frank regulations) so here we are again in a bear market with failing banks. More socialism for banks, more bailouts for industry, but none for people.
Unless Joe really steps on it (which, while possible I think unlikely) this is over. Fortunately, much clearer than 2016. Very soon, it will be time for all democrats to rally around Joe so that we can rout The Donald in November. Send a message loud and clear to the sycophants on the right - we will not put up with this nonsense any longer.
12
@Curt Hill, no, now we need the OTHER brand of nonsense!
Actually, what we need is something like a parliamentary system that would offer the electorate more than two viable choices.
But we'll never get that— the fix is in, and there are too many moneyed interests involved for any such change to ever come about.
In my latter years I've discovered, probably later than most, that what people want even more than the notable favorites -- sex/money -- is exactly what Adam and Eve wanted -- power.
Bernie's success and accompanying media coverage in the campaign's early stages gave him the power he's elusively sought his whole life. And now, as Henry Kissinger said his mom once told him: No one gives up power voluntarily.
Bernie, for the sake of America, give it up.
15
Here's a radical thought: Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic primary because he's not a Democrat.
42
Biden supporters aren't for him per se. In the Democratic primary it is an anti-Sanders vote. And the hope is that in the Presidential election it will be an anti-Trump victory. Can he slay both dragons?
12
@Norman Turns out 2016 was an anti Hillary vote. Sanders is under performing or losing in places he won in 2016
1
What percentage of Bernie supporters did not vote for Hillary last time? I'm watching hardcore Bernie forums and seeing comments that suggest they think Biden is as bad as Trump, and they will never vote for him. They are #NeverBiden people...it's like 2016 all over again. People never learn. Trump has been a disaster, but the Bernie devotees won't vote for Biden. I voted for Warren in the primary, but I can see the difference between Trump and Biden. The Bernie Cult and the Trump Cult are very similar. The bottomline is that people need to show up and vote for Biden if they want Trump and his henchmen out of the White House. This is a one issue election - defeat Trump...for the good of the world.
33
@Delana As long as it is your candidate that is the adversary of Trump, right? Many anti-Sanders people, including well known journalists, have publicly stated they would never vote for Sanders, no matter what.
1
It is the delegate math.
The AP called California for Sanders on the evening of super tuesday, yet the NY Times still won't call it.
Utah has still not counted all of their votes for a 279,000 registered democrat race. Delegates have still not been awarded to any candidate. You see how this matters? How it affects the next primary.
These delegates are being held back and are affecting momentum. Clyburn's manipulation of the race- and his call last night to end all primaries, is also a manipulation.
When can we demand that pundits and politicians pay the consequences for voter manipulation and suppression?
Unfortunately voters have been trained to not vote for their favorite candidate (whoever that may be) during the primary, but rather be steered to a choice that they are told is the best.
You should vote for your candidate in the primary. This is the only time you have control.
Once the convention happens, the nominee will be the nominee- and that is the time you make a party consolidated vote. Unfortunately voters have forgotten how it works.
If you think I'm hot air, look at the first three states before Clyburn endorsed Biden in South Carolina. The votes looked very different.
He didn't suddenly win a debate and then get an uptick.
Clyburn (the week before S. Carolina) said he wasn't going to be endorsing anyone until after that tuesday debate, but if the general election happened today, Biden would win (endorsement?)- then he officially endorsed after the debate.
4
@Ian Brooklyn It's also possible the primary voters are just voting for their preferred candidate--not your preferred candidate, but theirs.
It should surprise exactly nobody that people who vote in the Democratic Party's primary are prone to vote for a member of the Democratic Party.
3
Yes, lots of manipulations like this. And it makes me so angry.
We are lost because of the cable news and the ownership of political parties by media. Think we used to have NBC, CBS, ABC (no FOX) and better newspapers and no Facebook. MSNBC in particular as well as other Media are actively hitting and spinning their selections of news and guests to discourage Mr. Sanders. Biden and Identity Politics is not the answer. Unity over Identity Politics is the answer.
3
@NYT Reader Wait, much of what you say about our dismal media situation is true, but I thought MSNBC was all in for Sanders? They even announced an effort to increase pro-Sanders speakers.
I predict the biggest landslide in human history as Donald J. Trump and his 10 KT, 1970s swank presidency is sent packing.
I am so grateful to Joe and Jill Biden!
And I thank my fellow Americans for coming together and voting for a return to decency, civility and law.
Now do not become complacent, because that is what they will bank on.
Vote in November and take someone with you!
22
Please Bernie supporters, don't be embittered. All the electorate is saying is that we need, foremost now, to defeat Trump. You may not believe this but we are going to need many crossover voters who will not support Bernie but will support Biden, to get Trump out of office.
Trump is going to pull out all the stops and having a Sanders nomination, although satisfying for those seeking real change, will not combat the soon to be unleashed Trump/Putin juggernaut of lies and dark money. It will be a Tsunami I assure you.
Take one for the correct side of history and please get behind Joe Biden. Our world is counting on you!
24
@Clearwater And Bernie would still have the chance to propose, advocate for his policies from the Senate. Maybe he could win some allies with a graceful exit sooner than later.
1
I’m sorry. Exactly what are Biden’s policies again?
How is he fighting for our future?
Last time I checked he doesn’t want Medicare For All and his policy on climate change is a joke.
Biden may not be worse than Trump but he’s about as inspiring as a potato.
Can’t wait for those debates...
We are doing precisely what we accuse Trump voters of doing—voting against our own interests at the behest of the party.
Some might call it being gaslighted. I call it voters’ intellectual laziness. Whatever it is, Dems are running like lemmings with their hair on fire.
Backing the candidate of yesteryear is a cowardly exercise by a party stoking their own base—“Get Trump Out Now”—rather than challenging them to grow and carry the country forward.
Good Ol’ Joe might be elected, and if so, “nothing will change”, as he has assured us. However, if nothing changes, the 2024 election will bring such a backlash that we’ll look back fondly on the Trump years.
The GOP has played the long game, and they are winning, but the Democrats, whose voters go for the short game every time, refuse to learn that lesson.
Sanders is our opportunity to move forward, but we are failing to grasp it through cowardice. Again.
4
@D. Wagner Biden is our opportunity for change, as he has the ability to pull the down ballot candidates along with him. We'll need to change congress - especially the Senate - before we can change anything. Moderate Republicans accept Joe Biden, which will help put him over the top. Can you say the same for Bernie? I don't think so. His ideas turn off a lot of people, and the President is supposed to be the President of all (despite the current train wreck in the Oval Office). Take Joe for the win and the wins on the undercard...then we can start working on more liberal (and certainly more fair !) agendas.
2
@D. Wagner So, all those African Americans supporting Biden are intellectually lazy? I guess that's a messaging improvement over 'low information.'
Can Sanders supporters not see how harmful this rhetoric is? Believe it or not, there are perfectly intelligent and thoughtful people - including the AA base of our party - who simply do not embrace Sanders' views or, equally importantly, him.
2
@D. Wagner If only Bernie had thought to join the Democratic Party and make friends there, he and his followers could have been more influential. Throwing bombs at your friends is not a winning strategy.
2
I read interviews from voters in Michigan who voted yesterday for Joe Biden. I find those reported both in the Times and at Reuters. The common thread, an emphatic one, is that "we've got to get rid of Trump," said one of them. Voters believed that Biden, not Sanders, was the one who could do that. No interview indicated that voters are currently motivated by Sanders' programs; it's the desire to "get rid of Trump."
I also watched Joe Biden last night from Philadelphia. He was happy in a low key way. He reached out to Sanders. He was humble. After Trump, we need someone with humility. He did not stammer as he has during debates. Likely he stammers when he's quite pressured. He was likable. No yelling at us. No thrusting a finger in our faces. No anger. True, no charisma; enough of that, however. And, in another break from Trump, no deceit.
33
Sanders has had adequate press coverage and time to convince voters that his views and proposals compel them to vote for him. He has not succeeded. That's it. He may blame the establishment and billionaires who buy elections, but they are not the reason his candidacy is fading. He presented proposals which seem to require more resources and radical changes than can be reasonably expected to achieve in a timely manner. He has been reluctant to accept compromises which may be achievable. He blames powerful unofficial ruling oligarchies instead his inability to sell his proposals. He appears to be unlikely to appeal to enough of the general electorate to defeat Trump.
28
Every day Sanders remains in the race is an additional day that extends the fracture in the Democratic party. Senator Sanders: this is not about you. This is about the future of our country, which cannot sustain another four years of the current regime. You have altered the Democratic party, with several important progressive ideas now givens in what the party represents and will fight for. Please suspend your campaign so that we can now get everyone on the same page for November: the imperative to get out and vote for Joe Biden. We must start uniting! For those who do not understand or believe this, please get out of the way. This is not a moment to go all wobbly.
21
"Four years ago, (Sanders) won more than 70 percent of the vote in caucuses in Washington and Idaho." Four years ago, Washington held caucuses that counted, and later a primary that didn't. Yes, he blew Hillary aside in the caucus, but he lost decisively in the meaningless primary. Caucus-goers are the most passionate, willing and able to devote several hours to the process. It is absolutely not representative of the electorate. And after the 2016 election, WA scrapped the caucus as a decision maker and now uses the primary. (Caucuses will still be held to determine delegates.) We caucused in 2016 for Hillary and later complained to the state party about the process. So in one respect, Bernie lost in WA 4 years ago.
15
Bernie will lose. Let's not push him out. Let's give him the debate, and one more chance. Anything less would be disrespectful of him and his followers, both of whom we will need in the coming days.
I have always said that if Bernie can win the primary, he can win the presidency. I still believe that. We should give him every opportunity to try, and then the failure will be more clear, and easier to understand for all.
13
Unlike Hillary in 2016 Joe ran an honest and clean campaign. No one in the DNC conspired to keep Bernie off the ballot or the debate platforms. Mr. Biden did not spend a full year ahead of the campaign trying to lock up all the big money donors and starve his opponents of funding. He didn’t rely on the DNC rule book to tilt the playing field in his direction. Many of his opponents ran on the assumption that Joe would fizzle out early in the race, leaving a lane open for a relatively new face. He was underwhelming at the debates and in the initial primaries, but then the voters in SC said loud and clearly “this is who we want, the man we think will beat trump”, and voters in many states on the following Super Tuesday followed suit. Sanders just didn’t carry the day because his thesis, that a ground swell of support from new voters would put him in the lead, was wrong. Few new voters, no ground swell. And most importantly, joe didn’t fade after the first lap. People can vote for Joe without holding their noses, that’s a big difference from 2016.
12
@doug mclaren I recced your comment, but I have to say that Clinton did not 'cheat' and I and many others voted for her enthusiastically.
2
The comment thread is much less nuanced and intelligent than most New York Times comment threads. Has the primary lowered people’s capacity for reflection?’
I would welcome a world where victory against Trump is right around the corner, which seems to be the sentiment this news story has elicited.
However, I fear Democrats have once again picked the standard bearer that most reminds voters of past Democratic failures—NAFTA, the crime bill, deportation fears and many others —or is at least best poised to do so.
Perhaps when people are in the voting booth Trump’s serious failures will loom larger. One doesn’t want to hope for an economic crisis but given Biden’s serious weaknesses as a candidate, and the advantage of incumbency, it would probably be the best thing at this point.
2
Sanders' problem is old voters. Old people fear change. Sanders is all about hope and change. Biden is all about hoping for reversion to the Obama years.
4
@civiletti Sanders' problem is that a lot of people don't like his yelling and screaming--and the fact that he isn't a Democrat and has little chance of beating Trump. Enough of the ageism.
1
@civiletti
"Old"? The "Obama years", as you put it, were less than four years ago.
2
Sanders' campaign will have an uphill public relations battle as long as the primary goal for Democrats is to oust the "monstrous" Donald Trump. Many readers here have assumed during this election that I'm a Trump fan. Wrong. I just believe that vilifying Donald Trump will guarantee either more of Donald Trump OR a safe and ineffectual, Democratic establishment alternative. Seeing Trump as a monster is an insult to all the under-privileged and disenfranchised Americans who voted for him and who WOULD vote for a better, anti-establishment alternative to him, like Bernie Sanders (and polling data backs this up). But even before the general election, seeing Trump as a monster will only drive registered Democrats to a "safe" moderate candidate, like Joe Biden. ("Safe" is in quotes because the polling data also indicates that this is actually not true, by nominating Joe Biden we'll have four more years of Trump; such warnings are so 'deja vu'....)
2
@carl bumba I'm sorry, but have you been paying any attention? The turn-out numbers for the Democratic primary are HUGE. There was like a 50% increase in Michigan turnout, similar growth in other states--and they're voting for Joe Biden.
10
@Steve
I have. The numbers have been up for for ALL age-classes in the primaries compared to 2016. The media is pretending that youth vote is down for Bernie, when it appears that only the youth FRACTION of the electorate is down. i.e. there are a lot of 'baby boomers' still alive (and they do vote in high percentages). This gives the APPEARANCE that youth vote is down for Sanders. It's an artifact of the demographics that hasn't been called out. (I've been trying in these forums, but I can't get it posted.)
3
The battle between the democrats and probably the entire nation is between Millennial and baby boomers. Millennials , the majority of Bernie voters, gravitated towards democratic socialism with proven success in Europe, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea or any other advanced country. They can easily see that countries have better, healthcare, education, infrastructure, retirement, environmental policies, etc.
Baby boomers of both political party represent the failed plutocratic capitalism which began under GOP's St. Reagan created massive economic inequity unlike other advanced economies but more like a third world country. In fact it is they who are responsible for misery of the Millennials.
Millennial see thier future being poorer than their baby boomer parents and are asking for the necessary structural change in our system to survive . They also know that they will be responsible for paying the boomers retirement benefits. Unfortunately they enhance thier misery by not voting at the same percentage of the baby boomers.
Marginal change by Biden will continue to disenfranchise them to a point of complete disengagement. The diminishing pool of voters will give the GOP the chance to reemerge with another right-winged demagogue, but more intelligent, less treasonous and corrupt. The polarization of our country will be more fierce. Our democracy will either become GOP's Putin dictatorship or Cuba's socialist dictatorship. Thank you for making America great boomers!
4
@beachboy
When you observed 50 years of politics and read dozens of history books you might understand where Bernie is taking us. The '70s produced an upper middle class that hated white working class people. And boy did they take.
Today is much the same except your generation got a thing against older people and would not hesitate to cut Social Security and Medicare mostly because they want everything now and think they deserve it.
I feel for you having to vote people pushing eighty but look at what you have. AOC showed Amazon and lost 20,000 jobs for her own vanity. It reminds of the youthful French Communist of the '60s that wanted to burn down a Ford plant in Paris to prove a point. The left is supposed to be about jobs isn't it?
You might have to wait for that organic 80 thousand dollar Audi SUV that boomer is driving. But don't worry a Republican like Reagan will come along and put you in the drivers seat where you think you belong.
2
@beachboy
Millennials (some of them) are kvetching out of jealousy for the good times Boomers enjoyed. If they had access to the same wealth, they'd burn through it even faster (and enjoy it less).
The human species is aging, and the world's become too crowded. Don't blame that on those who brought you into this world -- and don't blame Boomers like me: I saw this coming, and didn't have kids.
@beachboy
The stereotyping of babyboomers as selfish, self-centered, narcissistic is just kind of mindboggling and reveals an incredible immaturity on the part of those individuals who espouse such rhetoric. Notice unlike beachboy I am not generalizing about millenniums being immature, just beachboy. Look there are insidious political and social forces that have been undermining the gains of the 60's and early 70s for at least the last 45 years. There are both national and international corporate and monied interests, the oil companies, right wing fundamentalists, who have propagated false information that have captured the hearts and minds of a huge portion of the population who respond emotionally to issues instead of thoughtfully. I am seventy, former anti-war activist and long time environmentist that has been consistently disapppointed in the American people voting patterns. . All my peers for the last 50 years are mostly teachers, social workers, health professionals, mainstream Chrisitians and tech people. i am not hanging out with financial planners, bankers, or corporate managers. So beach boy grow up, ;study some history and understand that your stereotypes are no different than a FOX NEWS orientation to the world.
1
Progressives should focus on Congress, there should be plenty of big cities and university town where a progressive in favor of universal healthcare could win an election. Why not go to these red state counties that Bernie claims he can win and put forward a congressman that can win?
Legislation happens in the Congress.
But if there’s not a democrat in the White House, then it’s just people sitting around talking.
12
Capitalism is too entrenched in this country and for that they fear Sanders. Bernie supporters are willing to delay real change if it means preventing a catastrophic DT re-election.
3
I'm disappointed that most Americans don't believe we can have universal health care and higher ed (nothing is free but things can be accessible).
But I already knew that.
Good job to Sanders and Warren at pushing these conversations to the forefront.
I hope that if Biden wins the nomination he will honor those of us who have long supported the pursuit of happiness of ALL citizens. Whoever gets the nomination for the Democratic party has my vote.
It is a question of democracy itself. And the #1 priority should be a bipartisan effort on the electoral process and national voting security.
9
Bernie has not lost this race because of the so-called "establishment". He has lost because people do not understand how he can pay for much less pass health care legislation that will get rid of the private insurance companies. Bernie never once gave us the costs of his plan. Yes, it sounds great. I'd love to have medicare for all but how? He never explained how he could pass such legislation. The kind of change that Sanders is calling for will require structural change and sacrifice. The country is not there ... yet. We have to fall down the rabbit hole way deeper before this kind of change is possible.
27
@Bradley you will in 2/3 weeks.......stay safe
Bernie's problem is the perception by many that he can not bring the country together AND his proposals require significant burden shifting to the middle and upper middle socioeconomic groups.
17
Bernie's problem is that the demographic that seems to support him the most is also the demographic that has rock bottom turnout numbers when it comes to actually getting out and voting.
The other day I was talking to a millennial I know who is an avid Bernie supporter. He was incensed that Biden is winning. I said well, you voted for Bernie, you made your voice heard. Turns out he hadn't voted in his state's primary at all. He had meant to do early voting by mail, but misplaced his ballot and didn't find it again until it was too late to send it in, and hadn't been able to get to a polling place to vote on Super Tuesday.
There's the problem right there.
41
This debate on Sunday is good for Biden, Bernie and the (Democratic) party. Bernie gets to vent and help sell his message to the county and (more importantly) Biden. Biden needs to continue to have an antagonist to help him sharpen his speech and prepare for the eventual onslaught to come. The last with we need is Biden getting too comfortable.
14
Americans will never vote for a self-proclaimed Socialist.
If Bernie hates the Democratic Party so much, he should have started his own party in 2015.
This is a centrist country, at best. If we run centrist candidates, we will get 70% of the electorate. The remaining 15% on either side don't represent the majority.
That's how it works.
~
29
@DickeyFuller If Bernie had started his own party and ran as independent, I guarantee you'd be complaining right now about how he siphoned votes away from Democrats.
3
There's an elephant in the room that in effect argues in favor of everyone backing Biden to help him win the biggest victory possible come November. That elephant is the reality that Donald Trump may well try to invalidate the election if he loses.
We know by now that Trump has no devotion to democracy and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. We know that, had he lost in 2016, he would have cried foul and claimed it was stolen. We know he'll do the same thing this year. The only thing to weaken his case is if Biden beats him badly.
Though I wish he'd drop out right now, I don't begrudge Bernie sticking around through Sunday's debate and next Tuesday's primaries. But come a week from now, he'd better back out, back Biden wholeheartedly and sincerely urge his followers to do the same. To do anything less is to play into Trump's hands.
32
Hopefully in the Sunday debate, Biden doesn't let Sanders push him too far to the far left. While some of Sanders ideas are fine in modified form (Medicare for all that want it rather than for all without a choice), Biden shouldn't run as Bernie Lite.
16
It was as clear as day from the beginning. While sanders provided a megaphone for a demoralized electorate, neither he nor Bloomberg were ever going to get elected. No matter what polls say. People don’t really share their true personal views with pollsters.
7
Sanders really has passed his sell-by date. If it was really the movement that mattered, he should have thrown his support to a different candidate from the left wing of the Democratic for this race. That fact that he didn't shows his candidacy is all about him, not the policies he supports.
45
@Cfiverson
Sell-by date?
Have you seen Biden lately?
Good grief
2
Bernie has not lost because of the electability issue. He has lost because the majority of Americans do not want what he offers. At least not yet. So, this is Bernie’s moment to prove he cares about the USA more than he cares about himself. The debate on Sunday can go one of two ways. Either tear down Biden to the benefit of Trump, or tear down Trump, to the benefit of our country. What’s it going to be, Bernie?
57
There are two things Democrats want to see come out of the next election. First, the defeat of Trump. Second, statesmanship. They want to see a president with thought, sensibility, insight, and humility. We've all had more than our share of Trumpism and the daily news items about his erratic behavior.
i voted for Bernie in the last primary but I think, in this election, he fails on both accounts. While I am thankful for his energy (as well as the other initial candidates) into the issues that need to be resolved in the nation, I don't see him as the one sitting in the president's chair on a daily basis, making decisions that encompasses all the comes with the job. And too, I don't think he can work with legislators to pass whatever plans he wants to pursue.
I'm not as thrilled with Biden as I was in the past, but I think he's the best choice for this election.
37
Bernie Sanders is my Senator, but he has been running for the Presidency since 2015. He is like a very rare bird siting here in Vermont, except for Burlington, where he has his home. My small town had its major employer, Green Mountain College, shut its doors in May of 2019. Bernie wasn't around for this devastating ending--no doubt too busy on the campaign trail to comfort and support his own constituency.
My husband and I voted with great enthusiasm for Joe Biden in our recent primary (though Sanders won the state, due in large part to his continued following in Vermont's largest city, Burlington). Bernie is NOT a member of the Democratic Party--he calls himself an Independent. He only expects the Democratic Party to twist itself into a pretzel when he runs for the top prize.
Drop out of the race, Senator, and spend some time and energy in the state that has already elected you to do a job. Our ground is thawing ( an early spring for us), so it would be a good time to bury your oversized ego.
108
@Linda Kornbluth Ah, so you'd prefer Bernie ran as an independent in the election? I can't stand Democrats complaining that he is running in the Democratic primary who would scream even louder if he took their advice and ran his own race and siphoned votes away from the Dems.
3
@Linda Kornbluth
But look how he carried his (and my former) home state, once again! Your views are clearly outliers within the state. Most VTers still supporter Bernie at historical levels for a state politician and are proud of him for bringing his progressive views to the ENTIRE country. If this has reduced the economic prospects for the people of Poultney VT (pop. 3,339) and they are now blaming Sanders for abandoning them, maybe they should be examining their OWN self-interested motivations and ego.
2
@Linda Kornbluth
Great comment!
3
The stakes are too high to insist on some political purity test for someone running against the Trump crime syndicate. It literally needs to be all hands on deck and "all the above" strategies. We can continue to work to advance progressive ideals for healthcare and higher education but we can not reject any opponent of Trump's if they don't meet all our ideals!
44
Basically the same coalition that propelled Hillary to the nomination in 2016 has thrown their collective support behind Biden. The sad thing is, even if Biden goes down in flames in November, it's doubtful anyone in this collective will have learned anything. Again.
But in any case, it will be mission accomplished: Status quo rules. Better a corporatist Democrat (sorry, I mean "moderate Democrat") than Trump, but better Trump than someone who represents real, structural change. I mean, radical ideas like legislated, universal paid sick-leave would just be... unAmerican.
But for all those clinging to the comfort of their private health insurance, let's see how that works out through the next few months where the current American system is stress-tested by the pandemic. You may come to realize, finally, painfully, that the cost of leaving millions of uninsured is actually borne by everyone.
15
The problem isn't getting big ideas to work. It's getting them passed, signed and enacted. So the paradox here is that if you want any change at all from what you have with Trump, you need his challenger to win in November. Sanders doesn't have broad enough support to win. Even if he did, Congress wouldn't hand him all the stuff he wants whether it's controlled by Republicans or Democrats. Without bending or breaking the rules of our system of government, change happens incrementally, whether anyone likes it or not.
40
Now might be a good time for folks who support Bernie to not demonize other Democrats who in many ways support the Bernie agenda, but are pragmatic in their understanding that we simply do not have the votes at this time with the Senate the way it is and the delicate hold that Democrats have on the House. A wholesale restructuring of the economy and the public health system is simply not going to happen. I for one will take baby steps over no steps. I'm sick of the gridlock and Bernie's my-way-or-the-highway is unhelpful in making the case that we will have any change at all besides rhetoric. That said, Bernie has much for value in changing the conversation to ensure that those baby steps that we do take build a foundation towards a longer-term strategy that fulfills popular interest in more humane laws that govern everything from the economy to education to health and welfare.
Don't stay home. Your vote matters.
20
@Abraham
Huh? Why do Bernie and his supporters make this false construct over and over again? Bernie says he is is not radical, and then lists all the reasonable things he advocates for, as if he alone supports them, when they are mostly things that his Democratic competitors agree on. Not voting for a man with great progressive ideals, but unwinnable plans, and instead voting for achievable progressive plans does not make me a corporatist or a moderate.
Biden and the rest smartly differ on Biden and Warren's poison pill feature to outlaw private health insurance, but the countries we envy for their health coverage, permit private insurance. Why double down on an alienating (to many including union members) feature when Denmark and Canada and others did not? Medicare as a Public Option is going to be an enormous enough chore to achieve in Congress and the Supreme Court, and can get us to universal coverage.
You are partly correct on Bernie versus Trump. There will be people who would prefer Trump over Bernie, but I think most Democrats who now support Biden will vote for Bernie over Trump. But Independents may not. Planning to avoid that increased risk of Trump winning by voting for Biden does not make me a fan of Trump. It makes me capable of anticipating a worse outcome of another four years of Trump. It's not even complex chess. It's simple checkers, and once again, I'm not a corporatist.
15
One needs a broader perspective. The natural candidates were Cuomo and Sherrod Brown. They refused to run because they thought they would lose in November . If the best would lose. the second best were likely to be worse off.
5
@Jerry Hough Sherrod Brown will never run for president. Forget it. Have known him since he was a local politician in Ohio. He does not want the job and has never wanted the job. Cuomo didn't run because Biden was the natural middle road choice for people deeply within the party (read: establishment).
1
@Jerry Hough I'm still here mourning Inslee 2020!
1
With that voice, Cuomo will never be president.
Sanders has been wrong on key issues.
First there was his demonization of the billionaires. He wanted to tax wealth at 8%, on the fringe of economic discourse, via writings of Piketty and others. But the Coronavirus has done that for him. On Monday the Dow had fallen about 19% from its latest high, and may soon enter bear market territory. That's a 19% tax on all wealth, not just that of the billionaires.
Second was his demonization of the oil companies. Yes XOM and CVX are producing oil which we want to ultimately stop using. But we can't immediately. Market case:
XOM and CVX: less than $200 billion each, Saudi's Aramco, almost $2 trillion.
Trump's friend Mohammad Bin Salman has started a price war with Russia. The falling prices send another jolt to the markets, illustrating that it is too soon to disband big oil. We need tariffs on Saudi Arabia. Where is Tariff Man? Oh, I forgot. He antagonized our European allies making a collective response impossible.
And then there is global warming. Sanders demonized the billionaires because he did not want to admit the truth.
The US cannot AFFORD universal health care now because of too much population growth due to immigration, much of it illegal. In other words, Republicans are not TOTALLY wrong.
The real world is complicated, folks. There are NO SIMPLE ANSWERS. Our primary system promotes those who argue for panaceas, instead of what worked in the past,
Actual negotiation about issues in Congress.
11
@Blaise Descartes taxes go into state coffers that could be used on UHC, the stocks lost money because they were sold by their investors. I didn't read the rest of your post because of how horrendous this "error" is
1
@Blaise Descartes The notion that the richest country in the world with a strong, vibrant economy and a relatively young population cannot afford universal health insurance, especially since we already insure the sickest and most costly group, the elderly, with Medicare is so absurd as to be laughable. Even having this notion disqualifies you from holding the handle of Descartes, a man whose brilliant logical mind you do not share.
2
Basically the same coalition that propelled Hillary to the nomination in 2016 has thrown their collective support behind Biden. The sad thing is, even if Biden goes down in flames in November, it's doubtful anyone in this collective will have learned anything. Again.
But in any case, it will be mission accomplished: Status quo rules. Better a corporatist Democrat (sorry, I mean "moderate Democrat") than Trump, but better Trump than someone who represents real, structural change. I mean, radical ideas like legislated, universal paid sick-leave would just be... unAmerican.
But for all those clinging to the comfort of their private health insurance, let's see how that works out through the next few months where the current American system is stress-tested by the pandemic. You may come to realize, finally, painfully, that the cost of leaving millions of uninsured is actually borne by everyone.
2
Time to see if Bernie is a statesman as well as a politician.
21
Loosing a 2nd bid to the White House will sting for Sanders. His behavior when Hillary won the nomination was deplorable (and Democrats remember how he behaved). I am hoping this time around, he will put his ego aside and support Biden to rid the country of Trump. Our end game as Democrats is to oust Trump. End of story.
I was horribly disappointed when Elizabeth Warren pulled out, but I'm supporting Biden for the win. I hope that Sanders and his supporters will support Biden as well. We all have to put our feelings aside for the greater good.
50
@Valerie
The whole Sanders didn't support Hillary enough accusation is a vicious lie. Sanders held 42 campaign events for Hillary after the convention. How man did Hillary hold for Obama when he won the nomination in 2008? A grand total of 12.
If the DNC can't bring along Sanders voters, that's not the problem of Sanders voters. Remember, it's a free country and people have free will. If people do not feel motivated to vote, it's because you haven't offered them a compelling reason to. However, to pin this on Bernie Sanders himself, is utterly unfair.
5
@BarneyAndFriends Oh, please, Bernie wouldn't acknowledge that he lost and then he pouted and pouted at the convention. Many of us remember that.
I hope the many Biden voters who are gloating and expressing their hostility toward Sanders here realize they are not helping to beat Trump, which they say is their primary goal.
Joe Biden will have to earn my vote. It is not automatic. Furthermore, the onus is on traditional Republican voters and Obama-Trump voters who gave us Trump to get rid of him. They made the mess. They should clean it up.
5
@abigail49 Please read the many excellent comments about this primary goal of this election, which is to replace the current president. Don't rationalize a decision to sit out November and hope others will clean up the mess. Do the math. A non-vote is just another mechanism of voter suppression and adds one to the president's total.
19
@abigail49,
Since you are revising history, here are some facts!
More than 10 percent of Bernie Sanders supporters voted for Trump, study finds. In Wisconsin, 9 percent of Sanders voters picked Trump; in Michigan, 8 percent of Sanders voters picked Trump; and in Pennsylvania, 16 percent of people who voted for Sanders in the primary decided to cast a ballot for Trump on election day.
2
@abigail49 I'm confused. You are ambiguous about whether you will support the Democratic candidate in the next election, should it be Biden, and then say the responsibility for not electing Trump will fall on those who elected him the first time?
What a world you live in, and plan to leave for the next generation. Everything else is someone else's fault and someone else's responsibility.
5
"Without any sudden change in the race, Mr. Biden will most likely claim another series of victories next Tuesday in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona."
Not so sure about AZ. Sanders seems to do better with young and Hispanic voters. But, he is for sure toast in FL.
5
Of course its the voters or lack of voters for Sanders. The simple math is that a great majority of voters, by that it is meant Democratic voters do not like Sanders or his progressive policies. People are tired of the politics of disruption and division as personified by Trump and in the primary season by Sanders. These people have found a home with Biden. Come the actual election campaign that will also be true of Independents, conservatives, Independents and moderate Republicans. That is what scares Trump and of course probably the main reason he tried his filthy tricks in Ukraine and elsewhere.
22
American voters are smart. This past week showed that Americans want to unite around a proven leader who can move the ball forward on many fronts.
Why did Bernie's appeal wither?
-In 30 years in the Senate and House, Bernie's gotten nothing done, and Americans want someone who can get things done.
-Bernie seeks to add trillions annually to our national debt by offering everyone anything and everything under the sun, without a clue nor worry about how to pay for it - other than putting his trillions of dollars of annual additional debt onto the backs of our kids.
-In 2016 his supporters physically threatened Hillary and her supporters non-stop, and Bernie did nothing to correct that abuse. Same story in 2020, just a different year.
-Bernie is a proud socialist, not a democrat - and the U.S. will never, ever elect a socialist as president.
-Bernie does not seem to like America or most Americans.
Governor Strickland's quote sums up why Joe won big on Super Tuesday: “No one wants [Sanders'] finger pointing at them for the next four years, so people got it together.”
Trump's doing everything he can to keep Bernie in this race because that is the only way Trump wins in November. Trump is pro Bernie and against Joe. That's why Trump has his Senate henchmen working overtime to resurrect the call for hearings on the Ukraine and Joe and Hunter Biden.
Many folks support Bernie. To be truly inclusive, Joe must reach out to them and show them how his policies will help them.
27
It's over Bernie. I love the social concept of democratic socialism and witness it every year in Scandinavia, but the concepts there have been refined and integrated with a healthy dose of capitalism over many years. Expecting Americans to reinvent the wheel overnight is an absurd idea and you know it.
Universal health care would never pass through the senate in your lifetime, and a blanket amnesty and reversal of student loan debt is unrealistic and not likely to happen for the same reason.
Dangling a piece of red meat in front of a starving person in a move to displace Daniel Trump is not and was not a wise strategy.
Progressive democratic ideals I am in favor of, but someone like yourself, with the old world Brooklynesque accent and the Vermont wife, is not going to sell the goods in 2020.
Get over it, and be useful somewhere within your party.
15
Bernie’s main problem is the lack of support. He has vocal support but clearly not enough to turn out and get him the delegates. Simple math really. I like Bernie and I didn’t vote for Biden but I accept that he is getting voters to turn out and vote for him. Right now it is a choice between 2 candidates not perfect for the job but a million times better than Trump. So I will bite my lip and vote for Biden if he is the nominee.
24
Bernie is the candidate I agree with most on the issues, and I think he would make a fine president. But he just can't win at this point. The math is not in his favour, and his core supporters, who are comprised of a lot of young people, don't vote in high enough numbers. He hasn't expanded the electorate. His "revolution" has passion, but it's still a relatively small tent.
The Democrats need to appeal to the white suburban soccer moms, and middle-aged black women who delivered them the House in 2018, in addition to the much fetishsized white males without a college degree. Biden's appeal to these critical groups is stronger than Bernie's.
Trump and his propaganda machine will also have a field day painting Bernie as the next coming of Lenin. And it will work in terms of scaring enough voters off.
The only thing that matters at this point is beating Trump. And mathematically, Biden has the best chance of doing that.
America may well be ready for a "Democratic Socialist" president soon. Sooner than many people probably even think, but not yet, and her name's not Bernie.
30
@Jay Sands
He's angry.
He shouts,
He jabs his finger.
Good ideas. Horrible communication skills.
Just like in real life, if you can't get along with people, you won't make any progress.
7
I find it ironic the generation that made its motto "No one over 30 can be trusted" because they hated the policies of their parent's generation is doing the same thing to their own children.
Here's what I want to hear: I DON'T need details but I want a spoken COMMITMENT to the principles outlined in the campaign when it comes to healthcare. No wishy washy platitudes.
Denial of the core problems people face is why Trump is in office. If you do the same thing as the GOP does and promise what you DON'T intend to deliver, we'll, we may be right back where we are in several years.
6
@Larry L I certainly agree that Trump would have a field day attacking Bernie but Trump's use of the Federal Government itself to attack Biden through Hunter has already started. It's going to be messy either way but I agree with your assessment -- the numbers are in favor of Biden. Bernie should -- but won't -- drop out. So I also expect the attacks on Biden to become even more shrill as we hear both from Trumpists and from Sanders supporters.
7
Why vote for a candidate who will take us back to the policies that led to the desperation of 2016 that produced Trump? We may very well end up with a Trump on steroids in 2024.
Plus, Biden is clearly in the early stages of age-related cognitive decline. He's a nice guy, yes. But the nation, and the world, needs a guy with the policies that recognize the urgency of the climate crisis. Biden clearly doesn't get it on this key issue, never mind the others that he falls far short on.
I resent what was done by the DNC. Again. As NY votes in April, I resent a process and a strategy that the DNC deployed that takes my vote out of my hands. Clearly, the DNC doesn't have room for progressives, and has pushed them out. As a consequence, after 48 years of being a "registered Democrat", I will be resigning my party affiliation and switching to independent this summer, and I will write in Sanders in the November general.
For a meaningful primary experience, the system should be changed:
One primary held nationwide over a three day period in May.
Voters chose in a ranked system of 1, 2, 3.
Voters can choose candidates from any political party, regardless of party affiliation or lack of. This allows people with no party affiliation (I will be one of those by the end of the year, after 48 years of “being a Democrat”) to participate in the primary process, and it will give the two parties a clearer picture of who is winning independents over.
15
@unreceivedogma "Plus, Biden is clearly in the early stages of age-related cognitive decline." Aren't Biden and Bernie the same age? 77? Nevermind, Bernie's actually a year older. Nice argument.
10
@unreceivedogma in that case, just check the box for trump and save the strain on your wrist.
3
@unreceivedogma - When you so bravely "write in Sanders" you will be effectively writing in Trump. Thanks for nothing.
3
Bernie’s supporters aren’t going to be bullied into supporting Biden. And, even with policy bargaining, a mass conversion may not happen.
A conversion has to come from within Bernie’s movement. There are Bernie supporters who don’t or choose not to see that 4 more years of Trump are an existential threat to the democracy that could deliver their sought after “revolutionary” goals in one form or another in the next 2 years. They will need to look beyond the sting of today and see that they have within their own grasp the voting influence to be a political force.
Should Biden be the nominee, let’s all hope that Bernie, other elected officials like AOC, and progressive interest groups use their influence to inspire turnout of Bernie’s supporters to vote for Biden. They should do so with earnest urgency Otherwise, Donald Trump could eke out another term and impose damage and hardship on the majority of those for whom Bernie cares deeply.
28
@Barbara Imagine if Bernie's supporters really came out for Biden - they'd have real clout on Jan. 21, 2021. Alas, pride will not goeth before the fall, I suspect.
3
@Barbara Why do they have to be "bullied" into supporting Biden? What are the options? Staying home on election day?
2
@Barbara
If Biden wants everyone's support perhaps he can start by not shoving his fingers in people's faces, challenging them to fights, calling them dog-faced liars and so on. Perhaps he stand to talk to people for longer than 5 minutes before his handlers shuffle him away.
The most "earnest urgency" is for all voters to get exactly what they want.
As with Trump voters, Biden voters will get what they want and regret it immediately afterwards. Couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving bunch.
Voters are not even generally aware that Sanders applied to be a conscientious objector because he was pacifist. An extraordinarily important thing for voters to be informed about for someone running for president and commander and chief of the armed forces.
1
@David Are you inferring we should start more wars like we have recently. Bernie would be trusted more than any republican considering their history.
The last two Republican presidents made excuses to avoid the military. So what is your point?
6
@Keith Barkett full disclosure and vetting of a candidate if he is running for president?? Why didn't Bernie join the reserves, national guard, etc. like the rest of us? was he above making his personal contribution as the rest of us did?
1
@David: You don't seem to know the numbers. There are 1.4 million active duty service members (15% are women), who have typically signed up for four years (ie, 0.35 million per year). There are 4.2 million people per year between ages 19 and 25 . Thus, only about 14% of the male population and 2% of the female population serve in the military.
The last president to actually serve in the military was GHW Bush. (W doesn't count.)
1
Bernie has two big problems:
He comes across and an angry old man. Americans are basically an optimistic people, they tend not to like those who are bitter.
The second problem is math, it you add up all the things Bernie wants to do, it exceeds our national budget. Unlike the government, people have to balance their budget every month, they know Bernie's plans are impossible.
This is why Bernie is failing and will never be President.
49
@Bruce1253
Americans like optimism and not bitterness? So is that how Trump was able to bully and insult his way into the Presidency? I saw nothing optimistic about Trump's campaign, only hateful rhetoric.
And somehow the US can't afford Sanders' plans? Despite every other First World Country being able to? Including those that are far smaller than us, like Denmark and Luxembourg.
What is unbelievable is not a progressive being able to gain the White House, it is nominating yet another moderate with skeletons in the closet to go against Trump.
1
@Luke D
Trump got in because both the Dems & Reps Abandoned the average voter to chase big money and the voters felt they had nothing to lose.
Other countries have made other choices regarding their military, foreign aid and tax policy. If we slash all of those we might be in their position.
Sanders' biggest problem is a mainstream media constantly questioning his electability while papering over the many, many problematic aspects of his opponent. Exit polls indicate that democratic primary voters favor Sanders' platform, but their main priority is defeating Trump. Despite the fact that Sanders polls at least as well against Trump as Biden does, the mainstream media has caricatured him as a radical. See the recent red-baiting article that was published in this newspaper just a few days ago. An avalanche of articles could be published on Biden given his long, sketchy history, but we've seen none so far. I'm only now realizing the incredible and dangerous power of the national media to define what is acceptable and unacceptable in American discourse. No wonder so many Americans are alienated from politics and choose not to vote.
24
@BarneyAndFriends
Don't worry, Trump and Fox News will fill that gap on Biden reporting in due time.
They don't even need to do much of anything but play footage of how he behaves with voters and reporters.
3
@BarneyAndFriends Sanders biggest problem is Sanders. He had the ability to create change, and he pouted. Hillary would have supported a lot of his ideas, but he wants everybody to play only with HIS toys. If he had a heart for the people in this country instead of his own ego, he would have supported Elizabeth Warren, he wouldn't have joined the race, he would have let her catch his wind in her sail, which would be formidable indeed. Time and time again, he has proven he doesn't understand political capital, and I'm not going to trust someone with my power when he can't even manage his own.
11
@BarneyAndFriends Bernie's biggest problems are 1) He's not a registered Democrat and proud of it; and 2) He's been a Senator for 13 years now and has only penned 3 bills which were enacted into law, two of which were renaming post offices.
2
Primaries are party events. Bernie only briefly pretends he is in the party every four years when he needs party numbers. Party members know this and cast their votes elsewhere.
35
@Alexandre Wouldn't be nice if we voted for the candidate with the best ideas on how to solve current problems instead of just party affiliation. Too narrow too tribal.
2
@Keith Barkett
That is not Sanders.
3
@Alexandre
I'm not a Bernie fan, but I don't fault him for not joining the party. Given the Dem's abyssmal performance over the last few years (Hillary 2016, over-reliance on Mueller, weak impeachment debacle, ancient candidates for 2020, clown-car leadership), who would want to be associated with this dysfunctional group of incompetents?
Ladies and Gentlemen we are cancelling large political rallies and having no audience at the next debate. It has become clear to me Senator Sanders will have to consider if this is the point of diminishing returns. To win a debate Bernie will have to go negative in a big way giving the Republicans miles of video to stream. It will result in a sugar high for his supporters but may hardly move the needle in his direction. Both he and Biden are at high risk if they get the Coronavirus. The chance of both of them getting sick increases everyday they are on the road. All things considered my vote is to end the campaign and get on to the General Election. Will there even be a Convention in July?
21
@ChrisA To beat Biden in a debate, Sanders only has to turn up, no negative comments needed.
1
Bernie's message has run out of oxygen; not because Medicare for All is not a good idea. It's actually a worthy goal in the long run. His proposals will require a great deal of legislative negotiation and debate lasting years.
All of Bernie's proposals work in homogeneous societies where everyone is mostly on the same page. The problem is, America's melting pot is not even like "herding cats." It's more like herding multiple species. Think of it as herding alligators, big cats, bears, rabbits and mule deer into the same pen. Someone is going to lose an argument.
Fact: Bernie has imploded because he is singularly focused on driving fear and loathing on complex issues, kind of like Trump. Simplistic "solutions" to complex problems are a hard sell to 340 million people.
Also, Bernie looks older than his years. (I'm 75!) He looks fragile despite his rally energy. He had a heart attack in October, an event that would be fully exploited by Trump and his strategists. With slurs, conspiracy theories and altered videos, Trump will play his usual tactics of the 5 year old in a tantrum. Joe Biden will have his hands full with the same tactics as Trump's opponent. But Bernie would be the proverbial baby seal on the ice.
History: Liberal Democrats don't win. Moderate Democrats do.
30
@David Ohman We are tired of moderate democrats. We are tired of the status quo. Biden is the democratic Trump, he voted for an illegal costly war, and told union workers in Michigan he doesn't work for them (any politician works for the people), and he voted to cut social security THREE times. I'd rather vote for a losing progressive candidate that has the best interests of the people at heart, than a sell out 'moderate'
14
@David Ohman
That's because Boomers and their establishment have gotten everything they have wanted. Now they want another moderate that ignores the need for change that isn't about them. Protect the protected class!
6
@David Ohman Hmmm...."simplistic solutions to complex problems are a hard sell to 340 million people."
Uh, no they are not. Simplistic solutions to complex problems are the bread and butter of demagogues worldwide (see: Trump, Donald J.). That is exactly why we are where we are.
Sen. Sanders offers thoughtful solutions, not simple ones. I strongly support most of his policy positions, and I really hoped that he was right about there being a large cohort of younger progressive folks who are ready and eager to turnout in much higher numbers than ever.
Alas, with the exception of the Nevada caucus, it has not happened. As someone who has worked grass-roots GOTV since 1972, I am disappointed but not surprised.
I will cast my vote for Biden in November, rather than sit at home and pout. That's because there are really just two teams on the ballot this fall: the Ruth Bader-Ginsburg team, and the Trump/Kavanaugh team (which will happily nullify any progressive policies that manage to get enacted into law between now and 2050).
To progressives, I ask: Which side are you on?
22
Biden is not my preferred candidate. My choice withdrew last week. However, If he does get the nomination, I hope that he nominates Stacey Abrams for VP. She is inspiring.
This would get my wholehearted support.
17
@concerned citizen
And blow his chances. Sorry, but she is not qualified in any way. What has she accomplished? Second, given Biden's age, the VP is truly a potential president. The voters we need in the swing states will not elect Biden with Abrams on the ticket a heartbeat away from the presidency. In fact, I would eliminate all the women. Sorry, but this election is too important to experiment. Booker would be much more effective. Smart, great speaker, and unifying.
Biden represents business as usual - I don't support him. A dear friend of mine got on a plane and flew to a 3rd world country to receive affordable medical care. I sent Bernie Sanders a contribution the next day. He has a stated position and he stays on it - incorruptible. I will stay with him till he loses or whatever he decides to do.
10
@Sunny Day Same, Biden is not worthy of the presidency in my opinion. I've been with Bernie since I was of age to vote in 2016, and will remain with him until the end. Biden flip flops too much and he does not have our backs, given his past history of voting for Iraq war and planning to cut social security 3 times.
2
Bernie's message has run out of oxygen; not because Medicare for All is not a good idea. It's actually a worthy goal in the long run. His proposals will require a great deal of legislative negotiation and debate lasting years.
All of Bernie's proposals work in homogeneous societies where everyone is mostly on the same page. The problem is, America's melting pot is not even like "herding cats." It's more like herding multiple species. Think of it as herding alligators, big cats, bears, rabbits and mule deer into the same pen. Someone is going to lose an argument.
Fact: Bernie has imploded because he is singularly focused on driving fear and loathing on complex issues, kind of like Trump. Simplistic "solutions" to complex problems are a hard sell to 340 million people.
Also, Bernie looks older than his years. (I'm 75!) He looks fragile despite his rally energy. He had a heart attack in October, an event that would be fully exploited by Trump and his strategists. With slurs, conspiracy theories and altered videos, Trump will play his usual tactics of the 5 year old in a tantrum. Joe Biden will have his hands full with the same tactics as Trump's opponent. But Bernie would be the proverbial baby seal on the ice.
History: Liberal Democrats don't win. Moderate Democrats do.
5
If my team loses a hockey (or any sport) playoff, I want the team who beat me to go on and win it all. At least I can say they were a strong competitor.
Hillary must feel really great about now given the Michigan results.
5
Biden wasn’t my first choice either, but let’s look at a Biden presidency. At the very least, he would:
Rescind all of Trump’s overreaching executive orders.
Fix and expand the ACA, especially out of loyalty to President Obama;
Rejoin the Paris climate agreement.
Help the Dreamers.
Not pardon any more Trump cronies.
Probably choose the next Supreme Court Justice.
Choose the Attorney General.
Get the unredacted Mueller Report released.
Not try to cut Medicare and Social Security.
Probably expand Medicaid.
Stop construction of the wall.
Take children out of cages and not separate any more families.
Be responsive to pressure by the electorate to act on some of the goals of Bernie Sanders.
Does this sound so bad?
154
@Reva Cooper like Laconia said to Sparta- IF...
@Reva Cooper
Oh, and belief in Science. Thus properly funding the CDC, the EPA and HHS and like you write, Climate Change mitigation.
25
@Reva Cooper I 'm not so sure he will act on all of the executive orders in your first point, or helping the Dreamers, or will release the unredacted Mueller report and lastly, not try to cut Medicare and Social Security. See his position on these entitlements: https://theintercept.com/2020/01/13/biden-cuts-social-security/
1
Joe, Please do NOT pick a female VP candidate; if Hilary could not beat Trump, why could Harris or Warren or Klobuchar?
I recommend Schumer of NY. Trump-Pence is a juggernaut of chauvinism, only two fighter-males knowing the same game can beat that.
Sorry Ladies, but female-warriors like Warren et al is not attractive to conservative females.
1
@Sane Human
Clinton won the popular vote and was under mined by various conspiricies to help Trump. She also had been subject to about thirty years of extraordinarily hostile press and conspiracy theories, and she certainly had some baggage that raised some legitmate concerns. To suggest that any woman VP nomination would not do well because Clinton ultimately did not carry the electoral college is the essence of stereotyping.
I am not saying that Harris or Warren or Klubuchar should or should not be the VP choice. Nor that the VP must be a woman. But nor should they be excluded just because they are a woman.
Not my original but true as can be..." Sanders “just cannot hear over the sound of his own voice."
10
As of this morning, Bernie failed to attain 15% in MS.
He will get no delegates.
The black people of the South in MS and all over have rejected him and his white coalition of Socialist Revolution.
In Florida, he will be rejected by the Hispanics.
Not only must he immediately drop out and endorse Biden but his supporters need to understand that they will have zero input unless they put aside their Socialism and embrace the moderate vision for America.
If they don't, they will get nothing from us.
10
@Simon Sez "If they don't, they will get nothing from us."....OUCH. Is this really the party of a larger tent?
I'm a Sanders supporter who gladly voted for HRC in 2016. I will sadly vote for Biden if he is the candidate...but he is not as qualified as HRS was.
1
Cohn writes, "Victories bestow positive news coverage."
But it wasn't so much for Bernie.
When he won, the media jumped to headlines like Can Bernie Be Beat? and How Will America Deal with A Democratic Socialist
10
The young did not turn out to vote... again.
16
All Bernie voters should vote Green to show the rich Boomers once again that they can't totally trash progressive and humanitarian values, and expect to have their cake and eat it too.
Another four years of Trump will further invigorate the real Left, and decisively show (as with Gore, Kerry, and Hillary) that Wall Street, right-wing Democrats can't win and shouldn't win.
5
@ Observer Hopefully, you have observed much more is at stake than 4 years of presidency, namely the judiciary. Supreme Court and many federal court appointments affecting a whole generation of policy rulings.
8
@Observer
"All Bernie voters should vote Green...Another four years of Trump will further invigorate the real Left"
The sentiment in this comment reminds me of an Onion headline:
"Dead Iraqi Would Have Loved Democracy."
3
@Observer - Go ahead, you show those rich Boomers what's what. Aren't you the tough one!
2
Sanders has some good ideas .... but they need lots of work to "make it happen".
Affordable (and subsidized for low income) Healthcare for all is what we need -- and is a better objective than Medicare for All(MFA). MFA is one way to get there - not the only way.
Affordable (and subsidized) Education for all up to 2 year college (or 4 year?) is also good. Making community colleges free is worth the price - and giving means based scholarships make sense too.
I do hope Biden makes these and other good Sanders ideas part of his plan for his first term.
As a country we need healthy educated citizens - not uneducated and /or sick people who cannot fulfill their God given potential because they are born on the wrong side of the tracks.
7
MD votes in late April. Generally, by that point I just vote for the front runner.
I have been wondering what plans are being discussed in the event of grave illness of any of the septuagenarian candidates. A Democratic running mate should be chosen ASAP, preferably well before the convention, and hopefully someone under 60.
12
sanders, in all his years in the senate , never passed major legislation or made coalitions. now he cries, yet he was always this way.
16
Sanders' toughest competitors weren't Warren and Biden. They were Fortnite and Minecraft.
22
@Jim
Funniest post yet. And, true. But you forgot pinterest.
1
Yes but how do we convince our kids that “the system is not rigged against Bernie?”
6
@Evan You can’t. Young people can smell a lie a mile off.
I don’t believe it, either, and I’m in my 60s. However, the young people and I are only half right.
The system is not only rigged against Sanders. It is rigged against the people, and we are doing what Trump voters do: voting against our best interests because we are told to.
@Evan
The system is ALWAYS "rigged" against candidates who can't get people to show up and vote for them.
2
@ Evan Teach them civics. And how Sanders tried to demand leadership of a party he never joined. Use your kid's soccer team as an analogy.
4
Tulsi Gabbard should stick it out. Who knows? Maybe she'll turn it around and win!
3
Bernie, please stay in the race until after the NY primary, I really want to vote for you... I don't care if it's a lost cause.
6
To motivate the base -and to excite the voters: Michelle Obama for Vice President!
4
@PAUL FEINER She's not running and has said repeatedly that she wants nothing to do with any of it. After all those years as a politician's wife, she's had enough.
So what's your plan? Kidnap her?
1
Who you gonna Call: Trump Busters !
Congratulations, Joe. I’m proud of you.
NOVEMBER.
11
Disappointed yes, and I will vote for Biden if he is the nominee. But it will be like kissing my sister. Biden is part of the establishment that got this country in the mess that we are in. He is a player. Bernie is the real deal. Voters just don't like his style he comes off too real even though what he talks about and proposes needs to happen sooner than later.
8
@Keith Barkett When I envision a Presidential debate between Trump and Sanders, what I see is Statler and Waldorf.
1
@Jane It's funny what you offered , but do you really think Biden is more articulate and more knowledgable on the stump than Bernie? I don't think so.
Bernie at least has the vocal energy to take on the verbal energy of trump.
4
@Keith Barkett Every exit poll out there reflects that people voted for the candidate they felt most like to BEAT TRUMP, even if it meant voting for a second choice candidate. No one is lost on Bernies messages, we get it. But right now, we need to save our nation, period, end of story, get rid of the fascists.
2
Sanders movement is floudering due to an orchestrated campaign to overwhelm the Socialist Democrat coordinated by the DNC and assisted by the media in the same unholy partnership they exhibited in attempting to impeach the President .
This is another hard blow for the Sanders supporters as they see their taxpayer funded utopia disappear . Yet intrinsically you know this is unfair.
4
Time to drop out Bernie for the sake of the nation's future. Trump is a destructive virus in all but name.
6
@Andrew Macdonald
The warmongering, Wall Street supporting, status quo protecting Republican/Democratic Establishment is a more lingering, dangerous virus,
for which four more years of Trump will be good medicine.
Oh, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie!
Don't make them tie you to a gurney.
You've again made your point,
That the party is disjoint.
Now go, continue on your journey.
4
@Technic Ally
it is Biden who may be on that gurney.
Bernie, keep on campaigning.
Your ideas are important and still need to be heard!
The debate with Biden is important,
Citizens need to know if Biden is capable of a one on one debate.
Citizens need to see for themselves during the debate, that Biden has nothing to offer but safety for the warmongering, Wall Street supporting,
status quo protecting Establishment, who shoved him to front runner status.
5
Sorry, not voting for Biden.
Spare me your "no vote is a vote for Trump" mess. It reeks of elitism and privilege.
9
I voted for Bernie. I am heartbroken that it looks like he won’t win and that Biden will be our very vulnerable nominee. But grieve now and vote later. Trump’s cancer reaches so deep—he’s putting pesticides back into our ground water; he’s letting kids die at the border; he’s putting industry in charge of the depts meant to regulate them; he may touch off a nuclear war in the Middle East; he spreads graft and corruption and mob like tactics throughout the executive branch and inspires more of it in Congress as well; and, if re-elected, he will solidify a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that will last a generation. We have to protect ourselves and our children by voting for whomever can take this fecund horror out now.
3
@Alyssa When FDR won in 1932, he was more like Biden than Bernie, but a relentless push from the left in 1934 resulted in Demo landslides and the New Deal (social security, prolabor, anti-child labor, etc.) in 1935. If progressives are smart, they can do the same today. We have lots of bright aggressive (mostly women) progressives elected in 2018. Best way to protect and expand their numbers is a blue landslide from top to bottom in 2020. Smart Progressives will work hard for the ticket! No matter who's at the top.
3
@Alyssa
But still true, nonetheless.
3
we are tired of men. enough.
4
@cait farrell That's a good reason to fight for the survival and expansion of the small band of progressive women elected in 2018. Best Way to do in 2020 is with Blue landslide, regardless of who is at the top of the Demo ticket and then continued pressure on the President (Biden or Bernie) to move left and continue the movement to bring more women into Congress and Government.
2
@cait farrell
Who is "we" in that sentence? Is "we" the Bernie voters who can't be bothered to actually show up and vote? Because "we" don't care what they think.
1
Many of Bernie's ideas are good. But:
1. he is too old
2. he is a loud and boorish public speaker
3. just because people see you speak does not mean they will vote for you.
4. come together and vote for Biden as one unified front. Move him, cajole him, push him to be more progressive.
Viva Hillary! You are better than all of them!!
17
Mr. Cohn writes "The difference between winning and losing is not particularly relevant from a delegate standpoint. It is highly relevant for momentum: Victories bestow positive news coverage."
Why then does the NYT lead its news coverage with % of votes cast rather than delegates pledged?
7
@Darryl Magree Probably because percent of votes cast is more reflective of actual voting prefernces and we're still in the primary.
2
The line should read: ridiculously positive news coverage and Nate should acknowledge the role this slanted narrative plays in the campaign. You would have thought SC was Texas or Florida or California of NY from the way the press was just agog at Biden’s win there. Since Biden visited almost none of the states where his numbers drastically reversed themselves on ST, it is inescapably obvious that people responded to the miraculous narrative of the Biden campaign and the scary negative coverage of Bernie—that Castro sympathizer—in deciding their vote in those contests. The NYT lead the way in constructing both these narratives.
I suggest you send your $5 to Amy McGrath in Kentucky. A win against Mitch McConnell could help you feel better.
25
The “plot” by “elites” to scuttle Bernie’s campaign reeks of Russian disinformation, as demonstrated by a number of hair-on-fire comments in this forum. Trolls gonna troll.
14
Next play by Trumpets and Russia, is sowing the divide in the democratic field, claiming the establishment stole the nomination from Bernie.
I would like Him and Jo to work in the next days on a Unified Democratic Platform, that both support and sign, and has the basic things both believe in. Minimum wage, dealing with student debt must be there. This can be a bridge to practically achieve in not so distant future, what Bernie stands for and which in most part is needed for the new generation to reignite growth and stabilize this society.
49
@Euxinus
Trump and the Russians needn't bother.
Bernie does it all by himself.
The "establishment" is out to destroy him.
It was in 2016, and now in 2020.
Poor Bernie, stuck in a 60s time warp.
Who even uses the word establishment anymore -- except a guy who thinks it's a source of pride to say exactly the same things today that he did fifty years ago.
I wonder if he'd loan me his Che Guevara tee shirt?
4
@Euxinus If I hear one more accusation that I am a "tool of the establishment" because I think Biden has a much better chance of beating Trump than Bernie I am going to scream.
4
Voters have spoken clearly in every primary/caucus - the progressive candidates collectively polled below the moderates.
Bernie, I love you, but it is time to take one for the team.
42
@Mike the problem is Bernie's not part of the team.
14
@Alexandre - This has become an incredibly tiresome observation.
Can you please explain why so many voters who consider themselves part of the team--with a big "D" next to their name for decades now--have chosen to vote for Sanders? They clearly consider his views to be those of a real Democrat. You might also consider why so many of those same voters would not vote for Clinton in 2016 (or ever). They apparently don't think of her as much of a Democrat.
It's a bit like all those Republicans (who are either very quiet now or have become ardent sycophants) who screamed in 2015 that "Trump isn't even a Republican!" OK, got it, that must be why 80-90% of Republicans now support him.
D and R don't mean what they used to, and the traditional party leaderships are so clueless that they apparently can't even recognize their own members.
This article needs to be deleted. The prime objective of the next Presidential race is to get a demagogue out of the White House. Please wake up. Biden is the best hope to do that. Lets put all our energy and votes together to get Trump out.
43
Biden should announce Kamala Harris as his choice for VP.
7
@Hastings I politely disagree. I would love to see him pick Stacy Abrams as a VP, who could spend the next four years working on election and voter reforms across this nation. Harris would make an outstanding Attorney General.
27
@Duane Sorry, Amy Klobachar would be the best choice. She is a highly competent moderate senator, who can work with both sides of the aisle to actually get things done in Washington. She has an excellent rapport with Biden. Kamala Harris would be an outstanding attorney general.
5
@Duane I am a Stacy Abrams fan too. I have only seen her on television interviews after the GA election. She was very gracious in defeat. Like Biden, she seems like a sensible person who can size up the situation and then diligently work and then present bipartisan solutions to at least address our problems. She could present progressive leaning solutions without the liberal, I know better than anyone, arrogance that Bernie projects and turns off both moderate and conservative Democrats and Republicans. She would be a salve on our country's wounds.
3
Voters: “We want Biden.”
Bernie: “I know I’ve lost. But I’m staying in the race so I can attack and bloody Biden just in time for the Democratic convention and general election. I don’t care if we win in November. I’m not a Democrat. I’m a revolutionary!!”
97
@Diane Bancroft This is what my nightmares are made of.
2
I finally have hope that Democrats can and will unite to defeat the malignant cancer of a presidency named Trump.
Go Biden! Trump must go!
41
Time is NOW to announce Biden’s and Pelosi’s stimulus
5
The Democrats “anyone but Tump” morphed into “anyone but Bernie”. And now they’re left with “just anybody”. Biden is not fit mentally or physically to meet the demands of a campaign much less the presidency. He will likely lose big if he’s even able to make it to the finish line.
19
@INDY That's right, he did just have that heart attack and had a couple of stents put in...oh wait, that's Bernie. And please keep in mind Sanders is not a Democrat, unless when he decides it will benefit him.
1
Sorry, Bernie. You are not likable enough.
36
@twstroud
Clever, in a subversive kind of way.
1
@twstroud And that voice! /s
It’s certainly true that the voters are speaking with their ballots and are markedly deciding that Biden is the candidate they want. That being said, I’m surprised at how strongly the liberal media (Yes, especially you NY Times) pushed against Sanders. Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes treated Sanders as though he were some criminal suspect. The media helped create this image of the dangerous socialist Sanders. Now they can devote their full fear mongering powers on to Covid-19. Squirrel!!
26
@Steve J I read the NY Times daily and I am a avid watcher of CNN. I think both outlets have been fair in their coverage of the Democratic candidates. And rightly so, our country needs to be concerned about the coronavirus, so I welcome the continual updates and insights in to how the coronavirus is being managed (or not managed) in the US.
Bernie Sanders has a lot of good ideas, but the country feels Biden is a better bet in taking on Trump. I hope Sanders supporters back Biden in 2020 and even more importantly, I hope Sanders himself supports Biden so that our country can be united.
32
@Steve J I do not recall the NYTIMES or CNN discussing sander's positions that would bankrupt the country. if anything he got a pass, BIGTIME.
2
When one side loses in a political race we hear the same old excuses trotted out. It’s the media! Unfair! Those silly voters couldn’t see the truth as it so obviously is. Just maybe people read and thought about their choice and made an informed decision. If democratic socialism is ever going to gain traction it’ll need a better messenger than a humorless, arm waving ideologue. I expect Bernie to be in full rage mode for the debate.
2
If Bernie has not been able to get a broad range of Democratic voters, then he will not win against Trump. So, if Bernie's true intent is to get the "pathological liar and worse president in history" --as he puts it-- out of the Whitehouse then he should bow out now and allow Biden and the Democratic party to get on with winning back the Whitehouse and Congress. By Bernie dragging his butt with Clinton, he contributed to her loss. Does he really want to do that again? Unfortunately, Bernie's ego is so big that he may keep hanging on instead of joining the team. Alas, Bernie has never been a team player; he has always wanted to be the captain-- believing everyone else is misguided, instead accepting his fate.
And, what the heck in Tulsi Gabbard's problem?
48
Sanders' big problem was the mainstream media's hatchet job on him, at the behest of the upper middle class and the 1%.
People act like Sanders' is the loser here. It's the American people that will lose out.
Sanders (Warren) were about the only chance you had of getting trump out in 2020. Biden and other rich white male millionaires are the reason trump got elected in the first place.
It's like Vidal and Chomsky have said all along. There isn't really a difference between the Dems and GOP. They're all just protecting the interest of the rich white folks. They've been well served by trump. Deep down, they don't really care if he comes back, despite their protestations to the contrary.
33
@Mike Bonnell, I agree that both parties protect the interests of the rich, to a point. But the parties are not the same. Not by a long shot.
45
@Mike Bonnell Isn't Bernie a rich, white, male millionaire, who owns three houses?
11
@Mike Bonnell Is the "meadia's hatchetjob" line really any different than Trump always going after the media? It isn't a conspiracy, we've all had plenty of time to form opinions on Bernie. His supporters portray him in a much more negative light with the constant belligerent tone of their engagement than the media does. That's been the case since the 2016 primary. The media has only recently been talking about that, but most of us have seen more than enough to make up our minds about whether we want that.
I think Bernie brought up a lot of important issues that I'm glad more people are trying to find good solutions for. I wish he was able to more successfully sell them to more people. I wish more of the passion he inspired wasn't so aggressive toward people that actually agreed with a lot of his policies. It's a shame.
9
The big news is that Putin is losing for the first time since 2016. Maybe Americans have learned not to be triggered by false or misleading internet drivel. The Twitterverse, including pundits here and elsewhere are amazed by this astounding turn of events - meaning they are amazed their Twitter world view doesn’t reflect reality. It never did.
28
Well, but if you look at the math, Biden struggles to get above 50 percent anywhere that isn’t overwhelmingly Black in population. For the Democratic Primary, that’s enough. In November, it’s somewhat less clear.
10
@Michael Livingston’s
Philadelphia, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cleveland.
As an old white guy, I’m perfectly fine with that. Just give me the swing states.
5
Please don’t kid, you wouldn’t give Sanders positive news coverage if he took all states. Can we end the Soviet smear campaign also please?
24
@Elizabeth
I am glad that someone else is tired of the anti-Russia hysteria drummed into people by the NYT and other Establishment media.
The anti-Russia hysteria reminds me of the drumroll to the Iraq War, based on CIA lies, of course.
Agreed, the Establishment has been out to kill the Sanders candidacy by any means.
But we persist!
President Sanders 2020!
even if it looks less likely...
the coming debate is very important!
Sanders' ideas need to be heard.
Biden's warmongering, Wall Street supporting, status quo protecting cluelessness need to be heard.
Trump will tear Biden to shreds
6
The worry at this point for Democrats should be the disillusioned and truculent Sander's disciples refusing to vote as protestation.
18
@g, true. But this is a better outcome than a contested convention. All the claims of rigging by the establishment are less convincing in the face of actual votes.
15
@g : If the Sanders disciples can't figure out that defeating Trump is more important than feeling "disillusioned and truculent," then I have to wonder about their priorities. In any event, if Bernie's people are such a force, he should be running away with the primaries and caucuses. He isn't. And in the states that have held contests so far, the "youth vote," which is supposed to be his strength, hasn't been turning out - he's admitted that. Apparently the Instagram generation is strictly that - people who'd rather post photos of themselves at rallies then actually show up at distinctly less photogenic polling places to cast a ballot (you don't get "likes" for that).
9
@Leonard Oh, one quick look at Facebook and Twitter will tell you that the claims of rigging by the establishment are alive and flourishing.
2
Sane, decent Americans want to rid themselves of Trump, a low-life if there ever was one and a Russian asset. Vote 2020 our lives and democracy and sanity depend on it!
42
Bernie's problem is that he is not a politician.
Like it or not, you must be a pol. to win whether it be the ego. maniac demagogue Trump or the great emancipator Lincoln.
Lincoln cobbled together slave owning unionists, conservative republican like himself and radical republicans to save the union first and then end slavery because without the former he could not get the latter.
Bernie has the take it or leave it, the revolution is here, if you are not aboard we do not want you, Castro was a good guy because he helped the schools and medical, without mentioning he was a butcher and dictator.
Politicians win in a democracy. "Good guys" finish second.
13
@Paul Did you come here to praise Bernie or to bury him?
I can't tell.
You seem to be saying that Bernie and Castro are "good guys" while "politicians" ranging from Trump to Lincoln (and I think you are implying Biden) are not... or that their success hinged on their opportunism.
1
@Nicole thank you for your reply. Very good retort.
What I am saying is you must be a politician to win. Period. It always helps a great deal if you are a great leader like Lincoln to say the least.
Bernie certainly has his strong points but he is not a politician. He does not know how to get elected.
Trump is a master politician however he is a moronic ego maniac demagogue and those are some of the nicer things I can say about him. He possessed the critical thing to get elected, he is a politician.
It is like saying in sports you must have big payrolls to try and win the championship but it doesn't guarantee you a good team, you could be a Trump, a dud.
1
I think one of the most significant things about Joe Biden seeming to have locked up the Democratic nomination is that he did so despite President's Trump outrageous efforts to torpedo his candidacy (which efforts are continuing). Maybe it's wishful thinking but I take Biden's success as a repudiation of Donald Trump and his right wing sycophants/conspiracy nuts.
48
For the good of his party, his country and his reputation Bernie needs to drop out
33
@John Unfortunately, he’s not a member of the Democratic Party. Hence, no party loyalty.
1
I will vote for Biden if he's the nominee. I do, however, think this turn by the Democratic Party was a potentially fatal error come November 2020.
11
At this point I'm just hoping that Sanders will be able to hold Biden to a plurality so the Democratic convention has a chance to seek out and draft a candidate who is in possession of all of his or her facilities.
Sanders is out, no chance anymore but on Sunday Sanders can save us by making it obvious that a moderate who was not in the primary, perhaps someone like Sherrod Brown or Andrew Cuomo needs to be drafted. Anything less than addressing Biden's mental ability and the Bernie Sanders campaign will have have been a total failure.
Bernie Sanders has already stated that he would not address Biden's diminished capacity. And to play it safe the DNC is discussing cancelling further debates. That's a general election red flag, when people see a debate as a threat to their centrist candidate.
As if Donald Trump is not going to debate Biden and get Biden himself to remind many Americans of the seniors we have lost to dementia. There will be painful reminders coming from Republicans, endless commercials of Biden attacking voters he disagrees with and his inability to hold a thought through an entire sentence. But protecting Biden is the answer?
The Democratic leadership needs a push and removing a threat to corporate profits is not worth four more years of Trump. Americans being forced to listen to Democrats blame "the cruelty of Trump" for four years is hardly the consolation prize we need. We need a candidate who can stand toe to toe with Donald Trump.
10
@Edward Crimmins Biden's purported mental problems are nothing but a myth, a myth that apparently not only Republican voters, but also some Democratic voters have bought hook, line, and sinker.
Yes, Biden misspeaks sometimes on the debate stage. As detailed in a recent Atlantic article, that's because he has had a stutter since he was a child. Biden has overcome his speech impediment to such a degree that it is no longer obvious to people.
For his own reasons, Biden hasn't stepped forward and announced that he has a - very mild - speech impediment. That's because he decided early on in his life that he would not ask for a free pass from anyone, but rather be held to the same standards as everyone else, stutter or no stutter.
We may disagree with Biden's decision to essentially hide his stutter (the author of the Atlantic article, who is a stutterer himself, does, as do I), but one think we cannot do is doubt Biden mental acuity on account of his gaffes on the debate stage or the stump.
In any event, Biden's electoral success shows that voters are not bothered by his occasional misspeaks on bit. To the contrary, they like to hear him speak in his generally calm and deliberate manner. Next to Trump, Biden looks and sounds like a Nobel Prize winning saint.
So, relax about the general election. And stop fantasizing that Sanders has more crowd appeal than Biden. The primary shown that nothing is farther from the truth.
@Edward Crimmins
Are you serious? If America truly cared about having a president who spoke eloquently, they wouldn't have elected dementia Don.
Trump has set a very high bar in terms of being a leader with diminished mental capacity - Biden will be just fine.
Do people not remember how Trump, Republicans and their water carriers claimed Hillary was sick, had Parkinson's, that she was demented and so on. The media fell in line with it, yoo.
Meanwhile we have already a president with significant signs of mental deterioration, narcissism, and violent rhetoric. Trump has always been unstable, but he seems more so as time goes on.
Sanders' biggest problem is his attitude, divisive message, and his self-righteous, arrogant supporters. If Sanders continue his attacks on Biden and the Democratic Party when our real focus needs to be on Trump and the GOP, he will continue to push voters away. I am a progressive and environmentalist (by profession), I would love universal healthcare and I would love to have my student loan debt wiped out. However, I'm also a realist, as I believe are a majority of Americans who agree with Sanders' message but reject his style and recognize that he has been able to get next to nothing done in his career because of his attitude.
80
@Mack In 2016, I sent Sanders money. When he left the Democratic Party after that election, he lost my vote for all future primaries. I'd vote for him if he got the Democratic nomination, but not before. I was incredulous when he again joined the race this year. Sanders runs against anyone in the Democratic Party who is not a Sanders supporter. Even when I was one, that was not a plus.
24
It’s not so surprising, looking at polling back to august it was obvious that the moderates out numbered the progressive by about 6:4. Progressives would have needed to win over some moderate voters but Sanders never made any attempt. Warren did, but progressives shunned her. This is why progressives keep losing. They look to replace, not convert moderate Dems. As the old saying goes “The best way to eliminate your enemy is to make them your friend”
35
Sanders has no control over the biggest issue facing the Democrats; how to beat Trump. The majority of voters are not left wing liberals, as is Sanders. For the majority of Democrats, the most important issue this election should be to remove Trump from office and it will not happen if Sanders is Trump's opponent.
The Democrats must form a coalition. Sanders is not interested in building a coalition and without such an agreement Trump once again is the winner, with the country, and for that matter the world, the losers. We must choose wisely. ... https://youtu.be/0H3rdfI28s0
10
Pretty much most people here in the comments are saying versions of what I'm thinking and feeling with a few glaring exceptions here and there so this is all I will write:
Get those young blasé people who may be a tad embittered by this primary or even politics in general to VOTE. Very few of them are reading the NYT or these comments so search them out, get them registered if they are not already, and get them to VOTE!
Drive them to the County office, or the post office or wherever it is if they aren't registered to VOTE. And get them registered. And then get them to actually VOTE!.
Do we have another 4 years to mope around and expresse pent up anger at the destruction of our Democracy? I think not.
If good people, young, middle age or old don't VOTE, we get Trump and his destruction unbound. I for one would like to see the Corona Virus crisis handled by adults. Thats one thing.
GET PEOPLE TO VOTE as if their very lives and yours depend on it!
33
Even as Sanders lags, he clearly has substantially more grassroots political power than Biden. With only a slim 55-45% majority breaking Biden's way, people are uniformly calling for Sanders to conciliate and form unity in the party while it is assumed Biden is powerless to do anything himself. Why this unusual dynamic? Why is Biden so powerless to himself becoming a reconciling agent with Team Bernie? Because everyone knows Bernie is his own man -- he has leeway with what he says and does whereas Biden does not. Sanders, with all his excessive, Brooklynesque hand-waving and deeply ingrained utopian visions for social-democracy is a product of the social network of vast support of tens of millions of people undergirding the ideas of his candidacy. Biden, like Clinton and Obama before her, are simply approved stand-ins for the oligarchs. As such they are not allowed by their corporate and oligarchic overlords to consent to the importance of even a single Sanders' idea. Their thoughts are bought and owned by the oligarchs. Sanders has independence of thought and action, but Biden has to make sure to please his 500 billionaire election funders whom he identified from the campaign stump as "not a problem."
In fact, the entire contest between Bernie and Biden reduces to one simple question: "If you want the government to be run by billionaires, vote Biden. Run by people, vote Bernie."
Remember that, all you folks who voted for Biden. You pay for what you get.
11
@Kip Leitner
The voters are speaking and the candidate benefiting most form increased turnout and engagement has been Biden, not Sanders.
4
@Kip Leitner Spoken like a true believer. The hallmark of a true believer is to be resistant to all facts.
Your attitude is exactly what Democratic voters have most to worry about in the general election.
@Want2know Can you honestly say you don't think the media had anything to do with that? Biden ran in '88, and didn't win because it was found out he plagiarized on multiple occasions. He lies about marching in the civil rights movement. He lied about getting 3 degrees and being in the top of his class. Reporters declared his campaign dead. He can't remember which office he is running for. He can't remember the most well known line of the Declaration of Independence. These are not articles or opinion pieces, but there exist actual videos of Biden doing all the above. Where is the coverage of this? Certainly not on NYT, CNN, MSNBC. This is America voting for someone who can't even correctly quote the very principles this country was founded on. Ask yourself, how is this happening?
I'm not sure Biden should debate Sunday. He has trouble putting sentences together, its really concerning. Several debates prior, I seriously thought he may be having a stroke onstage. However, at least he isn't nasty and mean like Trump. Ha, just what we need, choose between two elderly men who both have trouble expressing a coherent thought. Can we please do better in four years?
7
@John Did you not know that Biden is a stutterer? It's not about coherence.
that's it for me, I'll go along with Biden even though I think his return to normalcy may not be enough to adequately deal with climate change, income inequality, and forever wars. But its time for united against the disgusting President we have now. Sanders is best off trying to elect Biden and then as a Senator pushing him to tale bolder steps on those issues.
17
@Barry Schiller Agree. I trust Biden will pick good people and will follow their advice.
1
Looks like we’re not in Vermont anymore, Toto.
16
In fairness to Bernie and his supporters who are crying that the establishment did them in. They are correct. The democratic party is comprised of democrats.
Bernie is merely following the immortal words of Groucho Marx:
"I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
The question is will his supporters join the club or support 4 more years of Trump?
29
@HL
Agreed. It's hard to lead a party that you openly despise.
3
Maybe Bernie supporters were right after the 2016 election: Hillary Clinton was just that poor a candidate. Now that she's not on the ballot, Bernie's numbers have dropped dramatically.
I would've voted for the eventual nominee either way, but now that the writing is on the wall, I hope Bernie takes the high road and throws his support behind Biden. Claims that the establishment is out to get him makes him sound too much like the guy we all need to unite against.
24
Just two words: Adios Bernie.
8
Bernie needs to step up now....Drop out of the race---and give a full throated endorsement of Biden.
23
It’s all over.
7
I would have voted for Sanders without hesitation and I know he represented hope and real change at a very crucial time. But I'll do whatever I can do to at this point in order to vote Trump out of office. I implore other Sander's supporters do the same. Biden is not perfect, but in an imperfect world, you have to make imperfect choices sometimes. If Bernie supporters sit out this election because they're angry and disillusioned, then we are all screwed. I don't want to hear people complain about four more years of Trump if they don't even cast their vote for Biden, who is worlds better than this Republican debacle. Sanders can still have a lot of influence, if we get the current occupants of the White House out of there, and even he would tell you that now is not the time to accept defeat and say that four more years of Trump is a foregone conclusion.
22
Yea, I think Bernie is finished. Not unless he is impressive at the debate and Biden has a senior moment. Probably not even then.
Well, the voters have their right to cast their vote. I have the right to cast mine. Though my state hasn't even voted in the primaries yet and it seems almost over. I am clearly not a Democrat; the mainstream Democrats and I want completely different things for the country. Well, unless you foolishly believe lip service in issues like health care; I'm not. I'm economically pro-New Deal and socially moderate. Democrats are the party of neoliberal economics and social justice. I'm going to vote to have the Democrats removed from office. If I could I'd vote to have both parties removed from office, but we have a crappy two party system with winner take all and no rank choice voting. Why are we trying a neoliberal vs Trump again? Are we actively trying to pick the worst candidates?
Bernie or Bust. Bust it is. Vote Red straight down the ballot.
1
@James That attitude is what got us Trump in the first place. Citizens in a democracy have a vested interest in and responsibility to support the common good. The two party system may not be ideal but it is what we have here. Working to form a coalition among diverse factions of the Democratic party is how we will get to a better place. Voting for 4 more years of Trump will get us nowhere.
5
@James
That will ensure you never see the change you want. It will effectively entrench the GOP for the next 40 years.
1
@OUTRAGED Citizens do not have a vested interest and responsibility to vote for the Democratic Party.
We have a two-party system and most people agree both parties are pretty awful. Citizens at best have the responsibility to determine how best to use their vote. There is no civic responsibility to support the common good, as there are only two options, neither of which will promote the common good.
I am not part of team Never Trump. I'm not at all motivated by hatred of Trump or keeping him from office. And I held my nose for Hillary in 2016. So trying to blame me for how Trump got elected etc doesn't work on me.
I am not a member of the Democratic Party. There is no us. The Democrats want a future for our country which is fundamentally different from what I want. The Democrats -- the DNC, media, and many voters -- actively rejected Sanders, who is much closer to my vision for the country. I don't have to support you with this fundamental of a disagreement. You nominated Biden largely because you only hate Trump, and you are fine with the status quo. I firmly disagree with that. I don't have to vote for you.
Voting for 4 years of Joe Biden won't get the country anywhere either. He already said that "nothing would fundamentally change".
Supporting Democrats never get us to a better place. It's just more holding your nose and ignoring what you believe election after election.
1
I blame the media which seems to support predatory capitalism... Labeling Bernie "socialist' is tantamount to calling him a commie -- our enemies -- the Cold War and fear of commies brought us Vietnam. Now we have Isis...anyway. Most Americans do not know what is meant by socialism -- but it's a dirty word.
For those who say Bernie didn't give plans, well Warren did... Nit-picking to support a awful choice -- lite Republican support the health insurance companies and drug companies' shareholders Biden... GEEZ.
Bernie should run on... NYS has a late primary...And if I can't republican lites calling themselves Democrats. If I had wanted Romneycare relabeld the ACA I could have/should have voted for Romney!vote for an alternative to Biden -- I shall not vote. I am sick of the
6
@Anna Sanders has long labelled himself as a Democratic Socialist - the media simple repeats what Sanders says. The problem is Sanders is one of grievance politics and all about himself; he is merely the left side of Trump. Many democrats won in the 2018 mid-terms by not running against Trump, but providing concrete ways they would help their constituents. Sanders claims to rid the County of billionaires and millionaires and claims them to be the enemy of the people. He points to Denmark, which btw define themselves as having great health care, yet are a market based economy and house some rather large multinational corporations. Sanders has maintained a little tent and done nothing to expand his base. He has only himself to blame.
16
@Rick Yes indeed, Denmark is a market based economy. But there are differences aplenty.
Labor unions are strong and labor has a seat on corporate boards.
The wealthy capitalists actually care about all the citizens. They aren't screaming for lower taxes and take away programs.
The government guarantees workers vacations, holidays and leave. These are rights of every worker and not optional benefits left to the discretion and beneficence of the capitalists.
Income inequality isn't such a big problem when so many of the expenses of daily life like health care, elder care, generous unemployment benefits, etc. are all provided by the government.
Wealthy capitalists support these social programs because they know an educated, happy and healthy workforce is more productive.
Basically, Denmark is a socially cooperative open market society. Large corporations are highly regulated to insure business doesn't succeed at the expense of the people.
In Denmark, greed is not good as it is in America. Denmark is a win-win society while the US is I win only when you lose.
It also isn't burdened by a two-party winner take all political system. Everyone gets a voice in proportion to their vote.
In Denmark, there is no Electoral College or one-year campaign cycle. It's a small country and everyone votes on the same day. It doesn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars to run for the city council.
65% of Americans do not have a passport and have never been outside the U.S. That's sad
1
@Anna
Bernie calls himself a Socialist; specifically a Democratic Socialist. Which he isn’t. He is a Social Democrat.
It was arrogant and stupid, and illustrates a stubbornness to not accept that this country can’t deal with ideological nuance.
1
Sanders’ problem is simple: While his rhetoric is attractive to many, his list of accomplishments is nil. He’s promising things he wouldn’t be able to deliver, and voters recognize that.
27
@Howard Exactly! Bernie has been, in effect, telling us not to look behind that curtain, that there is nothing there. And all the while, behind that curtain is congress.
1
Mr. Sanders.. tagged as a Senior citizen white-man, Socialist with a recent heart attack! Knowing what you know about the gutter politics ramping up, with the blessing of an impeached, characterless president …. to swift-boat Bernie into oblivion!! This was NEVER going to work.. My guess is that the decency of Joe Biden and his ability to surrounded himself with competent and capable people will vastly outweigh any lingering concerns Americans might have about his weaknesses.. Think about just where the 'stable genius' has taken this country … and you'll get my point!
20
Nate Cohn is correct the voters Liberal and Moderate Democrats have come together with one goal in mind 'making sure Trump is not reelected' .
A decision was made by the voters ,forgoing policy matters over getting Trump out of the Whitehouse , the voters feel both can not be accomplished.
Senator Sanders should give up on his now tired narrative that the Establishment , the DNC, the Elites et all want to scuttle his campaign . Because it is not true, and has become more of a Republican talking point aimed at trying to convince Sanders supporters that there is some deep plot within the party against him and them. While all that is happening is the voters have decided that Biden is the best choice for this moment to bring back a sense of normalcy, something the voters want more than the promise of Medicare For All and Free College.
I supported Pete Buttigieg as I feel it is time for some one young with fresh ideas. When he withdrew I did not let my disappointment stop me from taking my eye off the prize' beating Trump'.
It is time I believe for all Democrats ,Senator Sanders and his supporters to come tome together and beat our common foe.Should this fail to happen then there is one thing that the Establishment was correct on that is that the Senator is a Populist as is Trump , neither of whom have any loyalty to their respective party, because in the end it is all about 'them'.
20
Sanders faces three problems:
(1) The polls have consistently shown more Democrats favored moderate candidates. Up until recently, there have been a number of talented moderate candidates. Now that they have narrowed down to one, that candidate receives most of the votes.
(2) The simmering rumors of sexism and bullying among Sanders problems and staff, a problem which Sanders acknowledged needed to be addressed never went away, and in fact got worse. Women tend to vote in higher percentages than men, particularly in the Democratic party.
(3) His entire strategy seemed to be aimed at "Bernie Bros" young college students and young men with time to spend at caucuses and collegiate organizing. (Even in 2016, Sanders did best at caucus states). Their energy and willingness to make small donations (about the cost of a pizza delivery) often seems to have disguised the fact that these were always a minority. His strategy in 2016 was to upend the majority of Democrats who had voted for Clinton as the nominee and have the delegates substitute him. This reliance on non-majority strategies is hard to reconcile with his supposed anti-establishment rhetoric.
(4) His actual record of accomplishments is thin to non-existent. For example, he voted against overseas wars, but he was in a tiny minority on these votes. In other words he was ineffective in bringing others to his point of view.
23
Bernie!!!
We all know you can NEVER deliver FREE college, FREE Medicare and all the rest of your "FREE PITCH" to the real voters who would have to actually PAY....and THEY HAVE VOTED AGAINST YOU!!
15
Yayyy! Drop out Bernie!
14
America must never allow a Communist sympathizer to lead the coutry.
That was the dream of the likes of Stalin, Krushchev and the other hellish Soviet Communists.
4
@Andrew America allowed a Russia sympathizer to lead the country. I believe Sanders would have been tougher with Putin that the fawning Trump.
4
@Andrew
I like borscht but a US Presidential election that pits a Krushchev supporter against a Putin supporter is a little too Russian for me.
4
@Steve J
There is no way Trump is a Russia supporter.
Where do you people even get the notion of this?
Trump is a quintessential American.
Bernie will not be the winner, but he has already changed the game. He needs to appear in every debate until the convention, showing us why Americans have a right to the adequate and universal health care that every other industrialized nation enjoys.
11
No, it’s the media that has cast him as a villain. The NYT is the worst culprit.
11
@Kurt
I would really invite them to peruse, with an objective eye, their slanted coverage. By my count, there was one day last week when no less than six hit pieces were up. There was not even a pretense of objectivity in any of them. Frankly, I expect better of this journal.
1
@Kurt
Oh please-- the voters have spoken!
3
This injured country needs healing first before a change in the diet. Biden is the right candidate for this moment, with a live history that matches it perfectly: he was down but had the persistance to go forward and change the tide. He can easily embrace some of Sanders ideas and bridge the divide. The reality is that the gap between them is not large and the large block voting with Sanders needs reassurance.
At the end of the day Rudy had good intuition and now Donny is freaking out.
16
@Euxinus I like your sentiment but the gap between Sanders and Biden is a wide one and not easily bridged. For one, Biden would need to pull the plug on the private insurance industry, which I suspect loaded up his PAC in recent weeks. That's not going to happen. Sanders has a lot of faults but he's right in that a revolution of the current system needs to happen to make a real difference in the lives of folks at the bottom of the ladder. It's not going to happen. The democrats needed to extend the tent to the young and disaffected, which is a growing constituency, unfortunately. By going the other way, it will be difficult for the party to win nationally, especially in the future.
3
@Euxinus
I don't understand your last line. The rest of your comment I understand.
Hopefully, Bernie showed the democratic party that there is real support for important issues the Biden camp have not considered important enough to mention. Bernie’s issues are real issues for the future of the country and Biden can become a good president if he moves the country in the right direction. I hope Biden has the courage to take the country away from the health insurance, gun, and fossil fuel industries, name progressive judges, protect women’s right to choose, and make elections free from super-pacs.
14
@Darrel Lauren - Biden is going nowhere. He was the establishment pic to keep things the same and you will experience the same results as with Clinton - much to nobody's surprise.
2
Michigan may serve Bernie Sanders as the writing on the wall. His claim that he alone can defeat Trump, thanks to his unique ability to win back white working-class voters in swing states like Michigan, the so-called “rust belt” states that fell to Trump in 2016, doesn’t seem hold true.
While Sanders did poll ahead of Biden among the young and among white Americans without a college education, they were not enough to undermine Biden’s advantage among older, moderate and suburban white voters as well as African Americans.
He must feel disappointed that the “unexpected surge of younger voters”, and his “firewall” of blue-collar voters haven’t translated into electoral victory. His strategy of doubling down with attacks on “the corporate media” and “the Democratic establishment” has not worked either.
18
@J. von Hettlingen The saddest thing for me last night was the overwhelming support Biden pulled among the elderly, folks over 65. Where's the empathy for the youth? How can they leave them with a future that is so much dimmer than they enjoyed? Not only have they left them a used-up planet, now they are pulling the rug out from under them in terms of opportunity.
4
@Number23
Then they should vote.
This country is run by those that show up. If you can’t bother to vote, you don’t have a voice.
You want to know why Denmark has health care, etc? 90% of the population votes, including those that want social services.
1
Considering that Bernie’s radical ideas wouldn’t have stood a chance against Republicans in Congress and even some in his own party, what are the chances of the couple he could possibly whisper into Joe’s ear making it anywhere? Maybe only as lip service to the few young voters who manage to pull themselves away from their iPhone to go vote.
7
@John Doe
All the cool kids are using Android phones.
This is just what I'm hearing ...
@John Doe Ha! They've been getting lip service for 40 years! I think they are used to it by now.
1
@Alex Cody, my friend’s grandson in a tech geek and Android’s all he talks about, that and Elon Musk. Tesla = Android on wheels, seems right to me.
Bernie Sanders has done such an excellent job of alienating voters that this result is hardly surprising.
His my-way-or-the-highway approach is off-putting, no matter how interesting his ideas might be, and it shows.
In state after state his hardcore supporters never fully materialized leaving the field wide open to Biden, and he only has himself to thank for it.
After 4 years of the combative Donald Trump, a willingness to compromise is not a bad thing to have.
But Bernie never got that memo.
It's costing him now.
42
@N. Smith The democrats have been compromising for 40 years and what do they have to show for it -- a two-tiered class system and the election of Donald Trump. I think political compromise isn't pragmatic but cowardly, with the chief objective being for politicians to keep getting elected.
2
Aren't the good folk of Vermont tired of a senator who is always on the presidential campaign trail? I know I would be. It's time for Bernie to get off the national stage - if that's possible for such a rabid egotist - and return to Montpelier. Fade away...
10
@Brad Geagley
Maybe that is part of why the Bern has trouble clearing 50% of the vote in the recent Vermont Presidential Primary?
Sanders blames the Establishment for all his woes.
Last night the Establishment came forward.
Blacks, whites, Hispanics ( yes, not all are for Bernie), glbt, women, basically everyone.
They resoundingly said, No.
We will not support a Socialist Revolution.
We want stability instead.
We want Biden.
27
Sanders' biggest problem is the voters. Who vote, irrationally, for 40 years of lower wages, lower standard of living, worse healthcare, worse environment, government corruption, racial injustice, on and on. The statistics are clear; and Biden is proudly part of it, and honestly thinks it's all been fine.
Who vote for a corruption scandal waiting to erupt.
Who vote for a man who often can't finish a sentence. Who erupts into bizarre name-calling at political events ("lying dog-faced pony soldier"? to a woman?).
Do we really want 2 Presidential candidates who both have cognitive issues?
I know it's horribly unpopular to say so, but Biden is a scary potential President. And yes, if it comes to that, I will vote for him.
8
@F. T.
Bernie's ideas while noble would never get through Congress. Biden is a progressive, but he is also a realist. He will enhance Obamacare and get a single-payer system going. He intends to bring climate change to the fore, he will increase wages and make corrections in race relations. And, he intends to heal our nation from the damage that Trump has caused.
5
@C Hernandez Biden will NEVER get a single payer system going. EVER.
Biden has said if Congress presented him with a bill for Medicare For All, he would VETO IT.
Obamacare was written by and for the health insurance industry. You tax dollars are going to insurance companies in order to allow them to offer affordable health care. Instead of their profits coming from the insured person, they are coming from the taxpayer.
Joe Biden is all lip service when the chips are down. Sure, he is against moral wrongs like racism and discrimination against women.
But he is backed by the establishment (Big Pharma, Big Oil, Health Insurance industries) with millions in donations and Biden will do their bidding.
National Health Care will kill the golden goose that makes some people insanely rich while others die in the streets.
Biden has assured his wealthy supporters that "nothing will change" in a Biden administration.
As always the sheeple vote against their own interests. Yes, Bernie is strident and loud and not soft and cuddly like Biden. But Bernie doesn't lie, doesn't flip flop, and doesn't cooperate with evil.
Biden is on the side of the wealthy and the corporate establishment with a few crumbs thrown to the people, as long as some rich contractor can make some money off of it.
I can't wait for the Sunday debate. Bernie needs to be kind to Sleepy Joe, acknowledge that Joe is more likable but then hit Joe on his corruption and anti-change agenda. Bernie is not a radical.
2
For me Biden never has been my main choice, but Sanders has lost his focus and message. Everyday that passes he looks like a deranged man where it shows more who he has become, an obsess intransigent man. He was great in 2016, but at the same time 2 egos clashed and gave the president to a horrible man. Clinton and Sanders are responsible for having Trump won the 2016 election. Nothing can be worst than what we have, Biden will increase confidence in him by choosing a strong Vice-president with charisma , eloquence and that things will be done. In my personal opinion he will be a one term president, before he goes senile as Reagan. I will vote for him because nothing can be worst than been govern by a group of amoral REPUgnant that have lost any value and decency, if they ever had it.
9
@Change Face Will all due respect, you really cannot blame Clinton for giving us Trump. You CAN, however, blame decades of right-wing propaganda. Decades of smears against both Clintons made people believe that one of the most qualified candidates we've ever had was somehow the greatest evil we've faced in many years. Oh, yeah - there was all that sexism, too.
Mr Comey and Mr Sanders is why we are seeing Mr Trump in White House. While Mr Comey can never ever make amends for his role in the destruction of this country, Mr Sanders can certainly redeem himself in part by quitting graciously now. This is not to say that he is not the better candidate - he is and we do need the change he is proposing. But Americans are tired after 8+4 years of “change” and would like to get back to boring. Let’s hope Mr Putin shares this vision.
6
The real problem with Bernie, as it has been all along, is that he is a one-man band, harping on the same tune over and over again with his angry voice. We are all tired of angry white guys--we've had one in the White House for the last three, very long years. Bernie has some good ideas, but his method of delivery and his limited appeal explain the numbers, simple as that.
22
Counting on the youth vote is like Charlie Brown hoping that maybe, this time, Lucy won't pull the football away. It's not going to happen.
17
@J in DC
The same can said for the moderate Republican vote, which some people fantasize Biden is going to win. In reality, he only appeals to old Democrats. I hope that's enough.
Well duh. Who was ever silly enough to believe that Americans would vote for a socialist. Not going to happen. We are a country of moderates, with two parties that have been taken over by extremists.
14
@FivebyFive
How do both parties get taken over by extremists if their voters are moderates? Don't those extremists have to win elections in order to take over?
Looking at a map, Sanders does well in mountain states with ski resorts. That visual is not consistent with Sanders claim that his “ revolution” is broad based. Biden is a moderate Liberal. We don’t need another bomb thrower in the White House.
9
It was important for the Democratic Party to go into this summer’s convention with a clear, undisputed front-runner, that handily wins both the popular vote and the majority electorally allocated delegates. Biden is on pace to do just that. No later than last night were Hannity and his Fox News compatriots (read; sycophantic enablers) spinning the tried and true conspiratorial narrative of DNC meddling. When Biden does eventually win this primary contest, the Democrats need to go into full-blown attack mode. It is no time for the edification of Party or purification of message - you must attack Donald Trump though television ads, full page newspaper ad-buys, telephone spam, and unrelenting canvassing.
7
I pray Sanders will take the high road and suspend his campaign and then help Biden to beat Trump in a landslide! After all, Sanders claims his greatest goal is to end Trump's reign of terror and this is what it will take!
17
The Sanders alleged revolution had no clothes on.
11
For many of us, call it what you may, we don’t want a stormer. Bernie hollers, he shouts, he flails his arms, his face looks like it’s ready to burst. We cannot imagine we have to fight tooth and nail and get that stressed out anymore. We’ve done that ourselves under Trump for four years!
We need a leader who is calm, who will stay calm through the storm, and will help us stay calm.
We’ve had it with being stressed - we’ve had it for four years! We have got to take a break and Joe Biden, yes, gives us the feeling he can lead, he can negotiate, and we can have resolve. Calmly.
Bernie’s a great guy - but the stress of just watching him and picturing every day for four more years a screaming battle - too much.
15
It's no wonder Bernie is struggling. The entire Democratic establishment and the MSM have all become Biden surrogates. How do we know? Easy. Not long ago, this newspaper and the MSM were all casting doubt on Biden's mental acuity. It was obvious to anyone watching the early debates. We cringed whenever Biden spoke because he was obviously not the guy who served with Obama. Scary to watch.
And yet, now, the MSM and establishment want to anoint Biden, to ignore all their prior misgivings. There's a stampede to get Bernie out of the race before Biden has to debate again. But in so doing, the MSM and establishment of the party are ignoring the valid concerns they once had about Biden’s cognitive decline. The new spin is dangerous. Want to see for yourself? Google Glenn Greenwald's piece, "Democrats and Their Media Allies Impugned Biden’s Cognitive Fitness. Now They Feign Outrage." Watch the video.
See for yourself the about-face and ask yourself, honestly, is Biden really up for the task of President? Ten years ago? Sure. Today? If you don't have serious doubts, you're in denial.
7
I worry about the health of BOTH candidates. Bernie suffered a heart attack not too long ago. Neither candidate was my first choice. So with that in my mind, it comes down to policy. Bernie’s “my way or the highway” promises are undeliverable. For instance a no private insurance option means you have to kill the entire insurance industry. Is that really going to happen? Besides figuring out where the money is coming from to fund single payer healthcare (Vermont’s single payer failed due to funding), are Americans going to agree with only government-run health insurance and no other options? Do people want going to the doctor to be like going to the DMV? I trust Biden’s step-wise approach and that he’ll be considerate enough to give a wide range of people a seat at the table, whereas I don’t trust Bernie’s ego or his supporters to allow him to be a compromiser or a leader for anyone beyond his rage-filled base and we’ve already seen what that kind of leadership looks like.
@Chris oh please, we've had enough enough whining, blaming, and self-righteousness to last generations. Sanders is a bloviator with no chance of winning the general election. The MSM and "the establishment " have coddled you and Sanders.
1
It seems Bloomberg may win after all. Biden's broke. Bloomberg's money is now behind him. How soon before the real Biden (who cannot finish a thought) fades from view and a new improved image is presented?
The big question is if Biden wins, who will actually be running the country?
5
@AACNY
Biden wins the nomination but no chance in the general. He blows up at voters every chance he gets.
just like the courts, the election "machine" is corrupt, Bernie and everything and everyone he stood for, is robbed. I and my family were robbed of ballots and went to the precinct and observed massive voter fraud acts in Calif. Like I've been saying; United STates is OVER; can't wait to leave these shores forever.
1
But Bernie won California - so what’s the issue?
3
@Hale
Where’s your evidence? Trump has tried this spin and couldn’t even get his loyalists to find it. Accusations without solid evidence is not proof.
2
@Hale I hear that Italy is nice at this time of year. Have a good trip!
Dear Bernie voters:
I can see you will be very angry about this, and to show us (democrats, liberals, progressives) up, to take some sort of revenge, to hurt us - you are contemplating either voting for Trump, or some third party candidate.
Please don't.
In terms the impact you've had in 2016, by ensuring victory for Trump in key swing states like MI, WI, PA, OH - your effect is inseparable from the maga hat, fatigue wearing, big gun toting supremacists who are menacing people, and the massive change in America's attitudes toward every non-Caucasian.
Kindly do not let this continue. Your actions have made possible for people to openly express their erstwhile, nascent hidden feeling of racism, hatred, vindictiveness toward people like me. My local JCC still has a tough guy (off duty cop) with hidden weapons on him looking furtively for some hate-filled yahoo about to let loose havoc. So too at the places of worship for nearly half of America.
This is not the America I aspired to live in.
Just so you know, no one is stealing your candidate's chances. Bernie is losing because democrat primary voters are choosing someone else - i.e., democracy is at work.
Thank you for your consideration. In the next one year, each time I see an easily identifiable Bernie voter at the watering holes I frequent, I will buy her or him a drink - if you are inclined to accept as a token of my respect and empathy.
Many cheers. Kalidan
20
@Kalidan
Bravo! Let’s talk! Let’s unite! Beat Trump!
2
“The candidate with a plurality of delegates should be the nominee.” - Bernie Sanders during the Democratic Debate in Nevada on February 20th
10
Sanders was under the impression that because the voters of Vermont have let him say whatever he wanted for the last 30 years that he was right about everything and that everyone in the country would buy what he was selling. He has never had to engage with people unlike Vermonters, and as we all know, that is not the case.
I hope he is can accept the fact that it is voters, not the "establishment" who are rejecting his candidacy. He needs to understand that he is not in Vermont anymore.
23
@Texas Democrat
That is the most likely reason that Bernie moved to Vermont. He would never have cut it in Brooklyn, or most other places. His career has been a combination
of luck and timing. As Mayor of Burlington, he could have his own foreign policy. As a presidential candidate in 2016, he could be the recipient of anti-Clinton votes. In 2020, luck and timing were against him.
What's fair is to give everyone a chance to pick the nominee. But what would give democrats a chance to win is to pick the nominee that wins in all the states that swing in the general election. I don't care who wins in California, democrats are going to carry California. I don't care who wins in Idaho, Republicans are going to carry Idaho. So, I guess this is the factor by which I'll be voting in the primary and will be looking forward to see next week's primaries with Florida and Ohio.
1
@Tired
And Swing states that mattered last time: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.
Biden doesn't need a majority of delegates. Sanders has been clear that whoever has a plurality of delegates should be declared winner. I'm sure this "authentic" politician will live by his remarks.
9
I hope this time Bernie is able to enthusiastically support Biden who appears to be headed for the nomination and this does not become a repeat of 2016, when he did not quite enthusiastically support Hillary Clinton.
Many of his supporters sat home or voted for third party causing her to lose the election.
Time for Bernie to act like a statesman and persuade his voters to support the democratic nominee.
18
@The Observer 116,000Sanders voters voted for Trump himself.
Rather than viewing this through a tribal lens (my candidate vs. your candidate) I would encourage people to see this as evidence that democracy is still alive and well in America. it is demonstrating that "the people" are the ones who decide--by exercising their right to vote--who will represent them. And sometimes the outcome is a surprise. But it is the people who make that choice. And that is what democracy is all about. On the Republican side, Trump has taken that freedom of choice away from Republican voters and convinced them that all power must reside in him, and not in the voters. But what the Democratic primaries show is that Democratic voters won't be cowed into submission, but will exercise their democratic right to be represented by the candidate of their choice. It's called democracy, and it's a sweet thing.
11
Sanders did so well in 2016 because that was a change election. An outsider was going to do better, and an insider worse, hence Trump's win and Hillary's loss.
This is a fear election. The Trump boogeyman is so powerful in people's minds that they'll do anything to remove it. Ideas and platform don't matter to many people this time around. In some ways, even common sense doesn't matter. Bernie is still Bernie. The voters want to go in a different direction this time. When fear takes hold, people become extremely risk-averse. They're not willing to take any chances. That's the reality of where we are.
24
@J.C. Well said.
2
Very well put.
Living in Vermont for sixteen years, I saw Bernie up close. His lack of remarks last evening to his supporters is typical. Things go well and he's a veritable fountain of words. When they go bad, he's quiet as a church mouse.
The supposed under 30 voters who were purportedly his strength have not shown up. For the remainder of us who are registered Democrats, we want the strongest candidate possible in the general election. That is not Sanders, but I would strongly urge his supporters not to sit out this election like they did in 2016 as another Trump term might be the end of our system of government. Country over party should not be dead. Let's prove that it isn't.
39
@JWMathews Thank you for your insight. The problem with Sanders' and his hard, core, supporters is that they either aren't Democrats or they want to see the Demkcratic Party destroyed. No appeals to him or them are going to matter. It's either Sander or Trump and his under 30 supporters can afford to live long enough to piece back their lives after the destruction of Trumpism.
3
Better Biden than Trump. What else can you say about him?
He was the conservative old white man Obama needed to balance the ticket and get elected, now it’s the same rationale. I’m doubtful a VP pick is going to get us much closer to health care, income equality, or a liveable planet.
4
@Peter
We KNOW Trump won’t! Biden will fill his Administration with great progressives. Democrats can hopefully win the House and Senate with solid majorities. It’s not all or nothing. Democrats are sold on most progressive ideas. Sanders does not have the support even among 18-29 year olds to win in the general election.
It’s true, American voters aren’t worthy of a leader such as Bernie Sanders. American voters aren’t compassionate enough, they aren’t intelligent enough, they aren’t strong enough, and for those in spiritual communities lack faith. Making a “practical” political choice is just code for “when it comes to money, I still wanna get mine!” This is why voters from both sides of the aisle are willing to swallow false narratives about “change” rather than vote for actual change. Perhaps it will take a national disaster of historic proportions to awaken the slumbering American voter out of their Matrix-like custom made dreams.
4
@Skip Bonbright
Many Democrats do. Many! But voters like me want Trump out most! And Sanders did not convince most voters that he could pull in the moderate, independent and suburban voters desperately needed to trounce Trump in the vital swing states.
@Skip Bonbright
"American voters aren’t worthy of a leader such as Bernie Sanders."
This comment should go in the "Why Bernie Lost" file.
1
Wow! So I’m not strong, intelligent, or compassionate.
Well, THAT has really convinced me to go out and vote for your savior!!
And you wonder why The Bernie Bros turn everyone off.
1
As a moderate Democrat, I ask, why are there so many contortions to describe the Sanders campaign?
I don’t his like policies and I don’t like him.
That was easy! And yes, any Democratic candidate would be light years better than Trump, and in hindsight so would have Hillary Clinton.
Sanders and his die-hard supporters are scandalized that we’re not all Feelin’ the Bern.
Get out of the way! And don’t kneecap Joe the same way you did Hillary.
38
@David G
Thanks for all of your work to bring the party together. This is a top notch unifying message. Group hug!
1
Sanders' problem is, quite simply, Sanders. Like Trump, he seems convinced that the key to victory lies not in broadening his support but in getting his base to yell louder.
27
I suspect with the coronavirus, the crazy stock market swings, and the presumed economic fallout, Biden will do even better. Many, I think, want a return to normalcy even more...not a revolution right now.
15
I hope the Biden people show up in November especially in those states that count.
8
Tragic. The misdirection will continue. The Democrats just lost to Trump.
2
If 2016 is a guide, Bernie Sanders is a sore loser. He didn't support Hillary until long after it was statistically impossible for him to win the Democratic nomination. I hope he is more realistic this time, but I wouldn't count on it. He will rant and rave and paint himself a victim of the corporate interests and the establishment. But the real answer is this: the majority of voters don't like him or believe in his ability to effect meaningful change.
21
@Jill G.
Hate to be cynical, but another Trump term might give Bernie and his followers what they really want--an enemy to rail against and none of the responsibility or accountability that comes with power.
Would a Bernie committed to being elected President have chosen the surrogates and others he had around him? Would he have shown the blind spots he did in speaking of Castro and other dictators of the left? Would he have alienated groups that have been key parts of the Democratic base for decades? These are only a few examples.
We Democrats still have the momentum from the 2018 midterms going on for us, still got our mojo on. Go Joe!
10
Well, at least we Dems got someone who promises (as of last nite) to Veto any kind of Medicare for All, should, by some miracle, legislation make it thru Congress.
If we were to stop with all the Socialism -- for "healthcare insurance"corporations, not for We, the people -- we the people could. save. Trillions. Every year.
Well played, Corporate America. Looks like you 'win.'
3
Two notes:
First, the climate in 2020 seems similar to 1972, with one exception - Baby boomers were able to get their preferred candidate, George McGovern, on the Democratic ballot where he lost 49 of 50 states.
But, the other difference in 2020 is that we have foreign actors and a media system (right wing media) committed to preventing the Democratic Party from coalescing around the winning moderate candidate. Propaganda is already out explaining how progressives were betrayed and their campaign sabotaged in a reprise of 2016's plan to get them to sit out the election. It worked last time...
7
Sanders’s big problem Isn’t the delegate math and it isn't the voters. It's the Democratic Establishment who will do whatever to stop him. Even this very newspaper, day after day, ran anti-Bernie articles until Bernie was thwarted and then, in an effort to look "fair and balanced", did the non-attack opinion pieces start flowing this past week.
Some might accuse me of simply being a blind Bernie die-hard. I'm not a die-hard but, more importantly, I am not blind. The nature of the STEM work I do forces me to constantly examine patterns and cause-effect relationships because that is how I and my coworkers protect the flying public. My coworkers and I - people who are "well-off" so we don't necessarily need Sanders progressivism - have been discussing this and we all see a clear and systematic pattern of attack on and obstruction of Sanders. It's distasteful and has made us reassess our voting for Democrats this year.
When Trump is re-elected in 2020, only the Democrats have themselves to blame. Is there going to be an election aftermath article "Democrat’s Big Problem Isn’t the Electoral College Math. It’s the Voters." ... Voters who are tired of Democratic incompetence and who are showing their true colors that they are every single bit as Machiavellian as Lee Atwater and the rest of the GOP are.
4
Couldn’t disagree more. I’ve always liked Joe Biden and would have voted for him 4 years ago as a continuation of the Obama presidency. I’m a conservative Democrat and while I like Bernie - my vote is for Joe, regardless of whatever the “establishment” is pushing.
8
@VJR Democratic voters are the Democratic "establishment," whatever that means. The DNC doesn't cast votes. The Democratic voters have spoken, and they've chosen Biden. Please, stop the blame game and get in the tent. Democrats need to stand together to win in November.
9
You are dismissing the wide swath of the voters of all races, backgrounds and income levels who voted for Biden. These voters are not establishment. They are real people. Many of these people voted for sanders in the 2016 election - likely as an anti Hillary vote. The problem is Sanders only speaks to his core base and is not inclusive of non progressive and more moderate democratic voters. This time people don’t want revolution - they want stability and certainty. It is just not the year for the Bern. Why don’t sanders supporters support the liberal left down ballot. The more progressives we have in congress and senate then the more likely for change to happen.
6
BIden along with other candidates promised free health care for illegal immigrants, stopping deportations, likes the Green New Deal and has promised to kill the energy sector where fracking is providing the the Natural Gas that has helped the USA be the leader in lowering its own pollution.
The Democrats policies promise to put millions of people out of work. How is that going to work out in November 2020?
Well, the young folk are great for clicking on the keyboard for instant feedback. Not so great for walking to polling station and standing in line....
6
Its clear the dems have made a short decision that beating Trump is more important than the differences in the two candidates political agendas. Biden reflects the hippocratic oath: 'first do no harm'. That's comforting...its the basis of trust in any relationship. But even a physician knows that trust alone is not enough... when your sick you want to know that he's made the right diagnosis and your recovery is sooner rather than later. Lets hope that if Biden gets elected he does more than encouraging his patient to 'heal thyself'.
2
As a moderate with great respect for Bernie, & support for much of his "progressive" advocacy, I believe that Bernie will work tirelessly to convince his followers to do what is best for the country and VOTE BLUE.
Mr. Emoluments & his grifters have to go. Democrats face a stark choice: Come together to beat Donald Trump or surrender to authoritarianism.
Cannabalism & puritanicalism fed by Russian & Trumpublican trolls helped elect Trump in 2016. We can't let that happen again.
7
Bernie Sanders led an awful campaign and hired awful campaign staffers. He thought he'd win with a 25% plurality the way Trump did. He didn't bother to do any outreach outside of his base and, not only that, spent his time actively insulting Democratic voters.
12
I am tired of Mr. Sanders angry bellowing. I didn't start off with a decided tilt to Mr. Biden. Sanders behavior alienated me. I'm sure that I'm not the only one. My daughter and I were chatting and I said that Sanders was turning me off. Then we simultaneously loudly complained "MOO, MOO."
8
The Times and CNN and to a lesser degree MSNBC and 538 have been telling us for months about why Biden shouldn't be nominated, probably won't be nominated, all the while trying to convince African American voters, and to a lesser extent women voters that he's not on their side. They were all wrong, badly, consistently, robustly.
1
@brian
They are all incented to pretend the contest is more contested than it is. This helped Trump and Sanders and hurt Biden and Clinton. The voters have hopefully said "Enough of
this nonsense."
How many articles were devoted to Kamala Harris's shameless busing stunt?
Good thing these politics writers do not run a hospital. They would be driving the ambulances around looking to hit some pedestrians to drum up extra business.
I fear Bernie is going to drag this out like he did in 2016. It will distract the party from the real adversary, Trump. it will also galvanize the Bernie Bros who will get their knickers in a twist and sit out of the presidential election thereby handing Trump another victory.
If that happens, the Dems need to pass some kind of rule saying non-Dems can't run for the party's nomination. Enough of non-members throwing a wrench into things. Let Bernie start his own party.
The same for the GOP.
5
I talked to a few Sander's supporters from 2016. When Sanders didn't win the Primary they either didn't vote because they claimed not to like either candidate (Clinton nor Trump,) they wrote in Sanders, or rolled over and voted for Trump. I see the same thing happening again. Sanders needs to rally his base behind the candidate, if it's not him - otherwise we stand 4 more years of the same trash.
5
Basic rule of political thumb:
If your ‘supporters’ take pictures of their food in restaurants, they probably won’t show up at the polls.
3
Bernie is a megalomaniac. What Bernie still doesn't get is that the lion's share of Americans do not want "revolution". They do not want Socialism. They want to be able to take care of their families, live in clean, safe neighborhoods, feel safe in their country and be able to get the government services for which they pay taxes. They want to have opportunity for their children which comes from the entrepreneurs, who cannot thrive in the "revolution". They saw Bernie and his promises of all of the "free" stuff, and despite it all Americans are smart enough to know that if their taxes went up to pay for all of the "free" stuff, they would not, with their current wages, be able to care for their families, live in clean, safe neighborhoods, and get the real services they need- not the one-size-fits all socialist structures, not have the security of their country threatened, and have open opportunity for their children.
6
@Millie Bea
The reality is that this world and life in America are such that the growing problems are going to lead to violence unless addressed.
Moderate solutions do not address them.
Progressive solutions do.
The people may not want a revolution, but a revolution is coming. They can choose to have a peaceful progressive revolution which begins to solve problems ASAP or a violent revolution because of the exacerbating delays due to moderate approaches - approaches that, in the past, not only didn't work but got us exactly where we are.
1
The handwriting on the wall is now unmistakable. If the object is to defeat trump, then Bernie should do the patriotic thing by dropping out of the race now and endorsing Joe Biden.
8
@JWT Exactly. I like his progressive ideals. However, if he REALLY cares about US people, he needs to do the right thing, and let this country get rid of the chaotic regime of current, and its danger of creating a theocracy/autocracy. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if he truly cares, or it is all ego. Step by step we may have a chance of reaching evolution in this country-
5
Frustration among progressives has led them to hitch their wagons to a very problematic horse—roughly socialism—an animal they don’t even need to accomplish their more specific policy goals if they could help create a less corrupt political process.
Socialism is a huge piece of baggage with a very dark history. In the modern usage it’s a confusing grab-bag of concepts.
Less corruption—campaign finance reform, redress of gerrymandering—has to come from the center. Otherwise you’re never going to get anything passed.
The so-called socialist revolution is pretty small. Another revolution, call it the Fox Universe, is pretty big. You’re going to need allies.
Combine activism on the left with activism in the center. They aren’t mutually exclusive. You can do both.
14
I think Sanders' big problem is himself.
I mostly agree with his policies but find him abrasive, blaming, divisive, and unwilling to accept personal responsibility for his mistakes and failings. In that, he reminds me greatly of Donald Trump. And I have a feeling people may be getting a wee bit tired of having an angry, blaming old man in the white house. Maybe people are ready for a leader who is somewhat boring (Biden) because they're just tired of all the melodrama.
29
Dems and centrists need to come together to save the country. If they don't, the country is lost forever. SImple as that.
12
Bernie is "righteous" from the most recommended post here yestereday.
This is the clear arrogance of the Left.
And this costs them more than they will believe until Bernie is repudiated at the polls.
We do not need the "righteous" in American politics.
We need views and respect and dialogue and compromise.
7
Sanders’ supporters: please re-read the headline here. Your numbers are not the result of a conspiracy by the “establishment.” They’re the result of average Americans making their voices heard at the ballot box. Let’s respect that and get together to push Trump out of office.
13
This nomination is largely irrelevant, as most voters understand that Biden is unlikely to beat Trump. The primary contest is more akin to an internal Democratic Party squabble about the party's general direction.
That vote is firmly against AOC and Bernie. Average Democrats are not crazy.
1
@Dave Oedel , perhaps in Georgia, but in other regions Biden will prevail.
3
@Dave Oedel , Trump, however, is. And so is anyone who looks at last night's results and thinks that Trump is a lock for November. He almost got himself removed from office over his scheme to avoid the very result he's going to face.
2
Sanders does not have the magic. Nor does Biden. It will be Trump Second term. Buckle your seat belts and look for a rich rewarding ride for 4 more years.
2
Bernie is huge on Twitter. But Twitter, it seems, doesn’t vote. And most people aren’t on it.
Bernie lost because people don’t like him or his politics. That’s the hard pill he will have to swallow.
5
I just want a democrat to win - I want the republicans out of the house, senate and presidency - they have destroyed our institutions, drained our treasury, insulted our allies and punished our most populous cities- republicans have shown us that they will do anything to support donors at the expense to a majority of Americans - vote them all out before there is nothing left to rebuild.
8
The only issue in this election is removing an already impeached incompetent President. The sooner there is a single Democratic candidate, the greater the chance to achieve this goal. If Sanders truly has the National interest at heart, he needs to end his campaign immediately, as it is apparent he cannot win the nomination.
3
Did the author set his alarm early so this would be online before Sanders could announce he is suspending his campaign?
This shows how truly awful Hillary Clinton was as a candidate in 2016. As bad as Biden is, (see NAFTA, credit card companies, vote for Iraq war, his son Hunter's $50,000 a month no show job) they like him better than Hillary. So if Biden wins the nomination and then the presidency it will be more of same old thing. The Green Party nominee will probably get my vote. Also don't be surprised if Trump beats him.
2
It seems so obvious to me. Democrats are tired of angry people on a tirade. Trump, ROC, Sanders are all bitter and angry. Biden seems so calm and reassuring and loving and hopeful.
It is so good not to see people red in the face or lecturing with moral certitude. “Pie in the sky “
won’t sell when angrily delivered with an angry sense of my way or else. Michael Moore has also become a disgruntled old man without a joke left. Weary electorate ready for normal Joe Biden.
4
At this juncture the only person Sunday night’s debate can help is Donald Trump. The primary race is effectively over and Sanders knows it. But instead of stepping aside, my guess is he will continue to fight for a vision no one in the country seems to want right now. Add to this the artificial effect of a debate with no audience and you will have the visual of two cranky old white men screaming at each other like the two muppets in the balcony. Biden will provide his usual slew of gaffes and Trump will be given some hope - which is exactly the wrong thing to do. The Democratic electorate has spoken. Let’s stop the endless campaigning and get on with the real job of supporting the best candidate to defeat Trump in November.
4
Remarkable in the scale of this delusion.
If the eventual nominee cannot withstand a debate with someone in his own party, you think he has any chance in a debate with someone like Trump?
Give me a break.
One wonders if the Bernie surge in 2016, when many men just "couldn't" vote for Hillary, was more attributable to misogyny, well displayed in this current primary season. Liz Warren, with the most comprehensive platform, was out due to her "lack of electability" and Bernie's popularity dropped as long as there was another old white guy in the running. All viable women candidates out so now it's back to business as usual. Oh, America . . . are we ever going to get over the sexism?
5
When Sanders looked like a winner, he talked often about rallying around the Nominee. Let us hope he lives up to this now that Biden is in the lead. He gave Clinton half hearted support.......he has to give more to Biden as he would have expected of him.
4
The more Bernie tells the voters that they are part of some "establishment" cabal the more voters he loses. I won't be voting for him mostly due to his temperament. I actually agree with about 80% of his ideas. We already have a narcissist in the White House; we don't need another one.
4
Biden is the opposite of Trump in every way. The fact is that this is no ordinary time, no ordinary election, the Corona virus has changed the game. Trump must be defeated and Sanders would have handed Trump a second term on a silver platter, because he gives voters something to vote against. Biden, on the other hand is the perfect candidate , he has a likability factor, and you feel his love of country is completely sincere.
Obama himself, told Joe “ he didn’t have to do this ” implying that Joe didnt need the strain of the presidency that Joe could go off and enjoy his life. Joe is running for one reason, and one reason only, to remove Donald Trump from office, that is positively heroic in many ways.
Trump isn’t going to be easy to beat and Trump plays nasty and dirty , he will try to humiliate Biden, and Limbaugh and Hannity already have their marching orders. But all of that will backfire , Biden has lived an almost perfectly American life from day one and he has had no easy road , he has lost the most precious things in his life along the way, he has lost a wife and he has lost children. Yet he keeps coming on, he doesn't quit he doesn't give up he just keeps going. He has true courage , he also has true compassion,like I say, he is the opposite of Trump in every way.
2
If Bernie Sanders truly cares about his agenda he will withdraw.
All he can do now is to give body blows to Biden and help Trump by doing so, thereby setting his agenda back decades, and hurting the people he professes to care about.
The other candidates have been good losers. We will see if he can be one too.
2
I hope Sanders does the right thing and drops out, wholeheartedly endorses Biden as the people's choice of candidate. I hope...but... he craves the applause, his ego is huge and he is very, very stubborn.
In other articles in this paper his supporters are already starting to claim some type of nefarious plot, saying Biden has been "anointed". This is no better than Trump saying it was rigged if he lost in 2016. It undermines the entire process of voting. If more votes go to Biden then how is this somehow unfair?
4
I cannot vote for Joe Biden. He coauthored the 1994 crime bill, the bankruptcy bill, supported the Iraq War (long after he claimed he stopped supporting it), takes money from wall street banks and health insurers, tried to cut social security and medicare at least 4 times in the Senate. He is thinking of making Jamie Dimon treasury secretary? He is suffering cognitive decline.
Why should I support a man that does not care about working people one iota? He'll sure talk a good game about his days growing up in Scranton but that was half a century ago and Joe is a certified swamp creature now along with his adult son.
There is no reason to support him. No I'm not voting for Trump but this is the second time the Democratic Party has given us a candidate that is completely bought by wall street and corporate interests. They don't care about getting rid of super delegates or the influence of money in politics. Biden is just another example of it. Bernie can sing his praises all day long. No thanks!
4
@Scott , I presume that means you're a Trump supporter, and that you believe another four years of a deranged tyrant is better than Joe Biden. And if, by "the Democratic Party has given us a candidate" you mean the millions of voters who chose him over his opponents, including Sanders, that's the way democracy is supposed to work.
4
@Scott
The voters chose Clinton and they are choosing Biden. Sanders didn’t get enough votes last time and he won’t get them this time. Blaming the DNC is showing contempt for the voters.
You say you won’t vote for Trump, but if you don’t vote blue you will be contributing to four more years of Trumps. How will that help your country?
3
How to explain Sanders' 2016 out-of-nowhere overperformance in the Democratic primary?
He was facing a woman in 2016.
When facing a man--even a 77-year-old who reminds some of us of elderly relatives who have lost their mental dexterity--Sanders suddenly does not perform so well.
2
We are closing in on the moment of truth...how will Sanders supporters react when Biden is the nominee? If they believe they were slighted or cheated...if they put the person over the party...if 4 more years of Trump is their way of striking back...then we may be in trouble, assuming they were going to show up and vote. Superior numbers mean nothing unless they are part of the count. Come on Bernie, this is not a “get off my lawn” moment.
1
I have never been a fan of Senator Sanders, but absolutely would have voted for him had he been the nominee. There's too much at stake to allow Trump a second term.
It's not that his ideas are bad or wrong. It's him. He alienates the people he needs to win primaries with his litmus tests. He pedals in conspiracy theories about why other candidates dropped out. I supported Sen. Klobuchar, who wisely dropped out after her supporters told her it was time. Others dropped out due to lack of funding. Bernie simply trashes the "establishment" and undermines the primary process. Shame on him.
What Bernie is, is a spoiler, who uses people to get what he wants and then trashes them including his congressional colleagues. Hillary is right, no one likes him there because of his abominable behavior.
What Bernie is, is an angry old man who creates chaos everywhere he goes. I'm tired of chaos, I want unity, dignity and a world without Trump. Help us by going away gracefully Bernie. Surprise me.
5
The democratic primary voters have spoken! Bernie and his supporters should concede and endorse Biden. United we can defeat Trump and stop the republicans from destroying whats left of American Democracy. The notion that we can't make significant progress under Biden is a simplistic and self defeating point of view . Without the WH no change is possible.
5
What makes you think we could achieve progress or real change under Joe Biden?
The man has explicitly said “nothing will fundamentally change” under his administration?
I’m serious when I ask, what Biden idea or policy leads you to think this man can change anything, other than perhaps appointing a couple of non-terrible judges (and that assumes a Democratic Senate majority)?
1
@Peter H. - Turning Trump and his authoritarian state out of the White House is change enough for most Democrats, apparently.
@Peter H.
The Supreme Court issue alone should drive you to vote for Biden in November. For those Sanders voters who want to teach the Democratic Party a lesson by sitting out consider this fact. If Trump wins by the end of his term he will have the ability to install a 7-2 Kavanaugh led Supreme Court that will be in power for 30 years. Even if AOC becomes President in 2024 every piece of progressive legislation will be tossed out. Roe v Wade will be overturned. Citizens United will never be overturned.This fact alone should drive progressives to the polls but if revenge against the 'establishment" is more important to you go ahead, sit out and enable trump to destroy our Democracy.
1
At the end of the day, it’s always the candidate and the campaign they ran. Sanders campaign never reached towards the base of voters who won the 2018 election for democrats. In fact, he seemed to do everything he could to insult those voters by calling them names. The campaign grossly miscalculated what insulting the base would mean for him. Bernie insisting that the “establishment” concocted a conspiracy to freeze him out was also insulting. The candidates who dropped out and endorsed Biden were getting pressured from their supporters, not the establishment. We, the voters, were sick to death of this primary. Once the base of the party spoke, the rest of the electorate just wanted to be done. There was no reason for niche moderate candidates to remain in, if they couldn’t break through to the base. Bernie had a ceiling, and could never expand his base. Maybe the next progressive candidate will learn addition works better then subtraction in campaigns.
5
Here is what the data shows
Bernie’s success in 2016 was not due to massive support for his policies
It was an anti Hilary vote
Joe is getting support from tons of voters who disliked Hillary but are perfectly fine voting for Joe
7
Just don't see Joe Biden as President Joe Biden. Who and what has the democratic party put up for a candidate to represent the party? Another HRC? Going backward, not forward.
There was a reason why he almost left the race less before SC. You have voted for the least desired candidate out of 22. Your voting should have gone elsewhere when you had the chance earlier in the primary. however 3 were asked to step aside out of the blue to 'show solidarity' within the party that is not. Guess there was no other candidate available in the democratic party. This is going to be the longest political season ever.
Hope you choose wisely for a VP, one whom you all can accept that you voted for them too not knowing who it can be, one who can step right into his shoes, if need be. The democrats are never taking the White House in 2020 with Joe Biden at the helm. Voting for George McGovern.
But hey I was wrong about Sanders' chances, not once but twice. You now have the status quo/establishment continuing to run your lives as they see fit for you, but mostly for themselves and their benefits, not yours. He represents the politics of status quo/establishment politics.
If he does somehow squeak out a victory, you can't complain about his programs. His record on voting alone shows you continually who and what he represents. Your votes just got him there. Thank You voters, we'll take the program from here.
2
Thanks for this thoughtful comment, which easily could have been lost in the grand sea of establishment drek and wishful thinking about the least qualified but evidently most “electable” candidate the DNC could drum up. Honestly, almost anyone else of the 22 would have made a stronger moderate candidate - Kamala, Booker, Inslee - but the DNC and the establishment have staked a claim and are making a massive bet on an incredibly vulnerable and weak candidate.
1
It Isn't about policy. It's about getting rid of the worst president in American history. The people are speaking!
Most Democrats, most Independents and *any* moderate Republicans will vote for a Biden, who is a known commodity and has the cred as a former Veep and Senator.
Just by getting elected president Biden will have saved the republic from Trump and a Supreme Court packed with a 7-2 majority of doctrinaire, right wing conservatives for a couple or even three generations. (Women might as well kiss their own bodies goodbye because the federal government would tell you what you can and can't do with it.)
10
Trump needs the Senate to appoint any judges, as would Biden. That’s far from a certainty at this point for either of them.
Which is why yes, you should vote on policy. Bernie Sanders would legalize marijuana on day one of his presidency with an executive order (this is authorized under the DEA ACT). What will Joe do?
Gotta hand it to Bernie. The man suffered a heart attack at age 78 and came roaring back. He fought the good fight but now it's time, for the greater good (defeating Trump) to throw his full support and those of his admirers to Biden.
5
My hope is that Bernie will quickly drop out of the race and wholeheartedly support Joe. Sour grapes don't make good wine and we may need every vote in order to defeat Trump.
4
If you think defeating Trump and installing someone less terrible, but still terrible, is the “goal,” you should look more closely at our and world history. Biden will be a short, moderate reprieve before a more sophisticated and popular demagogue emerges and gains power on the right.
1
The Sunday debate is the wild card in all this. Does Sanders come out swinging and prolong this, and leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth when Biden is nominated? Or does he avoid a scorched-earth strategy or even bow out before then?
If he is truly interested in removing Donald Trump in November he will face reality and do the latter now and try to leverage on whatever good-will he receives to influence the Dem platform.
But that is a decision I would expect from a tactical politician, not a career legislative back-bencher like Sanders who remains caught up in the crowds and his "moment" (even though it is clearly in decline).
I expect he will do what he has always done, and throw bombs from the gallery at the Democratic party -- which he has exploited to enhance his standing/career but never bothered to join -- right through the convention.
4
You disparage a man who actually marched in the civil rights movement (something Biden has continually lied about) and a man of principle (which Biden, by his own admission, really isn’t).
I hope Bernie comes out swinging at the debate. If Bernie Sanders were even half as “toxic” as people like you and the media make him out to be, he would have had this nomination sewn up on Super Tuesday. But he has shown great restraint, more than I ever could, this entire election.
@Peter H. I am commenting on his relationship with the Democratic Party, and his record as a legislator. These are facts. I actually favor most of his policies, but this is not his moment, and he is not someone who can deliver on that message after a career as a legislative outlier with no ability to build broad coalitions that would be necessary for such structural change.
As to "blaming" the media, the media, the "establishment," etc. did not force Dem primary voters to turn out in overwhelming numbers and pull the voting lever for Biden the past 2 weeks.
BTW, you are throwing around "toxic," but are openly advocating Sanders continue his quixotic campaign by pursuing a scorched earth approach against Biden, which will be futile and only benefit Trump. And why did you put "toxic" in quotes? You are the one who used that term, not me.
The "establishment" didn't put Biden in the driver's seat - the voters did. This is still a democracy and we need to keep it that way by beating Trump. The way voters have got behind Biden suggests we have a good chance.
6
I consider it a victory that we are coalescing behind a candidate, and a bigger victory that people like me are willing to put my preferences aside. That is an act of selflessness. It's the only way to be rid of Trump. Join in.
6
North Dakota, a State with about 800,000 people had about 15,000 people vote. That's embarrassing, they should lose the right to vote.
1
What an enlightened view — let’s disenfranchise voters in states where people vote in small numbers!
@Paul Lief
Mandatory voting, or they take your gun away.
Bernie 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.
7
CandidateBernie, like trump has a substantial block of loyal supporters with a hard cap.
I'm genuinely surprised that Biden has emerged as the presumptive democratic nominee. I guess third times the charm.
trump won't be easy to beat. It will take turnout by a lot of people that aren't "in love" with Biden to begin to unwind as much as trump's damage that isn't already irreparable.
5
I can tell you now, Biden will incur even more protest votes than Hillary did in 2016. Many of us are very angry with the “establishment” and shall make it known in November. The DNC marginalizes progressive voters at its own peril.
@Peter H.
I appreciate the honesty.
I hope you enjoy trump's second term.
1
I think the writing is on the wall, but let's be clear about what it means that Bernie has been painted as a radical.
It means this nation thinks that the millions of people utterly desperate for living wages, affordable health care and economic justice and fair play are the "freakish" outsiders, the "lunatic fringe," the "crazy socialists."
Go ahead, America. Continue to normalize a corrupt status quo. Continue to tell the majority of your people that they don't deserve a decent life and guess where that brings you? Revolution. All historical revolutions are borne of the attempt to repress the needs of the many to uphold an absurdly high standard for a few. It remains the great historical paradox. In order to preserve stability and comforting familiarity in the moment, the forces that be shake the foundations harder in ways that ultimately erupt in violent change.
I will work my heart out for Biden because defeating DJT is a life-saving measure. I will also demand that this party start listening to the progressive wing because it is the branch listening to the people who are most desperate for life-saving changes.
So if this party is smart, it will now do everything in its power to reach out to progressives. It's essential that Biden's vice president be to the left of him. Smart strategists know that covering as many bases as possible is how you win. What we don't need is to sit, and I do mean "sit," in the complacent middle. If Joe's smart, he'll choose Warren.
8
Excellent and thoughtful comment, but the DNC will not interpret this as an important opportunity to reach progressive voters. It will interpret this as a validation of its “moderate” strategies, which incidentally harm millions of Americans each day. So I have little hope we will see any meaningful change in Biden’s “things will fundamentally not change” platform.
2
I dread the debate scheduled for Sunday, though happily it will be without a live audience. Sanders with nothing to lose will have one last clear shot at Biden. My expectation is that he will take that shot, and absolutely no good can come of it.
1
@Mike60
Bernie Sanders is by nature cranky, but he’s been in politics for decades. I believe he’s absolutely clear on what’s happened, even if his most devoted followers aren’t. My best guess is that most debate viewers will be focused on Biden’s performance, and he’s working with a very low bar at this point. Sanders can only gain support and appreciation at this point through some words of reconciliation and unity.
America loves winners until it does not.
That's the message from Bernie's losses and Joe's wins.
Not even a month ago, it was Bernie's to lose the nomination - and now, many if his supporters below are asking him to withdraw.
To me, that's a shame.
Primaries are as much about personalities and about issues. I think Bernie's programs need to be discussed and compared to Joe's.
As it is - it is clear that after Joe is declared a nominee so prematurely, the focus will shift to his plans, programs and philosophies of governing.
And I dare say that there is actually nothing there there - other than the traditional Democrat approach.
If anything Wuhan virus has shown - America needs to think some fundamental issues including health care but more importantly protecting supply chain.
If Joe is declared a nominee so soon - all focus will shift to what he will do against what POTUS is already doing. And any hint of politics to interfere with well being of Americans - will only make him look bad.
I think Democrats are well advised not to rush to this coronation - there is a word in there called ”corona” - and it has proved to be fatal.
3
Biden’s platform is best summed up as:
• Remember Obama?
• I can beat Trump
• I’m a Democrat
With no discernible plans or ideas to fix what’s wrong in the country, he has not earned the vote of millions of progressives, who may hand Donald Trump re-election and again embarrass the DNC establishment.
Mainstream Media is pushing it as if Biden has already won.
Biden is 41% of the way to 1,991 delegates.
Sanders is 33% of the way to 1,991 delegates.
The 7% lead is just a hair more than a statistical error in a poll - they both have a long way to go. It's anybody's race.
5
@99percent
It’s not a 7 percent lead. It is 7 percentage points, which is approximately 20+% lead.
1
Wow. Our best option is a 78-year old with one foot in a nursing home. I am so disgusted and discouraged.
2
Don’t be. The fight goes on, and is bigger than any candidate. We can always write-in a presidential candidate and vote Democrat downballot. But, there is a strong message here to progressives: the DNC is not the party for you.
1
@Rich Sohanchyk - and the other guy has one foot in a mental institution.
1
Some voters couldn’t help but notice the news reports that Russian social media trolls were supporting Sanders. Trump told people at a rally in South Carolina to vote for Sanders in the Democratic primary there. Trump asked the president of Ukraine to announce an investigation of the Bidens.
Clearly both Trump and Putin think that Trump would have a better chance against Sanders than against Biden.
So, if you want Trump out of office, if you want to thwart Russian meddling in our affairs, you vote for Biden.
4
You sure trust Donald Trump a lot. I can produce video of Trump saying he’d much rather face Joe Biden because (Trump’s words) Biden is “mentally weak.”
In recorded statements (Trump didn’t know he was being recorded) he said he was much more worried about facing Bernie than Hillary Clinton.
Joe Biden and the Democratic establishment have lost my vote forever. To ignore such a massive part of their “base” - the progressive wing - and continue to trot out a candidate like Joe Biden, who arguably would be the most conservative (in all senses of the word) Democratic nominee in a century, is a repudiation of every value I thought Democrats stood for.
Biden’s visible cognitive decline notwithstanding, this is a man who has lied about marching in the civil rights movement, being arrested in Soweto during apartheid, and has given voters precious little reason to think he will be champion civil liberties and reproductive rights.
In sum, Joe Biden is the “fundamentally nothing will change” candidate that the DNC insiders, power brokers, corporate media, and wealthy (collectively the “establishment”) have hoisted upon an electorate desperate for meaningful change.
Do not be surprised in November when those of us who demand change, and demand it now, are heard. If that means not voting for Joe Biden and voting Democrat downballot, and we have Trump for another four years, so be it: the greater enemy is not Trump’s charlatanism, it is the corrupt system supported by the establishment and unwilling to change.
3
@Peter H. - And the strangest part is that it was Democrats who voted for him! Weird, huh?
Focusing on beating Trump as the ultimate goal, Mr. Sanders should go through Arizona and Florida. If he does not win those primaries, he should back Biden. The worst thing that can happen is that the he does not and Trump wins because the Democrats are split.
2
Voters like me, who changed over to Biden at the last moment when it became apparent that Biden really did have support, are desperate to get rid of Trump. Now Sanders should follow our wishes and drop out.
6
I am sorry your desperation led you to vote for a man who stands for very little other than an association with Obama (who urged him NOT to run in 2016) and policy positions that would have been considered classic Republican positions in 1980.
Sanders was the last best chance for this country to move forward, and the voters have now squandered that chance.
1
Bernie's problem is he is not running against Hillary Clinton. His success in 2016, as well as Obama's in '08 and Trump's in '16, had more to do with how universally she is disliked, than any of the canidates merits.
America loves winners until it does not.
That's the message from Bernie's losses and Joe's wins.
Not even a month ago, it was Bernie's to lose the nomination - and now, many if his supporters below are asking him to withdraw.
To me, that's a shame.
Primaries are as much about personalities and about issues. I think Bernie's programs need to be discussed and compared to Joe's.
As it is - it is clear that after Joe is declared a nominee so prematurely, the focus will shift to his plans, programs and philosophies of governing.
And I dare say that there is actually nothing there there - other than the traditional Democrat approach.
If anything Wuhan virus has shown - America needs to think some fundamental issues including health care but more importantly protecting supply chain.
If Joe is declared a nominee so soon - all focus will shift to what he will do against what POTUS is already doing. And any hint of politics to interfere with well being of Americans - will only make him look bad.
I think Democrats are well advised not to rush to this coronation - there is a word in there called ”corona” - and it has proved to be fatal.
It seems to me that nominating a candidate for President of the United States who isn't a member of your party is unwise. If Mr. Sanders has such basic disagreements with the Democratic Party that he can't run for Senate under their umbrella, he probably shouldn't run for President as a Democrat either.
6
You’re right. He should just run third-party, don’t you think? I know I would still vote for him, and do so proudly.
I like Sanders on many things, but he's done, just isn't ready to recognize it.
Unless he has a HUGE comeback in next Tuesday's Little Super Tuesday II, after getting slammed in South Carolina, Super Tuesday, and yesterday's Little Super Tuesday I, it will time, for the good of the nation, to call it quits and endorse Biden.
As Nate Cohn puts it, it's less the math and more the voters, and they have spoken and are speaking pretty clearly: They want this over and Biden as the nominee. The ONLY good I see in continuing the contest between Bernie and Biden is pushing up turnout--and scaring the you-know-what even MORE out of Trump.
2
It’s very true and telling that Biden is the one with the broad coalition now, but it is very troubling to see that he still lost by a considerable margin with all voter groups under 50. If he wants to beat Trump, he’s going to have to throw these people a bone, because without young people and Latino’s in swing states, beating Trump will be very hard for Biden, who already has enough problems with his age and gaffe’s.
4
It is time for Bernie Sanders to step aside and throw his weight behind Joe Biden. It is going to be a big job getting his supporters to join the majority of voters who are now consistently voting for Biden but what's important now is to come together and defeat the train wreck in the White House.
Another debate between Biden and Sanders? Why? The sooner we get together with one candidate the more time to build a great wall...against Trump.
The Times reporters and columnists missed completely a decisive factor in the race: the switch from caucuses--which strongly favor the extremists--to elections meant Sanders had to bring out many more voters than in 2016 or Iowa, which he has badly failed to do.
Sad day. Are Americans lazy or just jaded? The youth could have elected Sanders but didn’t. I’m deeply disappointed by Biden, but it’s time for some sort of coalition behind him.
If the young people didn’t get out to vote in the primary, who thinks that they’ll be excited to go vote for same old Joe?
1
Since is does look like Biden is going to e the nominee, I just hope that he and his advisers are giving VERY careful thought to a running mate.
The right choice there could help bring the disgruntled Sanders supporters into the fold, and bring younger and non-white voters to the polls in November. Which means it has to be a younger person, preferably female, and preferably a female of color.
People who read these comments boxes know I've been pushing the eventual nominee to call Stacey Abrams early and often, and I see no reason that should change, despite Bret Stephens' dismissal yesterday.
She not only puts Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and possibly even Indiana in play in November, she is the kind of spokesperson to the issue of voter suppression that Trump and his toadies do NOT want to face.
3
I know a longtime Republican who dislikes Trump. He recently told me he could vote for a moderate Democrat, but never for Sanders. Therein lies the general election.
5
If you have to rely on Republicans to save the country, I fear you haven’t been paying attention the past two decades.
"Sanders big problem isn't the delegate math, It's the voters."
Exactly. Couldn't have put it better myself.
Biden is heading for the nomination now, not because of the workings of some nefarious "Democratic Establishment", but because rank and file Democrat voters are indicating their overwhelming preference for an actual Democratic nominee, instead of a self-proclaimed Independent Democratic Socialist who crashes the Democratic Party every four years when he wants to run for President.
4
First, stop having elections on week days. It is a joke on democracy.
Second, the sudden coalition of conservative democrats is selling the illusion that Biden is electable. Up to that point he was in a bad situation. Yes, he had the support of a significant chunk of the black population, but he wasn’t doing that great with money and his debate performances were very sad to watch. He has a terrible record with respect to the credit card industry, his vote in the Iraq war, and his support for cutting entitlements. He is not offering anything to those that struggle with health care cost, mounting student debt and growing inequality. And in addition to all this, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide the fact that he shows signs of the onset of dementia.
It is more, the candidates and media obsession with “the bernie’s bros” highly overblown and fabricated stories about attacks may have pushed away a significant amount of the young population which will be need it to win Trump.
Once again, the democrats are declaring victory before the race is finished and I’m afraid things look worst than 2016...
2
There will be a very hard reckoning in 2020 when Democratic voters are again shocked and astonished that a “moderate” candidate who promised to change nothing loses to the most corrupt and incompetent man to enter the White House ever.
1
@Peter H.
Years later, it's still hilarious to see these Bernie Bros' wishful thoughts crash completely.
I believe that what has moved so many voters to Biden is that he delivers a message of unity and calm. Voters, at least Democrats, are just sick and tired of chaos and no matter how much voters might want specific policies that Sanders has proposed, he does not bring calm. Sanders overplayed his "revolution" style of campaigning. People watch Trump sounding angry and they tire of it. I believe Democrats have also grown weary of Sanders same yelling.
If Biden does nothing other than bring a sense of calm competence to the Oval Office; he will bring something that has been missing since the day Trump took office.
2
The reason that "moderates" don't like Sanders is because his positions on the issues make no economic or logical sense. He proposes a wealth tax that is flatly unconstitutional. He proposes eliminating college debt at a cost of 1 trillion to the rest of us who paid off our loans. He thinks that you can just wave a wand and presto everyone is on Medicare. Sure, if you don't have health insurance, have a huge educational loan debt you can't pay off and/or just hate people who are richer than you, he's your boy. For the rest of us who've worked hard to have a comfortable life, his policies just look like terrible ideas poorly thought out and with no money around to pay for them.
2
How can a wealth tax be unconstitutional? You understand that the wealthy are not a protected class, right?
Is this the thinking of a typical Biden voter? Presumptively declare all new ideas are DOA and agitate for more microscopic incremental change that can be undone in the first 100 days of any futur Republican President?
Math is a problem for Sanders but Biden has no guarantee he makes it to November, especially with his obvious Anger Issues. Sanders should just wait and see and if Biden is still standing at the Convention concede. Until then lots of things can and may change including the health and mental status of the current front runner.
At the beginning, I thought Sanders should not have run and he should have supported Warren. He is too old.
I don't doubt that he used the notion that "a woman can't win" to justify his candidacy. His male ego would not let him face the fact that his time had passed and he needed to support the next rising star in Progressive politics.
With his popularity among left-leaning voters under 40, he might have helped us elect the first female president and the first serious reformer since FDR.
2
Only time will tell.
And one thing it will tell is whether the elite wing of the Democratic Party will listen to Progressives going forward.
If not, then I do hope the next Presidential election has a new Progressive Party running as independents, in much the same way that Pat Robertson ran as an independent Christian.
Come back in a hundred years and, after that brutal lesson, the elites of the billionaire class bend and kiss the ring of pretty much every fundamentalist who comes their way.
Hugh
The Establishment DNC has - once again - put it's thumb on the scale. Of course, they will argue, it's our scale.
So Independents once again have no voice, now have a few unpalatable options from which to choose, because both GOP and DNC control a process (primaries) guaranteed to field Mediocrity or wo
As the Great Yogi once said, it's deja vu all over again.
Feh.
2
The CNN analyst last night cited an exit poll showing that about two thirds of voters would be satisfied or not upset with a Biden win. What struck me was the tepid support he received because he was not Sanders and, more importantly, the one third of voters who would be dissatisfied or angry at that result. Biden should certainly be the favorite to win the Democratic Primary but his major problem will be to unite the party and convince them he is mentally and physically able to be President or they won't vote.
1
I have voted Democrat in every election, but I will not vote for Joe Biden unless he changes his views and appears mentally capable to take the job.
1
From David Talbot (Salon founder), whose analyses always appear spot-on to me: "Fear is the winner in the 2020 election -- not hope. That's why Bernie is going down to defeat this Tuesday, even in battleground states like Michigan, which Sanders won in 2016. Voters are terrified of more Trump, more viral infections, more economic tremors. So they're voting for the steady, sturdy grandpa -- not the cantankerous grandpa who reminds us that our problems are much deeper than Trump. As Van Jones noted on CNN tonight, Joe Biden wants to return to American normalcy, denouncing Trump as a disruptor of the status quo -- while Bernie sees Trump as a logical result of the corrupt status quo."
5
I may actually vote if Sanders is not the nominee.
I don't understand what could surprises you all.
Biden had the black votes AND the Union votes. That explains all the last night results.
Sanders simply is not the viable candidate for such groups. He can still get votes fom young and progressists, which was what he's done.
The Dems nominee is a lockdown, alas. And it's Biden, who will lose greatly to Trump. Prepare for 4 more years.
2
With their votes, Americans are speaking as loudly as they can, saying that they want Biden as the Democratic nominee. It doesn't matter why. It only matters that they are being allowed to vote, foreign interference and Trump's corruption of democracy notwithstanding.
We are watching the last fundamental democratic process play out largely uncorrupted by Donald Trump. The question is, how will Bernie Sanders and his devoted followers react? Join the overwhelming majority of Democrats in defeating Trump or stay home in November?
2
Biden! I am relieved! Not too long ago, we had a field of bright, energetic candidates like Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Booker... all ready to take on Trump and lead this country FORWARD. At the end, we got sleepy Joe. He is a decent guy, so never mind his mind is no longer sharp. Do we really need a president who can think and talk straight that badly? No we don't. Look whom we have now! A good old boy whom nobody fears will do. Let's just pray he manages to energize enough of us with an inspiring message. Oh, wait, he doesn't need to do that. That's Trump's job. We fear Trump so much we will sleepwalk to the pols no matter who is running. Welcome to the Home of the Pragmatic!
2
With Joe Biden on a clear path to win the nomination, one sincerely hopes that Bernie will unite behind Joe and campaign vigorously to support his candidacy and urge his supporters to do the same. As Bernie has so passionately warned, the threat of four more years of Donald Trump’s march towards Fascism and tyranny is indeed existential and must be defeated.
2
Mr. Sanders is viewed by many voters the same way they view their Grandpa. They love him and they know he always means well. But they are concerned that, when he goes against Trump, he will be put in a difficult, possibly humiliating, situation. And they do not have the stomach to see that. So, they are getting him out of that situation by voting for Mr. Biden.
Those who love Mr. Sanders know that this presidential campaign will be very rough, undoubtedly taking a heavy toll on his health. Understandably, they are concerned about his health and they know Trump's henchmen will be making a big fuss about that.
They know that Trump will be calling him names, accusing him of being a communist and question his patriotism. And they know that Trump and his minions have no shame and will be twisting the facts to the point that his chances of defeating Trump become slim.
All these are going to make Bernie vulnerable; and being vulnerable will stress him out, well beyond the levels he ever been. And no one wants to see one's kind Grandpa in that state.
I am astounded at a Biden supporter claiming Bernie is vulnerable. Joe Biden cannot speak unattended without saying something absurd or embarrassing himself. I mean he cursed at and threatened to slap a voter in Detroit just yesterday, and you think Bernie is the “vulnerable” candidate? Think again.
1
There seems to be somewhat of a contradiction that Sanders rants that Biden is backed by all the monied interests when his campaign actually seems rather threadbare. It would seem that much of the Democratic electorate has independently made an executive decision that they want Biden to be the party flag bearer in the campaign to get rid of Trump.
2
Bernie Sanders should announce today that he is dedicating the rest of his life to educating college students on the benefits of Socialism, where he will serve as a model to them of what happens to people who never succeed in surmounting their youthful dreams and enthusiasms.
1
... as a role model ....
1
Sanders and Warren were fake Progressives singing the old tunes of bashing the rich, corporations, insurers and moderates. Bernie was appealing to the same people as Trump who switched from Bernie to Trump in 2016. Good Riddance to both.
The real Progressive was Andrew Yang who I hope will have a prominent role in a Biden Cabinet. When asked in an early debate about automation , he was ready with mind blowing statistics of workers who will be laid off and his EITC type plan to combat that. (No one mentioned that EITC payments exceeded 66 Billion in 2016 to allow employers to pay below living wages). EITC is Republican socialism on steroids.
What was Warren and Bernie's solution? Mandatory worker participation on corporate boards. Ever hear of communism Bernie and Liz?
Yang could be an excellent Secretary of Labor with some really smart ideas. His addition to CNN political discussions in invaluable. Just hope he gets his followers on the Democratic bandwagon.
2
I have supported Sanders and still do, for his policies, decency and hard work to make this a fairer and more hopeful country. But if he debates Sunday and does not change his "rally speech" rhetoric, he has lost even me.
This may be his last mass audience to inspire us for the change we need and only a radically positive message can do that. Stop it with the "us vs.them." Don't utter the words "establishment" or "revolution" again. Describe the better America you want us to create together. Throw out the megadata and make it personal and heartfelt.
Righteous anger -- and it is righteous -- about injustice, inequality, discrimination, greed, and human suffering cannot motivate people for long. It eats away heart and soul. Please use your platform now, Senator Sanders, to lift our spirits and sustain us for the work ahead.
It’s also important to point out that Biden is handily winning in states where he had no organized political presence. States where Bloomberg spent millions.
When Sanders dashed up to Michigan last week to do what he could to win the state, it didn’t matter. He didn’t even come close, losing nearly all the districts that supported him when he was running against Clinton. Not only is Sanders not turning out the youth vote, he’s lost his never-Hillary voters this year.
Write about the future primaries all you like, but it’s all over. If politics were a chess game, Bernie would resign and shake hands today.
3
Manufactured fear stopped the movement. It is a feature, not a bug,that the most vulnerable have trouble voting. Do the homeless I see living on public transportation get to vote? Do the immigrants who came here fleeing their countries get to vote? Do those who work four jobs and don't get paid time off get to vote? It is up to those who have advantages to care about those who do not. That is what Bernie is about and I truly feel sorry for those who cannot seem to understand this basic concept.
@Jennifer Waters Why you cannot understand this basic concept -- If Bernie is the nominee, nothing you care about would happen. He will not be able to beat trump. Even if he is elected to be the next President, he would not able to pass any of his promised bills because of his my-way-is-the-only-way attitude. Yesterday's victory is not from manufactured fear. It's the voice of majority who fears trump's existential threat to American democracy. Sanders supporters, like Sanders, are too confined to their ideology and cannot see the big picture beyond their narrow views.
1
I'm in favor of progressive policies but I don't get the "DNC screwed Bernie" hype. The DNC will never be unbiased, they are inherently political and as such will likely always be moderate. There were what, 8 moderates and 2 true progressives running? Of course the moderates would support Biden when they dropped out, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, and hardly a conspiracy. Bernie's problem has always been that he is too radical, as much as I agree with the need for progressive policy changes. He does not resonate with the majority of voters (Democrats and swing voters) even if he has a very strong base.
12
Disclaimer: I would vote for anyone except Trump, and agree with Bernie philosophically on many things.
But...to the Bernie supporters, not everyone wants him out of the race because of so called ‘socialism’, we want him out because the goal is a Trump defeat first and foremost and then go from there. Most people are low information voters, worried about day to day living. If they hear ‘socialist’, it will stick (heck, they still hate Jane Fonda in my neck of the woods). He would not carry PA, MI, FL (especially Florida!), WI. He’d win the college towns, some of the liberal white enclaves, but not much else.
Reality sucks, but that’s that. Remember the goal.
24
I wish I could recommend that comment repeatedly.
While Sanders’ program should be commended for its compassionate focus on the many disadvantaged people among us, its lack of realism and its divisiveness are not what our country needs. Biden may not be Superman (but wouldn’t a President wearing blue yoga pants lack some gravitas?) but he is decent, solid and, surrounded by a good team, can be a fine President. The fact that a portion of Sanders’ supporters will likely behave as they did in 2016 and help Trump confirms, in a sense, that Bernie is more of a problem than a help to the Democratic Party AND for the country.
14
Sanders' most obvious conceit was that he could win the Democratic nomination as a party outsider. Not this time. He is fiercely independent, something many of us value in a leader. He has shined a light on issues previously thought to be not fit for polite ears, social inequality and the unburdened power grab of the wealthiest, already secure 1%.
But in the end, intransigence doomed Sanders. Specifically, his Medicare for All and Choice for None program was a non-starter for the American people. His disdain for mathematics, how we will pay for the programs espoused was an Achilles Heel.
Biden was the last, by far, of my preferred Democratic candidates and that has not changed. But we face an existential threat in the presidency of Donald J. Trump. I will vote for Biden and simply hope for the best expecting the worse, desperate measures and all.
14
I really admire Bernie and supporters, he was my choice in 2016.
Much changed since that...
We live in a country that most of us can't relate anymore. I know time for progressives will come, they multiply with every election.
For now citizens need a transition to normalcy vs. revolution.
20
I knew Bernie was doomed since the New Hampshire primary. He won fewer votes in NH this year than in 2016. Against a divided field, no less, which is the only reason he took as many delegates as he did early in the race. The moderate vote was split between several candidates, as the coalescing around Biden shows, while Bernie's fanatical base remained devoted to him.
The issue is he didn't manage to expand his base at all. In fact he actually lost support.
6
Senator Sanders could obtain a legacy for himself by offering a generous concession speech and urging his supporters to unite against what he has call the most existential threat of our time, Donald Trump.
He has the spotlight and the opportunity to help heal the nation. Or go negative and put Trump in to end the world.
20
@Lawrence -- I hope he does the right thing. However, how likely is that? He appears a very stubborn man.
1
@Lawrence
His legacy may now be after the speech a trump victory, supreme court, and a continuation of the trump nightmare.
The boss lady said I was a fool to believe, and she was right.
~"Sanders’s Big Problem Isn’t the Delegate Math. It’s the Voters."~
This is a quizzical headline. By the Rules of the Democratic Party, one must get more delegates than one's opponent. Sanders even went so far to say one only needs a "plurality" of delegates going into the Democratic Convention - ignoring the Rule that requires a majority of Delegates to get the Nomination.
Biden's broad support translates into more delegates. That is how the math works.
5
I’m wondering whether Sanders still wants the candidate with the most votes at convention time to be declared the nominee.
31
I voted for Biden, no one coerced me, paid me, or otherwise influenced my vote. I like the more reasoned approach Vice President Joe Biden has toward health care, education and the environment. I believe he has better experience, abilities and demeanor to do the job. I liked Biden over Bernie, I think that is why Bernie lost this primary.
42
Yes, because incrementalism has worked out so very well for the triumphant moderate Democratic candidates in previous elections, right?
My friend, you squandered your vote on a man who stands for nothing, offers nothing, and who, even if elected, will change nothing at all.
In my opinion, the Democratic challenger to Trump should be just that: a Democrat. Bernie is not a Democrat. How will he build a coalition if he’s not willing to even join a political party? It’s time for him to go home.
44
Trump was not a “Republican” either. No one had to worry about him “building a winning coalition,” because he built an enthusiastic base of support who came out in greater numbers in the states that mattered.
It’s funny how, in a two-party system, success at top of the ticket (often driven by enthusiasm and to a degree, populism) inures to the entire party’s benefit.
Two observations:
1. Sanders' team consistently framed their decline in the polls as problems with the electorate (too afraid), the media (unfair), the system (party-centric), or other external factors. I don't recall hearing his team acknolwedge any problem with his own campaign. Stuff like that registers with the "undecideds".
2. The Sanders campaign bet too heavily upon polling numbers from 2015-2016, when Hillary was his competition. It seems, in retrospect, that many of the people who supported Sanders back then were really just "anti-Hillary" people at heart, who saw Sanders as their best--and really, their only--other option.
43
Honestly, maybe America's nonstop fascination with elections and how it feels like we are constantly in an election cycle (especially post-2016) is maybe what disenfranchises voters the most. Even worse, our reliance on national news coverage shifts our focus to Bernie v. Biden, when there are plenty of down-ballot elections that have far more profound consequences. Many people say if those that don't vote do so, the country will be realigned - I agree. But that would only happen if people feel their vote matters. And in most states (due to the Electoral College), your vote doesn't, so we should ask ourselves why people don't vote more often. And we should truly make a change to the Electoral College far before we even discuss or brainstorm how best to repair the Supreme Court.
15
It's simple actually, most Democratic primary voters do not agree with Sanders and his ideas. They do not desire tearing down the system, they do not desire revolution, and they do not desire his agenda. While many (not all) Bernie supporters will gnash their teeth and call it a fix, the facts are simply they are in a feedback loop and only hear what is in their bubble. Many of us want evolution, not revolution.
94
@Martin Lots of truth here. The irony is, Sanders doesn't really want to tear down the system either. His programs, as some of his supporters sometimes point out, are really just versions of New Deal Democracy. But for some personal reason, he has never wanted to join the party and be another liberal Democrat, and he likes the rhetoric of tearing down the system, even as he proposes to normalize it.
Let's just hope he backs off from further destructive attacks on Biden, and starts preparing his followers to vote Democratic.
6
It actually isn’t that simple.
Most Americans agree with Bernie’s ideas, which really aren’t that radical and aren’t about tearing the whole system down. Universal healthcare is “radical”? More fair tax policy on the wealthy and corporations and Wall Street betting is “radical”? Raising the minimum wage is “radical”? Aggressive polices to combat climate change are “radical”?
But I presume you have been watching lots of MSNBC and CNN so that is the narrative you have adopted. Read about manufacturing consent when you have a moment and it will give you some additional perspective on media theory and the role the media plays in these sorts of public decisions.
2
@Martin I believe there are many voters, myself included, who admire Bernie's policies but
(1) know there is no way he could get them passed through congress in 4 or even 8 years,
and (2) do not believe he could beat Trump in the general election (nor would he be of help to down-ticket candidates).
The only way progressive policies will ever be enacted is by taking back the senate and holding the house.
4
Now that we have seen the "Sanders to Biden voters" phenomenon in places like Michigan and Missouri, can we finally acknowledge that much of Sanders' momentum in 2016 was "anti-Clinton" not "pro-Sanders"? And, very likely, that same force was one element of a series of "black swan" events that gave us Trump?
60
There is simply no reason for a one on one debate this weekend. Bernie has lost the nomination. He has only him self to blame. He had more money, more organization and the actual voters have repudiated him. Not the establishment, the voters. African Americans, Suburban women, blue collar workers, senior citizens, white collar workers.
A wounded Mrs. Clinton, who Republicans, the FBI along with Russians in collusion with the Trump campaign had badly wounded beat Sanders by millions of votes in the democratic primaries in 2016. They are about to try and do the same to Biden. We don't need Bernie Sanders to lead the "Swift Boating" of Joe Biden. We need to unite.
77
@HL Right. Nothing to do with the establishment. All those voters who are now firmly behind Biden did so because they believe Biden is the most fit candidate with the best policies and clearest vision? It had nothing to do with a loathing for Donald Trump and the near constant reminder to voters that picking Sanders as the democratic representative was the equivalent of re-electing Donald Trump. Sure, it was a pure voter-gets-to-choose situation.
I’d think this were satire if it weren’t so obviously earnest in how it is framed.
Yes, a debate is still necessary. If you’re afraid of a debate, your candidate is incredibly weak and vulnerable and will be excoriated by a more ruthless (and much, much less nice) opponent in Trump.
@HL Extremely well said.
Please change the title of this article - this is all about the delegate math for Sanders. The math always represents the voters' wishes, plain and simple.
This time around Sanders should quit early and throw his wholehearted support behind the presumptive nominee. He should tell the group of several thousand supporters who go to all his rallies to channel their energy towards a practical outcome.
24
As an idea for the next primary. Since the vast majority of Democrats are in favor or eliminating the electoral college. Let's lead by example. Next Primary will be popular vote. 5 weeks: 10 states per week. No weird math, no "the fix is in" for candidate X. Let's show the other country, that we are the party of the people and of democracy.
15
.... that is exactly how Trump won the 2016 Republican nomination. Popularism is not always the best way to elect leaders.
1
@Perverse Its the best way to elect leaders...however it doesn't guarantee you get the best leader...there's a difference. Trump won the Republican nomination because that's what Republican's wanted. They got what they chose and what they deserve. The rest of us on the other hand got Trump due to an archaic systems where some votes count more than others. Populism would have gotten us Clinton.
Why on earth is Sanders not quitting now ? His only hope would be now to win the nomination from a terribly divided party and this alone would have him losing in November. What is the point of a the next tv debate ? I don't get it, the Republicans must be laughing at this self-inflicted harm by the Dems. Though E. Warren is a very inspiring figure (so much more that B. Sanders !) I don't get much the point of having on the ticket a VP that would tilt the ticket to the left . If I understand well the constitution of the USA the VP has no power or function. I would prefer Warren at some operational position.
33
@Marc He could stay in the race with the open purpose of pushing Biden to commit to liberal positions (even more than he already has). Calling off debates makes a lot of sense, but the optics would be a problem, if it looked like opposition was being shut out. One way or another, we need to court most of Sanders' supporters and not leave them feeling cast aside, and maybe seeing the primaries play out could work in that direction, if Sanders stays positive. Maybe.
1
@Marc
If you're a smart Biden supporter, you want Sunday's debate to happen. Call it a practice round, when no real harm can be done. He's not going to lose anything even if he does poorly. If his first one-on-one debate is with Trump, he has a great deal to lose. Like the election.
If Democrats try too hard to protect Joe Biden from harm, that's going to backfire. Bigly. It's only going to make him a weaker candidate. But fear and insecurity causes people to make decision that are not necessarily in their best interests.
1
@Marc Agree re Warren - she’s be much better as Treas Secretary than VP. Do we really want two 70 year olds on the ticket??
1
I voted for Sanders in the primary in 2016. Then when Hillary won the nomination I voted for her. If Biden is nominated, I'll vote for him, too.
51
The vocal and loud social media crowd makes Sanders look deceptively more popular. His supporters go to his campaign rallies but the silent majority goes out to vote for Biden. Bernie can't defeat Trump because majority of Democrats don't want to live in a democratic socialist country envisioned by Sanders and his supporters.
37
@Jack Thank you for speaking for the majority of democrats! The country I don't want to live in is one that has a two-tiered class system where millions of people are near or below the poverty level and young people need to go into tens of thousands of dollars of debt to get a degree from a institution, only to face another two-tiered system in which the best jobs go to prep-school graduates of ivy league schools. We need to get over labels and figure out how to help hard-working citizens who are struggling.
1
The Democratic electorate is telling us they want a moderate to challenge trump in November; the same message gleaned from the 2016 midterms.
Biden does not inspire the same level of passion that Obama had or, for that matter, the passion Bernie’s or trump’s followers have for them.
Now that it’s clear that Bernie will not win the delegate count the question is will he rally his supporters to get behind Biden to defeat trump. Or will he merely acknowledge the loss to Biden, give somewhat tepid support while continuing to lead his progressive followers to challenge (what they see) as the Democratic status quo?
I can not picture AOC and the “squad” getting behind Biden while I can imagine a sizable minority of Bernie’s disgruntled base looking to make a negative “statement” at the convention. That will not present the united front the Democrats want to project.
13
@Scott Goldwyn
The "Squad" and the vocal and loud social media crowd makes Sanders look deceptively more popular. His supporters go to his campaign rallies but the silent majority goes out to vote for Biden. Bernie can't defeat Trump because majority of Democrats don't want to live in a democratic socialist country envisioned by Sanders and his supporters.
In other words, the Squad is numerically irrelevant in 2020.
Sorry.
13
I agree. I just don’t think the negative optics and intra-party scuffles help the ultimate goal of defeating trump
@Scott Goldwyn I can't picture the left wing of the party getting totally behind Biden, but I can picture them being happy to be a left-wing opposition in a Biden administration. In other words, voting for him, but continuing to work to pull him and the party to the left, looking to a not implausible AOC presidency down the road...
All of which would be more interesting if the "horserace" was run with actual horses. The drumbeat from all the usual "smart" sources will be to get Sanders out of the sporting event. The real challenge is for Biden to unify the party--not by saying "unity" a lot and demanding the moderate-or-die version of "my way or the highway," which is "our way or there's nothing to say."
But by reaching out--substantively--to the progressive wing of the party in policy agreements for the year. The same polls that show that Biden lead, as a candidate, shows strong party support for the progressive positions. They need to being those together. And Biden needs to see it.
14
@BarryNash Why should Biden make substantial concessions to progressives? The numbers are just not there. They haven't shown up for Sanders. The numbers suggest his "mass movement" is on the decline. On the other hand, Biden's support in open primary states so far has demonstrated that center-right Republicans and independents are outpacing his weakness among younger voters. And this is just the primaries, where the most faithful turn out. So why scare them away with a more left-progressive message just to capture a relatively smaller number of the voting youth?
18
@Dan88 he needs to me make substantive concessions because he just lost every demographic under 50. It’s the elephant in the room. I actually know biden supporters who are discouraged by the inescapable reality that Biden has zero ground support not a grassroots movement.
All we know are demographic percentages relative to the entire primary electorate. Young turnout is actually higher in the raw numbers in 2016, boomer turnout is just historically high for Biden.
Also, you need young voters because they’re obviously not 65-85 and wont be dying soon.
1
@BarryNash Sanders has lost in the court of public opinion. It's time to bow out.
His supporters can't be like the kids who lose the soccer game and get a participation trophy. Everyone will benefit by getting rid of Trump. That's the only goal.
I would have voted for either Bernie or Biden as the Democratic nominee. I believe Bernie has great ideas for the country and we definitely need a change from the status quo. However, with that said, I also believe the country is not ready for Bernie's ideas and passion for change. If he loses the nomination which is highly probable at this junction, at least he has communicated thought provoking ideas and planted a seed for change in the future.
As for Biden, should he get the nomination, he'll need a plan, ideas and talking points people can embrace as voters. Most importantly, he'll need all of the support this country and his fellow Democrats can offer. It's time for all Democrats and voters to galvanize if they really want change and bring back some sense normalcy to the White House and country....and that means getting rid of Trump and the Republican controlled Senate.
Vote 2020 like you've never voted before.
51
Completely agree. Sanders has done something big for the progressive movement in this country that will stay with us until the day America is ready for president AOC. in the meantime, I think voters just don’t think sanders could win against trump and that is more important than any ideology.
12
@Vivi - Just what qualifies AOC to be president? Yes, she’s young and a more appealing version of Bernie, but what else does she actually offer? Remember that there will be other young or middle-aged candidates, moderate ones, who will run against AOC (I’m thinking about Stacey Abrams, who is far more accomplished than AOC and in four years will have even more accomplishments to her credit than the media-hugging AOC. And there’ll be other excellent candidates who can appeal to young voters
12
@A.A.F. One important point for all the Bernie supporters who want to burn down the house if Sanders does not win: the Supreme Court, the Federal judges which are life time appointments and will not just change this country in the short term but possibly for the Gen Zers lifetime. Please don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
1
Let’s face it, this election is all about fear. How sad that we have moved from the Hope campaign of Obama to this.
I try to live my life focussed on hope rather than fear. That is why I first supported Warren and now support Sanders.
We will need hope and optimism and courage to face the problems that the world and our society now face, but I guess that may have to wait 4 more years.
Warren and Sanders were both defeated by their opponents, the media, Russian bots, and the powerful wealthy class through a campaign of instilling fear.
The repetition of the myth that they couldn’t beat Trump was based on fear. No one knows for sure, but I suspect that Warren would have been a landslide against him.
Of course I will vote for the nominee, and even if it’s Joe I will continue to hope, but as a late boomer I am saddened that a generation who promised to fight the establishment is now in lock step with an establishment that is getting worse with every election.
16
@TJ , I think Warren would have been the nominee only if Sanders hadn’t chosen to run again.
25
It may give you comfort to hold trumpian beliefs on this, but the voters chose. You need to give ALL of us credit for thinking for ourselves. My guy didn’t win, and my vote didn’t count. Now it’s time to be united if defeating the golden calf.
22
I was very excited about the prospect of Elizabeth Warren as the first woman president. Early this year, my focus shifted to Bernie Sanders. I would’ve been equally happy with either Warren or Sanders as president, or I would’ve been ecstatic if they ran as a team. I was laid off from my job from Lehman Brothers in 2008, and my financial situation took an extreme nose dive; my life has never been the same since. I felt in a way that the government abandoned me in my search for employment by not supporting me financially. (Spare me the “pull up your bootstraps” nonsense; I’m a very good and hard worker.) To me, Warren and Sanders represent real change. They’re fighters and they want to turn the system upside down in favor of the working and middle class.
5
"...confirm that he has seized a commanding national advantage, spanning virtually all major demographic groups"
I agree that Sanders no longer has a chance, but let's be honest about this statement. Biden does terribly with voters under 40 of every color. Are you arguing that people under 40 are not a "major" demographic? Just because they don't vote in the same percentages as older people doesn't mean that you can just dismiss them.
It might not hurt Biden in this election, but these people are the future of the party. It's damaging to the party when you don't even acknowledge the people who are the future of your party and you, once again, give them nothing that they want to vote for.
I feel like we're trading short term gain for long term pain. Democrats need to wise up and stop thinking about only today and not tomorrow. There's a short game and a long game. Republicans play both. Democrats only play one. That's why we keep getting beat.
13
@J.C. Sanders does well with voters polling under 30 but they did not vote. It's hard to get "your" candidate into office when you're not voting.
40
@J.C. What can anybody do, if Bernie's young followers do not show up at the polls? Four years ago, we were so inspired by Bernie, contributed to his campaign, and voted in the primaries. Shockingly for us, his massive rallies did not translate to votes. So we started educating our own teenage kids about the importance of voting - instead of tweeting.
27
But they did t come out for sanders when it counted. The question is why? Did they not share his passion? Not care? Or didn’t believe he could win?
9
If Bernie Sanders has a patriotic bone in his body he will drop out now. He will not engage in another divisive debate. He will not make grievance-fueled excuses for his losses. Based on March 3 and March 10, there is no evidence-based case for his electability in November (that tsunami of youth voters he promised - didn’t happen) and therefore he should drop out.
He should be a statesman. He should join the Biden coalition, not because Biden is a great candidate, but because Biden now has the coalition, and because only a coalition across Democrats, with some independents and moderate Republicans can beat Trump.
He should tell his supporters, most of them quite young, that he drops out for them. So those young women will not lose reproductive health care, and thus will be able to complete their educations and start careers. So that they will have a planet to live on, and health insurance under the ACA.
If he’s a statesman, he’ll tell his supporters he’s devoting every breath to electing the Democratic candidate, Biden, and that if the Republican Party is defeated across the board, they will live to fight his fight another day.
195
@al This is why the GOP controls the narrative in this country: they are not afraid. They ran the most unelectable candidate the world has ever seen, and he won.
Biden is the chosen candidate because the DNC is afraid, and they have made sure the voters are afraid.
Running good ol’ Joe—the return-to-yesteryear, “nothing will change” candidate—will backfire over the long term, but the people get the government they deserve.
Sanders will stand back and shake his head as we vote against our best interests, just like the Trumpsters did.
4
@al
Completely agree. But he wasn't a statesman in 2016 and I fear he hasn't changed. But here's hoping...
5
This is false, and borders on gaslighting.
If he’s a patriot he would drop out? Give me a break.
Candidates need to be vetted, tested, and made ready for a brutal and grueling general election campaign with 24/7 media coverage.
Sanders should stay in until the convention. He should test Biden at every turn and try to extract concessions and move Biden to embrace progressive goals (Medicare For All or Green New Deal would be nice).
It’s absolutely astonishing to hear people call for the debate to be canceled and Sanders to drop out — all to protect the very, very delicate illusion of Joe Biden’s viability.
5
Bernie has run a good race and build a powerful movement.
There is now no realistic way to win enough delegates.
I admire Bernie and supported him in 2016 and this year.
I hope Bernie will be a hero and drop out of the race and endorse Joe Biden.
If Bernie would do that and campaign enthusiastically for Biden and help us beat Donald Trump, it would be a great end to his presidential career.
Thanks Bernie.
All best to you.
99
@fast/furious
Amen. I love Bernie.
I would love Bernie even more, now, if he nobly acceded the nomination to Biden and offered his full support.
Bernie has an incredible chance to leave this race as the absolute Hero.
3
Built a movement only apparently powerful. It served well as a foil to Hillary Clinton and the possibility of a woman for President and attracted youth who then never show up to vote. A more moderate platform seems to carry the power.
Can Sanders succeed in convincing his supporters to vote for Biden? If he does, history will regard him as a powerful voice and vision for the progressive movement, and for boldly moving the needle on health care, education and climate change towards democratic socialist approaches. If he does not, and his supporters issue protest votes or don't vote at all, he will be regarded as a cranky narcissistic, more interested in the rush of movement politics than in their pragmatic implementation. This will no doubt be the greatest test of Bernie's considerable political skills: to unify the establishment against which he has railed even as he accepts defeat by it.
121
There is zero incentive for me, as a Bernie supporter, to vote for Joe Biden, and I will not do so, and I intend to encourage every person I know to follow my lead *unless* Joe Biden actually embraces some of the ideas and policy proposals Bernie has brought forward.
To be clear, Bernie Sanders can personally come to my house, have breakfast, and beg me to vote for Joe Biden, and if Joe hasn’t adopted any progressive policies, I’d still tell Bernie “Sorry, it isn’t happening.”
I think what is significant is that Sanders is even less competitive now than he was in 2016, and the polling has largely been consistent in that regard. He may win Washington, and that is one of his last favored states. He needs a strategy on what to do next, but unlike this point in 2016, winning the nomination seems pretty out of reach--and that's without superdelegates. He and his supporters need to be realistic.
25
Even though I voted for him in Georgia's 2016 primary, and I would vote for him this November if he is the nominee, it's clear that his argument that he would win by expanding the electorate is simply wrong. He has done nothing of the sort.
I cannot for the life of me understand why young Americans don't vote. I've voted in every election since I was 18; I've never felt that my vote was meaningless.
There are now more Millennials than Boomers. If they voted in the same numbers as Boomers, they would realign our nation's politics in a single election. But they don't. They simply don't show up, and candidates only care about voters who do.
78
@Steven They'll show up as they age. 2024 will be a big inflection point.
2
@Steven
Absolutely correct. Posting on FB, twitter, etc. is not activism. Hauling your rear end down to the booth and completing the ballot is.
2
@Steven, when someone who shoots heroin doesn't show up at a doctor's appointment, we call it the negative effects of addiction. When someone with a cellphone doesn't show up at the ballot box, we don't. But maybe we should.
3
Bernie is now the stalking horse for Elizabeth Warren's vice presidential nomination - and that's why I'm with him all the way to the Convention. Biden's pitch for coming together to defeat Trump is fine, but we also need a progressive, compassionate and just program. Bernie will continue to push an unimaginative DNC in that direction and his delegates will demand a commitment to it. Warren's nomination would signal the triumph of Bernie's policies, even in his defeat as a candidate.
17
@Paul Warren was my choice as a presidential candidate but isn't mine as VP. The combined ages of the democratic team should be under 135.
Elizabeth Warren is an asset to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and to the the party as a whole, but she does not represent the constituencies that are swelling turnout in the primaries. A woman of color will epitomize the adage “Dance with the one who brought you.”
@Paul
This coronavirus may be key to Bernie's medicare for all platform gaining support.
If the prediction that those infected will double every 6 days in this country, the American people are in for a shockingly rude awakening.
Cutting "payroll taxes" if one has their work schedule cut back drastically; or has no job; or is facing enormous medical bills from treating this virus....is another insulting joke, Mr. President.
And bailing out ("taking care of" as POTUS calls it) Trump's billionaire friends in the already filthy rich multi billion dollar cruiseline and airline industries using our taxpayer money is nothing short of criminal.
Ironic that the anti-Sanders panic and the corona-virus panic coincided. It took a lot of ongoing fear mongering, MSM included, red-baiting and about Socialism. He's not a Democrat! It took the concerted efforts of "powers that be" in the Democratic Party coming out for Biden or casting doubt on Bernie Sanders ability to beat Trump, those polls showed otherwise.
There is just so much one candidate can do to try to take us to a place where we should be going as a country at this time of urgency- regarding health care, immigration, war, climate change, you know the rest.
And then there are the incessant complaints about the "Bernie Bros" whoever they are, one analysis concluding no worse than any other bros. (or sisters, Hillary's and in the end Warren's).
This was the message "how do we get rid of Sanders?" when it looked like he was getting a lot of support.
Poll people: they want universal health care, free access to higher education, attention to the environment, infrastructure repair... all urgent and all "socialism".
Frankly the process has soured me and turned me more left than ever. We owe a debt of gratitude to Sanders. He moved the party... so hard to do. His epitaph was written long before his end.
22
@Potter
Doesn't that tell you something?
Maybe a lot of people don't love Bernie as much as you do. And maybe they think his policy choices aren't as desirable as you do.
Finally, maybe the voters really want Trump defeated in November and had less faith in Bernie making that happen.
No crying over spilt milk now.
2
@Potter
"they want universal health care, free access to higher education, attention to the environment, infrastructure repair... all urgent and all "socialism"."
People want, but we cannot afford it all and now. This why Biden is winning.
2
Trump did win despite opposition from the entire republican establishment. It’s the voters who put Biden in this place not the establishment. I am moderate voter , I prefer the middle path than extreme of any party. That’s where the country is. Any extreme of right or left will make the other half mad. Ecstasy of the middle path. Everything is not a conspiracy
1
OK, Bernie Bros, time to put up or shut up. Maybe for some, it's also time to grow up.
Do you want to actually achieve many of the things that Bernie has called for, or do you just want a revolution for the sake of a revolution?
Progressive voices aren't going away, and they aren't likely to quiet down, either. Working within a victorious Democratic party, they can actually pass legislation that begins to create the country they want.
Working outside a defeated Democratic party, they will have no power to achieve anything, and the GOP will continue to gerrymander, voter suppress, and pack the courts until Progressives will never have the chance to create the changes they seek.
Biden is not only "what's best for the country", he is what is best for Progressives.
145
@ImagineMoments
Insulting people by calling them "Bernie Bros" and insinuating that they're childish is not a good strategy for getting then on your side.
It's interesting that moderates are so concerned with pandering to disaffected Republicans, and want to roll out the red carpet to invite them in, but treat the left of their own party with contempt. That's not going to go well.
5
@J.C. Many in Sanders' movement are not and have never been active in democratic politics. Forget about what you perceive as a negative comment. If you truly want an advantage, back the person who can get Trump out of the WH. Then fight like hell to ensure that your opinions are heard. Is Trump listening to any of your opinions? Will he ever?
4
@ImagineMoments
Time for Bernie bros to put up or shut up?
Umm, they already did shut up by staying home.
Being a fierce Bernie bro on social media is one thing and getting off your duff and voting is another. Bernie bros love to rant. That seems ALL they love.
4
I think it was a mistake for Sanders to insist on running again after the mess in 2016. Clinton stepped down, and Sanders should have, giving Warren a real shot. She wasn’t part of that bile and angst, a replay of old loss, but a new, positive force who would have unified progressives of all ages and kinds.
88
@jb
I thought he would hand over the reins to Warren after his heart attack. That would have been a sensible move, no one would have questioned it. And it would have positioned her well and changed everything about this race.
7
@jb
Bernie was never not going to run again.
This is his last chance and he wasn't going to pass it by NO MATTER WHAT.
Maybe that's what people saw.
NOT a good reason to be President - just because you want to.
6
@jb So true! Sanders has lost all my sympathy over this.
4
I have a semantic problem with ever calling the voters "a problem." A democratic system is based on the fundamental assumption that the voters' will is always "right," no matter how much you may disagree with the results. A candidate can have a problem with one's strategy, tactics, outreach, communications, etc., but the problem is never, ever, with the voters.
18
@R.K. Myers
"We the people..." clearly names who the sovereign is in the Constitution. The whole thing revolves around the individual, the protection of which, and the limits of government power over the individual. Yeah, the voter can't be wrong. Theoretically, but how often have parts of the Constitution been ignored?
1
True but electoral college values some voters above other voters. Gerry meandering does the same
@R.K. Myers , voters who are racists, or violent-minded partisans, who are determined to force their religion or ideology on the nation, are in fact a clear and present danger to a nation. History’s worst dictator of the 20th century was voted in. Many have been.
1
If we look at where Bernie has done well, it is in the multiway contests and caucuses. He has not beaten Joe anywhere in a mostly head to head primary yet outside of his home region of New England. Joe is no Clinton.
I like Bernie. But his list of potential wins are essentially zero for the next two weeks, any future wins are likely to be tiny wins in smallish contests (OR, NM, PR, WY, ?), and some of his losses will be very big (GA, LA). The outbreak means no more rallies or similar to help his turnout, and no reasonable human would enable yet another debate.
I will be disappointed if Bernie is still in the race tomorrow.
29
I believe that what hurt Sanders was the feeling that a victory over Donald Trump was more important than ideological differences.
As a Sanders supporter, I believe that myself.
I don't know if Biden is the best candidate to do that -- Biden is a weak debater and the polls showed Sanders doing just about as well in the swing states in a match-up with Trump.
But if we lose our democracy it won't matter what platform we favor. Our entire effort has to be focused on defeating Donald Trump.
77
@Josh Hill
What hurt him, and finished him before he started, was his call to throw the baby out with the bathwater. A temperature adjustment is needed, but not a revolution turning everything upside down. That's just wrong for the people who have something to lose. It only works in place where things are so bad where there's nothing to lose. The US majority is not desperate.
Bernie's persistent use of the word Socialism without differentiating his meaning aided mightily in his defeat. Constantly demonizing hard-working, successful wealthy people is another source. There are better ways of funding his wish to broaden the safety net than the complete restructuring of our economic system. How about restructuring tax brackets to make sure all people and corporations pay taxes and pay them fairly? Take a look at revenues tickets to athletic events generate. Why aren't these profits extended to all students and especially to those with the greatest need for financial support? Why aren't Pro teams reimbursing schools for the training provided for athletes the Pros drafts? Pros provide the funds for the apparently essential fancy training facilities built at the schools? And multi-million$ salaries for coaches at a place of education? We seem to be unable to identify alternate means to the complete restructuring of our economy. I thinking the electorate is requesting another look for an alternate to the proposed revolution.
The question remains the same. Will all the supporters of any Democratic candidate turn out to support the eventual democratic nominee? Staying home and sitting on their hands during the general election is sure fire way to repeat 2016 or even worse, give up on Congress, state legislatures, etc.
49
@tom These votes have been a good sign that those who believe in Joe Biden will actually turn out to vote, and in big numbers. If Bernie's supposedly wildly enthusiastic young supporters couldn't even turn out in the primaries, it's not promising for how he would do in a presidential race.
9
When you consider that Biden had no real on ground operation in the many states he has decisively won in the last week or so, it smacks of a huge repudiation of Sanders. It's becoming apparent that he has a hard ceiling of about 30% which isn't budging and his fantasy of prompting big turnouts of young voters has fizzled. He had his window in 2016 when people were looking for someone to break things, and we ended up with someone who has actually broken things over the last three and a half years and now voters just want to return to a no drama approach to governance. His best chance was in 2016 when he could capitalize from the anti-Clinton vote and his expires-on date has now passed.
113
@Andy Worse for Bernie is the fact that the states that DID have big increases in voter turnout (TX, VA, MI) all broke for Biden, turning Bernie’s argument about exciting the base on its head.
3
Most voters realize incremental change is LASTING change.
Sudden changes invite anger, backlash and, (ultimately) reversal. Biden knows this.
This is just human nature and Bernie Sanders wasn't about to change that.
102
@Will.
The Democratic Party has incrementally become the moderate Republican party. If you look at where moderate Republicans were 30 or 40 years ago, it's just about the same.
I'm not willing to accept that as lasting change. Sorry.
3
@J.C.
Moderate republicans gave us the precursor to Obamacare. Remember Romney?
2
@J.C.
Thats fine - it then follows you would prefer to live with the present administration then?
Think about it. No really - think about it.
There are many Americans who believe deeply in the painting of a future that Bernie Sanders offers. I like many parts of that painting. There also are many Americans who would have a more moderate approach and believe that Joe Biden is the person who can deliver a victory in November. I count myself among those voters as well. Neither group is "wrong", any more than you are wrong for preferring chocolate ice cream over vanilla (Yes, i realize that the "future of the nation" is a bit more weighty than ice cream choice, but i stand by the point that people like what they like). At this point, I think the candidate is almost certainly Joe Biden. We all should continue to advocate for our positions in a way that builds up whoever that candidate ends up being. Job one; there is no other, is evicting the current tenant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Let's do this.
84
Sanders voters are voting on their own near-term and lifetime futures and their children's. Biden voters are looking only as far as Nov. 3. The "first you have to win" thinking is prevailing. We will see how good the majority of amateur pundits is at picking a winner. Even the professional pundits don't have a great track record when it comes to Donald Trump.
7
@abigail49 If on Nov. 3 Donald Trump is defeated, that will be a good start for many, many people. The Democrats can start the process of restoring the country and building on that victory from there. Those concerned about their children's future would have a lot more to worry about if the Democrats choose a candidate who has little chance of winning over moderate voters.
10
@abigail49 Sanders' voters may be casting their votes hoping for the promised 'revolution', but Sanders' own track record as a legislator is paltry. Sanders has some good ideas. It's just that he's not the man to get anything done. He's had a long career, but almost nothing to show for it.
Hillary was right: "“[Bernie Sanders] was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him. He got nothing done...He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney, and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/21/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-2020-election-101339
“Sanders had big ideas but little impact on Capitol Hill...Democrats who worked with the Vermont senator say he contributed to the debate, but rarely forged actual legislation or left a significant imprint on it.”
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/bernies-record-220508
1
@abigail49 , actually, first you really do have to win. The forces that really will destroy us—are near it now—are real and powerful. We’re doing our best to win. That’s all we can do.
1
My theory of this election is that Democrats in the face of Donald Trump were either going to choose to join Uncle Bernie (or maybe Aunt Liz) in a political revolution which would tackle the glaring problems we face head on or they were going to go for the comfortable, the familiar, a hug from Uncle Joe if you will and a promise of a return to normalcy—whatever that means.
It seems that voters have chosen the latter. Whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen. If Biden wins the corporate media will no doubt laud their own foresight and both they and the donor class will sleep easier knowing that their ability to influence elections still stands. If Biden loses it will be blamed on Bernie and his supporters.
My guess is that Bernie will stay in a little longer than many Democrats might like. There’s a debate coming up and he is a very good debater and Joe Biden is well—Joe Biden. It may be the political equivalent of a Hail Mary pass but hope dies hard.
In the end Sanders will support Biden. Whether his supporters choose to do the same is going to be up to Biden. If he can craft a message that speaks to our hopes, dreams and fears he has a much better shot than if he does what Clinton did and shrug us off with a snide “where else are they going to go” attitude.
14
@Brooklyncowgirl "In the end Sanders will support Biden." I don't think there is much evidence to support that conclusion...
@Brooklyncowgirl Bernie isn't a Democrat. Is it at all surprising that most Democrats would prefer someone else? Tackle the challenges of the future in some way other than exploding government spending, please.
@Brooklyncowgirl
How is Trump working out for you? You would rather have a crooked grifter than the decent public servant you rejected? If you swallowed 26 years of GOP smears and talking points, your current opinion regarding an honorable man who continued to serve after suffering a terrible family loss is worth nothing to any Democrat.
I can only speak as a Democratic voter for many decades; I don't care where you go.
The problem with Bernie are his policies, which the voters are clearly rejecting.
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@Mark I disagree. Bernie's policies, for the most part, (universal healthcare, free public college, fairer taxes, and reigning in corporate power, climate change, etc.), are great and to the average worker's benefit.
The problem is Bernie's messaging and unflexible style, it is much more belligerent and off-putting for many voters than his policies, which are overshadowed by Bernie the person and the misinformation campaign against him. For those reasons, I couldn't support him as the Democratic candidate. I'm not willing to take the risk. Too much at stake.
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It’s time to acknowledge that Bernie is a weak candidate. He started this race with household name recognition and gobs of money. He has a mostly favorable press behind him and a solid and devoted base of support. All he needed to do this time was expand his coalition and he could not.
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@sansacro I agree that Bernie's inflexible and belligerent style is his downfall, not just among many voters, but at least as importantly, among his peers in the Senate, where he has been singularly ineffective in passing bills or attracting co-sponsors.
I believe we should have universal healthcare, affordable higher education, an aggressive effort to address climate change and many other things that Bernie supports. I just don't see any evidence that he can make progress on those goals.
10
Joe would be wise to consider Bernie as a Vice President if their egos can be aligned. Otherwise, he should select a competent younger woman, Tulsi, or, Kamala. Elizabeth should be a cabinet role and be on hand for advice and perspective.
Bloomberg would be a great asset when it comes to financial decision making. I guess I'm saying they should all unite and form a government that gets thing done for a change.
15
@HoodooVoodooBlood
I’ve said this as well. Both Sanders and Biden herald from great Democratic traditions of the past: Sanders carries on the spirit of the New Deal and Great Society, Biden carries on the spirit of global leadeship, competence, and human decency.
The Democratic Party must prepare for the great changes younger voters will demand as they mature and begin to vote more regularly. Polls show millennials are not getting more conservative and history predicts that it’s about time for another great liberal generation. However, there will always be a great number of moderates in the party as well. Both sides represented by Sanders and Biden need to come together to give and take a little and a Biden-Sanders ticket is the way to go. I think Sanders would be open but I worry Biden would be too beholden to selfish corporate interests to be open to a Sanders VP.
Either way, the change to a more humane and environmentally friendly economy is going to have to happen soon. We either ease into it with Biden-Sanders or it happens with a catastrophe or violent uprising of the increasing majority being left behind. I prefer easing into it but I’ll be happy to join the pitchforks if significant change doesn’t reign in the obscene wealth disparity both parties have had a hand in enabling.
@HoodooVoodooBlood IMO Bernie would be a great HHS Secretary, I think he could get far more done there than remaining in the Senate.
@HoodooVoodooBlood
I don’t agree on your first point. We don’t need a VP in his late 70s to back up a President in his late 70s. I hope Biden chooses his VP pick wisely.
It is now clear that much of Sanders’s support in 2016 was not pro-Bernie, but rather anti-Hillary voters. Sanders has had less support in nearly every 2020 contest than he had in 2016, often only around half the levels of 4 years ago. Earlier in the race this could be explained away by the larger field of candidates, but that rationalization has been exposed as wishful thinking now. There is simply no groundswell of support for Sanders. Quite the opposite.
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@Roy S
I just caught a segment from Morning Joe where Scarborough took some responsibility for the role of the press over 25 years, since she became the first First Lady who wasn’t going to accept the sexist, antiquated “homemaker” role, in turning Hillary Clinton into some sort of extreme caricature completely removed from any semblance of reality. He had seen the recent Hillary documentary (which should have been done BEFORE 2016; way to go liberal media powers-that-be in closing the barn door AFTER the donkeys escaped) and was willing to admit that after seeing it he couldn’t help but confirm that Hillary wasn’t the scary monster whipped up in 2016. He also agreed that the Sanders vote was more anti-Hillary than pro-Sanders.
I’ve never been a big Joe Scarborough fan (way too Republican but at least not bat-guano crazy like the evangelicals now ruling the party) though I did like that he eventually was willing to publicly stand up to his one-time friend Trump and tell it like it is regarding his manifest incompetence and colossal failure as a Republican and president. That he took his part of ownership of Hillary’s media vilification was surprising and bittersweetly gratifying to stumble upon this morning.
3
Whatever Sander's problem there is no longer an easy path to his nomination of the Democratic party but he should still stay in the race and continue to inspire his base and not disappoint them by dropping out. His base has invested too much in his candidacy and has people that would otherwise not be in the democratic party.
7
@Girish Kotwal If Bernie continues in the race well past the time when it is clear he will not receive the Democratic nomination, then he has a choice. Either continue, divide the party and help re-elect Trump...or choose country over personal pride, and work to unite his base behind the nominee. We all have to be willing to give a little to accomplish more.
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@Welshmd, I agree with both of you. Bernie might wisely stay in just for a few more weeks to prepare his followers for the inevitable. At some point soon, the message will be be clear even to most of them. At that point, Bernie should gracefully bow out and strongly offer his support to Biden, along with good reasons for his followers to do the same. He should then take a little time off before campaigning strongly for Biden in an early general election start.
6
@Welshmd Boston. It is a wishful thinking to expect Sanders to drop out. NY and IL have not had a chance to express cast their votes. With the support of Jesse Jackson, Bernie is still viable and could find resurrection until the convention when the super delegates will have a say. The wishful thinking that Bernie just evaporate and lend his support and deliver the delegates to Biden will not happen any time soon. My prediction is Bernie will fight on until the end for this could well be his swan song.
3
I like people's enthusiasm for Joe Biden here. It reminds me a lot of the enthusiasm for Hilary in 2016, and will lead to another loss. Oh, well, sometimes it seems dems would rather have a graceful loss than a messy win.
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@JS If Sanders can't win a primary (and in Michigan we have an open primary) how can he win a general election?
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Hillary had been trashed for 30 years by the Republicans and had turned off many independent voters as well, primed to view her in the least positive light. Biden is not that person.
1
@JS
There is absolutely no way the two are alike, personally or politically.
Joe Biden is a white man from a working class background who has a heartbreaking story about family loss and commuted by train for decades of nose-to-the-grindstone work in Congress. Furthermore, he has always been beloved by many.
Hillary Clinton is a woman and that’s before adding her elite, highly educated background and marriage to a controversial president, not to mention 25 years of media vilification and Fox News singular focus on attacking her feminism and progressive values.
That you can’t see the glaring differences, especially after two very different primaries, is astounding.
Sanders supporters should take heart that the primaries right now are less about platforms and more about the likeliest bet to win against Trump and pull Congress toward the Democrats. This is not a normal election. Sanders has planted many seeds, in young people especially, and they will be able to flower after decency is restored.
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@EE Young people inevitably become older people and less progressive. The shine of democratic socialism wears off as adults work hard and achieve some degree of success and they become the hated neo liberals and moderates. And in fact the results of these primaries undercut the narrative of Sanders’ total support from younger voters. Many Biden voters were the progressives and activists of the 60’s.
As Frank Bruni wrote in the NYTimes last Sunday, Sanders has won the primaries by having the discussion focussed on his core issues: health care; education; the wealth gap; minimum wage; America’s safety net.
However, Biden has ensured the nomination by winning an insurmountable advantage with voters.
It is now up to the Biden campaign to adopt reasonable policies to address all of the above issues - for they are at the heart of our current crisis.
“Austerity capitalism” of conservatives and Republicans have so disabled the federal government that we simply do not have the necessary infarstrucutre at the Center for Disease Control to adequately address the foredooming pandemic.
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@Frederick Johnson There is capitalism among conservatives, but there is certainly no austerity. There is only excessive pandering to the rich, who are the beneficiaries of a tax bill that will cost the nation multiple trillions of dollars. I am not against reasonable government spending, but we are headed for economic and social, not to speak of environmental, disaster, if we don’t elect Democrats to redirect our resources to expanding the middle class.
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@Gordon Whitehead If you think that the Moderate Left doesn't mind cozying up to the rich and that orgy of wealth won't continue if EITHER of the favored candidates win, you'd be entirely mistaken.
Sleepy Joe may be just what the country needs at this time of both a health crisis and a financial crisis. A calming consoling and empathetic voice in the WH maybe just what the voters need. Trump’s strategy of denial piled upon denial with fact adjustment is wearing thin. Decency and experience in government look very appealing right now. Joe seems very reassuring.
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@Milton Lewis Setting the bar so low for the highest station in the land is another crisis that will further cripple the efforts of people that not only want to see reform, but need it due to years of systemic status quo policy that has done nothing for the working people of America.
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@Milton Lewis To me, Biden is not reassuring. Almost anyone else would have been - Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar. All these candidates were bright, energetic, ready to take on Trump and lead the country forward. They were also ready to energize younger voters. The fact that we ended up with Biden is sad. He is not just sleepy. He is confused and has difficulties completing a sentence. Clearly, this good old boy is too old for the job. It is far from certain that Sander's and even Warren's supporters get behind and Trump will roll over him like a bulldozer. Yes, I do hope he wins the presidency, but I wish there was something else driving us to the polls besides fear.
@Paul M Mr Lewis' comment of "Decency and experience in government" most certainly do not seem like a low bar to me.
At this point in the political environment in the White House and Senate those qualities even sound revolutionary!
2
Rank choice voting is not a panacea for what ails America.
In countries that have it if there are multiple parties on the ballot it leads to a fragmented government with small parties having a far greater influence than their actual support in the country.
Israel is a good example.
Bernie was not running against HRC and that was his main problem in the states that count.
And Trump will nor be running against HRC and that is a big problem for him.
And the rest of he country now knows how unfit to be president Trump is.
Biden was not my first choice or second choice but he will do very well.
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@Edward B. Blau
Not sure. Sir, if you understand ranked voting and how it differs from parliamentary proportional representation. Israel suffers from the problem, that the threshold of popular vote to get parliamentary seats for a party is too low - hence many splinter parties make it into the knesset.
One thing Bernie is incontrovertibly right about: this is not a coronation. This is not an anointing. It is an election. Leave the coronations and the uncontested primaries to Republicans. At the end of it, let's proclaim a winner and unify behind him.
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@Laurence Bachmann
I'm no fan of President Trump, or any Republican - as all my posts on the NYT attest. But it is pretty normal that an incumbent President has uncontested primaries.
@CitizenTM
That's a very fair observation. Thank you for it.
One of the exit poll questions asked by MSNBC was “do you want a candidate you agree with or someone who can beat Donald Trump?”
The majority wanted “someone who can beat Donald Trump.”
This seems very telling and may highlight a weakness for Sanders. While some of his notions are interesting (Medicare for all, free public college, etc), voters know they are not achievable in less than a decade. But beating Trump can be done in November.
I’m pretty progressive, but when reality sets in all that really matters is evicting Trump and his minions from power, and Biden seems more capable for that task than Sanders. IMO, the Trumpian damage has to be repaired before the other broken parts of the system can be fixed. The revolution can wait.
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@Noley This was basically my rational for voting for Biden in Michigan. I supported Warren and I really considered not voting in Michigan yesterday but we had local ballot initiatives. So I went with the candidate I felt had the best chance of betting Trump.
26
@Noley Given the damage the Trump administration has done with all the vital government agencies that remain unstaffed, understaffed or filled with sycophants whose stated purpose is to destroy the agencies they now head, it will take years just to get our We The People agencies back to normal.
4
@bookandcatlover Why do you feel that Biden has a better chance against Trump than Bernie does? They both poll well against Trump (Bernie actually polls slightly better). Is it your estimation of how others will vote?
1
Bernie has been propped up by the media and small group of dedicated, vocal supporters.
Bernie never had broad support for a variety of reasons. In my opinion, it was because he was all talk (yell?) and didn't give clear steps on how he'd achieve these plans. He's been in office decades and has produced little in those decades in terms of his progressive agenda. He's effective in pushing the conversation to explore issues that need to be address but he's not effective in executing those ideas.
Biden is basically phoning in his campaign and I will really hate to vote for him and not be casting a vote for Klobuchar or Harris or Mayor Pete, but I do trust that he can lead and get something done.
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@Kelly In the abstract, I’m not a fan of Joe Biden, but I’m a big fan of anyone who can defeat Trump. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
34
@Kelly "Bernie has been propped up by the media"
Satire? He was leading national polls until establishment endorsements came flying in for Boden from all sides.
You say Bernie had no plan, yet got think Biden ist a good candidate. He almost never talks about policies and when he does it's clear he doesn't have detailed plans. Those'll be cooked up by advisors when the time comes.
Biden is running on two issues: restore the pre-Trump status quo ("remember Obama? I was with Obama!) and implement small incremental changes that don't rock the system. The real American divide is economic, not cultural – Biden like the majority of the Democratic establishment has never acknowledged that, and that's why he is a bad candidate. It's also why Trump won Michigan and Pennsylvania.
1
@Kelly
Bernie was certainly not propped up by the media. In fact, the media - even the Democrat leaning one - tried to knock him out from the start.
1
This process of nominating a Presidential candidate would be a lot less painful if we had a rank choice voting system. It was always clear that although Bernie had a plurality of first choice supporters, he was the last choice of the overwhelming majority. This was confirmed convincingly in Michigan last night. It's likely that Sanders would have gotten no more votes in Michigan if Elizabeth Warren had stayed in the race, thus exploding the myth that Warren was hurting Sanders. Moreover, with a rank choice system we might have ended up with Pete or Amy as the nominee instead of uninspiring Joe.
18
@democracyite
There is data coming out now that in 2016 many of Sanders supporters in the primaries were simply voting against Hillary Clinton, not specifically for Bernie Sanders. Specifically in Michigan in 2016, white blue collar males voted for Sanders over Clinton by 28 points simply because Clinton was a woman based on exit polling. The much vaunted Sanders coalition may simply never have been there at all. He certainly didn't help himself by not declaring himself a Dem. I'm unaffiliated, but, putting myself in a Dem's shoes, I can imagine it would be difficult to vote for someone to by my party's standard bearer when he/she couldn't even find it within themselves to declare themselves a member of my party; it strikes of not being willing to commit.
What bothers me especially is Mr. Sanders behavior as momentum shifted against him. He's become whiny and blames everyone (including his own supporters) but himself for not coalescing the votes he expected to get. This kind of behavior is juvenile and sounds a lot of Donald Trump. One might argue that he knows this is his last possible chance and his behavior has shifted because of his growing despondence, but given the image Sanders has claimed (i.e. a courage man of the people), such self-centered behavior seems - disingenuous.
Mr. Sanders needs to understand that he can better affect events by working with the Ds and supporting Biden than effectively guaranteeing a Trump victory in November through bad behavior.
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@JustJeff Exactly! Clinton had a lot of baggage, and many resented her "anointment" by the DNC - real or otherwise. Plus, you can't deny the misogyny factor - (not the only reason, but it is a reason) - just look at Warren this year, who IMO was best qualified. So, in 2016 many of the Bernie votes were really just ABC votes.
@JustJeff
Crusty old Sanders acts like an old spoiled brat. I don't expect true cooperation from him. He is a user, a taker.
There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden will be our next President, and I am incredibly happy about that. The Republican Party is not able to pass any meaningful legislation in the past 3 + years. Trump is operating as a potentate, completely ignoring his responsibilities for the protection, health and welfare of Americans. His administration is topped by family, friends, and political hacks who have no respect for the law or the Congress. We need Joe Biden to right the ship of state.
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@Patrick Stevens I agree however; we need to make sure Biden is protected in terms of staying healthy.
1
I so hope you're write and that voters heavily weigh the issues against voting Republican that you mention here. However, the fact that a DT even exists in the office he does makes me wait until the final vote. I also to see that he actually exits the WH. Hopefully, Fox News will offer him a spot he can't refuse.
1
@Patrick Stevens four years ago people were saying the same thing for Mrs. Clinton. Bla bla bla........ and she lost big. Same will happen this time when quiet Americans/Reagan' democrats will go into polling booths. People do not want to be demonized for having an opinion. When lefties do that and prosecute such causes like LGBTIQ+ and tax increases people tend to vote republican.
Just so that it is recorded correctly, I called it long before it will happen. Trump will be 2 terms president
My hope is that Mr. Sanders, whose time, it turns out, truly was 2016, is spending his morning crafting a graceful, unifying exit.
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@Andrew Hidas And an unambiguous endorsement of the Democratic ticket along with a passionate exhortation for all his supporters to vote for the ticket, top to bottom. Repeated often during the campaign.
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@Andrew Hidas And I hope he doesn't take the debate stage on Sunday to go negative against Biden. He did this in 2016 against Clinton, fighting her to the bitter end, and I truly believe because he did so he made it easier for people NOT to vote for Clinton.
23
@Frank This was one of my big concerns if Sanders got the nomination: would his voters check his name off, and leave the rest of the ballot blank? He ran against the Democratic Party as much as he ran against anyone else.
The presidency is crucial, but it is not enough. We need a blue Senate, a blue House, blue governors, blue state legislatures, and so on, down the line.
6
Overall the country isn't progressive. Sanders Revolution of new voters didn't come to fruition, and while I wish more young people voted as a Millenial, but they don't. In fact, most people don't get involved until they are near 50. Even Gen X isn't represented well in politics since they don't vote as well.
Furthermore, it shows it's a more moderate base overall across the country. Whether you like that or not, that is what the electorate is. I do believe many seem to get behind Joe Biden, and while your may not have a devoted progressive, you still get better court nominees and aspects of your agenda moving forward. That is still a 180 from the Trump era.
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@Patrick The US is not only not progressive, it's arguably the most economically right wing country in the Western world. "Free public college" is not a radical policy in the slightest, fiscally responsible countries like Germany, Sweden, Denmark have it, but it is described as a radical policy even by Democratic politicians.
And yet the US had in FDR one of the most influential left wing leaders of all time, elected four times in a row. Bernie's mistake was adopting the socialist label when all he is is a European style social democrat. He should have called himself a New Deal Democrat instead of a socialist, maybe he'd have won. US elections are all about good marketing and not about policies.
16
@Patrick
I agree that the population needs to be more involved. I am so sick of the argument that voting in the US is a privilege (an argument forwarded as an attempted defensive of voter suppression in various forms) and not a right (as has been established by trends in Amendments in the Constitution itself and decades of judicial decisions). What's long been needed is mandatory voting and declaring Election Day a full on (i.e. No work, not just an effective Bank holiday) day off where people are paid as if they'd worked that day.
I was an anomaly to voter participation in that despite being unaffiliated all my life, I've voted in every election (Presidential, mid-term, and local) since 1980. Far too many people believe that if they don't vote, it sends some kind of message. Indeed, they're right. It does. It says they don't care what happens to them. Part of that is the result of how the nation has trended over the past 40 years. As the nation itself has become more liberal, the donor class (and the subsequent political class which follows its money it needs so much in our system) has shifted to the right, leading the liberal and liberal-leaning 2/3 of the population to become disillusioned and stop participating. You don't get that back through exclamations for needing courage (as Sanders has done). You get that back through building the groundwork for gradually undoing all the damage the Rs have done since the 70s. Yes - it will take time, but we have to try.
13
@JustJeff
I may get tarred for saying this but...
As we have now seen in the last 2 primaries, the Black vote is a powerful group. It behooves Black leaders to seek every qualified voter to get them registered ASAP. Then get them to the polling places. They have this awesome responsibility to help shape our country's future, just like everyone else. This is the reparation that they can use and control.
Having said that, I hope that every ethnic/racial group participates in the elections in full force. Because we should all care what kind of life and government we should have. Definitely, not one dictated from Russia.
1
The problem is that he dared to take on the establishment. This paper in particular was putting out editorial after editorial, sometimes multiple times in a day, picking on Sanders, his policies, etc. Biden represents a more polite version of the status quo.
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@G Trump is the status quo, not Biden.
3
@G
You're wrong about the NYT and the promise Biden brings.
The NYT had many critical op-ed pieces on Biden and a slew of negative pieces on Bloomberg. The NYT hounded Hillary about her emails in 2016 and nit picked her on many other counts.
There's a reason why people choose to register and vote as Democrats. They may not meet your revolutionary purity test, but they're committed to improving economic conditions for the average American and protecting our environment. Their preferences on the pace of change and the particulars on issues like universal medical coverage differ from yours. They don't want revolution, but they do want evolution. And they recognize that unless Congress can be turned blue again, nothing of benefit is going to happen.
Joe Biden is a Democrat and a political realist. He's not on the far-left like Sanders, but his values and vision for a better America are shared by the majority of Democrats. If he's nominated and elected, he'll end the reign of the worst president America has ever had and start the process of healing and advancing the interests of the many as opposed to the few.
5
@G Oh please! Enough with this "establishment" rubbish. The majority of Democrats clearly are making their choice, and it isn't Sanders. There is no conspiracy to hold him back, he just didn't make a strong enough argument to win over enough voters and gain momentum. Claiming that any lifelong Democrat who questions his policies is "establishment" or "corporatist" is probably part of his problem. Asking him for details about his policy proposals isn't "picking" on him, it's what happens in a Democracy. Right now, Trump is the status quo, and Biden couldn't be farther from that. I'm looking forward to seeing a Democrat in the WH, especially someone who knows how to advance legislation. That's progressive.
7
The only way that Sanders has a path to the nomination is a total collapse for Biden.
We need unity to defeat Trump. And that means first that Sanders steps aside, not right now so there is a debate, but after the next round of primary contests. It then means, as a second but essential step, that Biden agree to name a progressive as his running mate. And third, that Sanders, strongly, tells his supporters that they must vote Democratic in November to eliminate the existential threat of Trump's reelection.
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@John Graybeard it's not like he doesn't have a history of complete collapses or anything....
I hope Bernie at least stays for a few more days, make Joe debate him one on one. Voters need to be reminded why they were moving away from Joe just a few short weeks ago, it'll also serve Joe well to practice having to be able to speak and articulate his ideas for longer than 7 minutes.
12
@John Graybeard If Bernie gets out before the next set of Primaries and the debate, he retains a rightful place at the table and can move the needle leftward. If he debates, he looks like a sore loser. If he continues through next Tuesday, he'll be clobbered and will lose a critical opportunity to influence the Dem. Party. Elizabeth Warren made a smart, strategic decision, and Bernie should take heed.
@Jon Q "practice" implies that he's been able to pull it off at all in the last few years....
I gave a bundle to Bernie in 2016. This cycle, much much less, and I gave late. The difference? He isn't running against Clinton. I would never support a political dynasty candidate, such as a Clinton, Bush or even a Kennedy.
18
@RM Don't like families devoted to public service, eh?
@RM
Too bad. Look who we have now. Of course, you will never know what could have been.......
BTW, I had (have) a great admiration for a Vermonter named Howard Dean. Another wistful thought. What if?
@veefbe
Qaddafi in Libya gave up his nuclear program. So he gets a bunch of unvetted rebels, and goes to quash the rebellion. Mrs Clinton decides to tilt the tables in favor of the "rebels". Qaddafi is killed at their hands, and the out of control rebels attack our consulate and our Ambassador is killed. Given that experience, do you think any foreign potentate will ever trust us?
Thank you, Mrs Clinton For nothing. That is not a foreign policy in the interest of America.
It’s time for Bernie to make the tough but patriotic decision and drop from the race. We need the time from now to the general election for all the disappointed Bernie, Kamala, Elizabeth, Pete, Cory, Amy, Tulsi et al fans to come together to beat Trump, hold the House and win the Senate. Bernie, Amy, Elizabeth, and Kamala will still be voices of strength in the Senate, hopefully also joined by Hickenlooper and Bullock. Other presidential candidates will still be effective voices in the House. We have to come together to take all three. Without the trifecta win, we can’t effectively clean up Trump’s mess and make progress on healthcare, the judiciary, education and climate change.
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@DeAnnG
If you're certain Biden will win, why does Bernie need to drop from the race?
Why deny the majority of state the right to choose their candidate?
Why deny people their chance to vote?
Why deny progressives the one chance to show the centrist democrats how large their numbers are?
If Bernie gets 40%, even if he's certain to lose, that sends a very, very important message to Biden and the DNC: you need us, you'd do well to stop fighting us and ignoring us.
Your suggestion alone is but another form of silencing millions of progressives.
I'm from PA, I plan to vote for Bernie, and even if he doesn't win, I believe my vote matters.
43
@Nathan This election is and always has been about defeating Trump. I would vote for Donald Duck if I knew that he and only he could do that. That's a joke but I'm dead serious. If I knew that Bernie's continuation of his fight right to the convention would mean eroding Biden's chance to win, I would want him to find the best way [for him and for the cause] to accept that and contribute to beating Trump.
If you, Nathan, knew -- KNEW --- that holding on so that you can get your vote counted would actually cost the election in November, would you want to hold on?
All those questions are hypothetical, I know that. But that's the way the landscape is looking to me.
I am sympathetic to a lot of Bernie's goals. i want a healthy America, a strong and safe America, a decent, just, fair, and yes, more progressive America. I do not disdain anything Bernie is demanding. I just think, as this column lays out, the votes for his approach aren't going to be there, so I want the votes to go toward saving the country. If we can save the country by accepting something of a loss for our goals and dreams, then we need to.
Biden is not my dream candidate but he is now my candidate, that's all.
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@Nathan No one is saying the Primaries shouldn't continue. Everyone gets to vote and all the candidates' names remain on the ballot to this day. Bernie didn't lose because of a rigged system - he simply didn't get the votes.
24
Not mentioned yet in the 11 comments so far is that Sanders could have a very positive impact by working with Biden to press on with the issues that Sanders supporters care about.
One of Sanders problems - in my opinion - is that he does not articulate the steps needed to get to his grand ideas. His ideas might sound great, but they also sound impossible, especially under today's political climate.
As an example, Sanders and Biden have different proposals about healthcare (public option vs medicare for all), but they are both an improvement over Trump's attitude of tearing down the ACA and allowing sham insurance policies to be sold. Sanders could work with Biden to propose a stepwise move to improve healthcare - first to public option, then to medicare for all - which would be a saner approach. Sanders could work to improve Biden's proposals on climate change - something that would encourage younger people to vote for Biden. Again, even Biden's current plan is better than Trump's. Why not have Sanders help Biden articulate a stepwise plan to accelerate the move to mitigate climate change?
There is so much good that Sanders could do if he were to help coalesce Democrats around Biden while helping Biden articulate policies that combine progressive ideology with the realism that Democrats need to hear right now.
211
@HN, Bernie works for Bernie.
He does not work well WITH others unless it is for Bernie.
7
@HN
Biden was elected to provide a moderate agenda.
The Socialists are welcome at the table provided they get this.
We can easily win in November with Independents, Republicans, real Dems and everyone else.
Socialism is not for us. It was rejected by the voters.
We were elected to empower a moderate agenda.
5
@HN
Thank you for this comment -- I absolutely agree and was thinking the exact same thing!
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This US election is like the UK's recent election where there is essentially one issue for voters in terms of yea or nay. In the UK it was 'Brexit'...in the US it is 'Trump' and what he represents in terms of the decline of American values and decency.
Sanders broader social reform agenda has little resonance in this context, although his principles may influence the way forward for Democrats and the broader population in the longer term.
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@AM
".Someone is making a lot of dirty money here...."
Yeah, and Brexit won bigly.
I share Bernie's values, and I believe he has accurately analyzed the problems facing the United States--and the causes.
However, I will happily vote for Joe Biden, as I recognize that change on the order of what Bernie Sanders suggested was unlikely even if he somehow managed to get elected.
I encourage all Sanders supporters to commit to voting for Biden.
We don't always get what we want. That should not mean that stomp off in a childish huff and refuse to participate.
Adults vote. I will vote for Biden.
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@Jim Anderson If you could encourage Sanders' supporters to support Biden in the general election without calling them "childish" it would help the healing process. I'm a very mature adult with children and grandchildren, thank you.
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@Jim Anderson
I am not a child - I am a 52 year old white woman. I have voted in every election offered to me since 1986. Town, state and federal. I have helped campaigns with my time and my money.
In the past 34 years, only ONE candidate that I supported from the time they announced their candidacy (Barack Obama, 2008) got the DNC nomination.
Do not tell me "we can't always get what we want". Especially when what we want is equal access to health care and educational opportunities for the entire population. Especially when we are facing a climate crisis of our own making that will destroy the livability of every habitat on this planet.
It absolutely enrages me when people tell people who support Sanders to "grow up", "stop whining", or "stop behaving like a child". Our beliefs are not fantasies: they are policies that have been successfully enacted in many countries around the world. Most of those countries have a higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, and a higher quality of life index.
This campaign has NEVER been about Bernie the man for us (although we admire his steadfast honesty and integrity). We are not a cult. It is about all of us as a people making the country work for ALL of us as a people.
To reduce it down to"childish pouting" like we're unhappy we got the vanilla ice cream instead of the chocolate - which you and so many others do constantly - is incredibly insulting.
I will vote in November for whomever is running against Trump. OBVIOUSLY.
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@Nathan You should of course vote your conscience (and true preference) in the primary. I think Jim Anderson was only trying to say that in the general, all Bernie supporters should vote blue (which now seems to mean voting for Biden).
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All this push to get Sanders out of the race is only to spare Biden the rigor of having to compete for the nomination. He has never seemed up to it, but at least now he has the party behind him propping him up.
I hope for the country the Democrats don't cancel Sunday's debate. Although I'll be cheering for Sanders, I hope for the country Biden can hold his own. This is the party's choice, so they better let the people see what they are getting. He sure doesn't speak for me.
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@avrds
Joe could stay on his couch until July and not lose. He was a punching bag the first few debates and in the end it changed nothing. Most voters simply do not care about the debates, and the candidates using the debates to launch cheap stunts (e. g. Harris, Yang, Castro, Warren) only makes voters care less.
This was over on Super Tuesday, but people stop clicking when the fight ends so all of the pundits pretend the outcome is uncertain.
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@avrds
Voting is the people deciding. The people don't want Sanders.
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@avrds
"... the party behind him propping him up": That aptly describes Joe Biden's resurgence, despite his weakness.
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The voters in the Democratic primaries are looking for a change candidate.
They will readily accept modest changes of the Obama sort to the no change that Bernie offers. Bernie would be a loner in the WH with no friends in the Congress. He wouldn't effect any change as his proposals would be DOA at the Legislature.
Does Bernie have a plan B when his M4A gets a massive thumbs down? No - so there will be no change to America's health care system. That's not what Dem voters want. They want realistic and achievable changes and see Joe as being willing to work his tail off to achieve these.
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@Mike Edwards Spot on. For everyone who says Obama didn't do enough - see the impact ACA is having in the country now. Even in red states, people started realizing what it meant for them long after they railed against Obamacare, leading to Democrats House win in 2018. If Obama pushed for single payer, it wouldn't have passed.
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@Mike Edwards You hit the nail on the head!! Bernie is a liability for us taking back the Senate and keeping the House. So he absolutely needs a Plan B ... for everything he has promised.
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Here’s how it is... Bernie’s popularity was an illusion. In 2016 voters took the chance that a truly progressive candidate had a shot at winning the White House, and they weren’t too fond of Sec. Clinton. And perhaps of electing a woman at all. All the while believing the GOP was headed for disaster.
Well it’s 4 years later, we’ve all seen the carnage being wrought to our democracy, and there is only one goal on everyone’s mind, right?
Now the voters look around and see one candidate that is most likely to achieve that goal. Is he a perfect vessel for all our hopes and dreams? Does he inspire with his soaring oratory? Are his policies bold and exciting? We all know the answers. We also know he’s a decent man, an honorable man. And the one most likely to achieve the first goal, so all the hopes and dreams have a chance.
And here’s the most important part - We’re going to need someone to start mending the rifts in our society. He’s going to need credibility with the other side to do it.
By my reckoning, Joe Biden is our best option to start the healing.
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@jb
While I too support the idea that we now need a candidate to unify the Democratic Party, I am not heartened by the view that “We’re going to need someone to start mending the rifts in our society. He’s going to need credibility with the other side to do it.“
I remember quite well how Obama and Biden were thwarted during their eight years in office. In the end, they couldn’t even get the Senate to hold hearings, let alone an up or down vote, on their Supreme Court nominee. How is Joe Biden, or any other candidate for that matter, now going to secure bipartisan cooperation? No Democrat in the White House is going to get anything done without the party’s control of both the House and the Senate.
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@jb It's also noteworthy that Sanders is now complaining about the very rules the Dems use that he himself helped them rewrite. Some people who think his failure is merely some kind of establishment plot need to chew on that for a bit.
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@DJ sadly true.
Unless McConnell is ousted along with some other key obstructionists. Then maybe, MAYBE, we can make some progress.
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A small note to enhance this analysis: You mention that last election Sanders won the Idaho caucus with 70%, and of course he lost yesterday. Idaho actually switched to a primary for this election, which allows people to vote more easily and without community judgement, so I think that's part of the shift.
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@BCBC
Yup.
Compare the 1.2 million that voted in the WA primary on Tuesday to the 220,000 who showed up to caucus in 2016.
Caucuses needs to go away entirely.
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@BCBC Yes. No one considers how much of Sanders support is earned through pressure. A kind youth are especially prone to and we all are in person.
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The time has come for Democrats to move to what will be best for the country. The time has come for Bernie to recognize that , just as this is not going to be the year for a female nominee, it is not going to be the year when a majority of Democrats are willing to totally embrace his take on what is best for America. So Bernie has a big decision to make. He can decide to push forward and further divide the Democratic vote and potentially drive votes over to Trump, or, he can unite behind Biden and work hand in hand with Biden’s team to defeat as many Republicans as possible in each and every race open for election in November. It is time for Country over individual. Hopefully, we can be confident he will make the right choice.
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@Tom Rose A significant portion of his supporters in 2016 went 1 of 3 ways: 1) Voted for Trump, 2) Voted for one of the 3rd party candidates, 3) Didn't vote at all. Sanders didn't exactly exhort his followers to support Hillary Clinton (and don't tell me he campaigned for her; he spent his time during the general election going through the talk show circuit, extolling himself), and we have Trump as a result. (And for 2 years a fully Republican Congress too) If they do it again this time, every single one of them needs to be pointed at publicly with the exclamation "YOU are responsible for the death of our nation!"
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I think Bernie is contemplating just that by the fact that he went home to VT without making a speech. I think he's probably giving thought to whether he wants to slog through more campaigning with the odds against his being the Democratic candidate. He also can't miss the obvious fact that his 2016 wins were more an anti-Hillary/anti-woman vote than a vote of support for him and his platform. I support his wish to widen the safety net, but his constant demonizing of hard-working, successful wealthy people is as prejudicial and difficult to listen to as racism. Demonize the tax brackets instead, make sure everyone including corporations pay a fair share of taxes, but also recognize the contributions of owners and wealthy workers to the economic engine and the benefit to society their philanthropy is.
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@Tom Rose I love what you said, “It is time for Country over individual.”
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I wonder why every state that has been won by Sanders still hasnt finished counting and awarding delegates.I wonder why People had to wait hours and hours.to vote i. twenty degree weather.
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@gene
because they are in the west. And that's not true with Nevada I don't think.
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@gene Because more people came out to vote than they expected. It's been true everywhere. People are desperate to get rid of Trump, that’s job one.
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@gene
It took ages in 2016 for CA to finish counting their massive mountain of ballots. Hillary won the state and none of her supporters complained about it.
Stop looking for conspiracies around every corner. They just are not there.
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This whole idea that a candidate should drop out is strange to me. Half the country has not voted yet. Why should I not get a chance to vote for Bernie Sanders in the primaries? Because NY comes late in the election and everyone, ie the pundits, has decided that it has to be Biden?
When it comes down to it, I will vote Biden in November, but at the same time I want to make sure that the Democratic party hears my voice: move left or next time you will not get my vote.
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@George
I too want the party to "move left" or lose my vote next time. I'll vote for Biden in an election but ONLY to stop Trump. Only Sanders and Warren have talked about the issues I care about.
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I was a passionate supporter of Pete Buttigieg, but I don’t get to vote until April 28. By your reasoning, every candidate should remain in the race until the Convention so we can all get to vote for our preference.
The whole primary process is meant to winnow the field until only one person remains. As the process plays out, candidates are expected to assess their realistic possibilities for moving forward or stepping aside.
At this point, only two remain, and it looks like a realistic assessment by Bernie Sanders would suggest that it is his turn to step aside.
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@George you can vote for whomever you like in the primary, even if they've dropped out. They take their delegates to the convention and use then as leverage as the platform gets built. I'll be voting for Warren in the NY primary.
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Sanders biggest problem: Trump.
Due to the massive interest in a safe and easy Trump alternative, Bernie’s momentum is gone.
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@David, Sanders' biggest problem is what he and his supporters did when he didn't win in 2016, and the way his supporters acted online in 2020.
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I too voted for Bernie. Now it's time to get behind Joe.
I think Bernie could have won if he had not worn the "socialist" label. I got so tired of having to explain he was not for government ownership of everything. "Democratic socialist" still said "socialist" which still said government owning the means of production. He should have said he is a "free-enterprise socialist" if he had to label himself a socialist of any type, to reassure people that Apple and Exxon would not be nationalized under a President Sanders.
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@JimLuckett Exactly Bernie's problem. Instead of behaving in a way that would build a coalition, and thereby increase his ability to make change, he consistently made decisions that undermined his goals.
Until he decided he wanted to be president, he chose to isolate himself as a "democratic socialist". What exactly does that achieve besides virtue signal? He could have dropped the moniker, joined the Democratic Party, and actually been more effective at achieving his socialist agenda.
But, instead, he'd rather be right, than effective, and that's why I, as someone who likes Bernie's goals, voted Biden.
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@JimLuckett I agree, it was his bizarre choice to wear that label. He could have just said he was a New Deal Democrat or something. Positive statements about Fidel Castro are not a big help. We don't want a nominee who expresses his intent to not compete in Florida.
The voters spoke.
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@JimLuckett Packaging is very important for consumer product sales. It doesn't change what's inside the box but it entices people to try it, you might like it. Sanders and team have never gotten it. You would think they would have learned marketing from his first run and I'm more than irritated that they didn't. Enough Americans want and desperately need his policies and goals and all they needed was positive packaging. Even Donald Trump knows you have to hug the flag.
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Speaking as a Bernie supporter, I think Bernie should drop out. He has said he will support the nominee, so he can start the long slog to try to convince his followers to support Biden. It will be an uphill battle. Joe's platform doesn't have much in common with Bernie's. Most significantly, his climate plan is weak.
What will I do with the $5 I send Bernie monthly? Probably send it to the Sunrise Movement which is working to get a Green New Deal. Or perhaps 350 dot org which is working to address the climate crisis. Please join me.
What did I do with $5 last night? Spent it on a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Trying to soothe the pain of living in a nation that doesn't want to be like other advanced nations and provide Medicare for All and affordable education for our young people. I didn't eat the whole thing but I wanted to. As someone who makes $15 an hour, it's not a splurge I make often.
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I have also been a fan of Sen. Sanders - and heartily supported him in the 2016 race. However, I agree with you. And I very much hope that Bernie can convince his followers to do what is best for the country and VOTE BLUE.
The sooner the Democrats have a single candidate to focus support on, the better, I believe, of strong November results that our fragile democracy desperately needs.
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@Seanchai I agree wholeheartedly. I understand the sting this must be for Bernie supporters but there is a larger purpose here that means we must pull together. I’m an independent voter who, above all else, wants Trump to lose by an overwhelming, humiliating margin. The best way for us to achieve that is for Bernie to enthusiastically pledge his support for Biden.
Bernie can positively impact the direction of the country even if he is not President.
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@Seanchai I understand your reluctance, but admire your realism . What the Democratic Party Platform looks like after the convention is, at this time, anybody's guess .
But MY guess is that it will be a great deal stronger on the environment, the minimum wage, immigration (DACA comes to mind) . But that will only happen if Senator Sanders' supporters truly engage with the majority of the Party to negotiate those elements of the platform that matter to them .
As to the Green New Deal, if more people had bothered to really read the document and listened to its authors, they would have realized that it is not an electoral manifesto or a bunch of legislative proposals, but an aspirational document aimed at awakening Americans to the possibilities afforded them, over the long term, by a real commitment to the environment .
This is why an old "moderate" like me would wish to see steps taken to initiate its implementation . I guess that makes me "progressive" . So be it.
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