If you were Joe Biden, why would you even debate Bernie? Nothing to win everything to lose or if you do, why would you do anything but play rope a dope.
3
Sanders intends to do BIDEN...what he did to HILLARY.
Delay, defeat and destroy....with His Concessions!!!
8
The idea that Biden has his nomination all but wrapped up assumes that he won't make a big mistake that sinks the (media-supported) narrative of his national electability in the next few weeks or so. Did you see the video of him yelling at the union worker in MI? Is this the behavior of a Commander In Chief? And you think he's a saner choice than Sanders?
12
"Yet if Mr. Trump does lose re-election, the seeds of demise may prove to have been planted in early spring*
It might have been started by someone catching an infected pangolin to sell in a market.
3
Enough! Enough! Sanders is not a democrat. He has no right whatsoever ever to demand that Biden be answerable to him! The people have voted. Biden has a plan : Bring us normalcy first! He will go forth from there with common sense plans and reforms utilizing compromise.
12
How quickly Americans forget. Obama-Biden were elected on a very progressive leftist agenda in 2008 and failed to deliver. That's why trump was elected in 2016. And that's why an even more passionate leftist agenda is necessary in 2020.
Comabatting Trump, Biden will push many of Bernie's policies but Americans will not believe him
3
So Bernie proves it to us once again. It is all about him not us.
The voters have spoken and his not suspending his campaign is a finger in the eye of everyone who bothered to vote. His fantasies are getting tiresome. And by the way, he has been on the government tit since he was 39. Excuse me, that makes him THE ESTABLISHMENT.
13
Voters in Ohio, Florida, Arizona and Illinois need to come out in droves for Biden next week and send a strong message to Sanders: time to shut this thing down now. Don’t assume your vote doesn’t matter.
St. Patrick’s Day parades have been cancelled in many cities in the U.S., including New York, Chicago and Cincinnati, but a big Biden sweep on March 17 would be a sweet way to celebrate the day instead.
7
Hillary Clinton is in the private sector largely because she tells it like it is.
Most Trump voters were and are "deplorable," however unsayable that was and however many votes it cost the Dem. party.
This time around it was her ill-considered "Nobody likes Bernie.... No Senator felt like s/he COULD work with him."
As above, that sure sounds true - even though her "likability" may be even lower than his! I remember hearing a NH voter saying that she had to choose between Bernie and Ms. Warren; she looked at what each had accomplished - as Senators - and that made a tough decision child's play, so thin is BS' list of accomplishments.
THIS IS RELEVANT, because once again, Bernie is putting Bernie and his fan-base ahead of the United States. (That he's happy to shaft the Dem. party can surprise no one, of course.)
PRAY that the Sun. debate is canceled. Rest assured, even if Bernie is on his "best behavior" - his similarities to Larry David are uncanny and scary - he WILL make Joe look bad.
One lousy debate undid Bloomberg's billion dollar (it was headed there) bet. If Vegas took bets on this debate, Joe would be a 50-to-1 underdog.
How bad could it get? When flustered, Joe flails - "lying" may not be the right word, but as others have noted, he shows his age far more and worse than any Dem. over 70.
Does he lash out at Bernie? That can't have a good outcome.
Does he lose the thread?
Bernie is playing "spoiler," and the stakes are a lot higher than "postseason play!"
3
Bernie Sanders - challenging Joe Biden to explain ! It would be laughable if his stupidity were not so dangerous. Here we are trying to capture everyone under the big middle-of-the road tent and he wants to push Joe Biden to capitulate to his extremist positions. He did the same to Hillary. Is this an election or is this the time to stroke and soothe Bernie's vanity by agreeing with him. If medicaid for all has been so dear to him why has he not worked to persuade a majority in Congress to sign on to his bill for this? Not a bill -- not even half a bill nothing for all those years and years in office on our dole. The guy sounds more and more like the missionaries of old who went abroad to convert the heathen. There is a word in our vocabulary for this: it is called IMPERIALISM. Show him the door before he destroys the Democratic Party if only to prove that his issues would have defeated Trump.
17
The Progressive Movement within the Democratic Party has been around longer Sanders and Biden. It has been consistently ignored by mainstream because it appeals to grassroots for support and does not schmooze with lobbyists nor mess with contracting: It is not for the status quo. So Sanders is being true to a cause, which more than one can say about nearly all Democrats and Republicans. Sanders is saying what must be said, for the sakes of our youth and their future. If youth are not voting, it is because they have been ignored on gun violence, coopted on the environment, and in despair about a pandemic which they understood to be a collaborative board game.
4
I like some but not all of Sanders's policy ideas, but voted for Biden. Bernie's problem for me was not only electability vs Trump, which is very important, but also the ability to govern. Bernie has been fine in the Senate as a gadfly, but he has not gotten significant legislation passed. He does not give any indication that he could work with Congress to get a progressive agenda passed. For instance, if Congress passed a bill offering Medicare as an option for all, would Bernie sign it? Or veto, because it was not Medicare for All?
9
Contrary to some claims, it doesn't really look like personal ambition is what is driving Sanders. His concern is the issues.
It is completely appropriate for him to remain in the race. A one-on-one contest with Biden will now provide an opportunity to go beyond the disappointing sound-bite aspects of the mutli-candidate debates and instead have a more focused exploration of the issues themselves.
If the Democratic Party wants unity, now is the time to stop using tired and inaccurate "red scare" type claims about "socialism", etc. Talk about the issues instead.
10
Time to no-platform Sanders. Cancel the debate and use the time and money for something we'll actually be able to use in the coming months.
5
I don't know how much hope I have for this, but I am with Bernie. Biden has been a corporate tool all his life, and he is being pushed forward by financial interests, and has said nothing about how he wants to change things, not to mention his weird lapses in speaking, and his past of wanting to cut entitlements.
The media has pushed Biden as well, while flowing the most ridiculous ideas about Bernie's health care ideas. This coronavirus thing is a mess that would simply not be that difficult if we have a national health care system that could track the epidemic. What is going on now is a complete disaster, and we are just so lucky this is COVID-19 is not a terrible disease pandemic and just a 10x souped up cold/flu, because someday in the next hundred years it may well be.
9
@Bruce
You’re in denial about Bernie and the coronavirus, which IS a global pandemic. Even if the U.S. had Medicare for All, it wouldn’t stop or prevent this from being the national emergency that it is.
5
Biden and the Democratic (illiterates and shills--note the correct adjectival form) party should cancel the debate this coming Sunday. Plenty of potential down side and zero up side that I can see Besides, don't Biden and his staff have more important things to do now? Doesn't the Democratic (again, note the correct form) party have better places to put their money?
Time to no-platform Sanders.
3
Bernie, we love you for your ideals, your truths, and your desire for all Americans to benefit financially and with good health care.
But there is a bigger goal -- to beat Mr. Trump that takes precidence.
Do the right thing. Support Biden
5
I don't understand how he can ask for concessions. The majority has voted against him and his policies, by a landslide. I wasn't in that majority but if I understand Democracy correctly, we are supposed to abide by their wishes.
8
"Over the past several months, Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Mr. Sanders, has opened up a line of communication with one of Mr. Biden’s top political aides, Anita Dunn. Although the back-channel setup has mostly been used to arrange logistics — they hashed out an agreement this week to bar a live audience from Sunday’s debate — it is likely to be the main conduit for talks about political matters, according to people on both campaigns."
Anita Dunn worked to sabotage many of
Barack and Michelle Obama´s most significant policy initiatives. It´s quite a tell that Biden has her on his team.
For who she is and what role she played in the Obama administration and in American political life, check out :
https://theintercept.com/2020/02/28/joe-biden-obama-anita-dunn/
4
Vote blue , we are a little bit less horrible.
4
Trump is as dangerous as the coronavirus, perhaps more so. His approach to this serious illness reveals a thoughtless egotist who lacks the gravitas required . First, minimizing the disease and also lax in preparing the test kits---the first thing that should have been done---and lax in setting up additional hospital beds and equipment such as respirators---this man is dangerous, very much so. And there is a world of shortcomings in his handling of the presidency---foreign affairs, trade, and alliances. He had been fortunate in having a good economy, not of his doing, and in having the FOX liars , who see no evil , as a strong propaganda machine, up to now. But no longer. This crisis which, although not of his doing, is being handled in such a puerile, boorish, incompetent manner that it reveals a person totally unfit for the presidency and extremely dangerous for the country.
We should not risk our survival on the risk of setting up Sanders as his opponent. Whether deserved or not Sanders is an easy target for the Fox liars and Trump's tweets and bellows. The Republicans are now scrambling to make Hunter Biden the evil ogre , but he is harder to demonize than the " Marxist Communist, Venezualan supporter, Sanders." Now is not the time to add the risk of Trump and his band of supporters remaining in power to the risk of the spreading virus.
3
Forgive me but...
Say it ain't so, Joe.
1
Bernie made his speech just in time to claim a cople of hundred votes lead in Washington - even though all experts knew that the day's voting would be going to Joe Biden.
By the time his announcement was played, voters in Washington had already put Biden in the lead by well over 10 thousand votes.
Google's latest upate of 1:58 am PST" show's Biden's lead up to ca 18 thousand.
For someone who claims the high ground I was sorely dissappointed at Sanders' disingenuous claim about the diminishing numbers in the final state. Voters are speaking Bernie!
And as for your Q asking Joe whether he wd veto a Medicare For All Bill if "passed by congress" - this too was disingenuous. I too may wish for a "revolution" in the US to get to Single Payor - but the problem in the US is not a veto by Joe (!) The problem is getting Democrats in the Senate [as well as Republicans] to pass such a bill in the first place(!)
You knew that when you made that disingenous claim, Bernie.
Why not be honest about where you stand?
Why characterize your stunning defeat from voters "a debate about electability"?
Why proffer a useless hypothetical about Joe vetoing a Medicare For All passing Congress?
Why risk your credibility now? I sent you $ but I am Done w you Bernie!
3
TThe NYT pronounced on its front page that it was all over right before California (the most populous) voted in 2016. Now this newspaper is telling its own home state voters that it's all over, and New York voters don't count, either. So why bother going to the polls.
I suspect this latest slew of anti-Sanders clap trap is a clumsy attempt to convince folks it's not worth it to watch the debate between Sanders and Biden on Sunday. I would not suspect that if the newspaper respected the rights of voters.
7
Sen. Bernie Sanders must stay in the race because we a Democracy. Many states have not voted and deserve to have their votes count. Senator Sanders is a Democrat
and does represent a large portion of the Democratic party. Strategists such as James Carville who are insisting that Sen. Sanders leave the election are the ones putting the party in jeopardy. The American way is that people who are eligible to vote should have their vote counted.
10
Sen. Bernie Sanders must stay in the race because we a Democracy. Many states have not voted and deserve to have their votes count. Senator Sanders is a Democrat
and does represent a large portion of the Democratic party. Strategists who are insisting that Sen. Sanders leave the election are the ones putting the party in jeopardy. The American way is that people who are eligible to vote should have their vote counted.
6
Why Bernie should leave Establishment taking him ?
What Sanders is doing is holding the Democrats to ransom. "Biden has to show to me (?) and my supporters he's worthy to be a candidate, or else..."
It's a scorched-earth approach, and he will lose all goodwill he has. It's also very counterproductive for getting his ideas in the Democratic platform.
Sanders is becoming a grumpy old man
7
It's 2016 all over again. Sanders's ragtag army of disgruntled razor smart boomers and millenial debt victims will be happy to reelect Trump. For them it isn't about a Democrat winning, it's all about ideological purity.
They're just so angry and unyielding about it... They hate me, personally, for putting a winning candidate above Bernie who will make John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan rise from their Republican graves to vote against him.
Decide now Sanders zealots, are you throwing yet another election to get your hobo nirvana? Do the rest of us deserve Trump while you paddle on a lake of stew and write poetry?
2
All the Biden supporters speak about Bernie as an egoist because he speaks with passion about what he believes. I am encouraged by that passion, not dissuaded by it. Biden people tell Sanders supporters to give up the dream and let Biden have it without a fight. They need to turn their lens inward and ask themselves, what are we fighting for. Nothing will change under a Biden presidency. Not only does the younger generation want change. Plenty of us long term adults want change too. Let it happen democratic party.
11
@Wendy Bossons
Well said. All the moderates here have forgotten Biden's terrible campaign, his verbal attacks on people at his rallies, his lost train of thought in debates, his meandering answers, his weaknesses. The others left him alone because they felt it was whipping a dead horse.
For all those reasons, I am very, very, very concerned that he will lose to Trump. He hasn't changed.
The only way Biden wins in November is if the whole country is so sick of Trump (a strong possibility) that they would vote for a dead cat instead. Biden is a dead cat and I will vote for him and hope for the best but I am not reassured.
4
It's not the "passion" it's the screaming. We need a team leader, a coalition-builder, a negotiator, a healer. A screamer who insists he's always right (with angry my way only followers)is NOT what we need! Time to pivot to fighting Trump.
3
I am tired of seen a grumpy old man. He needs to understand that he lost momentum and the opportunity . Many voters that sympathize with him in 2016 have lost faith on him. To me he is more and more like Trump. My way or the highway, not willing to concede and to listen. His ego is too big, and I sense that people are tired of him, because his message it is not about defeating Trump. He is dividing us more and is about his way. His ideas are great but somethings have change radically in the last weeks, how is he going to pay for everything.
4
Another election where voters are asked to vote for a candidate because Trump is so bad and not because they are a great candidate with an amazing platform. Another wasted 4 years of our lives... no matter how you look at it. Sad...very sad
6
If Bernie fights against impossible odds until May or June, the Democrats won't have enough time to make sure they dispose of Trump.
A selfish choice by Bernie.
3
Narcissism 101.
He’s no different from trump in terms of character.
4
Ooorrrrdddeeerrr! Order!
Let’s show some decorum and strength of conviction in your choice!
Nobody becomes the actual nominee until the Democratic Convention in Phoenix July 13–16, 2020.
Sit on your hands for 4 more months, then the real hard work of campaigning for 3 1/2 months begins. The general election is on November 3rd 2020.
The whole Primary process is expertly scheduled and must run its course. Democrats want to vote. If Bernie suspended his campaign now and endorsed Joe Biden now, what should everybody including Joe Biden do for the next 4 months until the Convention.
Don’t you believe in Joe Biden and have great faith in his political campaigning competency?!
So, let the Democratic process play out as designed and let people feel good about having their say in the selection process. You sound peevish and extremely anxious. Sure you may be suffering from 3 years of Trump PTSD, but you will eventually recover. Take a long deep breath and let it out slowly. We can behave like mature adults and weather the vicissitudes of our great Democratic processes. Did anyone plan for the unexpected like the Coronavirus Pandemic that sent the stock market into a wild tailspin? How might it affect the polity and what must Democrats do to manage this major event? Trump has already been honing his Biden attack out in the mass media questioning Joe Biden’s intellectual competence. Bernie and most of his supporters will actively campaign for the Democratic nominee as promised. Peace
5
I supported Warren, but as she has left the race, I support Biden. There is no reason for Bernie to leave race. Warren and others withdrew so that Bernie would have to face a united more moderate progressive coalition. That said continued debate within the party remains helpful and necessary
5
Sanders' Cult of Personality Campaign has a big problem. His so called, base, is non-existent. Now, instead of going on the offensive against Trump. he will continue to spend money and resources attacking Biden. Sanders is now a troll of a candidate.
4
Colossal narcissism? Sanders believes only narcissism can beat narcissism, and voters who prefer Biden haven't gotten his message yet?
2
Sanders should not give up! If Biden made a comeback, Bernie can too
11
@Skeptic Times reporters are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to translate smart questions Sanders posed to his opponent as a concession speech. As an American, I'm beginning to loathe the nonstop disdain the NYT has for our system of voting. Their argument is: Wall Street has picked (See Biden's Wall Street donor dollars) the winner, so shut up and unite around him. And many NYT readers say, sure, I'm okay with that. Appalling.
2
This is where the Neo Liberal people who have ruined our planets habitability, concentrated the majority of the world wealth into a tiny fraction of peoples hands and ran up five or six generations worth of dept all while keeping us at war in multiple wars tell us ignorant progressives that we don't know what we are talking about.
9
39 Rallies for Clinton in 13 states in the last three months of the 2016. Who did that? The “narcissistic “ “sore loser” Bernie Sanders, that’s who. He worked as hard for Clinton after the nomination as he did trying to get the nomination, because he knows what’s at stake. He has already said he will do the same for whoever the nominee is, at this point obviously it’s Biden. The process is not arbitrary and contrary to popular belief contested nomination processes actually make stronger candidates in the general election.
9
This is exactly a repeat of 2016, with Bernie Sanders dividing Democrats and Tulsi Gabbard in the Jill Smith role. Russian roulette, literally.
4
@Gwen DeMarco
No. It is not Russian roulette. There is no third party candidate splitting the vote. By the way, the name you are looking for Jill Stein, and she was a third party candidate.
Voters in real democracies have the right to choose who they wish to vote for. No party "owns" the vote of anyone. Candidates need to earn votes, contrary to what Hillary believed.
All the Sanders bashing going on here is self-defeating and vileness for its own sake. If this is the way you treat your family, I wouldn't want to be your friend.
3
I hope Sanders expose Biden for what he is: an anti-progressive republican in the guise of a democrat, a stooge of the Oligarchy, a do-nothing narcissistic career politician with nothing to offer to the common Americans.
8
Please halt this blood-letting. Serious conversations have to take place within the different wings of the Democratic Party.
Proper oppositions are vital in any democratic society.
The Republicans need a complete rebuild to become something else; I'm not sure it's possible, less than 10% may be left (in both "Ike" & wing senses)
2
@Will
By the way this is going right now, Republicans may not be the only party needing to rebuild.
After the election, I will be looking for another party, one that reflects my values concerning the dignity and worth of all people and the dire need to be good stewards of our earth. The Democratic Party abandoned the common good and human needs in the 90s. Like the Republicans, all it cares about winning at any cost and governing for the benefit of the donor class.
3
So basically Bernie loses the war, decisively, and then decides that gets to dictate the terms of the peace, with the implicit threat that he can choose to blow up the entire process if he really really wants to. No wonder Bernie likes the Palestinians so much!
4
Why don’t these two gentleman skip the rules of the forthcoming debate and just use it as a reality check on the nightmare of this presidency? They could calmly have a regular chat over coffee and list a few dozen reasons why Trump is not a good leader, and is a sorry excuse for a human being.
It would be such a contrast. Two mature, concerned men, hoping to use their skills to benefit this country and the world as a whole, versus the child president who can only fumble his way through the day and whines and blames others when he doesn’t get his way. He constantly lies, he bragged about assaulting women, he bankrupted his businesses many times over, and now he has torn asunder this once great nation.
Have a cordial talk Democrats. Let’s forget our egos and get rid of the egomaniac- in- chief.
4
@Jpkelly
That is an excellent idea.
One of the best televised debates I ever saw was between Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown. It was hosted by Phil Donahue who just sat the two men, who had been viciously attacking each other as the New York primary loomed, down across a table from each other and said “talk to each other.
What followed was an intelligent discussion between two highly capable men who disagreed on the issues. It was mesmerizing. I was fervent Brown supporter but I developed a certain respect for Clinton after that.
It would be amazing if the CNN anchors could do something like that but I doubt their egos will get out of the way.
4
@Brooklyncowgirl
CNN is not that kind of outlet. They want the Jerry Springer Show to boost their ratings. That said, an honest and open dialogue is a wonderful idea. Let the so-called moderators get out of the way. Bernie and Biden are long time friends who have political differences, but they respect each other. I would love to hear them discuss their differences. And they both have a sense of humor to bring to the table!
2
What a difference a day makes; What an even bigger difference TWO days make.
I write a lot of comments in the NY Times forums, most on my favorite punching bag theme (shared with Sanders): the religion of greed that our economic system devolved into, the inequality it breeds, the myths it is founded on, the mendacity of our Gilded Age legacy "Social Darwinism." But today, my tune must change, in light of Coronavirus, yet the theme's the same. Our collective thrall to epidemic cultural stupidity demands a change of course, tragically confirmed by coronavirus.
Until Super Tuesday & the South Carolina rout, then the Michigan upset, all sides agreed the election was going to turn on economics, & questions about the pros/cons of a system that unleashes productivity, innovation, wealth creation, but at the expense of skyrocketing inequality. Everything was a sideshow compared to economics.
Suddenly the economy seems eclipsed by what to do if this emerges into a real PLAGUE. If people start seeing members of their family die.
In this sense, I stand by my broken-record comments. Our culture made a religion of the economy, & its blindness is coming to roost.
Of the 3 candidates, only Bernie Sanders has spent a lifetime champion fundamental principles & values that insist there is more to life than getting rich. Decency & caring must come first. Neoliberalism, "infecting" Trump & Biden alike, must not further contaminate our politics & White House if we are to weather Corona.
9
@Cassandra
The pandemic, like the earlier one of AIDS, has gotten out of hand because we chose not to be prepared. Trump wanted money for tax cuts, so they cut funding from public health. Talk about short-sighted! They failed to realize the reason Ebola never came here was because we fought it there, as one does with terrorism.
No one needed the tax cuts. They were not an appropriate response to a changed economic situation. They were gratuitous welfare for wealthy donors and have come at the expense of the nation's general health. The cost of fighting this virus will likely far exceed the amount of money taken from the CDC and pubic health service. Penny-wise and pound foolish.
Bernie Sanders has a Titanic sized ego which is the main reason he's going to stay in the race to the bitter end. Naturally he'll play the victim card by blaming the mainstream DNC and the mainstream media for sabotaging what could be his last presidential run. Then he'll blame mainstream voters for being unenlightened because they just don't appreciate wanting to live in his fantasy utopia full of rainbows and unicorns sprinkled with pixie dust. It's sad that Bernie chooses to live in the state of denial because he refuses to understand that it's just not happening for him.
4
What's behind Bernie's decision to stay in the race? Ego, ego, megalomania, and more ego. "Only I can fix it" . . . haven't we heard that somewhere before?
5
@Ken C For god´s sake, when did political debate become something to avoid? What kind of democracy fears discussion of the issues people are dealing with? Why in the WORLD would we want people to vote for a president without the fullest possible vetting and airing of their proposed policies to combat climate change, provide universal health coverage as a human right, fight an obscenely high rate of poverty, homelessness, despair and debt? Stop separating (and thereby traumatizing for life) the children of asylum seekers from their parents?
And so many other pressing issues. A society that cannot tolerate political debate is a dictatorship, an autocracy -- not a democracy, for sure. As someone who has experienced the calls for "unity" that are the hallmark of a dictatorial / fascist regime, I have a strong and abiding preference for robust debate, without fear or suppression. Ever. Shame on anyone who calls for the Party to shut things down. Let´s leave that to the Putins of the world, shall we?
8
@JJ
Excellent comment. We are well down the road to a dictatorship, but I doubt half the people here thrashing Sanders even realizes it. They are dead wrong about so much of what they repeat from unexamined sources that many of them will believe anything. It isn't sad. It is dangerous.
2
Democratic primary voters have clearly spoken - they back Vice President Biden’s calls for Unity of all Americans & build on President Obama’s legacy of Obamacare, Dreamers, Affordable College Education for all... Equally they Reject Senator Sanders extreme positions on these Issues. However, if the positions today were reversed & Senator Sanders had decisively won 15 States, would Senator Sanders have accepted Vice President Biden’s moderate positions to gain support of his huge chunk of primary voters ? Definitely not. Senator Sanders has a record in 27yrs as a Congressman as having gained the least no. of co-sponsors even for his pitiful small list of Bills. Senator Sanders & his supporters cannot expect VP Biden to compromise his moderate principles & disappoint his own vast base of Democratic primary voters when he himself has never done so.
4
Senator Sanders’ press conference must have disappointed most Democratic Party primary voters. He just does not get it. It shows why Govtrac ranks his Leadership Score among Senators as 3rd from the BOTTOM - far below Senator Warren, Senator Booker, Senator Klobuchar....Instead of ‘asking Joe’, Senator Sanders must answer why in last 4 years he could get only 14 Democrat Senators to support his Medicare for All - which needs 60 votes in the Senate. Senator Sanders must answer Democratic primary voters how will he muster 60 Senators to pass his Medicare for All Bill ? Equally obnoxious is Senator Sanders contemptuously insulting the over 1.85million Democratic primary voters who voted for Vice President Biden as ‘the Establishment’. In truth, Senator Sanders is the Imposter hiding his wolfish Coercive prescriptions in Progressive labels.
11
Wow, some Bernie people here are being nasty! Do they wonder why they have a 'reputation'? It's one thing to have passion, it's another to be delusional (and unfortunately not realize it - though I suppose that's the definition of it).
Bernie should do what he things is best. And this debate both candidates should be civil. That's the best way to find common ground for them and all the supporters.
If Joe is the nominee then he MUST adopt some more progressive ideas. Bernie is losing this primary pretty badly now, but there is a huge amount of Americans who support his ideas, and that's why Joe has to do some compromise with this. But if Joe is the nominee and he does this, the Bernie supporters can't complain it's not enough and they're going to stay home and cry.
I think if the shoe was on the other foot, I don't think Bernie wouldn't budge. I don't think he'd compromise with the moderates. Do you?
6
We know Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat, so I can understand he does not care what happens to the party. But all this time I had thought he was an American and an admirable one at that. Does he not care what happens to America if he gifts four more years to Trump, as he certainly will with his scorched earth strategy towards Biden. He cannot win the Democratic nomination, so why stay in the race just to play the spoiler? He did This in 2016, with disastrous results for the country, and he is doing it again. Is he blind or does he not care about the wider consequences of his self centred actions? I have liked the man and his policies for years but I am beginning to think that he may not be about the country or the people after all, but just about himself as his ego. In some ways he is beginning to sound like Donald Trump, conspiracy theories and all.
6
Bernie should absolutely stay in at least through the debate. I for one want to see how Biden does one on one. I feel strongly that this is really important.
3
Sanders is staying through the debate on Sunday to creat an epic finale. Like all good WWF storylines, Biden the Hulkster was getting trounced, looked like a loser, then got the Hulk spirit going. Sanders is now the patsy that Biden will beat like a cheap drum, with weekly piledrivers inflicted in primaries, setting the stage for the ultimate showdown in the Fall. The DNC was behind it all. But remember, professional wrestling is for real.
2
The treatment for the Corona virus will not be paid by the health insurance companies.
I guess it's time for Medicare for all.
4
Why do you say that? Has any insurance company failed to pay?
1
I'm beginning to think Sanders is pathologically unable to let go of the revolution he's convinced he's already started. Unfortunately for him and his supporters, that revolution exists only their minds. It was rejected by the majority of Democratic voters in 2016 and opposition to it is even greater this year.
I think Sanders is delusional, Messianic and very scary. Who insists with a losing hand that the winner must negotiate in order to finish the game? If he continues along this path he's more likely to lose influence than gain it. Furthermore, the greater his insistence that his terms be met the more likely it is that the majority of Democrats will deliver a coup de gras he'll never forget.
7
If Bernie wants to be a serious candidate instead of being a vindictive sour grapes spoiler, Bernie might consider modifying some of his positions.
For example. Have a Medicare for All option that those under 65 could buy into along with allowing those happy with their employer supplied insurance to keep that insurance.
7
I lost patience with this piece pretty quickly. Although Sander's speech was about policy issues, the article goes on and on and on about just horse race issues. If Sander's list of priorities is anywhere in this article, it's long after I stopped reading.
6
Could it be that the Democratic party is more corrupt than the Republican party? Their party establishment also loathed an anti-establishment outsider, Donald Trump. But they allowed the democratic will of the voters within their nomination process to prevail. Establishment candidates did split traditional Republican voters and Trump was elected. But they apparently did NOT collude against Trump. They did not "encourage" their candidates to drop-out and/or endorse an internally-chosen representative right before a key set of elections! The Democrats, of course, did all this (a historical first, I believe) and maybe even "encouraged" Warren NOT to endorse Bernie... or even encouraged Castro to endorse her in January, AFTER she tumbled in the polls.
5
@carl bumba..... last I checked Sanders is not a registered Democrat. Yet the party has repeatedly allowed him to run in their presidential primary elections. Can you imagine a non-Republican being on a Republican ballot? Bernie needs to do the right thing and step aside. He’s becoming the next Ralph Nader who helped create President George W. Bush.
9
Wow false reading of the facts.
Bernie has huge rallies but no one it seems wants to vote for him. That’s his problem. Bernie refuses to even try to broaden his base of support.
5
Biden's Deputy Campaign Director Kate Bedingfield threw some serious shade on Bernie and Bernie's supporters in her NPR interview today. She basically said that Sanders' supporters were welcome but, voters had opted for Joe's solutions. It reflected an unnecessarily arrogant attitude that will divide, not unite the two main factions within the party. The Biden camp can not like Bernie, but they really should try to court his supporters. She blew them away today.
4
@JADAMS it was a rushed interview and Ms. Bedingfield was even cut off in mid sentence. She did not sound remotely arrogant. She sounded welcoming and kind.
Senator Sanders work is almost complete. He has done an incredible job of getting his message across, and he has struck a cord with millions. Of course there are millions more who disagree with him. At 78, he is old, and his working time expectancy is short. It is up to others to take up the batten, particularly the young, whom are going to inherit the earth, or what the Robber Barons and others have left of it.
How will history remember Bernie?. Well that will depend on how many of his predictions come true, and also how American culture changes. Certainly the demographics will change. The old conservatives will die out:-trying to influence that group is total waste of time, for as we get older most people are more set in their ways and have grown comfortable or at least resigned to the status quo.
Bernie is a remarkable man with incredible resilience, and has a rare quality in being able to continue with a strong sense of idealism
. It is said that if you are not a socialist when young, then you do not have a heart. and if you are not a Capitalist when older, then you do not have a brain. Bernie has both a heart and a brain. But he is not much a politician.
2
If a "strong majority" of Democrats support Sander's policies, why did he lose?
He lost BECAUSE of those policies and his history of self serving conduct.
It is past time that we see the last of him.
8
@Independent
there is wide-spread feeling, maybe evidence, that the party aparatus hasn't been neutral towards the candidates.
This paper has been attacking Sanders as being a communist, mentioning Stalin's murder of 20 million people, talking about regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.
Was this fair? Did Sanders ever stated he wanted any of that? He wanted Denmark.
Advertisements win elections in America. The voters are brainwashed.
Self serving? What was Biden doing in Ukraine? Fighting for freedom?
1
Sanders doesn't need to drop out soon. As long as he doesn't make personal attacks on Biden, it'll be fine. The campaign keeps Democratic presidential candidates in the news - it's free advertising.
5
Bernie has turned himself into George Kastanza's dad. He's lost, so he's going to bicker this out, and damage Joe Biden all the way to the general election. He may as well be writing commercials for the so-called president's campaign.
If he was really interested in the good of this nation, Bernie would have conceded the race, and pledged all of his delegates to Mr. Biden.
5
Bernie Sanders's campaign is performing poorly even in comparison to his 2016 effort.
Mr. Sanders is in no position to demand anything.
10
I will not vote for Biden no matter what Sanders thinks he can obtain from him in the form of concessions. A party platform means nothing in the governance of a country. I find it mind-boggling that my fellow Americans are willing to apologize or excuse politicians who supported the Iraq war and occupation. 
7
As a trump supporter I’d like to say THANK YOU for your vote. MEGA 2020!
The campaigns are being severely limited by the coronavirus, but what about 3 or 4 chairs, 2 for the candidates and the others for moderators actually knowledgeable on the terrain
of the debates, and television cameras. A very simple arrangement, and very appropriate for the times. Let Democracy flourish and roll. Besides we need to know if one of these candidates is ready for a national campaign and should not just be packaged up behind a teleprompter
But, unfortunately, democracy is not in fashion these days.
Endless polls that never evaluate why voters vote as they do . Political pundits and talking heads are everywhere spinning away. Strategists strategize for one purpose only, to elect their candidate. Powerful media and members of the party voices loudly dominate. And democracy continues to wilt, and nobody cares, in certain circles that is.
Bernie is right to continue to push his agenda, to force Biden to confront the issues that put our future in peril. What is Joe going to do about climate change? The truth is there is no moderate solution. Let's hear how he's going to take on the fossil fuel industry. What's Joe going to do about healthcare? The coronavirus is the clearest illustration yet for universal accessible healthcare. Go for it Bernie. Keep pushing, keep asking the tough questions. The Democratic party would like nothing better than to avoid a serious discussion of these issues and keep the focus only on defeating Trump.
4
@Durango2
their real priority is not to have Bernie in the White House to attack the Democratic oligarchs.
From Forbes -
JOE BIDEN
Donors (billionaires and spouses of billionaires): 44
6
Bernie Sanders may have a message young people want to hear, but more and more that message seems to be coming from a cranky old man. Granted he doesn't have time to wait until next time, and last time should have been his, not Hillary's (just as it should have been Hillary's and not Trump's), but Bernie of all people must know that we cannot endure, or possibly even survive, four more years of Donald Trump.
My heart aches for him, and for his supporters, of whom I was one, but even though he may feel he has nothing to lose by giving it his all, the rest of us have too much at stake to continue this division in the party.
Everyone's vote should be based on issues, not party membership, but the biggest issue we face in this election is Donald Trump.
4
Very much looking forward to the debate between Biden and Sanders. If they both debate the issues seriously, restraining from cheap point scoring and focusing on the challenges ahead, we could all benefit. It could also misfire, but then it's up to the voters to judge. I have always felt that what people need most is reassurance and confidence in leadership. Crisis-ridden times, as much as Trump denies it, are no times for indulging in alpha male type behavior.
3
If Sanders wants to be constructive he will frame his ideas, many of which have great merit, in a reasonable way and definitely not in a 'my way or the highway' fashion. The problem Bernie has is not that different from the fundamental flaw of all the revolutionary or authoritarian regimes, they are going to 'tell' everyone how to think and behave. Just doesn't work in a democracy, the real need is for articulation of ideas and reasonable paths to get from here to there.
1
Bernie has a plan and responsible, just way to pay for every single basic cornerstone of civilization in his plans.
4
Having seen his mentor Socrates sentenced to death by the Athenian democracy in 399 BC, it is no surprise that Plato argued that democracy was not the preferred form of government. In his Republic, he argued for rule by philosopher-kings, or as we would say by a benevolent autocracy.
Plato may have had a point. Democracy only works when the electorate is well-informed.
The Republicans have elected a populist with autocratic tendencies, and Democrats have pushed ever more left, to positions which would be untenable if subjected to a full analysis.
Sanders wanted to appeal to the extreme left, so he demonized the billionaires and the oil companies.
But his central goal, that of achieving universal health care for all Americans, required a different approach.
It required a realization that the only way to achieve universal health care was to stop population growth, and educate better a smaller number of citizens.
US population has increased by 87 million since 1986, when the last immigration reform bill was passed. Since fertility rates are near replacement levels, the vast majority of population increase is due to immigration.
And the US is running out of room. The cities are congested. Overpopulation has killed 29 percent of the birds in the US and Canada since 1970.
And the US has fallen behind in educating enough physicians for a growing population. That's why health care costs have soared.
Sadly, Democrats blame billionaires instead of population growth.
2
Population growth through immigration has been a plus for this country since its colonization in the 1600s. Efforts to stop the movement of peoples has almost always failed over the long run. One has only to look at Europe, which we Americans think of as a stagnant “Old World,” to understand the vast changes in and consolidations of populations over the past 1,000 years, let alone 2,000 years. Quick examples are: the Moors into and out of Spain; Magyars into Hungary; the Ottomans into the Balkans; etc. These were not small events. The US has usually accepted and managed its immigrations well, if with some distain for the newcomers. Additionally, the newcomers have generally done well. For example, our president, while a second generation American on his father’s side, a first generation American on his mother’s side, and there are many other well known first generation newcomers who have done very well and are credits to the nation.
As for urbanization, it is the result of many millions of people’s choices to live in a politically, culturally and economically (and environmentally) efficient and effective environment. What we do need are better planned metropolitan communities with a better educated citizenry.
On effective government, of, for and by the people, our problem is that around the world democracy is being challenged by tone-deaf oligarchies with autocratic tendencies. Just look at their muffed response to the Coronavirus as a case study.
US progressives would be wise to take note of what happened in the UK general election. Corbyn, the hard-left candidate, had pulled the Labour Party massively to the Left, and appeared to enjoy widespread support from young people. In the event, Labour was annihilated by Boris Johnson's Conservative party, who picked up dozens of areas that had been Labour for decades. Many reasons for this including Brexit, but fundamentally, most British people did not want a revolution, they just wanted a 'return to normal politics'. That said, Labour probably succeeded in pulling the debate toward the Left – the Conservative Budget this week included huge boost to infrastructure spending etc. Fundamentally, US progressives can achieve a partial win through Biden, or a total loss with Sanders.
In the crude world of resource and influence driven remote controlled politics of today Senator Bernie Sanders may look to have lost his race to win nomination but his ability to set the Democratic party's socially oriented liberal agenda still remains unparalleled and unquestioned. Therein lies the fact that Bernie Sanders with his firm commitment to liberal ideology has scored a victory of sorts even being left behind the race.
7
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.
12
@Peter Rasmussen
I don't believe that Bernie's disenfranchised supporters would vote for Trump, they just wouldn't bother to vote at all. That is unless Biden actually pays them more than the lip service he's been doing, and presents some policies on student debt, healthcare, and housing that affect them most personally. Biden however, seems oblivious to this need and his strategy from the start has been to say as little as possible about what he'd do in the White House besides making it overflow with "decency".
2
@Peter Rasmussen It is a real mistake to think an obvious moderate is likely to be a huge success. So I agree with you, despite voters and various candidates endorsing Biden.
The problem is the Left always has to be "perfect" - as seen in UK and Australian elections, whereas the Right - now far Right - can get away with being appalling and worse.
3
@Peter Rasmussen The mistake the Democratic Party made in 2016 was to permit Mr. Sanders to run as a Democrat,
1
Biden has not shown any greatness at the debates, just call this sorely needed practice. Biden has not really been held accountable to his record, in part because of the large numbers of candidates on the stage. We should all hope Bernie will debate Biden as much as possible before he leaves the race, for the good of Biden’s candidacy. A Trump-Biden debate will not move the needle in the crucial swing states if Biden acts like he did in the previous democratic debates.
10
I personally feel that Vice-President Biden is overall a better choice than Senator Sanders but the Senator is right about his insistence on dealing with issues of concern to younger folk who are the future of USA and the world. Income inequality, affordable education and healthcare are definitely issues that Biden and Sanders should jointly work on.
5
Sanders announced he would only have a running mate who supports Medicare for All. That rules out moderates. But now Sanders supporters are on the radio saying Biden, if he wins the nomination, has to choose a bona fide progressive running mate or they won’t support him. Enough. It’s time to pull together to fight and win against Trump and his Republican enablers in November.
17
What’s the point Bernie? Florida and Ohio are next and you will get trounced in both states and 538 now has you and Gavbard in a statistical dead heat in terms of likelihood of winning the most delegates.
Do this again and you are going to find a mighty unsympathetic party. Once was enough ...
18
Senator Sanders, Please go full Bernie on Trump, not your fellow Democrat. Please don't do what you did in 2016. Your goals and my grandchildren cannot survive four more years of Trump.
26
Bernie wants "concessions" on the policies that people are rejecting at the ballot box. He is threatening Biden to withhold his support and call off the Bernie Bros. Sanders true colors are coming through, give me what I want or you dont get what you want.
14
“...Mr. Sanders ticked off a list of policy issues and challenged Mr. Biden to explain to the American people how he would address them — a series of questions that could be seen as an opening gambit for a list of concessions he would seek from Mr. Biden if he were to drop out of the race...”
No, no, no. You don’t get to demand concessions from your opponent as a condition for you dropping out of the race. You drop out because you are losing and nobody is voting for your platform. The whole reason Biden is beating Sanders is that the vast majority of Democrats don’t want what Sanders is selling. They want what Biden is selling. If people really wanted the Sanders agenda, he would be in the lead, and by a wide margin. But they don’t want that agenda.
That’s why the voters who used to be for Pete, Amy, Steyer and Bloomberg are all getting behind Biden. They switched from one moderate Democrat to another moderate Democrat. Sanders has lost the fight. He cannot dictate the terms of his withdrawal. He just needs to withdraw. The sooner the better.
26
It seems to me that Biden has already shifted a long way towards Sanders -- don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. The old Biden was too far to the right.
Everyone sees Biden as the leader of a cabinet team anyway, not a one-man (circus) act like Trump. I'm confident that on key issues like climate he'll be in the right place or close enough.
The biggest difference is surely on healthcare, but there, preserving the gains of Obamacare, which even Trump's vandalism have failed to completely undo, seems the smart choice for now. Obamacare was working.
The alternative is to squander all the party's political capital on a (probably fruitless) effort to tear down a Democratic reform only a decade old.
7
I hope all the Sanders supporters realize that they may have lost a little skirmish, but the real battle is against Trump. Biden and the country need their active and dedicated support. Biden in turn needs to pay more than just lip service to Sanders's ideas.
15
Can someone explain to me why Tulsi Gabbard is still a candidate? Is there a reason? Does she think that Sanders and Biden will both somehow die before the convention and that she'll be the last candidate left standing? What is she trying to prove?
3
@True-North well, let's be honest. Given their respective ages, it's not completely out of the question.
4
just warning about military industrial complex and dnc corruption. and squelched by dnc and msm.
Biden should invite Warren to be his running mate. Then we will have not only the first female VP ( future President) in the United States, but also the progressive votes to defeat Trump.
8
From the Black American perspective, what has Joe Biden done as Senator and VP and promised to do as President that has or will significantly improve Black lives in America?
Clyburn said that we know Joe and he knows us. The first Black President chose Joe to be his VP. BUT Joe voted for mass incarceration of Black men; Joe voted for a war against Iraq that has spread like an epidemic of endless wars across the Middle East. Electability is just a betting game at best; at worst you just got to have faith in the pundit’s words. We lost that sure bet in 2016 and have been paying for it ever since.
In what ways have Black people benefited by Joe Biden’s political activities? What does he promise to do as President?
Seems like they’re just being taken for granted again. Same as it ever was.
19
@brighteyed
"Joe voted for mass incarceration of Black men."
No. Joe voted for the mass incarceration of Black men WHO WERE CONVICTED OF CRIMES. Big difference.
3
@brighteyed
What did Obama do for black Americans? For a rising black middle class, their house was their greatest repository of wealth, but when Obama bailed out his Wall Street buddies, he did practically nothing to offset the tsunami of foreclosures and the trillions of lost equity suffered by most homeowners; they were basically forgotten by him and his Treasury Secretary Geithner. That's a hard thing to forget, and that's why we've now got Trump.
2
@GMooG There are criminals and criminals. I submit an uneducated guy from a broken family who has little hope, deserves more concern than a rich son of a rich father who still persists in making peoples lives wretched and is in a different category. $2,000 suit notwithstanding.
1
Biden's main campaign point is to oppose Universal Medicare for All in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic that is going to sicken and kill untold numbers of people, millions of whom have no health insurance, no paid sick leave, and live one paycheck away from homelessness. A pox on both the Democrat and Republican mafias, who share an utter contempt for the lives and well-being of working people.
11
@AR health insurance is of no use if there is no cure. However, a coronavirus vaccine is in the works, developed in the US by a private pharmaceutical company and in Israel by a defense research institute. Both are anathema to the socialists who never stop denouncing the greedy Big Pharma and the military-industrial complex. Nevertheless, advanced R&D is conducted precisely by those entities, and the money they need comes from private insurance and governments. So if Medicare for All squashes medical research precisely when we need it most, Biden is right in opposing it.
Give it up Bernie, you are exhibiting the same greedy grab for power as the sitting president, using the same tactics to attract the extreme of the far side of the left side not the right, with the same messianic complex. Your selfishness ruined it for Hillary last time and if you do the same to the Democrats and we will lose this election, we will not be so forgiving. Give up and take a secondary seat, so you are perceived as a team player, even though it is clear you really are not one.
16
The way that older adults talk about hopeful youth-who are only asking for a habitable future-is dripping with smug condescension, and reeks of narcissism. They are actively spurning the under 50 vote, banking entirely on 50 cold warriers because they hate the poor more thsn they want to win. Never has a generation deserved four more years of Trump as much as this cohort. Everyone has closed their eyes and ears to the fact that the DNC orchestrated that hostile endorsement travesty before Super Tuesday, intended to reanimate a candidate who will shatter like glass five minutes into the first debate with Trump. They would rather run a candidate who tells people "go vote for Trump" than admit that the party machine picks and chooses who is most friendly to the rich, preying on indecision and fear rather than expression of desired policy. My guess is because these Biden Bro professional class hostage takers have no concept of the immiseration and pain of the working class. They have their healthcare, and retirements going just fine. I guess it's "I got mine" from the original "me generation", the same generation that gave us Trump.
14
If Bernie cannot beat Biden, how will he beat Trump?
How does the entirety of the South — a diverse coalition that is the Democratic base of support — translate to the “Biden bro professional class?” How do union workers across the Midwest satisfy that agenda?
If Sanders wants to win the nomination, it requires serious work that demands leaving liberal enclaves and attracting support outside of disaffected young white people.
@Onorato
I've come to realize that it's not just Republican rubes who vote against their own interests, but a huge slice of Democrats who have become so cowed by the fear of change, they end up doing the bidding of the plutocrats who look upon them as ants. Their timidity is really quite revolting.
3
Bye-bye Bernie.
4
Bye Bye Bernies 1/3 of the party, hello abstention.
4
Sanders needs to stop and let go.
11
Suspend now and you are a hero, and you will be part of the future. Keep going without a hope of victory and you will be remembered as a narcissist, and relegated to the dustbin of history. America needs you, Senator Sanders.
951
@T
It is the youth of this country who will create the historical narrative of this moment after most of us are gone. We already know whose side they are on.
32
@T I voted for Biden, but I do not agree that Sanders should stop now. The next debate on the 15th, one on one, will help Biden. It allow Sanders to make his case for how the two wings of the party can find common ground, and Biden will be able to point out areas of agreement. The debate will be followed by large primary victories for Biden in key states. It will dispel the notion that Joe is cognitively impaired, which Trump is already starting to push. If after next week's primaries, Sanders continues to juice up the anger of his supporters, then that is another story, but we aren't there yet. I would hope that Sanders focuses on the current issues that are at play, rather than stoking animosities and litigating past votes, but they are both skilled politicians and should be able to have a debate that sets the stage for a winning campaign. Let's all relax and enjoy a real debate, and hope that the moderators have a light hand and don't pull any media stunts, as they tend to do. It will be great to not have any of their asinine yes-no questions, without their demanding 10 second responses to complicated questions. Joe will do just fine. And so will Bernie. It could be a debate for the history books.
23
@T
"Suspend now and you are a hero"? Moderates are going to disparage him and his supporters no matter what he does. We gain nothing by him dropping out. He must push ahead against all odds, as he has done for 40+ years, and show the American people who Biden truly is Sunday night.
34
I understand that Bernie wants to get his progressive message out. He’s worked hard to hone it. Sadly, however, the message I just heard in his speech is that he is going scorched earth on Joe Biden and playing right into Trump’s hands. He is further dividing the Democratic Party, and he’s not even a Democrat! Had he lost Michigan, Missouri and Mississippi by small margins I could better understand why he just gave such an angry, narcissistic speech. But he was trounced, which is especially meaningful in Michigan where he just spent four days of non-stop campaigning. That’s hardly a recipe for electability.
1276
@Mark B. How is directly asking Joe his actual platform policies -- not platitudes -- scorched earth?
105
@Mark B. This is what he did in 2016, too. He has a massive ego, and he knows this is his last shot, so he's going for it. And you're right--it plays right into Trump's hands.
175
@Mark B.
I have a different take on that, which is that this is an opportunity for Biden, and his supporters, to welcome Bernie to the debate stage. I’d like to hear Biden start off the debate saying, “Bernie, I’m glad you came tonight. Let’s have a good debate so we can make America better.”
138
Bernie Sanders is doing the right thing by staying in the race. There are still several states where primary elections will take place. He owes that to his supporters and those who support the democratic process. Additionally, we all have the right to see Sunday's debate and see what Biden has to say and how he says it. Because of media brainwashing, many voters who agree with Sander's positions on key issues, voted for Biden because they are told day and night by the media and "experts" that Biden is electable, while Sanders is not.
17
Never mind the media. The question of electability is determined by elections. Please see election results for clarity.
11
What's with this brainwashing hogwash "only Biden can beat Trump"?
Joe the Plumber can beat Trump.
9
@Greg
But Hillary could not beat Trump. God, Trump beating Hillary...that never gets old!!!
2
Bernie, you’ve overstayed your time. The people have spoken, quite clearly. Now exit, stage left. Too far left for 2020, it turned out to be.
10
I believe wining in politics ought to be great ideas (policies) and selling them. Ok, I know that is naive. Biden pitch seems to made to two claims; one experience, as a long term Senator, and he was the offsider (helper) of a very popular recent President; two he is not The Don. On the second point, that also applies to every Democratic nominee that has been in this race. On the first, Biden has at best a patchy record in the Senator, as he has managed highlight, (the people he has had a bipartisan relationship with for example). Anita Hill is another, there seems to have a lack of honesty around this, and it continues.
A 'back to the future' Presidency may easily convince Democrats, but what about those who supported Trump. Where is the hope, the improvement in peoples lives, stronger economic growth that means higher salaries and stronger job security, cheaper costs for education, bringing health care costs under control. Where is 'leading democracy,' the special country, (not just from the outside, but the inside too,)
WHERE IS THE DREAM?
Is all the American people being offered by Biden, that he is not Trump? If you take off your rose tinted glasses for a moment, and
based on his record in the Senate, that's not much.
6
@bill
Don't you know, Joe Biden is not just the only candidate of decency, he's the most decent American there ever was - aside from 40 years of baggage and wrongheaded policies.
1
Sanders plans to ask Biden what he will do on issues about which all Dems are concerned. What will Sanders do? How will he accomplish his goals? What has he done for these issues in the past 30 years? Which gun safety law did he pass? Has he created or even advanced M4A in his time in the senate? What trade deal with Canada did he accomplish? What deal anywhere did he accomplish?
Biden had a hand in creating sweeping changes to medical coverage and passing an assault weapons ban. He pushed Obama to codify marriage equality. He made bad votes and decisions. So did Sanders, who seems to have done nothing legislatively to move his agenda forward.
Sanders should answer his own question. How does he plan to fix these problems in a senate that includes Republicans? His agenda is not supported by a majority of Dems. There were 70 Democratic Senators and 26 Republicans in 1935 when FDR was president.
Bernie accomplished little legislatively, but is good on a soapbox- a required role in a democracy. Should Sanders be castigated for honeymooning in Russia or apologizing for Sandinistas? Should Biden not be supported because of his votes or actions 30 years ago that were wrong?
Come on. Both want to better America and address concerns of inequality, climate change, racism, etc. Biden is not going backwards- except in terms of requiring decency, competence, accountability and honesty in gov't.
9
I must admit that my first response to Sander's crushing defeats in this primary has been 'Oh, come on Bernie, give it up!'
But on some reflection I appreciate Mr Sander's willingness to stick around to hold Biden's feet to the fire. We MUST make this election about more than just beating Trump.
Sanders will force Biden to articulate in detail some of the changes in health care, education and immigration we are hoping for.
Thank you Bernie Sanders for finishing the job you have devoted yourself to do. We all owe you so much.
10
Biden can pick up a lot of Sanders voters by supporting changes to the Bank Protection and Consumer Abuse Act of 2005, and even more importantly, supporting legislation to eliminate the student loan industry's unjustified immunity from Americans' bankruptcy protections.
4
Before Bernie even considers backing off in the contest with Biden he'll need a good explanation how Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Beto ended up dropping-out/endorsing Biden Right before Super Tuesday. Are we to believe that they did this INDEPENDENTLY? So if there was collusion here, how about Warren's decision NOT to endorse Bernie? The whole thing reeks to high heaven. And why would Julian Castro endorse her AFTER she tumbled in the polls? It's looking like it may have been engineered. If this is true, Bernie should not support this establishment enterprise, imo.
9
"Sanders did not consider dropping out after Tuesday’s losses, but he was stunned by how severe they were and now recognizes he needs to reassess his path forward."
There is no path forward!
4
The voters spoke last night and Senator Sanders got trounced, like he did on Super Tuesday. Where are his supporters and why aren’t they voting?
2
I want Bernie to stay in the race and continue to explain why we need Medicare for All, why free community college or vocational school education would help all our youth get a start in life, why we need guaranteed paid sick leave and family leave and why we need action on climate change (no fracking)
Democrats need the progressive vote. They need to at least listen to our concerns. American families are struggling to afford expensive for profit health care, our youth are yoked to high interest debt that will take decades to discharge. We worry about what kind of world we will leave our grandchildren. If you need our vote—at least pay some attention to what we need.
10
Mr Sanders is being railroaded again by establishment (Democratic Party) the same way he was in last election. The party leader resigned and for some reason everyone has an amnesia about the event.The perfect storm is brewing again and all Russians need to do is focus on same state.
Many of Sanders will tilt towards Trump comes November 2020.
Trump will win by electoral college majority.
6
Why, exactly, will Sanders’ followers gravitate to Trump, when Trump’s actions and policies are anathema to these same Sanders followers? Please explain. I see only spite and sour grapes. That’s not standing up for progressive ideals, it is being willfully short-sided, childish and destructive.
Bernie posed something fair questions ahead of the debate.
I am expecting Biden to prepare satisfactory answers. If Biden can do that, the nomination is his. If he can’t?!.....
3
With the direction that the primaries have been going, Sanders will likely be so far behind once FL, AZ, IL & OH vote on 3/17 that he will not be able to catch up. There are two big things that have affected his performance this time around. 1) Caucus states only award 3% of delegates now compared to 14% in 2016. Caucuses have very low voter participation and tend to attract the most fringe of the party. Bernie did very well in these. 2) He has been counting on the youth vote to drive his revolution. So far most states have seen a DROP in % of young voters compared to 2016 so they are not showing up for him. People appear to be saying across the board that they DO NOT believe that he is the most electable candidate. So, how exactly does a candidate, with no path to the nomination have "leverage" to force a winning candidate to adopt his platform? Does he say,
"I won't drop out, I'll be a bad sport, a poor loser and tell my supporters not to support you unless you do what I say?". I think it is very fair for Bernie to ask Biden what he plans to do for A, B, C, D but if he cannot win he must decide if his ego and his following is more important than helping Biden and the Dems beat DT. One thing that Biden understands but Bernie does not is that neither party has enough senators to pass bills without help from the other. Bills that require the expenditure of lots of $$ require 60 votes and compromise. My way or the highway accomplishes -zilch.
6
Bravo!! Just superb!!
Bernie is pushing for his policies supported by the majority of Democrats, even if he isn't the nominee. He wants these policies to survive even if he doesn't.
A true hero for the people!!
7
Supported by a majority of Democrats, yet he is not getting a majority of the votes? Please explain.
Sanders caters to the youth.
Trump caters to the "poorly educated."
Both are evil. They prefer to con those who are easily fooled, who don't ask questions, and who don't readily distinguish between appearance and reality.
2
One thing matters and one thing only. Keep your eye on the prize.
1
Bernie the spoiler! History repeats itself!
5
Nations with national healthcare programs are far better suited to deal with pandemics. Nations that ensure their citizens are housed, well educated and where community and social responsibility are as important as competition, individuality and profit are not only better suited for pandemics but are generally safer places to live and produce more productive and happy citizens and workers.
That is what the movement behind Bernie is about. Not billionaires and banks.
9
Nations with national healthcare programs are far better suited to deal with pandemics. Nations that ensure their citizens are housed, well educated and where community and social responsibility are as important as competition, individuality and profit are not only better suited for pandemics but are generally safer places to live and produce more productive and happy citizens and workers.
That is what the movement behind Bernie is about. Not billionaires and banks.
4
A repeat of 2016, when Bernie’s reluctance to call it a day and enthusiastically endorse the front runner probably was a factor in discouraging Election Day turnout, thus helping Trump win the electoral college. We don’t need to see a repeat of that scenario. Time to go with grace.
18
it’d be different if the other candidates had something to actually offer.. neither is exciting, neither has/had a mandate to win, neither is discernible from trump beside purported party color... their administrations would be indiscernible, save for the blatant trump idiocy. policy is what matters and they don’t have it.
2
Here is the paradox. The emotional reaction to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact has made voters fearful and cautious, favoring Biden. But the nature of the challenge demands bold and radical action, favoring Sanders.
So what happens when the initial wave of emotion subsides and folks discover they have placed their fate in the hands of two clueless candidates, one in each major party?
15
I recall the Obama-Biden administration handling the Ebola Outbreak rather skillfully.
I cannot recall a single healthcare related accomplishment that Sanders has ever spearheaded.
I repeat, Americans are terrified and in need of drastic support. Free access to testing, a promise to have our health care costs waived in the face of a pandemic, cash in hand to help us weather the storm as we have to stay home from work, HELP US SENATOR SANDERS. He should be the man of the hour, since he has championed universal health care. What does he do, as a sitting Senator, as someone who could be effective in Congress right now as we are being denied paid sick leave by Republican legislators?
He campaigns. What an American hero. I’m disgusted and angry that he refuses to act to help us. All talk and all vanity.
2
Of course he's remaining in the race, because it is all about HIM. He's the other angry old white man, Trump's Thermidorian reaction. And it'll be 2016 all over again, with his sullen supporters staying home come election day and thus delivering another victory to Trump. God, the ego of this man. It's his vision or the devil's. If he had any love of country whatsoever, he'd bow out and graciously - graciously! - support Biden. But that means understanding that defeating Trump is paramount, which he doesn't. Because we all know what matters most to Bernie. Bernie.
20
I hope that both Bernie and Joe read these NYT comments, because I've got a tip for whichever of you gets to do it first, and it's a dead-bang winner to get the youth vote.
All you have to do is say this: "It's about time that we end the draft, and that'll be one of the first things I do in the Oval Office."
That's a headline-grabber, and will not only get the youth vote, it'll also get the vote of mothers with draft-age kids.
2
Sanders is doing exactly what Putin wants him to do.
13
Will Bernie overplay his hand and wound Biden before the general? If so, what will his legacy be? It’s either pure ego or letting perfect be the enemy of the good.
8
@RJ Bernie's legacy was already tarnished by his mortal wounding of Hillary reputation, e.g., "crooked Hillary" which resulted in four of the darkest years of our democracy. If he does this again with Biden (and it seems likely...), he will be responsible for allowing the Supreme Court to go far to the right for the rest of our lives.
5
Warren as Biden’s VP. I believe this can unite the Party. It certainly will for me.
2
Bernie supporters inexplicably abhor Warren even though she shares almost all the same policy goals Sanders does, and has more comprehensive details on how to accomplish them.
I know, I don’t understand either.
1
When Sanders talks, I hear echo of Trump. Wen Bernie supporters talk, I hear Bernie alone can fix it.
21
@Tran Trong
Under M4A you'd be able to have that hearing checked for free.
8
The 1996 presidential election was between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Great, I thought at the time. One belongs behind bars, the other in a nursing home, meaning Senator Dole, seriously wounded in WWII who was running for president after his distinguished tenure in the Senate. New York Times coverage of the Dole campaign confirmed my dig at Dole. Strongly pro-Clinton, no surprise, there came a point where Dole was getting hammered so badly that even the Times ran several articles sympathetic to him.
Clinton/Dole 1996 comes back to mind because of Biden/Sanders. The first of the two shows increased signs of mental infirmities that come with his age, call it senility, early stage Alzheimers, whatever. The other belongs is his villa in Havana commuting to his office next to Raul Castro.
I take no pleasure in these observations. The upcoming November election will see Donald Trump on one side and we can hope, should I say, the nation can hope, for a strong candidate on the Democratic side. Prospects for this last seem to get dimmer every day.
2
Any doubt remaining that Sanders is possessed by the same narcissistic sense of sanctimony as Trump?
If he was anything other than a maniacal egotist hellbent on imposing his exaggerated sense of manifest destiny on everyone else, he just proved otherwise.
Mr. Toad's wild adventure is just too fun -- and lucrative -- to quit now, not after a lifetime of anonymity, insignificance, and futility.
Like Trump, if he doesn't get his way, it's proof that things are rigged by others -- the enemy -- and justifies blowing everything up just to get even.
Corona virus pales next to Bernie virus, which infects idealism with nihilism and claims a personal relationship with truth and destiny. Of course Bernie and his Bros know with absolute certainty that the majority wants him even if it doesn't.
When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
All hail Ayatollah Bernie and his socialist sharia.
PS. Before the "debate" let's see his medical records.
30
There are now two sure signs of stupidity, the first is people who still go on cruises second is people who want Bernie to stay in the race besides the fact that it only helps Trump. Both are a narcissistic form of suicide
15
Typical. White. Male. Refuses to admit defeat. Get over it! You lost. Drop out.
23
@MonaUSA He didn’t lose yet.
6
@pmom Neither has Tulsi Gabbard. But the reality is that she and Bernie have equal chances to win the nomination at this point (since neither will get to the convention with a majority, let alone a plurality of delegates). Bernie is toast.
3
Bernie the loser has his eye on a beachfront villa to add to his portfolio because you know thousands of people have ocean front property. Bernie's movement is in the toilet. and the Supreme court is at stake now wih RBG and corona virus in the air.
Sanders will do what Sanders does best beat up the Democrats and trouser as much money as he can for Sanders same movement different day. His movement is a s big as his head and it's stanky.
18
The problem is that if Joe Biden becomes the nominee one of two bad things will happen: either he will lose to Trump, which seems the more likely outcome, or he will win and, as Mr. Biden has said, "nothing will change." While getting Trump out of power is essential, I'm not optimistic about a Biden presidency. He will not change the political reality of the United States where people die and go bankrupt every day because healthcare is a profit center and where we don't address climate change because energy companies write our laws. It's very hard not to feel complete dispair at this juncture. Joe Biden can mimic Senator Sanders' words but they have no meaning coming from him. He clearly doesn't believe that healthcare is a human right or he would not be taking money from insurance and pharmaceutical companies. There are two many examples of this corruption to name but without getting private money out of politics nothing will change and Senator Sanders is the only person who can lead that effort. I'm very sad for my country and the entire world today. I will continue supporting Bernie and hope that Sunday's debate can change the race.
945
@Midwood Teacher I think Sanders and Warren will have considerable sway over the party platform. Look how far we’ve come in 4 years - many of the issues front and center (affordable child care, equal pay) weren’t even mentioned before they entered the national spotlight in 2015.
I also think Biden is astute enough to recognize he wins only with a coalition.
Most important? Moderates like me and my friends who voted for Biden in our primary also want systematic change. We’re with you. So together we’ll work to get not only a Democratic President, but also a Democratic Congress, and make our voices heard for substantive legislation.
383
@Laurel I think Biden will do what moderates always do when they win the nomination. He'll pivot right to try to pick up right-leaning independents, moving further from our increasingly turbulent progressive wing.
70
@Midwood Teacher - I would urge you to think about the future beyond 2020, as a fellow progressive who deeply cares about healthcare. It's slow, but the country is moving left on healthcare. Medicaid for All wasn't happening in 2020 no matter who won the presidency, the votes just won't be there, but it's gone from a fringe idea to a mainstream one.
What we can do in 2020, even with a Biden presidency, is lay the groundwork for a future progressive. Claw back Senate seats, keep the House majority, and most importantly of all, stop the bleeding on the federal judiciary. Trump has appointed horrifying amounts of hard right, very young ideologues to the federal bench, and that's damage that will last for generations. We have to end that, now. Take the Senate, get a Democrat in office, and focus on federal judges and the Supreme Court.
Imagine a future where we finally have the votes, Medicare for All becomes a reality, and it can't survive judicial review because the federal bench has been packed with right wing nuts who put their own views above the law. If Trump gets re-elected, that's the reality we'll be living with. And that should be enough for every progressive (I count myself in that camp) to get out and vote for Biden in 2020.
83
Now is the time for Senator Sanders to put aside his ambition and to work to support a united front of progressives, moderate Democrats and independents. Standing together, we can defeat Trump, put the country on a more sustainable path and implement some of the more universally popular progressive policies. The left will be disappointed, sure, but we will ALL be a lot better off with a “big tent” coalition.
1712
@Ed Martin Bernie needs to start a 3rd party. The two party system in the US has run it's course.
324
@Ed Martin Sure thing, as long as Biden pushes a medicare public option as his #1 priority, and significant student loan relief.
It's a give and take. We are giving up a lot, we need to see what the moderates are going to concede.
51
@Ed Martin
Then bring in progressive voices. Denying their voice isn’t a big tent. I hear all kinds of talk about bringing in republicans and more moderates none about progressives.
75
We know the differences between Sanders and Biden. We know that Biden is going to win the nomination. Time to fold in around a united party. It won't be extreme. It will be moderate. That's what the voter majority wants. Time to end the divisions.
61
In the next debate, Bernie needs to take the gloves off and go after Biden in the same manner that Trump will. Go after Hunter Biden, go after Biden's lack of coherent speech.
Put Biden through the crucible. If he survives intact, he will be in good shape to go after Trump. If he crumbles, Bernie will have succeeded in showing why he should continue to be in the race.
Ultimately, the voters will decide.
659
Voters have decided and expressed their preferences clearly. Sanders lost - and he will keep losing going forward. There is nothing to be gained by Sanders' scorched earth attacks on Biden except to (a) show that Sanders is the disgraceful crazy old man that many of us long thought he was; (b) demonstrate that Sanders is not, has never been, and will never be a Democrat; and (c) help Trump.
332
@James
Haven't you noticed? The voters have decided.
260
@James But the voters have already decided.
92
An avowed Socialist, who honeymooned in Moscow when still communist USSR, this self styled flailing raging mini-trump who happily used online propaganda in 2016 like Jill Stein happily took cash from the Kremlin, is working 24/7 to diffuse, dilute and destroy Democracy - how you must ask? By the use of College students at campus’s who in their own evolution from childhood to adulthood wish to change the world for a better place. Sadly, we as youth are tinged with the delusion of everlasting life, that we are the ones who will live forever, and thus they are the tools of revolution from Lenin to Sanders...including an Ayatollah, a Hitler and that little gnome of grifting, poisoning and murder, Putin.
Can he possibly believe that all the youth of America is only for him, how delusional when ONE pronounces that they alone are the voice and guiding light of change, then that is the clarion call of a Tyrant and a Despot like the oaf in the Oval Office currently installed via the Kremlin, McConnell, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.
11
Sanders wants an opportunity to present the nation with his solution to this China virus pandemic.
3-house-Bernie's solution to this grave medical threat is.....free funerals for everyone!
6
@Errol We can see where you sit - COVID-19 is not a China exclusive virus. America has produced heaps of viruses. This is ugly name calling.
This same sort of talk is spouting in Australia with a far right government slow to act. Sound familiar?
Please Senator Sanders, I implore you, for the good of the county suspend your campaign and unite behind Joe Biden. Look, he wasn’t my first or second or third choice. I voted for Elizabeth Warren weeks ago by mail. I share many of your more progressive stances. But the voters have spoken. Continuing your campaign only risks dividing the party. We need a united front to defeat trump and trumpism. This is an existential threat graver than the Coronavirus. You will be hailed as a hero and statesmen. For love of country please do the right thing.
1768
@Ken C
I’m not sure that’s the answer. Of the two, I prefer Biden, partly because Sanders was inflexible about Medicare for All, vague on paying for it, and refusing to even consider the fact that it would never pass.
But I think it would be a good idea for the process to continue so the party’s progressive wing, and Sanders’ supporters particularly, can have their say, all with an eye to crafting a platform at the convention.
90
It’s too early for that. The rust belt has yet to speak.
93
@Ken C because it was unity in the GOP that gave them the presidency? Americans really don't know how democracy is supposed to work, I believe
38
First, due to the real danger of COVID-19 contact, I would like to see both candidates move to virtual campaigns.
Second, I would also like to see them both take the rhetoric down - particularly Sanders. The race has been largely determined. A "debate" should be more of a public negotiation focused on forging consensus.
Bernie's "agenda" is mostly a litany of grievances. To say that most Americans support his plan is disingenuous. So-called "moderates" agree that wealth inequality is a fundamental issue with capitalism, the need to address the climate is urgent, the college debt crisis is staggering, and the private college debt servicing industry is corrupt and needs reform if not elimination. Perhaps most pressing is Healthcare. There's no disagreement with this list.
Where we disagree is on the remedies. And this is where the debate needs to focus. Sure, Biden has to show Sanders supporters that he will earnestly take up these challenges. I believe he will. But it is time for Sanders to show some give as well. And this is where the debate can be helpful.
Bernie's is a moral agenda, but it is a political agenda also. Sanders should begin to reframe his argument. In the "debate" Biden can demonstrate he is listening to Bernie's concerns, and Sanders supporters can start to appreciate the political challenges of addressing Sanders' plan, including understanding the necessity of electing a Democratic Senate and maintaining leadership of the house.
6
The Biden platform is essentially Bernie-lite. Its a miracle he is somehow percieved by the media as a moderate.
The Biden platform actually comes with...plans. Fifteen dollar minimum wage. Investment in green infrastructure. Paid family and sick leave. A vision for a carbon tax and nuclear power, which experts agree would be far more effective in reducing emissions for anyone with an eye toward the climate crisis.
Sanders opposes both.
Given the reluctance of people to gather in public places, it would be prudent to suspend the Democratic Primaries until some kind of control over the spread is established. Otherwise, Coronavirus will become a major influencer in the political process. Let’s give it a rest for a few weeks. Who knows if the conventions will be able to go on anyway.
3
Bernie wants to be a socialist dictator.
6
Bernie wants to be the President who tried to improve lives for all Americans not only for corporation. What a sin!
3
You clearly do not understand anything about socialism, you are just following Republican and Democratic fear mongers who have finally discovered that you know there is no pot of promised gold at the end of the rainbow.
Your president too wants you falsely to believe that socialism is bad
Socialism existed long before there was communism.
Socialism started after long periods of endless abuse by people in power, emperors, Kings and Queens, royalists. All part of a feudal society when most land and property belonged to the people in power and you had to pay them to use it.
Revolutions followed, you must have heard about it, many books, movies, plays and musicals are made about them.
Europe and many other countries have some kind of a socialist government for centuries, but party leaderships and corporate media don’t really want you to know what socialism stands for, they profit from you thinking that it refers to communism.
You clearly fell into that trap as well.
Socialism only goal is to decrease inequality and improve the life of most of their citizens, in this case Americans.
You have of course the right to remain blind and ignorant about that.
It must mean that you are not even vaguely interested in improving healthcare or medicare, or control over costs of medication and education for low income families. Not to mention breaking up banks and Wall street.
Addressing Climate change and viruses, still not interested than you deserve what will happen.
1
@Luze We already have a dictator. He's not applying for that job.
Sanders thinks he's the one would get more votes than Trump in November, but he's not getting as many votes now as Biden is. Follow the votes...
5
Bernie is staying in the race because he is a narcissist with an ego almost as big as Trump’s. He would prefer to doom America to another 4 years of this disaster of a president than step aside after has lost the vote.
13
@Scott He is just like Trump with socialist agenda.
1
You bet we want Sanders to continue. No more bandaids on the sick society that is America today. Sanders heads a movement of millions who have had it with a Democratic party bought by the super-wealthy and lobbyists for corporations. Decades of unregulated globalized thug capitalism have left several generations precarious and rightfully angry, and have resulted in some in that group being susceptible to Trump’s demagoguery. Others rightfully see hope for this country in Sanders’ policies and vision for the betterment of the lives in this country that the DNC and most Dem pols could not care less about. Now they’re trying to force a choice on us between two bought pols, both showing cognitive decline, and neither offering us anything. We won’t have it. The DNC and it’s honchos will have to earn our votes. And I’m a boomer, btw.
11
Question for Sanders: "What have you EVER done??"
Egocentric blowhard and a waste of a perfectly good senate seat for 13 years.
10
@NickPayne
Uh, been on the correct side of most every issue for one.
As opposed to Mr. Apology Biden.
As for what he's EVER done...
Wrote 'n passed an $11billion HC Clinics Bill, serving an estimated 30 million citizens in 11000 rural and urban locals, ea. yr.
Negotiated the $5 billion bipartisan Landmark Veterans Bill of '14.
Recently helped workers in the Fight for $15 win a doubling of wages. 350,000 Amazon workers, 60,000 Disney workers, 20,000 Wholefoods workers and more.
Restored $320 million in pension benefits to 130,000 IBM workers.
Passage of the first and only audit of the Federal Reserve in '10.
Passage of $3.2 billion Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy grants.
Stopping bailed-out banks from replacing US workers with low wage guest workers.
Stopping the Postal Service from closing up to 15000 PO and over 100 mail processing plants, ending Saturday mail and slashing over 100,000 jobs. Passage of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act.
Raising wages of Federal contractors to a min. of $10.10 hr. or more.
Created the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. Passed bipartisan Yemen War Powers Act. The first time in 45yrs. since it was first enacted.
To name but a few.
Would you like me to continue?
Research The Amendment King. He passed more amends under partisan Republican controlled gov. than any other congresswo/man.
Here is a good story, and why you often don't hear or read about Bern and his bills... https://youtu.be/C08mO4BxRBs?t=10m20s
4
As a Biden supporter I listened to Bernie's speech and thought, "if we don't accept this outstretched hand, then we deserve to lose." This was Bernie's best moment ever. It was a concession speech but also a reminder that he's rallied millions, raised millions in tiny increments, raised millions of voices and injected a huge amount of energy into the party. And, face it, friends, he's focused on the issues that matter. I am forever grateful to Bernie Sanders for all that he has done. If we win in 2020 but don't adopt large parts -- large parts, not all -- of the progressive agenda he championed, then we will lose in 2024, and lose it all to a fascist regime worse than the one we have now.
14
Sanders will get slaughtered in Washington State after same day totals are tallied. This afternoon's press event was pathetic. He'll blame everything on anyone else. The revolutionwill not even show up, let alone be broadcast.
4
No way. Sanders is ahead in WA.
1
Reading the Reader Picks, I get a strong feeling that a great many Biden supporters have a sense of foreboding regarding this Sunday's debate. That must emanate from concern that Biden's performance will be deficient. That exposing Biden to the give and take of a debate with Sanders will diminish Biden' stature as the strong and leading candidate. For the sake of being realistic, not indulging in wishful thinking and nominating a candidate who Trump will trounce, I would hope they would want to see how their man handles himself in this debate. I can't imagine Sanders will be as rough on Biden as Trump will be. If Biden doesn't do a credible job debating Sanders, the message is clear . Keep looking for a winner.
7
@Howard The problem I see is that Biden is trying to stay positive and galvanize the party to battle Trump. Bernie has been consistently negative and has done nothing but try to put everybody down. Of course everybody wants to eliminate poverty. Everybody wants everybody to prosper. Everybody wants free healthcare and college. Everybody wants free stuff, period. So in a debate setting, this forces Biden to be the adult in the room trying to explain that the real world does not work that way. Bernie claims that the rest of the world has free, excellent healthcare, but the reality of it is that it is not so free (in the form of painfully high taxes) and it is not so good (wait times, rationing, etc.). Biden will basically spend the whole time fending off Bernie's gross exaggerations and lies which makes him look weak. It's just not a good look for anybody.
5
Exactly this.
We would all be looking forward to this debate if Sanders was an actual debater willing to battle it out regarding policy. But Sanders is a maximalist who won’t accept progress — if you’re not on his exact phrasing and solve of a problem, you’re wrong.
Biden’s platform is essentially a sober version of Bernie’s platform.
Bernie owes it to his supporters and to the integrity of the election process to stay and fight. It’s ashamed that the MSM including the times has so terribly maligned Sanders record without any serious scrutiny to the abysmal positions of Joe Biden over decades.
Finally, it’s obvious to many that Biden is in serious mental decline including confusion, disorientation and emotional volatility. Problems like this are often progressive so let’s keep Bernie around just in case.
A confused and muddled Biden will lose to Trump.
7
Cancel the stupid debate. It serves no purpose. Sanders does not have a clear path to the nomination. He's toast.
11
@Eileen
Oh , you never know. The debate might end up being a game changer. It must proceed.
4
I disagree. It would be good for both of them and the voters to have this debate. Biden needs to demonstrate he can debate. See it as a test run.
2
I support Biden now (Previously supported Pete and Elizabeth), and it certainly looks like he is going to win. However, but I think writing Bernie's obituary and calling for him to drop out is bad strategy for Democrats. It is very important to have Sanders supporters on board and to not feel disenfranchised. The delegate count is still not halfway there. Let the race run for now. The important thing is to keep it civil.
8
@JB Bernie's most indignant supporters will not budge and they should not be considered part of the coalition. They are not about the issues; rather, they are about Bernie. Nothing short of coronating Bernie will satisfy them.
2
Will it really mean anything if Biden "commits" to back some Sanders position, if that position never gets embodied in q law or in an appointment of a government official?
It should be enough that Sanders supporters recognize that Trump-appointed officials are less likely than Biden-appointed officials to take official actions that support progressive positions. That will be so whether those officials are appointed by Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden: The key point will be that the official was not appointed by Donald Trump. Frankly, I've been amazed to read about how many Trump-administration officials hold views that are far to the right of Trump himself, and those officials manage to make their far-right views become "law." Arguably, Trump himself is responsible for their actions since he, after all, appointed them, but that is not the point.
The point is that Joe Biden would not appoint any of these ideologues to decision-making roles. Bernie Sanders wouldn't either, but he'll be wiser to focus his efforts on influencing Biden's appointments of important government officials who actually enact and enforce real regulations, rather than on Biden's pointless, symboiic, "commitments" to certain progressive positions. In short, Sanders should focus most on who Biden will appoint to actual positions of authority, not on Biden's meaningless "commitments" to certain "ideals." The latter sounds good, but really doesn't move the ball forward. The former moves the ball forward.
1
If Sanders were in the lead, the party would have taken it all the way to the convention, then try to take it away in a brokered convention. Yesterday Biden said he wouldn't sign a M4A bill should one reach his desk. Joe is more interested in reassuring his donors than progressives. Sanders is playing to get assurances from the Democratic party. The minute Bernie stops, the party will tell progressives to shove it and move on.
11
And vice versa
1
@Mark
That is the truth. It's there for anyone to see.
1
But doesn’t the Democratic Party get a pass if it lacks enthusiasm for someone who isn’t a member of the party—except when he uses it as a crutch to win, or in this case attempt to win, a spot on the Election Day ticket?
Sanders' vision is charitable, very much so. It's also sophomoric, appealing to the very young. Being naive helps to believe that he can produce the utopian outcomes he espouses. A myth perpetuated by the press that Sanders has energized and engaged a generation of young voters is fraudulent. Young voters are poorly represented when it's time to go to the polls and vote for him as happened in 2016. It's happening again. Sanders says so himself. Biden won in every Michigan county, in some counties by more than 20 points. It was a landslide, one that the press is handling very gingerly. Both statisticians and oddsmakers agree this week that Biden is overwhelmingly the likely winner of the nomination. It defies reality that Sanders has yet a winning route. Although Nate Silver hedges his prediction, barring something happening to Biden, like a medical issue. So Biden's health will become the most precious commodity to protect us from Trump's second term.
2
The same statisticians and oddsmakers were saying the same thing about Sanders a week ago.
At the very least Sanders should hold Biden's feet to the fire in debates, and make him state for the first time in this campaign, and maybe in his career, what his political beliefs are - and what policies will stem from them. If Biden can't pass that test, he will never be able to stand up to Trump. Frankly, I can't believe so many have voted for Biden without already knowing what he stands for, and what he proposes to do in office. I guess the inherent conservtism of Americans and fear of the bogeyman of "socialism" explains it.
9
@expat
Name recognition and association with Obama. Those are Biden's credentials during his third run for the presidency. His record is uneven and wanting. His debate performances were painful to watch. Until South Carolina, his primary results were dismal.
Democrats Abroad have overwhelmingly voted for Bernie Sanders again. Same results in 2016. Maybe it takes an expat to come to appreciate Sanders. All my foreign friends root for him.
2
What in the world? An expat? What effect do American policies have on their quality of life? What fight of ours are you in? We don’t need commentary from people who aren’t willing to tough it out with the rest of us.
2
@OKC HEY - your president's actions (and non-actions) affect us all, never mind your ex-pats (who to my personal knowledge are some of the best people the US has got)
Bernie's speech today with his list of questions for Joe sounded more like a manifesto. "If you want my people to vote for you, you will have to get at least 75 percent of these questions "right."
So what Bernie offered was a hostage situation. "Leave the right answers with the Easter Bunny if you want to see your nomination alive."
7
No matter where he is, Bernie is all about US! Biden needs to be held accountable. I've been looking in every corner, under every carpet and I cannot see a lot that he has done with his leadership!! Yes, he's better than Trump, but we need far better than that!
6
When Bernie says: "Establishment democrats” he must mean the voters that showed up to vote for Biden.
If Sanders wants to beat Trump he should drop out.
He does not mean the voters. And you know it.
1
Yes, Bernie Sander denigrates the voters everytime he mentions the Establishment. We’re the reason Biden is the frontrunner, after all. Unfortunately, there isn’t a grand conspiracy here.
In a perfect world I would applaud a debate between Bernie & Biden; But my hunch is that Joe Biden will not be as strong a debater as Bernie Sanders so the risk of weakening Biden as a candidate exists.
And I believe Biden will be the democratic nominee.
In a perfect world trump the president would be nothing more then a punchline.
But this is not a perfect world; and trump must be defeated.
So, If I was running Mr. Biden's campaign I would not have him debate anyone ... not Mr. Sanders , and not trump.
trump's too good a carnival barker so why debate him at all.
Instead; Change the playing field and invite all the Democratic Candidates to a "public forum";
with all of Bloombergs money behind this campaign,
how could we lose......
2
@Robert L. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "you can't argue with stupid." I'm not saying that Bernie is stupid, but he is definitely delusional and is unwilling to accept that his proposals are unsustainable, will never pass congress and that Bernie has a demonstrated track record of being despised and unwilling to compromise in the senate. Joe wants to stay positive and this debate will get ugly very fast because of Bernie. I believe Joe would do very well with people who actually have some semblance of reality about them.
2
Mr. Sanders the people have spoken, respect their voice.
6
Stay Bernie. Stay
I know you cannot talk about the (Bloomberg) conspiracy to destroy your campaign, but you should just keep hammering home the principles on which you have built your platform. Those precepts must be louder than the media plot against you.
Your audience should be able disguise between the good & honest and the bad & deceptive. If not, then they deserve Trump.
7
Bernie Sanders eventually finding out an important fact, that Joe Biden is not another woman, Bernie has all along mistook Joe for a woman !
We need to change the primaries so that everyone votes on the same day, and we need ranked voting. This argument whereby one groups says “the voters have spoken!” while others cry “no we haven’t!” needs to end. It’s anti-democratic to give early states more say than those that vote later.
3
Just in: latest vote tallies show has Biden is now ahead of Sanders in Washington state.
2
This has been a sad day with sad realizations. There are no good solutions here, only painful ones.
From a sheer numbers perspective, surely it's impossible for Bernie to overcome the electoral count. If he caught up (hard to imagine without Florida, and Biden has a 30 point lead here), he would at most win by a smidgen. In which case he would be overpowered at the convention.
We must keep the eye on the ball: Trump must go. Everything else is gravy. Because the environment can't wait. Climate change doesn't wait another four years before it gets worse. It's getting worse every single day. This is a climate emergency. And yes, Biden's plan is much too modest compared with Bernie's. But we won't have Bernie's. We'll have either Biden's modest and hopefully expandable plan, or else we'll have Trump the Destroyer who wants to drill, frack and pollute us out of existence.
Choose wisely.
2
It is crucial that Bernie dismantle the mediocre Biden, every bit as sleazy and weak a person as Trump. He needs to get angry and take Trump to task.
3
Bernie, who needs concessions ?
And the American social contract is being rewritten as you read this. All the voters that have not shown up this primary season will owe much to Bernie's two presidential campaigns. Bernie has exposed the weaknesses of the American system perhaps more effectively than any politician of the 21st century and will be remembered by the thousands in which he sparked a political awakening, including myself.
22
@Martin Nelli Bernie is also largely responsible for weakening Hillary to the point where we have had the four-year nightmare under Trump. Yes, thanks Bernie!
1
@Ed Actually, I think both are true. Democracy is a messy business but for some time has been under attack from the Right. And not just in the US. But many lies and quarter truths were spread (and believed by Dems) about Hillary.
Now that Bernie has decided that his principle is more important than defeating Trump, it is time to ditch him. Biden should ignore his taunts and focus on Trump.
15
Yes, we need more unprincipled politicians! By all means! They are in such short supply! Oh...there’s uncle Joe, he talks about his principles, but (wink wink) we all know where he really stands.
1
there is a PANDEMIC claiming the lives of people, spreading unseen. Why isn’t SANDERS, a sitting SENATOR, working on legislation to get us free testing? Paid sick leave? Cash in hand, so we can survive if our jobs shut down, if people are laid off? He is acting like an egomaniac, and he is a hypocrite. He needs to get to work to HELP US instead of carrying on this vanity campaign.
17
You’re out of touch. People will be evicted from their homes without paid sick leave in the face of an epidemic. People will lose their jobs.
Sanders is still campaigning to rescue his bruised ego. He claims to represent our needs, claims to fight to get adequate rights for working class people, but can’t be bothered to face a crisis when he is in ELECTED OFFICE. This man doesn’t show up for the constituency he claims to represent.
Don’t be hateful to suffering people because the stakes don’t include you. THATS rich.
Sanders has an enormous ego and never knows when it is time to quit.
This is a repeat of 2016 when Sanders would not acknowledge defeat and concede to Clinton.
It was precious weeks before he gave his concession speech with halfhearted support for Clinton.
He didn’t emphatically urge his followers to support the Clinton candidacy.
The Sanders’ supporters stayed home and didn’t vote.
We know how that turned out.
Sanders should concede and tell his followers to support Biden.
Finally, Sanders needs to tell his followers to vote in November.
24
He let them attack Warren. He let them attack Clinton. I fear what he would have done with power.
He is not good for women.
6
Bernie voters, unlike feminists, are not sheep that can be so easily penned. Bernies platform would have been of far more benefit to women than Biden’s. Perhaps if women had better control over their emotions, like resentment over Hillary, they would not have voted against their own interests.
3
You need not watch any debate to answer that question:
"...I will be listening carefully to hear if Biden wants my voice or just my vote."
Biden just wants you to show up at the polls and vote for him. He really doesn't care whether you hold your nose or not -- just so you vote for him. And remember; If you don't, Trump wins. A Sanders supporter who's so disgusted with Biden that he votes for Trump will help Trump a great deal. But a Sanders supporter who doesn't vote for EITHER candidate helps Trump too.
8
Did Sanders’ “ Bernie or bust” supporters give Trump the vote last time ?
If so, I really think, for all the important issues he has brought up, that he has been destructive to America. Look, we are more divided. Bernie folks hate me bc I say what I really think, too bad. This is childish.
1
I'll probably vote for Biden if he's the nominee, but what you say is only true if you live in one in, say, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or one of the other four to six battleground states. If you live in a deep blue state like New York or California, your vote won't affect the electoral college outcome. Your vote or non-vote only serves to express your views.
Do you hate Trump for what he thinks? Is that childish?
Why won't Biden - or those in charge of him - even remotely consider drafting Bernie Sanders as VP running mate?
2
@vishmael ... I think that two white, old guys heading the government is what most Democrats (even moderates) really want to see...
3
Bernie is in the senate: we need him there. Plus if one of them dies who takes over?
2
@vishmael ~
How do you know they are not?
BUT ... do you really think Sen. Sanders would do that?
2
If Sanders was 68 he would be President, He should have maintained his following by joining a candidate such as Tulsi Gabbard and run for Vice President only. At 78 unless running for second term no one can do the job.
The fault lies with Sanders.... call it ego, stubborness or whatever it was a missed opportunity
2
Bernie wants concessions? That's very funny. Usually a person not chosen for a job, afyer several interviews, doesn't tell the person who got the job that they need concessions. Support Biden, Bernie. Progressives - get behind a Warren VP for Biden. She will bring a constructive progressive agenda to beat trump.
4
I would love that but doesn’t that mean that we will have a republican senator in her state?
It's 2016 all over again, Bernie is to the Democratic party what Trump is to the Republican party. Sanders is an utter disgrace!
15
Bernie is DOA and his psychopathic followers have NO chance of electing him.
Mainstream America rules.
Biden needs to form some form of coalition because as a moderate Democrat, Republicans can generally "live with him" even though he is not their first choice. But it can work.
Sanders is a nut case. And so the electorate knows.
11
His supporters are insane and insulting the African American community. I’m disgusted.
4
Two boomer college professors for Bernie here. Not psychopaths, last we checked. Anti-Berner zealots, who call themselves moderates, should get a grip. Moderate would have been accommodating people’s basic needs during the forty years that Third-way Dems looked the other way in their rush to accommodate the sugar daddies and lobbyists who guaranteed their re-elections. Along the way, they forgot about the little people. That’s how Trump got elected. Running yet another centrist against him who promises nothing until he’s gotta scramble to rearrange his rhetoric when Bernie challenges him, will either give us another Trump term or a Biden term that fixes nothing and gives us someone worse than Trump in 2024 as backlash. Meanwhile the planet rushes toward disaster. Centrists seems to never learn.
Bernie, just stop....full stop...get out now...our nation's future will be determined in 2020...we now have a clear shot of winning this one...please, act like a statesman and get out of this race.
17
Just as a good sparring partner makes a prize fighter better, a continuing Sanders campaign can strengthen Biden. It can also help Sanders bring some of his more emotional supporters to support Biden, rather than sitting out the election and not voting. It seems to me that Sanders recognizes this, and will campaign in a way to make defeating Trump more likely, not less.
5
@EdBx
It is unlikely Trump will debate anyone.
But Bernie is good practice since most of what Bernie says about Biden has also been rated as false on FactCheck and PolitiFact
So, it is kind of like debating Trump in that regard.
8
That’s a much more optimistic take on today’s announcement than I had. I hope you’re right. Unfortunately, his ego is far more powerful than logic or the concern for the greater good.
2
Go Sanders, hold right wing democrats accountable for real action on climate change, bank regulations, health insurance, education! Biden needs to compromise with democrats who want real change on major areas. It cannot business as usual; otherwise, we might have a repeat of 2016 (that’s if covid 19 doesn’t get rid of him Trump due to the economy).
6
Right wing Democrats? Seriously? There are other people in the world besides you and your view. Instead of attacking moderate democrats maybe you should try with a persuasive argument.
14
Moderate democrats always give in to right wing demagogues. Mostly because they’re privileged and conflict averse. Have a nice day!
We deserve a one on one debate. Sanders certainly has earned that right. I want to see it. I just hope CNN can rise to the occasion and let them speak.
7
He repeats the same lines over and over again and doesn’t answer questions.
1
So, having fallen behind, Sanders now wants to play moderator at the next debate and ask the questions?
He lost the Super Tuesday 2 popular vote BY TWENTY PERCENTAGE POINTS.
He got steamrollered.
Time's up.
Show's over.
16
Both Sanders and Biden are very susceptible to COVID-19. They may contract the virus and don't survive the November general election. Donald may succumbed as well with those hand shaking lackadaisical COVID-19 policy and his rallies. These dude think that they invincible.
2
Huh?
Try Pete Buttigieg the son of the Marxist scholar who founded the International Gramsci Society after translating his work into English as a tenured professor at Notre Dame :-)
2
Then we should have Warren and Kolbuchar .
It’s over Bernie. Drop out. Do the right thing
13
Only in the United States is Biden seen as a moderate. We need real change in this country and I hope some of Bernie's agenda will be incorporated into a Democratic platform.
8
@Kaari
Only in the United States is Biden running for office.
@Kaari ~
It has been.
Remember the ACA, and what it might be today except for what the GOP did to it because it happened under Obama?
1
The ACA was a Republican (Romney) plan and a form of corporate socialism for the health insurance and health care industries.
No question that Bernie Sanders needs to discontinue his quest and endorse Joe Biden to ensure victory for the Democrats in November. He is fundamentally and factually wrong when he asserts that a majority of Democrats support his left wing, socialist agenda. The proof is in the primary results to date. The Sanders agenda cannot attract a majority of Democrats, much less a majority of independent voters and disillusioned Republicans. Joe Biden can accomplish this.
13
@A Concerned Democrat
Look at the scoreboard.
@A Concerned Democrat If Joe Biden gets the nomination, which is pretty much expected now, Trump will win in 2020.
The DNC tried running a centrist neoliberal with Hillary, with Al Gore, with Mondale, etc, etc and they will lose again.
4
Stop. I’ve read that sentence before . It’s old and copied and pasted. As most of Bernies talking points .
2
Why is it important to win the generational race, as Sanders said? Don't we all matter?
6
@the oracle
Elders are supposed to protect and prioritize the coming generations. “for Ourselves and our Posterity”
2
@Waabananang Yes - I'm rooting for my (Gt.) Grandchildren! 😇
1
The voters, not the "establishment" or "party leaders/DNC" have spoken. Either you respect democracy or you don't. Sanders & his supporters clearly don't. Sanders can articulate the issues he cares about without attempting to threaten Biden with a lack of support by Sanders' lemmings. Biden ought to discuss with Bernie which cabinet position he would like, announce his plan to appoint him to it publicly, and have Bernie sell it to his supporters. ENOUGH. United we stand and can #DUMPTRUMP
13
Bernie is not pro America. I’m glad he lost. I’m left of center and I can’t stand him at this point. His supporters harass and think he is the messiah. He loves it. Another egomaniacal old man that yells at everyone.
I voted for him in the primaries in 2016.
Now I know Hilary is and was right .
2
As to what HE would want? Seriously. Again an overinflated sense of himself. And he is wrong - not only is he unelectable but the majority of Americans are not in his policy boat. He can not force immediate free health care of college on the rest of us. That's what losing an election means.
7
@Mary Rivkatot The majority of Americans have shown time and time again that they support Sanders' policies. Biden has shown that he does not want my vote so I will not give him my vote come November.
Biden is unelectable. I simply cannot understand how moderates think that someone who can't string together a single sentence will be able to defeat Trump.
6
Really?! Well, that’s not what the primaries reflected for the last two weeks. Bernie always said listen to the voters... welp... they spoke.
1
You’re a trump supporter . You are helping him get elected. You love Bernie more than America and the rest of us?
That is a weird cultish way of existing. Are you sure you’re not indoctrinated ?
1
Elect Biden and you are just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Elect Sanders and you will have a change of course sufficient to avoid the dangers that lie ahead.
13
@Greg With our current Senate???
3
@Greg ** yes .. with Biden it will just sink a bit slower
1
The chaos will get worse. We choose recovery.
‘Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think that’s important and where we draw strength from. But at the same time, I come from the lens of an organizer, and if someone doesn’t do what you want, you don’t blame them — you ask why. And you don’t demand that answer of that person — you reflect. And that reflection is where you can grow.”’
Wow, even AOC, a young and idealistic progressive, has shown more maturity than Sanders. Sanders’ ego will doom this country if he doesn’t get out of the race gracefully and stop his senior campaign aides and surrogates from besmirching Biden and the Dem Party.
14
Bernie is a torch passer - he is not the one to lead. He is too self involved.
1
He is going to do whatever it takes to ruin the race. I think he works for the Republicans.
7
@michelle I totally get where you are coming from. I do think Bernie really has the American people in his heart and he believes his progressive agenda is important to move forward. And indeed, he has put many progressive ideas forward for our country to think about.
I am also frustrated with his unwillingness to see the writing on the wall. He will not win. He is somewhat responsible for trump being in office right now. He needs to drop out and endorse Biden.
He probably does have a huge ego but he also really believes that his agenda needs to be looked at for the American people and that is something to be celebrated.
Go Biden!! let's bring everyone together and get rid of Trump. That is the main goal before he ruins our environment, bankrupts our country and steals economic security from our young people. We have to get rid of Trump.
Go Biden!!
Bernie's massive ego will not allow him to admit defeat and pull the party together. He would rather burn it to the ground and give Republicans complete control of the government than bow out gracefully. The longer he stays in the race and attacks Biden, the greater the chance of that happening. Bernie is no revolutionary- he's simply another narcissistic egomaniac.
8
Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign now would say a lot more about him and provide him more leverage for his causes than staying in. I do think Biden would be open to adjusting his platform and nominating progressive cabinet members if they can negotiate.
4
I think that Sanders knows that Biden will be the nominee and he wants to have a say in the 2020 Democratic platform. I thought the questions he laid out in his speech today were compelling and widely appealing. He will not be the nominee but his points of view are very important. I think Sanders has a lot to offer the Dems and Biden moving forward, and Biden could be a vehicle for Sanders to realize some of his policies. In other words, together, they could help shepherd this country in a much needed direction.
9
Senator Sanders has the opportunity to prosecute his case on Sunday. The topics he telegraphed in his speech are serious and must be addressed -- hopefully the moderators got the message and will incorporate them into their questions, giving ample time for each candidate to respond. If Biden is serious about building a broad coalition, he should explain his position on each of them. As a progressive, I will be listening carefully to hear if Biden wants my voice or just my vote.
10
I am a Warren donor who ultimately voted for Sanders in Massachusetts on Super Tuesday. The second Biden won my state without campaigning here beating both the hometown Senator and Senator next door, I knew it was over. Biden won this fair and square and he won with every major demographic except for young people who did not show up to vote. Surveying my own seniors in a diverse urban high school north of Boston, only half voted in the primary and most identified as centrist politically. The Revolution never happened. The Restoration has only just begun. I’m with Joe, I guess.
11
Why didn’t you vote for Warren if you’re her supporter?
This is why she did so poorly. People second guessing their first choice , the best candidate.
1
The revolution that would matter more than any other specific policy is voting rights. Dems, make voting rights your issue the way Reps have adopted gun rights. Voting rights issues to be recommended would include the following. 1. Every citizen over the minimum age is automatically a voter. Only exception is those currently serving time for felony conviction. Upon completion of time, restore. No exceptions for failure to complete monetary payments. 2. Lower the voting age to 16. Voting is about the future, so give young people the vote. Sixteen is the new eighteen. 3. All voting shall use paper ballots, so that there is no possibility of electronic tampering. 4. All states shall issue ballots to all voters who wish to vote at home (mail in or drop off ballots). 5. All redistricting shall be performed by nonpartisan or multipartisan commissions. 6. Federal funds shall be granted to states to experiment in alternative voting systems such as ranked choice. That is the list of the voting reforms that I think would make a difference. If Bernie wants to have a lasting impact, he could do worse than negotiating support for this set of reforms.
6
@Aero Excellent points, well articulated. Paper ballots are very slow and cumbersome but safer than any we have now. And ranked choice is worth looking at.
A commenter gave this answer to my question, which was based on the simple fact that "None of the above" will not be a choice:
"So progressives don't sit out the election,and trump wins."
But Trump DOES win if Biden doesn't. There is no third choice: either Biden wins, or Trump wins. Sanders supporters staying home helps Trump.
5
The great irony of all of this is that the very same people who refused to compromise on their vision and demanded that moderates get on board the “sweeping” progressive train are now demanding that Joe Biden make concessions to them! Of course the lifeblood of Sanders campaign has proven to be a vast base of young voters, who, it turns out, aren’t really reliable voters at all. Meanwhile Biden has pulled together a truly broad coalition of supporters. No Progressives I don’t think Joe needs you all that much. Better luck next time.
5
@John The Penn Wharton Budget Model issued a new report on Biden’s overall tax proposal: the plan would raise between $3.1 trillion and $3.7 trillion. More than half of the proposed tax increases would hit the top 0.1% of high-income earners.
There is no way any Bernie Bros have a clue about this.
3
Debate what? A healthy majority of Democrats have rejected Sanders and his ideas, so it would be ridiculous for Biden to now endorse them. All Sanders can accomplish is to ding Biden and soften him up for Trump. while Biden grins and bears it for party unity. Biden can maybe beat Russia, the JOD and Trump in the election, but not if Sanders' supporters get mad and stay home.
5
Many voters ultimately chose Biden because they see him as electable and most importantly, capable of beating Trump, not because they necessarily reject the policy ideas of Sanders and Warren. I don’t think Sanders can beat Trump. It’s as simple as that.
1
Debate the issues that Bernie’s supporters care about. For many Americans , it’s not about Trump or Biden or Bernie, it’s about issues like cost of health care. If Biden can’t handle Bernie, he certainly won’t be able to handle Trump. How is Biden going to handle Hunter Biden and his nepotism?
2
If the Democratic Party ends up with Biden, the country will continue with Trump.
Stop supporting the status quo and vote for Sanders. He's the last hope for America to become a civilised country.
6
@Michael
Thanks Canada. While you’re at it why don’t you vote in our next election? Oh yeah, nope.
5
@John: The thing is, your president affects us all, especially Western democracy so surely we can add to the debate? However, I do believe we are infiltrated by darker foreign forces spreading conflict/chaos here.
1
No, no, no!
"But calls for unity have to go both ways. While we have to support Joe (consider the alternative), Joe has to show that he takes seriously ... progressive goals."
Wrong. Every move leftward by Biden will make him less "electable," which means Trump will win. It should be enough for Sanders supporters that Biden is better than Trump. Period. Trump probably has it in the bag (unless he gets hit by a truck), but Biden could pull it out IF Sanders supporters overwhelmingly vote for Biden as the lesser of two evils, Trump being worse. Remember this: If Biden doesn't win, Trump does. "Not Trump or Biden" is NOT one of the choices.
2
So he set Biden up with the questions. Who knows what would happen if Biden had some good answers for him? But is Biden capable of understanding the opportunity at this moment?
1
Bernie Sanders said the country was with him on ideological grounds but not on an electoral scale. Let's see who's to blame for that. First of all I tried to vote here in Montgomery Texas but they shifted me around from here and there. At the end of the day I was expected to find the Grangerland Community Center which no one here knows about. Well it doesn't matter does it because people will always vote for the Status Quo.
Bernie Sanders is a "radical" according to the Military Industrial Complex and he is considered a "Communist" by some wealthy people. I think it's sickening. Bernie Sanders is not a Communist, he's just a Social Democrat as we see in Sweden. So why is he being defeated? FDR did some "Communistic" legislation (AKA New Deal) and so does Donald Duck have any inkling about past presidents?
Did he not take History 101? Of course born with a silver spoon in his hand that's not likely. I would like to remind everyone here reading my comment that Eleanor Roosevelt was a tireless campaigner even after her husband had polio virus...the two of them were peas in a pod, IMHO.
Eleanor Roosevelt campaigned relentlessly for her husband.
4
@2B or not 2B
The vast majority of Americans don’t care a whit what happens politically in Sweden, and yes those same folks view Sanders as a radical. The vote stands on its own.
2
He’s being defeated because no one is buying what he’s selling
3
He never went to Sweden. He went to Cuba, Nicaragua and the USSR.
I know what Mr. Sanders would do as President. It is clear and on the table.
I have no idea what Mr. Biden would do as President.
I look forward to Mr. Sanders asking Mr. Biden for some definitive answers as to what action he would take regarding such topics as US fighting climate change, US foreign policy particularly as it applies to Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, money corruption of Congress and the electoral process, health care rights, and control of corporate and Wall Street excesses
9
@Greg
I too know what Biden would do as President: Nothing. Because none of his policies would get thru a Republican Senate. Indeed, most would not even get thru a Dem House.
Why can't politicians like Sanders ever admit that their policies are not palatable to the voters? People don't want what he's selling.
4
Bernie's going to stay in the race for a while because he still has the funds to do so and it gives him a soapbox upon which to preach.
But the world has shifted. This coronavirus has served as a societal dope slap that we don't have time to engage in fantastic ideological voyages. We have to restore simple decency and mature sanity to our governing structure.
Simply put, the results of the recent primaries confirm that an overwhelming number of Democrats want a Restoration; not a Revolution.
We want a sober, thoughtful President who will staff his Administration with the most highly-qualified women and men available. We want a President who will listen to alternative viewpoints and counter-proposal with an open mind.
We're tired of the populist name calling and insulting internet behavior we've been subjected to for the last three plus years.
We want Trump and his never-ending revolving door of sycophants out of the White House. And we know we're never going to get that with a firebrand like Bernie Sanders. We simply hope that we will get there with a sober-minded Joe Biden.
It's going to be a very tough battle to remove Trump from office. It's going to take everyone working together for that common goal regardless of ideologically differences.
Trump has got to go. Biden is our tool for doing that. Stand down Bernie. Convince the more realistic of your supporters to join the common effort and let's get to work.
4
Earth to Sanders supporters:
I'd thought it was enough that Biden was "not Trump." If that's not enough, the Democrats just should throw in the towel in 2020, and focus on 2024. The more Sanders supporters force Biden to the left, the less "electable" Biden will become, which means "Trump wins."
2
I saw someone say that Bernie has plenty accomplishments during his time in Congress. He has sponsored all of 3 bills that were ever signed by the President. 2 were for post-offices in VT. Biden has 28 successful bills. Talk is cheap. Getting things done is hard. Unless Sanders is hiding plans to flip the Senate and rid the House of GOP, he will continue to get nothing done.
8
This makes me hate the DNC even more. I’ll never vote for Joe Biden.
5
@Misplaced Modifier Feel the Bern helped get us 1. Gorsuch 2. Kavanuaugh. We all need to VOTE with 3. ___ 4. ___ in mind, if we care about climate change, Trump packing the courts with GOP judges, and whether we will be living in a democratic nation in the nsd future.
8
As Van Jones said last night on CNN,
"It's a revolution. But it's a revolution of the middle."
Spot on.
3
Sanders is flushed and the CLEARLY cognitive impaired Biden wins.
Nice guy. The face lift really DOES make him look better, but the neurologists can't correct his cognitive deficits during interviews and speeches.....gaffe after gaffe....he doesn't know where he is at......the endless and very embarrassing silences mid sentence when he tries to remember what he started to say and can't complete the thought.
How sad for the Democrats when the compelling and overriding questions are: Is this the best and all you can come up with?
In a debate, Trump will eat Biden for lunch and use his bones as toothpicks.
See you on Election Day for the re-election.
4
I can tell from how abusively you speak that you are a trump supporter, but then again many Bernie folks sound the same.
1
Biden defeated Bernie easily and convincingly in crucial swing states Michigan and North Carolina. He's up 40 POINTS on Bernie in swing state Florida. He will substantially win Ohio on Tuesday and has been consistently ahead of Bernie in Pennsylvania. These are the critical states in the Electoral College. Like it or not, Joe Biden is clearly more popular among Democrats and Independents in these states.
If defeating Trump is the immediate goal, wouldn't we want the stronger candidate in these states?
3
According to a recent Emerson poll, barely over half of Sanders supporters would commit to voting for whoever the nominee turned out to be if it wasn't Sanders.
Yet Sanders wants to extract concessions? Then what? Write another book, promote it for a few months, and continue to promote his own revolution in "support" rallies like he did in 2016 and tell his base he can't tell them who to vote for and he hopes they wouldn't listen if he did?
4
Winning a 'debate' doesn't necessarily make you more competent to be president. I suspect that Bernie will try to embarrass Biden and Biden will stumble because he is a thoughtful person and politician and wants to weigh his words carefully. Bernie just can't let it go. He will weaken Biden's chance to win and we will have another four years of Trump.
8
Let’s all agree that we must unify, and that Bernie has every right to stay in the race, push his agenda, and let people vote for him. If Bernie starts getting nasty toward Biden I’ll change my tune. But his speech today was superb.
3
@Theo Baker
Nope.
He said he's the best bet to beat Trump.
Fairy tale.
4
There is a lot comments here expressing worry that Biden would be bad at debates (against Trump) and/or the opportunity for Sanders to trounce him at one.
This may seem controversial but maybe we should do away with the presidential debates for 2020. There is nothing that the eventual democratic nominee or Trump could say that would sway voters anyway and giving Trump more reasons to posture on national tv is anathema to me.
1
I admire Sanders. Bernie Sanders has lofty goals. Some of his goals are long range goals and need to be presented that way, not as "we are going to do this in 4-8 years". There is a large group of people in this country who have very little empathy for their fellow man and will fight medicare for all and state-paid education to their last breath.
5
The choice isn't Trump or no Trump. It's Trump or Biden. If Biden loses, Trump wins.
"I could never in good conscience vote for Joe Biden."
I have no doubt that nearly all Sanders supporters will have preferred that Sanders get the nomination. But that looks highly unlikely now. So Sanders supporters must ask themselves:
"I can't have Sanders. I can only have Biden or Trump. If I don't like either one, which one do I dislike more?"
5
Many Sanders Supporters act like spoiled entitled children. And they are.
Let’s be grateful to both Bernie Sanders and his supporters for putting issues of inequality, climate change, college debt etc. front and center. We’re a better party for it. Let’s listen to both Joe and Bernie discuss these important issues this weekend and find a way to unite our party and move toward defeating Donald Trump in November.
9
How much debating does the POTUS engage in, once elected? Best case he/she hires the smartest people available and let’s them make decisions. This is why we need to get rid of 45!
3
Probably true, but so what?
"Biden cannot win without progressives voting for him."
Keep this in mind:
The election won't be between Trump and not Trump; it will be between Trump and Biden. If Biden doesn't win, Trump wins.
2
Considering the DNC' obstructive interventions to derail the Sanders candidacy with the complicity of mainstream media, the Super Delegate power to overturn the will of the people, the existing all manner of rampant voter suppression, and finally Rep. Clyburn's call to shut the primary and cancel the debates following Super Tuesday 2 , while the states below have yet to vote, I could not feel more despondent about the state of our democracy.
Mar 17
Arizona
Florida
Illinois
Ohio
Mar 24
Georgia
Apr 4
Alaska
Hawaii
Louisiana
Wyoming
Apr 7
Wisconsin
Apr 28
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
May 2
Kansas
May 5
Indiana
May 12
Nebraska
West Virginia
May 19
Kentucky
Oregon
Jun 2
District of Columbia
Montana
New Jersey
New Mexico
South Dakota
16
@La Rana Frog , He plainly lost the states he thought he was going to win again and he knew it too ; conspiracy theories put you with Trump supporters . There is no woman running against him right now to knock around .
2
Find a better hobby than Bernie
Joe Biden’s slips are clearly getting worse. Best that Bernie stick around await the ultimate meltdown that precedes Joe’s exit. It’s inevitable. Senility is a decline, not an acute, recoverable condition.
8
Bernie Sanders is a narcissistic twit. If he performs true to form he will derail the entire democratic party. This idiot will hand the Republicans control of the court for the next generation. Bernie is a professional loser always has been it's how he stays pure. He never plans to win because if he did win he'd actually have to take responsibility for his failures. The absence of his record speaks volumes speak much too little.
14
@Andy Clinton lost to Trump and Biden is similar but even more inept.
5
@Erik Frederiksen
You're right: Russia will try to jimmy the election again. But maybe this time enough voters will foil them. They love Bernie.
2
And you are from Vermont ? Do tell more. He is a facade like the wizard in the wizard of oz.
2
Trump, the germaphobe, should quarantine himself forever behind his “wall” or go party with his rich friends at Mar-a-Lago and let the election be between two decent people, Bernie and Biden. Hopefully when “The Masque of the Orange Death” arrives unexpectedly, people don’t freak out.
That IS the goal, but why does that mean Biden should yield ANYTHING to Sanders?
"I thought the goal was to beat trump."
The choice will be between Trump and Biden, NOT Trump or no Trump. If Biden loses, Trump wins. Seems fairly simple. Staying home, or holding your breath until you turn blue, means "Trump wins." That's what I think will happen, period, but it CERTAINLY will happen if Sanders supporters don't go to the polls and vote for Biden. A non-vote for Biden is a vote for Trump.
6
Fear.
Trump uses it to his advantage.
Now Biden and the DNC are using it to their advantage.
We have become a nation of sheep.
Still, if the young people can hang on and keep the Movement going, perhaps fear can be replaced by hope in 2 or 3 generations.
6
The only group of people I have seen acting like sheep, besides trump supporters, are Bernie supporters.
1
Why in the world would Biden agree to anything? He gets the nomination either way.
8
@commenter the generic wet noodle for a lack of a better definition :-)
Think of the power of Bernie besting Biden at this juncture. The torque would be incredible let alone the momentum.
Bernie in 2020. Miracles happen. A majority of the people in this county believe in god and are religious in some form or another. If you believe Jesus resurrected and flew,or Moses parted the Nile with a wave of a wand, Bernie’s feat is trivial :-)
The Times hates wit and decency but what is there to lose. I will press submit.
@Blunt
Tell you what: If you can get Jesus to rise, I'll vote for Bernie. But not before then. :)
1
I give up: WHY does Biden have to do this?
"While we have to support Joe (consider the alternative), Joe has to show that he takes seriously, and will work towards, progressive goals."
Why does Biden have to do anything at all?
4
@Commenter So progressives don't sit out the election,and trump wins.
12
@Commenter It would be very foolish to take that view. Trump was a symptom that you have serious faults in your society; Bernie/Liz articulated them, and (for me) may have had the best shot. Not now, vote Joe - BUT if he doesn't listen and bring the progressives on board to move the Dems forward, Putin/Trump or their like will win. (actually Putin direct may be better than another Trump!) 🤔
Bloomberg and his team apparently were successful in derailing the Sanders candidacy. The plot involved driving a new wedge into the Democratic Party, dividing the voters, achieving a critical number of Bloomberg followers, then turning those followers over to the candidate deemed most likely to defeat Sanders. Bloomberg built the Biden bandwagon, pre-loaded it with Biden followers, pick-up Biden, and took him to the front of the pack on Super Tuesday.
Why was Sanders the target? Because he would have conducted a major overhaul of US foreign policy. He would have re-established respect for international law, respect for UNSC resolutions, and respect for human rights conventions. All of this would have been a major threat to certain powerful persons in a certain foreign country.
This foreign interference in the US electoral process makes the much-talked-about Russian interference look like child's play.
10
Sanders and his supporters drove their own wedge deep in between decency and harassment. You lost me when you attacked warren. Don’t play victim now . You brought this on yourselves.
1
I have some questions and comments for those of you who are on the fence.
Do you REALLY think Biden is more "electable"? The guy has been on the wrong side of every issue you can name, he constantly makes stuff up (when Trump does it we correctly call that lying), he's aggressive with voters with whom he disagrees, and he's not very sharp anymore. He also willfully "misleads" about the cost of M4A. Not to mention, Biden has some serious corruption problems. I know, we have no evidence that he TECHNICALLY broke any laws. But remember, HRC was TECHNICALLY cleared of criminal wrongdoing, yet it didn't help with PR. It smells bad either way. He also helped pull the Dem Party to the right in the 80s.
He is going up against: A man whose policies are bad. A man who is on the wrong side of history on everything. A man who lies all the time. A man who is very corrupt. The best we can say for JB is he's not AS bad.
By contrast, Bernie doesn't usually lie, he's fought for other people his whole life, decades before it was cool to do so in the Dem Party. He's not corrupt, people like him, and people support his policies.
I will be honest. I strongly dislike Biden and I think he'd be a horrible prez. That said, when it comes down to it, I'll vote for him over Orange Menace.
BUT BUT BUT, Trump will almost certainly annihilate Biden; Biden is "the swamp creature of Trump's dreams."
Both candidates have liabilities; please take a chance on the safer bet: the great Bernard Sanders.
15
@ RB You don’t think Bernie has liabilities? That’s a big part of the problem that both you and Bernie share. Bernie has a huge ego but really nothing to show for it. No legislation, no formation of a consumer financial protection bureau ( like Warren did). Really nothing except beating the same drum and yelling about extreme positions. Bernie has moved the discussion to a more progressive place and that’s a good thing but he is not electable and he is not popular. If he can move Biden a bit more to the left, great. But he needs to do it carefully, quietly and put his ego aside. Otherwise he continued to polarize the Dems and trump wins again.
2
@Mossy
You didn't read what I wrote carefully. I stated: "Both candidates have liabilities; please take a chance on the safer bet."
And to your point, just moving the discussion this way is a major victory. Four years ago, M4A and GND were not taken seriously.
I fear that Trump will eat Biden alive.
And I know that Biden, like most Dems, will pay lip service to the climate threat but won't actually do anything. We need to reckon with the gravity of the situation.
Plus, I'm thrilled that for once in my life, a major prez candidate actually had the nerve to speak honestly about American foreign policy.
Every candidate has liabilities; Bernie has fewer, but he also has many more strengths.
All these Henny Penny's and the sky is falling if Sanders doesn't give up by the end of the day there will be no time for healing. Really? Let's watch the debate. Let's let the vote happen on Tuesday. Sanders has given Biden the questions to the test that will give the country the answer to where Biden is. Is he the guy with his finger in the wind ready to tell you what you want to hear and then still do the bidding of the donor class? We all surmise that is where he is. Will he see that healthcare is the #1 issue that needs to be addressed and the Rube Goldberg machine of the ACA is likely to be ruled unconstitutional next year? You want to improve the ACA Joe, what is plan B when it isn't there? Climate change is real Joe and the younger generation wants a livable planet 20 years from now. Campaign cash from the oil patch won't solve the climate problem. You had better get it together and come up with a plan that everyone can get behind not just the billionaires funding your belated run. Sanders may seem like he's assaulting you Joe, but you'd better get used to it. You seemed like a tough guy yesterday in the factory. Will you wilt under Trump's withering assault. If you can't take some tough love from Sanders your really don't stand a chance with Trump.
4
Read an article in Buzzfeed that Sanders has not gone all out on Biden because Biden was one of the Senators who has been nice to him from before he was famous. I do believe he will get behind Biden after the debate and bringing up issues. Which is fine and Biden needs to answer.
I hope the rest of Bernie's supporters can at least vote for Biden because you're going to get more progressive policies looked at and passed with a Democrat in office than Trump.
8
Things look bad for the Dems, because about a third of their electorate won’t be excited about voting and probably not show up in the general.
Hey, many did not even show up for Bernie, why would anybody expect that they would show up for the reviled Biden?
8
@heinryk wüste The voters have already shown up for Biden.
1
Even if Bernie suspends his campaign and vigorously endorses Biden I could never in good conscience vote for Joe Biden.
Why you ask?
I am 70 and have lived through the U.S. invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Three Democratic senators who eyed presidential bids caved in to political opportunism and moral cowardice to endorse the human and political catastrophe brought on by the Iraq invasion.
I did not vote for Hillary last election and will not vote for Joe this election.
What a sick political farce of a “Democracy” that offers up a Fascist monster on one hand and a centrIst opportunist and moral coward on the other as choices for President.
Nauseating.
Mike
17
@Michael This comment makes me wanna take a train to MA and buy you a beer.
3
Who cares? Then vote for Trump.
5
@Michael I voted for Hillary despite vowing to never vote for someone who voted for the Iraq War. Seeing how she's acted since then, I regret that immensely. Biden's even worse, because he brazenly lies about his vote, knowing no journalist will call him out for this shameless revisionism. It's sickening.
7
Sanders is doing exactly the right thing. The country has every right to a debate between these two candidates. To not have the debate would be undemocratic. Put everything on the table for the country to hear, see and evaluate. This is not Russia where one man or a clique decide who the candidate should be.
11
@Howard I agree. I want to hear what Bernie Sanders would do if he has a Republican Congress. Aside from yelling and whining.
6
I am very sad to read many of these comments .Demeaning and insulting to Bernie and his supporters.Biden cannot win without progressives voting for him.Are "moderates" more interested in spite,in grinding Bernie and his supporters faces into the mud? I thought the goal was to beat trump.
I suggest that Biden and his supporters start accepting ,then act on ,in including some of the main objectives of the progressives.A public healthcare option,a 15$ minimum wage, some respite from student loan debt,some plan to make college and vocational training more affordable and a serious commitment to fight climate change.Will work better than demanding "vote blue no matter who",and insults.
12
"Joe Biden’s Success Shows We Gave Obama a Free Pass", by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor should be required reading for anyone interested in informed discussion. Originally Feb 5 2020 NYT.
The Failures of the Obama administration and the state of people and politics at the end of his administration are precisely what lead to Trump. For Biden to propose going back to that is, if you'll allow me to express how I really feel, idiotic.
Therefore it is critical, in shaping the race against Trump, that Sanders Stay in as long as he is effective in moving Biden away from his conservative moderate republican/Obama policy prescriptions. Even with the Establishment behind him, Biden could easily lose to Trump without strong support of progressives. If Biden make a pivot to the right after winning the nomination, if he wins it, he will done and we will see the end of our republic with Trump at the helm.
The best move Biden/establishment could make, if he wins, is to be Sure progressives have something to vote for. A Warren or Abrams VP nomination or even more crazy like a fox, Sanders himself. If it's Klobuchar or Buttigieg, no dice. If it's some corporatist Rando like Tim Kaine was, move to Canada if you want a decent life. Trump will be president and the US will be done.
6
Sanders for VP might not constitute being crazy as a fox, but it is sure crazy!
1
Selfishness, plain and simple. Sanders needs to campaign hard for the ticket and not repeat his half-hearted endorsement of Hillary.
8
@Howard
Sanders "spent weeks travelling on behalf of Hillary Clinton, speaking for her in union halls and arenas, to students and activists."
https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/bernie-sanderss-hard-fight-for-hillary-clinton
5
"Elizabeth Warren Is Unlikely to Endorse Bernie Sanders. Here’s Why."
Well, basically, she's smart enough not to endorse someone who will be, in the harshest of terms, a loser once again.
Best to stay on the same team in the Senate.
9
Biden needs to step out of Obama's shadow now and become the leader of the Democratic party.
Bernie is doing Biden a favor by offering him a platform to do so on Sunday. Let's see if he can rise to the occasion. Bernie has seen this coming for weeks and has never stopped being respectful to Joe Biden, calling him a friend and ally in every interview.
Remember, Biden went from never winning a primary in any state to being the nominee in a few weeks. He's a disorganized person and needs to be corralled into a uniting and dominant position. Both Bernie and the DNC have a role to play here.
6
I am one of those college-educated women who supported Elizabeth Warren. In my youth I was in the revolutionary camp. As I aged I learned that the best way to accomplish my goals was to have cordial conversations with all. Ms. Warren knows this, Bernie never learned. And it has cost him and progressives the nomination in 2020, just like it did in 2016.
11
@Victoria I Paterno, MD Would you try a cordial conversation with Trump?
Greta Thunberg didn't even try to meet with him as she said it would be pointless.
5
@Erik Frederiksen No - the conversations have to take place within the wings of the Democratic Party. The Republicans need a complete rebuild to become something else; I'm not sure it's possible, less than 10% may be left (in both "Ike" senses)
After revisiting all of this, I think both Sanders and Biden want this to go well. My top recommendation is this: Ignore The Moderators! If they are just going to bait the candidates for click bait food fights, I'd say ignore them and have a civilized information session. Lay out the priorities on both sides.
For Biden that will be restoring democracy/our government and being a bridge to the next generation. For Sanders that would be healthcare and climate change. No reason there isn't room for both.
It would be inspiring to see them both getting together to beat Trump. And to get started on a different path. It would not only be inspiring. I think it's the only way it can work. By that, I mean the whole enterprise of beating Trump and laying out a better future for the younger people, some of whom will want to be involved and others who won't.
Collaboration, not polarization is the way to take the enterprise to the next level. And those who want to continue twitter wars and continue polarization, cut them loose. There's not much else that can be done. Giving them energy just perpetuates the polarization. Good ideas and cooperation may yet beat hate, fear, and division.
8
@Kathleen I said something similar. The two men are friends and Bernie genuinely likes Biden, unlike Clinton. I expect an endorsement after the debate and after more states go for Biden.
2
I don't remember anyone, either in the print media or television, urging Biden to get out after Nevada; when all the wise pundits were using the phrase, "who can stop Sanders?"
9
At this point, it has nothing to do with a clear path to the nomination. It has everything to do with nudging the Democratic Party leftward. And Bernie knows that. Moderates don’t excite the electorate anymore. Just look at Gore, Kerry, and Hillary. At least Obama offered hope and change. We are beyond desperate for major change. So yes, let the debate go on.
6
'Concessions"?
Is this a riff on Bernie or Bust, the implied threat that unable to hand the party a victory, you can hand it a defeat?
This is the last straw.
4
So many of the Sanders supporters here arguing he should stay in the race until the bitter end are the same people who heckled Warren and called her a traitor for daring to stay in for Super Tuesday. The hypocrisy is galling.
8
@Jolton Warren my second choice after Bernie.Do you have some psychic power to know what all the Bernie supporters were doing?Bernie himself said she ran a good campaign,and had every right to stay in the race. I read so many comments like yours,that are so divisive,
5
Are you kidding Nora? I could not post anything about warren on my page w o getting the same old “ why is she still in ?” “ she needs to drop out and endorse Bernie”. You guys are unbelievably arrogant and hypocritical.
2
Enough already! The last thing we need is Bernie doing Trump's dirty work going into the general election.
Any Dem is better than Trump and people need to recognize and acknowledge it and do whatever is necessary to get Biden elected.
9
Biden promises more of the same, which entails:
Medical bills as the biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in the US.
The poor getting poorer which the rich get richer and the middle class joins the former.
A climate system rapidly spinning out of our control.
I could go on and on, but you get the drift.
9
@Erik Frederiksen
Medical bills are NOT the biggest cause of personal bankruptcy in th US. That is a myth.
1
I am a Bernie voter who worked on Cap. Hill for 6 yrs., for no one particularly progressive. I've never missed a vote and have always voted for the nom., despite the complete lack of any type of real outreach (the only primary where I voted for the eventual nominee was '08). Biden looks at my generation's problems and says, "give me a break" and "I have no empathy." Wages are stagnating, costs are up, most health insurance coverage is useless, people are scared to go the doctor, have kids, pursue higher education, Democrats seem content on continuing the forever wars and an interventionist foreign policy that kills innocents...and that's his message to us.
More than 60% of voters under 50 across almost every state voted for Bernie. The generational divide is stark and yet, they are not remotely curious as to why that is. Obama had far better numbers, so did Bill. They do not want to a build a coalition with Bernie supporters. Their disdain for them is palpable, from Pelosi mocking the GND as the "Green New Dream or whatever" to cable news consistently misrepresenting the demos of his support and smearing them. They want to do it with suburban GOP voters. There will be no olive branch; the leaked potential cabinet makes that abundantly clear. Picks will be made at the behest of donors, ensuring no threat to their industries. The goal is crush the left and shut them out of meaningful policy debate. They've turned their backs on us, and now we turn our backs on them.
17
It's tough for Bernie to accept the loss. In '16 he should have won but the DNC stacked the deck. In '20 Biden has won fair and square but it's still hard to accept. I wish him well.
4
All we need is anther lier in the White House. Biden keeps saying that non profit health insurance would cost more than for profit health insurance. The healthcare issue is mostly symbolic against the greater issue of combating climate change. If Biden can’t take on the private health insurance industry, he certainly would not be able to take on the fossil fuel industry. Somehow it seems much worse to have a hypothetical Democratic establishment than an overtly corrupt Republican leadership. Unless the Democrats can come up with honest leadership, they will have to be taught a less at the polls.
5
Joe Biden won every County in MI which is where Bernie had a big victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016. I think what this showed is that Bernie may not have ever been a really good candidate but Hillary Clinton is such a despised person by the average voters that anyone who ran against her looks good. She’s responsible for Trump and she was responsible for Bernie success.
She is trying to become relevant again with her podcast so she can remind voters of the Democrats support of her and re-elect Trump?
2
If Biden wins the nomination there's a good chance trump will win again. If Biden then wins the election not very much will change... well, at least we won't be tweeted into extinction.
2
I listened to an interview with Biden's deputy campaign manger, Kate Bedingfield today. When questioned about what Biden would do to bring Bernie supporters into the tent and which of Bernie's policies would Biden consider in his campaign for the Presidency, Ms. Bedingfield dodged and then said nothing, nothing to assure Bernie voters that Old Joe would consider any new direction or even a slight adjustment in his old policies, to speak to concerned Bernie voters. I am disappointed in Joe Biden, to say the least, and saddened that he is the nominee. PS. I'm not a Bernie supporter, but I do like some of his and Warren's policies. Biden really needs to listen to ALL Democrats, not just those who are center-Right.
6
If Biden gets the nomination, as now seems likely, his chances of beating Trump are actually very small. It will most likely mean four more years of Trump
Bernie will end up endorsing Biden.
But the best thing that Bernie voters can do is either stay home, or better yet go to the polls and register their opposition by writing in Bernie. That also will ensure 4 more years, but it would go a long way toward breaking up the hold that corporate America has used to strangle the Democratic Party since Clinton.
5
Wow. Just burn down America huh? Is your “revolution” worth it?
1
Biden needs to refuse to debate on Sunday. Nothing good can happen because of a debate of two who are on the same side.
2
If/when Biden wins big on Tuesday in Florida, Ohio, Illinois & Arizona, Bernie must stand down. The door is barely open a crack right now, but it is almost certain to be slammed shut one week from today. Hopefully, Bernie will realize that remaining in this beyond Tuesday will only hurt Joe Biden and help Trump/Putin. I'll barely willing to give him another week if he wants to take another beating, but really he should stop now with some dignity intact.
3
"And for all of the criticism he has leveled at Mr. Biden recently, Mr. Sanders feels far more positively in a personal way toward Mr. Biden than he did toward Mrs. Clinton..."
Just not "that woman," amirite guys?
1
It's all well and good that Sanders's supporters are passionate and work hard to see him succeed. But their self-centered attitude cost this nation mightily in 2016, and we got that orange colored nut job in the White House due to those Sanders supporters.
I hope this time around, they don't muck it up for the nation by taking themselves out, like spoiled kids who hold their breath because they didn't get their way. Hopefully, they've matured and grown up.
I say "hope," but I don't really expect any thing different in 2020. I fear we are all going to be doomed to live with trump for another four years.
2
@Ernest Zarate By the way, I voted here in CA's primary for Elizabeth Warren. I think this nation has had enough of old white guys running the show, no matter their political bend.
However, now that she has dropped out of the race, I stand ready to support which ever of the old white Democrats is nominated. Even Sanders, if that be the case.
1
I think it's asinine to suggest that Bernie drop out of the race either before Sunday's debate or until Biden has a clear majority of delegates, at the very least.
I also think it's asinine for Bernie to pretend like the people haven't spoken, or that the youth revolution he predicted would lead him to victory at the ballot box never emerged – which I say as his supporter. The people have spoken, and they've very clearly spoken in favor of Biden. Few, if any, of the remaining primaries will alter that calculus.
After nearly two dozen debates, viewers don't need yet another rehash of the differences between the party's progressive & moderate wings. What we, as a party, need is Bernie not to be a sore loser; to accept that Elizabeth Warren neither dropped out before Super Tuesday, nor agreed to endorse Bernie, for reasons well-articulated by none other than AOC herself; and to acknowledge that while the revolution will have to wait a bit longer, the *paramount* goal for now is to stop Trump – and failing to do so could very well endanger the revolution entirely.
Finally, it might only serve as a small amount of solace, but as it turns out, AOC's 35th birthday will take place less than two weeks before the 2024 election.
Chew on that a bit.
2
You want consessions? You are willing to sell your country down the river to Trump? What you are suggesting is blackmail. Shame on you.
3
C’mon NYTimes, there isn’t that big of a spread between the delegate count to date. Obama was a disappointment, particularly in his second term, when he had NOTHING to lose by being a bold innovator. Instead, we got more of the same from an ‘establishment’ politician and Biden will be no different. Look at his record. Bernie has has exemplified the character of his convictions for decades; many of his initiatives have been embraced by contemporary candidates. I am not afraid of the changes this country so desperately needs, so I will support Sanders.
7
@Megan This is revisionist history, and also betrays what has always been one of the weakest points of any potential Bernie presidency – which I say that as his supporter: Obama's presidency was disappointing in overwhelming part because Republicans worked to thwart his policies at almost every turn, and absolutely so in terms of his original Affordable Care Act goals.
Bernie himself differs greatly from Biden et al on a core philosophical level. Bernie's odds of achieving any of his boldest policy proscriptions – M4A topping the list – are, if anything, significantly *less* than Obama's. Even if Democrats managed to both flip the Senate blue and eliminate the filibuster in its entirety, Bernie would *still* have an uphill battle on getting any part of his agenda through Congress.
While Trump has succeeded in placing the GOP in a de facto stranglehold, that's simply not how Democratic politics work – even with a uniter, not a divider, at its helm. (And as someone who effectively wants to implode its status quo, Bernie is clearly the latter – at one of the worst-timed points for division among the ranks.)
3
Let's see if Biden can be the leader of the whole Democratic Party on Sunday, which means he will have to make some concessions to the progressive wing. That's what Bernie is looking for and that's what we need to defeat Trump.
It was never just about the job for Bernie, did the Biden fans really expect Bernie Sanders to drop out instantly and start licking Biden's boots for a cabinet position like the rest of the candidates bar Warren?
5
Bernie, these are your signature issues. Isn't the question, what are YOU going to do?
Completely revamp US energy in 7 years? That's a tall order. What's the plan? Reinvent US healthcare?
Everyone knows what you stand for, but since when is pointing out a problem that same as solving it?
8
Biden's main claim to fame is his association with Obama.
During Obama's presidency the US because the world's largest producer of fossil fuels, which on our current track would turn Earth into basically a lifeless rock for millions of years, just like when magma set fire to coal in the end-Permian event.
Neither Trump or Biden give future generations a shot.
6
@Erik Frederiksen Indeed. Biden needs to make some course corrections vs. the Obama years especially on inequality and climate change or else nothing Bernie says or does will get enough of his base to show up in November. That's what Sanders wants to achieve with Sunday's debate. People need to calm down and think this through.
5
I want to exercise my right to vote in the Democratic Primary for the candidate of MY choice. EVERY primary/caucus is important because we each have the opportunity to participate and all voices are heard.
If we call it quits now and crown Biden king, how is that 1 person, 1 vote?
I, for one, would immediately look for a new party to join if they deny me a voice in the process.
It’s not just about which man wins (yes, both men disappointingly), it is also about building a party platform in which ALL voices are included.
4
I am very angry at the calls for Senator Sanders to drop out of the primary and throw his support to Joe Biden. At the age of almost 80, I've been waiting for Bernie for years and was happy to cast my ballot for him in California.
Why shouldn't all the other voters in states yet to vote have a choice? And why shouldn't we - the people - have the opportunity to hear these two candidates debate each other?
Why can't we have healthcare for all our citizens? Why can't we ratchet down our endless foreign wars? Why are we excited about a Biden who wants to keep the status quo? How sad that Biden's only real "plank" is to defeat Trump. Is this the best we can do?
22
@EB Two thumbs up.
8
@Erik Frederiksen
Thsnk you, Erik. The rest of the despair I feel is that I foresee a repeat of 2016 if Biden becomes the nominee. This may not come true simply because he is a man, not a woman - Clinton lost some points for that. But their records have a lot of similarities - aggressive foreign policy, can't have healthcare for all, Wall Street friendly, etc. We have half a million people on the streets, a burning planet, etc. Bernie 2020.
9
Good for Bernie. The voters need to know who exactly they are voting for.
8
@CacaMera
I think they already know that Sanders is a good man trying to help people and that Biden isn't sure what he's doing besides collecting money from oil companies.
But for some strange reason, perhaps all the articles in this paper trashing Sanders, they think Biden is more "electable".
4
Wish list? People in bankruptcy, massive climate disruptions on the horizon, a broken health care system for 300m people and you frame it as some politician's "wish list?"
Unreal.
8
Typical of Bernie Sanders, after announcing that he would give an important address to the nation and thereby creating the impression that he would be withdrawing from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination – he reneged.
Sanders used the extensive free airtime to lecture Joe Biden and to preach his radical views to his followers.
Typical of Joe Biden, he graciously agreed to participate in the one-on-one debate with Sanders as scheduled. Frankly, Biden should have told Sanders that it would be pointless to submit the Sanders proposal for single-payer healthcare coverage and the incredibly expensive benefits demanded by Sanders in education and other areas to a Republican Senate which would never let such a bill out of committee.
Regardless of what Bernie Sanders said, he is distracting Democrats, Independents and moderate Republicans from the crucial job of preparing a campaign to defeat Donald Trump, the worst president in American history.
5
@sdw "his radical views"
Like they have in Denmark, which is consistently rated among the happiest country on the planet.
9
@sdw
I know right?
If this carries on till the end of March, Joe et al will only have 8 months to propaganda the nation.
What will we do?
SO. LITTLE. TIME~~!
7
My motto has for months been VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO. But right now I am so angry at Bernie that I would vote against him, if he were to win the nomination. He has gotten fewer votes than he did in 2016. Voter turnout did increase, but not for him. These are real votes, from real citizens who simply do not support him. There was no "party establishment" telling people how to vote, no big conspiracy. People like me just want evolution and not a revolution. Joe has a real chance to move us forward on all the issues we care about (climate, income, health care), while all you pedal are pipe dreams that would never pass.
17
@Lisa S.
So what are you worried about?
Joe has this in the bag...right?
He won without spending money or staffing. He is now is backed by huge money and the establishment.
He can coast now, so why all the hysterics?
8
I just came up with this thought that I never thought of.
Biden to ask Warren as his running mate.
That ticket will defeat Trump for sure.
We need warren's strength to bring back humane policy to USA. Biden alone will be still better than Trump; but that is not enough.
Come on Biden; ask Warren to run as your running mate.
2
I adore Warren, but I don’t want her out of the Senate and replaced by a Republican. Harris would be an outstanding choice.
Warren: you are utterly invaluable where you are! We desperately need you to stay!!
1
@Elizabeth harris would be out also you realize...
@hiker
The same Warren who finished third in her state? Pass.
1
Americans who are Democrats must decide on what the aim is.
Is the aim to give Bernie Sanders a chance to be the Democratic candidate for President, because that is the most democratic thing to do? If so, he should stay in race until voters decide whether he will be the candidate, whatever the consequences this fall.
Is the aim to pit Sanders against Donald Trump in the election this fall, in order to give Sanders the chance to implement his policies? Then voters should flock to his banner and abandon Joe Biden, and so cause Biden to lose in the primaries.
Is the aim to defeat Trump in the next election? Then Americans should vote in the Democratic candidate most likely to win. Is Biden or Sanders most likely to beat Trump?
In my opinion, Biden stands a much better chance of beating Trump this fall, and is more likely to view some of Sanders's policies with favour, certainly much more likely than Trump would. In my opinion, Sanders has virtually no chance of beating Trump this fall. If so, having Sanders as the Democratic candidate will ensure four more years of Trump - which, in my opinion, would be a disaster for the United States.
I think Sanders should bow out and support Biden, since I believe Biden has the best chance of beating Trump and is more likely to implement some policies which Sanders would support.
4
I would love to hear a rational argument of how Sanders will get 218 votes in the House and 60 ( or 51 with the nuclear option?) in the Senate for any of his policies. I’m not being cynical. I really want to be convinced.
6
Bernie will make sure that Biden will be forced to at least publicly pay lip service to all of the important systemic social inequality issues that will still need to be addressed by a “safe” moderate President.
3
TYT reports Biden's people want him to sit down during the debate because he gets tired. There are questions percolating about Biden's ability to focus and endure. Julian Castro's "Did you forget what you just said?" When will those questions come to the surface? In a debate with Trump?
There ought to be one genuine, one-on-one debate before either one of them face Individual 1.
3
Once again, I have to say that for Bernie, it’s all about Bernie. He knows he’s finished, but driving Trump from office isn’t his top priority, and it never has been. Bernie wants his last moments in the sun, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, a genuine statesman would make a statesman like departure citing the primacy of ending Trump’s reign of terror while urging attention being paid to his most worthwhile programs.
Bernie: if you’re genuine, you’d realize that it’s not about you, it’s about what you’re fighting for.
12
Bernie has got to do the math, search his soul and then do the right thing.
He must throw his support (and that of his supporters) behind Biden. This is the only way they will beat Trumps GOP.
Not because trump is a better man, but because the GOP is a unified party with structural voting advantages.
The Dems have to put aside their internal acrimony once it s plain what the voters want, and then pull together towards a common cause - which is getting rid of Trump.
If they don't do that, then none of their internal maneuvering and strife will mean much, and NONE of them will be able to affect any change.
So Dems, Listen up. Stop focusing on that guy that's trying to steal your latte and pay attention to the guy in the corner with the knife.
3
Right now , quite frankly, and quite unintentionally, Sanders is nothing but a tool of Donald Trump.
9
For all this talk, what has Sanders actually achieved in the Senate that benefits liberal agenda??? Voting en masse with Democrats does not count.
9
In 2016 Hillary Clinton lost to a carnival barking con man.
The democrats had sent an inept and centrist democrat against Trump.
And now they want to send Biden who is a centrist democrat and even more inept.
Not very smart.
9
This could be Mr. Sanders last go around as the face of the progressive movement he has nurtured for decades. Although some of his most ardent supporters might have already produced prototypes for Bernie 2024. Tenacious B will not quit until Biden has surpassed a majority of the delegate count and maybe not even then. He has stood alone before during his quest through the years. He will likely hold onto any platform he can up to and into the convention.
3
@richard wiesner Hopefully that will give Biden time to crash and burn, but I don't think that will take longer than his debate with Sanders.
3
Go away! You ruined 2016 by being obstinate, please don’t stick us with Trump again Bernie! Grow up and know when to back off. It’s great to be principled but it’s even greater to know when to step aside for the greater good!
20
@Stefanie The primaries were rigged. Thank DWS for giving us Trump. Why should we quit?
7
@Stefanie Hillary lost 2016 all by herself, by being herself.
12
For all of you writing for Sanders to go away, I think you are scared of what Biden will look like trying to debate him.
And I think after that debate the gravity will shift back to Sanders because Biden has trouble speaking sentences and thoughts.
11
@Erik Frederiksen the gravity isn’t shifting back. We all know who all the candidates are by now.
It’s time for Bernie to gracefully stand down.
8
@NYCarchitect Biden does not have the required delegates and we both know how he will perform in the debate.
Very badly.
5
At this point, Sanders does not have a clear path for the nomination. He should set aside his ego and drop out of the race. Instead, he prefers to whip up his rabid supporters, and spoil The Dem party’s chances at the WH. Bernie has nothing to offer at this point except grievance.
15
The Joe Biden wing of the Democrat Party is on life support. It survived 2016 and likely will survive 2020, but it is the party of the past.
That young and Hispanic voters flock to Sanders tells the story. Our nation is changing. If the Democrat Party doesn’t change with it, and instead allows the old power brokers to continue to call the shots, it will follow the Republicans into irrelevancy.
Two old men debate Sunday. But one embraces change, and the other promises a worried nation that he will turn the clock back to the good old days. How will Biden and his ideas look without the scrum of other candidates to hide behind?
5
@Hugh-"That young and Hispanic voters flock to Sanders tells the story."
If that were remotely true, Bernie would have cleaned up yesterday. He didn't.
11
@Hugh
Well if black voters and suburban white women are becoming extinct you could’ve fooled me.
9
@BCasero
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/03/us/elections/exit-polls-california-primary.html
The rest of the country will catch up with California. Check back in 2024 0r 2028.
My original comment makes clear that I believe Biden's politics will likely prevail in 2020, at least in the primaries. But his ideas and the coalition that carries him to victory have a limited shelf life. They are not the Party's future.
Bernie needs to wake up and realize that we may be facing a different world ; businesses shutting down , stocks going down , shortages of medical equipment needed to accommodate corona virus patients , perhaps a shortage of needed meds for other conditions . I call his defiance more a stubborn old man's insistence of his agenda in a world at the edge of a major disaster . There will be more and more people getting sick and he wants Joe to presto explain how he will address climate change , poverty , mass incarceration , and medicare for all . I call this inane . He should be working on plans with Joe and the rest of the Democrats as to how they will handle this coming crisis and really help the people of this country .
12
The "Tell" came when Biden pulled a 'Trump', riled up the crowd by proclaiming that "Bernie wants to take away your private health care plan that you fought so hard for"
Really?
With single payer no one would have had to fight for health care. It would have already been there protecting them.
What good is their "fought for" private plan if they lose their job or the company closes ?
The vulture capitalist, perched on the tree branch, is just waiting for your 'health bill bankruptcy' to swoop down and take your home.
Then add it to his pile of rentals.
10
@Getreal Some are already losing their jobs for a different reason ; it's about what is going to put more people into hospitals now . All of the above you have mentioned will become meaningless in the coming pandemic . Trump has totally hobbled the CDC , and discredited any medical professional that could be of help . Other countries are able to test more people for the virus than (for shame , America ) and you are splitting hairs ; these are not going to be normal times . Get real .
3
The overwhelming majority of Americans do not want Medicare For All. Bernie’s unrealistic promises aren’t even popular. And btw, I’ve lived in nations with free healthcare. It took weeks to get an appointment, they lasted five minutes, and I was always inappropriately given antibiotics because, “we don’t have the funds or manpower to see you again.” No thank you.
2
@Elizabeth I lived in a country with free healthcare too, but Northern Europe not the UK. I made appointments over the Internet, was updated on my phone about the delays in the doctor's schedule due to emergencies he took in between patients, did NOT get wooden slates with forms but instead had insurance and my prescription delivered directly to the insurance company / pharmacy digitally. By the time I drove from the doctor to the pharmacy my prescription was ready.
3
The ones drinking the koolaid are not moderate voters but Bernie supporters. Do they truly believe there’s any chance for even 1/4 of his over-the-top liberal issues to pass in Congress esp if the Senate remains with the GOP? And how is he going to pay for it? There are not enough millionaires and billionaires to be taxed considering those millionaires and billionaires will be taking advantage of every available loophole to avoid taxes. So naturally Bernie’s tax burden will fall on that sliver of upper middle class who are not quite rich enough to be called rich, professionals in the 100k-300k income range. And those people, including myself, will never vote for Sanders.
9
If Bernie only believed in trying to make life better in a progressive way, he would warmly embrace Joe and then work together to make American life truly better. But no--Bernie is fueled by ego and righteousness. He will seek to wound Joe on Sunday night. He has to have the last word. He can't work with other people. He has to push his own way. He won't win but he'll weaken support for Joe and he'll make it more likely for Trump to win again. Thanks a lot Bernie. Just like Ralph Nader. You are going to help Trump in all of your perfection. You know darn well that Joe is not part of The Establishment-- That's a 1960's trope for lying and self-serving arrogance. Joe is not that and his supporters are not either. But your young supporters now believe that Joe supporters are the enemy. Just like you branded Hillary. You will make the young voters believe that politics is really against them and things will never get better- all because you can't have the presidency. Great move Bernie.
16
@Mom I completely agree!
5
A lot of commenters want Bernie to just drop out. His ideas are crazy they say. Well, if the y are really crazy, the American people won't buy them, right?
But if they're not so crazy, maybe they'll expose good old Joe's positions as not so good for the average Joe, especially when he or she gets sick or injured. Who cares about the 500,000 Americans declaring bankruptcy every year because of medical expenses? Only in America. Joe's America.
P.S. Bernie's America would have no such bankruptcies. None. but The investor class would reap less dividends. Can't let that happen, can we?
7
@William Dufort
"Well, if the y are really crazy, the American people won't buy them, right?"
Umm, that's what the primaries are for. The Dem voters have already spoken. And they aren't buying Bernie's ideas.
Maybe it's time for the DNC and other Party leaders to remove Sanders from any further primaries on the simple grounds that the man is not a member of the Democratic Party?
I've been asking all along why is someone who is not a member of the Party allowed to even run in its Primaries?
9
dear Bernie, please go away. (Sincerely, anyone who knows how to do math).
13
@Lupito
Er ….no that's the total number of pledged delegates. You need 996 delegates to win. Biden will almost certainly be there in the next 2 weeks.
Apparently your arithmetic isn't as good as you thought it was. LOL
8
wrong. 1991 is half the delegates plus one
1
We've seen this movie before. "A return to normalcy," was Warren B. Harding's theme when he ran for president in 1920, so similar to Biden's "Nothing will fundamentally change."
Bernie, you are a voice of reason in a world gone mad, and I urge you to continue your campaign.
8
Bernie’s speech is really very good. Thank you for posting it in full (in the other article). I look forward to the debate.
13
It's very kind of Bernie Sanders to let Joe Biden know what he's going to be asking him about at Sunday's debate, because Biden has given so little indication of what his policies would be that I wonder if he's even thought about such minutia much. This ought to give him some time to focus. Biden has been clear that he intends on bringing--yet another!!--group of financial insiders into his administration to make sure nothing like income and health care parity is even attempted, and Biden is beholden to all sorts of corporate interests, and will work overtime to keep them happy. Sanders has been letting people know what he intends to do, without fear of the consequences, and I know he can be trusted not to run a corrupt administration. However, I don't know if Biden can be trusted. Let's see what he has on his mind in this next debate, before we accept his coronation.
12
@Sidewalk Sam Does Bernie have a Plan B if he has a Republican Congress? Because the moderate districts we flipped in 2018 will become red again, and the Senate will be out of reach. #MoscowMitch will be with him every step of the way. I'd like to hear him talk about what he's going to do in this likely scenario, aside from yelling.
4
This is not just about earning the Democratic presidential nomination. This is about listening to the grievances of many of us who supported Sanders and Warren alike. Bernie and the people he represent have a voice right now that they will not have once Bernie leaves the race.
I want Trump to be defeated as much as anyone, but to suggest that we all need to shut up and join the Biden family without having any concessions is assumptive and insulting.
12
This is worrisome. If Sanders can't win the nomination, he's going to burn the whole thing down.
6
@Livonian Such a scary fellow isn't he? I'm shaking in my boots.
/snark
4
@Lupito
Perhaps because you have nothing to lose? Millions of Americans do, though.
3
The Bernie bros always talk a good game. then they fail to show up to vote so they can stay home, have their mom do their laundry, and play Minecraft
1
For the good of the country, Bernie should bow out/withdraw immediately. The country can't afford to see Joe get confused on National television. Do it for the country, Bernie.
2
@P&L Would you rather wait to see Joe get confused debating Trump?
I mean, really.
4
I fear that Sanders attitude is endangering the Democratic party, one of which he is not even a member, to defeat the most dangerous, uneducated, self-enriching crook ever to have disgraced the Oval Office.
Sander pipe dream of manna from heaven, e.g. free higher education, universal healthcare, akin to all other advanced nations, has absolutely no chance to pass Congress, and he knows it.
A Biden - Warren team would easily send Trump packing, while Warren as VP would turn some of Bernie's 'revolutionaries' into Biden voters.
6
I believe this is unity in action. Sanders is giving Biden the playbook! So now Biden has all the questions he needs to generate answers for Sunday night. Thank you Bernie! We know that you will work as a team from now on. Thank you!
6
Time to shut this down, everyone rally with Biden. All Sanders can do now is stir the pot at a time when the country needs to pull together. Biden, Sanders and Nancy Pelosi need to call for Trump to be impeached again for gross negligence of his duties. People are losing their lives because of him. Bernie use the clout you have as you are leaving the stage to call for a temporary healthcare for all, until this is over. Once it's over the reassess how it went for the future.
2
Bernie is grumpy, his suits are rumpled but his message is clear. people over power.Joe Biden's smile is full of white teeth, beautiful white teeth.
Biden's brother James is somehow invested in healthcare insurance. Joe thinks Bernie's Medicare for all is crazy.
Biden loves his family. Bernie loves the American people.
Let's debate healthcare and other issues like Anita hill, bankruptcy law, Iraq, criminal justice, credit card issues(all based in his home state).
7
Bernie, your movement must now work from within as you express your platform and goals, Staying in as a candidate makes you look like a selfish self serving fool, Enough!
And Bernie, you run as a Democrat but you never really have been one. Perhaps you should have pandered to those who want a more socialist structure, then run as a Socialist and created a 3rd party. But you won't
Your staying now will only weakenj Biden at a time when we MUST take the autocrat Trump down,
And YOU must demand your followers vote in November, Remind them of a SCOTUS with perhaps 2 more Trump nominees, Shudder the thought!
6
Shame on you, Bernie. What do you expect to accomplish by staying in? You remind me of Ralph Nader.
Of course if you stay in, you collect donations which you can keep after you've paid your bills.
14
@Don Juan While Sanders spends his time trying to improve the lives of others Biden spends his time collecting money from fossil fuel companies.
6
It's the usual baloney from this twit Sanders. He states problems but never exactly explains how you deal with them in he context of the US financial, social and political system.
10
@John
And you apparently don't read his website.
3
Go Bernie, go!!!
6
Dear Bern-out,
Please drop out.
Your friend, America.
12
The biggest threat to the Democratic Party is that Joe Bidens policys are closer to the Republican policies than they are to Bernie Sanders. While Biden will pick up some Independents and moderate Republicans if he stays moderate, he will undoubtedly lose the enthusiasm and votes that only Sanders brings to the far left. The DNC is clearly doing what it did in 2016 all over again and that transparency will enrage Sanders supporters if/when he does not get the nomination. The only viable possibility I see for unity would be a Biden/Warren ticket. She could bridge the gap between the center left and far left. I do not see any other path to victory for the Democratic Party. And its probably why she has not yet thrown her endorsement to Mr. Sanders.
9
@NYer
Can't imagine why ALL these Democrats are voting for Biden. He carried EVERY county in MI, MO and MS. So how did the DNC arrange this. Mass hypnotism? We will NEVER hear from you of course because you are totally irrational. Biden's pick for VP (you are acknowledging he is going to win despite the destructive behavior of Sanders) will probably be Harris. She ticks all the boxes. Female, ethnic minority, super smart.
12
@NYer you should try to look for other paths and get behind any person who isn’t Trump you want to win. And leave your self righteousness outside the voting booth.
7
@NYer "Joe Bidens policys are closer to the Republican policies". This statement is flat-out WRONG. Please visit Joe's website or other sources* to check his stances gun control, climate change, immigration, minimum wage, ... before you post. This is how we get into chaos and why many people are turned off by Bernie supporters. Facts, details, plans matter.
*https://www.politico.com/2020-election/candidates-views-on-the-issues/joe-biden/
5
I am looking at next Tuesday primaries in AZ, FL, OH, IL about 600 more delegates are up for grabs and the polls have Biden winning by double digits.
I can Understand Sanders is not quite ready yet, BUT next week if Sanders agains loses all or most primaries, Sanders should drop his presidential bid, for the good of the party and the country.
We do not need a repeat of 2016 with Sanders damaging Hillary campaign by hanging to the bitter end and as reported many Sanders supporters either staying home on Election Day or voting for trump.
This time Sanders must control his ego and focus on what must be done, to defeat trump.
11
Sanders is incapable of controlling his ego. He’s a megalomaniac, and anyone who so much as asks him to explain how he’ll pay for his pie in the sky policies is a traitor engaged in conspiracy. This is pathetic. He’ll stay in long after he isn’t viable to stroke his ego and damage the DNC, of which he is not a member. If he cared one whit for this country, he would drop out and preach unity.
10
Given the electoral success of the establishment’s risk aversion decision just prior to Super Tuesday and the weaknesses of its beneficiary, Bernie Sanders will likely be “debating” an empty podium.
2
I supported Bernie, but think his campaign is likely done unless Biden messes up drastically.
But having just read Bernie's "staying in the race" speech, I'm glad he's going to stay in long enough to put his questions to Biden in a debate. No one should be elected president of this country without having to answer those questions.
I don't expect Biden to have great answers yet, but he needs to start thinking seriously about issues like climate change, because we are all running out of time fast. Denying that requires "pie-in-the-sky" magical thinking, because radical socialist things like math, science, and objective facts say otherwise. Everything is not OK, we are not going to be OK, and your children's and grandchildren's futures are under serious threat. Choosing incremental extinction for the sake of comfort is selfish cowardice, not pragmatism.
6
I think Sanders does still have a path to victory, because Biden will have to debate him and Biden is a meandering speaker who struggles to complete sentences let alone thoughts.
I don't think Biden will come out of that debate in one piece.
11
@Erik Frederiksen Bernie probably won't come out too well either. With only one other candidate on the stage, he probably won't get away with dodging questions about how exactly he plans to pay for his grand plans. He's had years to scream about what he wants to do, but apparently in all that time hasn't managed to figure out how to pay for it.
12
You really believe that after 6 years of shouting his agenda, that one debate is going to change the winds of change for Sanders? Democratic voters have been listening to him for 6 years and yet he has not moved the needle significantly to even come close to Biden after New Hampshire.... and he lost Michigan this time. Sorry, but voters clearly do not think this is Sanders’ time.
7
Bernie is the Democratic alternative to Republican Lite Biden.
The fire in his belly is similar to that of FDR.
9
It is only March and most of the country hasn't had their primaries. Something is wrong with the system when only a few states decide the primaries. America has a sick sick democracy, if that...
6
@RCJCHC Did you also happen to notice that Hillary Clinton got 3 million more votes than Donald Trump did, and yet he was the one who became president? It's very difficult trying to explain how exactly that can happen or how it remotely makes sense.
This pretty much confirms for me that Bernie Sanders is, underneath all that animated gesticulation and east-coast bluster, fundamentally all about... Bernie Sanders. Aside from his endless impossible promises and downright meanness we most certainly do not need another narcissistic populist in the White House for the next century or two.
21
After Michigan, when Bernie Sanders could most benefit from the support of Elizabeth Warren (who agreed with him on many issues) she waffles, watching him from a distance and says not one word. What a gal!
6
She is entirely too smart to jump on a sinking ship.
8
@Sally See the article about Warren on the main NYT page today .She doesn't think think he can get elected. She's not alone in thinking that, and the results last night back her up on that.
5
I very much doubt that Biden will be a better president than Trump. We have now two bad choices as in the 2016 elections.
6
Here we go again. Sanders '16 = Trump '16. Sanders 2020 = Trump 2020.
1
Somehow methinks if the shoe were on the other foot the media haranguing and calls for Biden dropping out would be nonexistent.
10
Bernie is a negotiator, so this can be interpreted in a few ways. It can have a positive outcome or a negative. Again, we will have to play the wait game to find out.
I don't think he is expecting Joe to morph into a Bernie Mini-Me, but Bernie does like to leave a brand, or to be current, a tattoo. He will not leave quietly.
At first I was a bit taken back from the laundry list he recited, but as I think about it, it will all be in the way he does it.
I just hope I don't get upset at Bernie. I have gracefully resigned to the prospect of electing Biden as the Interim of Chief, and I hope Bernie does too. He needs to have trust that his platform will be continued, whether he yells it from the rafters in Milwaukee or not.
3
These comments are flooded with Bernie supporters, just a thought. I support Biden even though I agree with Bernie on almost every issue, I believe the most effective way to get change is with compromise and not more divisive solutions.
8
@Ryan I think that if Biden runs against Trump he will fare as the last 5 or 6 "centrist" democrats have. And lose.
Obama only won because he pretended to me progressive.
6
And this is how we ended up with Trump in the first place. Sanders does not seem to realize that refusing to withdraw when he cannot win the nomination hurts the Democratic candidate in the General election. At this point Sanders should at least be thinking about how he can bring his supporters over to Biden, especially the Only Bernies, who refused to vote for Hillary in 2016. Fine, have the debate, but if it becomes impossible for Sanders to win the nomination, he should concede immediately and campaign for Biden. We really don’t want another four years of Trump.
10
@Madeleine McKenzie If that were true, Obama would have lost in 2008. Obama and Hillary tore each other to shreds to the very bitter end, and Obama still won it all.
3
I voted for Bernie in the 2016 CA primary. I understand the appeal to his Utopian and unrealistic vision of America, but he needs to do what's best for American and work as a part of a united team to defeat Trump in November and send him into the dustbin of history at light speed.
The fact that Bernie has no path to the nomination at this point, yet won't get behind Biden has left me having lost a lot of respect for the man.
As to his cult-of-personality following, I hope when the dust settles they join the team and vote for Biden rather than sitting out the election in November as many of them are threatening to do.
12
Biden has a corruption problem as a result of years of political compromise and gamesmanship. Expect this to be a major issue if he becomes the nominee.
Whatever you think of Sanders, he has consistently fought for the policy issues that matter to him. Voters are tired of business as usual in poitics, Trump's election is a symptom of that. If the Democratic Party continues to call (without any subtlty) for Bernie to step aside, before half of their own voters have had a say, they should proceed at their own peril.
15
@Jason Whatever you think of Biden's "corruption problem" (not unlike that nebulous "cloud" of corruption surrounding Hillary 4 years ago), it is NOTHING compared to the real, verifiable, despicable corruption--legal, moral, of the soul corrosion--of trump. If "swing voters" in certain states are again themselves morally bankrupt enough to vote REAL corruption over a "cloud" then we all get what they deserve: an oligarchy, a destruction of American ideals, a DOA American dream, a reactionary, racist, sexist judicial system for generations to come, and an increasingly life-threatening environment.
6
The difference is that Biden has actually accomplished things while Bernie just continues to shout.
18
Bernie just fell behind Bioden by a full percentage point in the Washington primary. It will get worse: late voters fleeing Bloomberg, Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar will almost all turn to Biden.
My point is only that it is a lost electoral cause for Sanders: Florida, Ohio and Georgia all portend double digit losses.
This "remain in the race" is just Bernie putting his thumb in the eye of the DNC--"you will listen to me or you will regret it."
Problem is that his message does not appeal to the many voters for Biden. It is not the DNC, it is the sense of confidence of a candidate to challenge Trump in the nation as a whole, and a person who can best lead the country;.
The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good. Biden is not perfect, but he would be good, and way better than Trump. Do not let Sanders derail this. We have had 3 full years of disaster already.
13
Bernie gives us a very good opportunity to judge Mr. Biden’s electability in the forthcoming debate. Trump won’t be so nice as Bernie to him.
No need to be furious or upset.
12
Here’s a fun idea: Bernie can continue to be in the primary race for a party he doesn’t even belong to, if and only if he releases his medical records.
4
Bernie should stay in the race as long as he wants. No problem. Just finished reading Bernie’s speech, all the questions he has for Joe will bight Bernie . Where has Bernie been for 40 years? What has he done ? Elizabeth Warren was so right about Bernie, all mouth & no action. The firming up of Obamacare is due. More people should read up on German healthcare system . It is a hybrid. You cannot legislate morality , just as you cannot legislate one size fits all healthcare. Same with education, not everyone qualifies for education plus many students DO NOT WANT TO WORK while in school. Germany will pay for your education as long as you make the grades. We hand out student loans that have a low grade threshold. Let’s stop student from incurring debt when their grades don’t qualify them for university coursework. Yes we need to do something about healthcare , education , excessive profiteering & wages. But where was Bernie in 1993 when universal healthcare was proposed? You can’t be as old as the hills & have no track record. We would be trading in one political despot for another. That’s not what anyone wants.
11
despot?
Bernie Sanders is not being above-board with the American people about his motives and "moral" integrity.
Why did it take Sanders over a month to acknowledge that US intelligence had briefed Sanders that Putin was "supporting" him to be the Democratic Party nominee? The news was made public the day before the Nevada caucuses. Do you think Sanders was trying to hide something from the American public for personal political gain?
And let's go to right now. The main objective of the Democrats is--or should be-- to throw out Trump and his minions (including in Congress) as totally corrupt, incompetent and a danger to our democracy and security. (Trump himself, if he were not President, would probably be the least likely American citizen to get a US security clearance based on facts publicly known.)
So why doesn't Sanders ("Uncle Bernie") read the tea leaves after Super Tuesday and yesterday's Michigan and other state primaries, figure out which way the wind blows, and throw his hat in the ring now in support of Biden as the (perhaps) best but certainly the highly likely Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States. And the one Democratic voters consider the most likely to beat Trump and Trumpism in the 2020 elections.
There's not a hero born every minute. What do you say, Bernie? Are you willing to support Biden when it most counts, or are you going to help bring him down because you don't really care who wins if it's not you?
7
This is in keeping with Bernie's MO. All the other candidates have done their MATH, starting with my 2 favorites Yang and Pete. He has proven to be unchanged for 50 some odd years, which some people consider to be something positive, or one can look at that as a tremendous inflexibility and inability to absorb new information to adjust one's position. Anyhow, that is water under the bridge, not that Sanders will see it that way. He'll pull another 2016 on everybody. The tale of the scorpion and the frog reimagined.
7
@Andy I am also a big Pete and Yang fan. I hope to hear more from both of them. The youngest candidates yet more wise than Bernie, and with equally progressive plans, and in some ways more progressive and more do-able.
8
Bernie is a beast and the better candidate.
Trump will only be stopped by covid-19. If it subsides and the economy rights itself before November, Trump will steamroll Biden.
Shame to the establishment and continued corporatocracy.
10
Bernie reminds me of an angry old man yelling "Get off my lawn!" when he is actually the one invading someone else's lawn.
He crashed the Democratic party 4 years ago and spoiled its chances. He then reverted to Independent, did very little for the Democratic party, then he crashed the Democratic party again. Enough. At this point, I would really rather he create his own party instead of leaching off the Democrats. But he's too lazy to actually do the hard work, so I doubt he will.
15
Voters have spoken Bernie. Are you listening? Or are you going to pull a Trump and go conspiracy theory?
12
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended staying in the Democratic nominating contest on Friday by pointing out that her husband had not wrapped up the nomination until June 1992, adding, ‘We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.’”
- New York Times, May 24, 2008
4
Yep. Clinton stayed in the race much too long. When it’s over it’s over. Shame on her.
But Clinton serves as a role model when it suits Sanders’s supporters. Shame on you.
5
The constituency of the president is every American. Regardless of state, political affiliation, economic status, ethnic, racial, or other identity. Bernie has not really come to terms with the entire nation, he's not been able to communicate and be heard really. In part. because he scolds about problems, has generalized solutions, and has not demonstrated empathy beyond concepts to larger populations. He's not completely wrong, but exceedingly incomplete in his message, his tenor and in his capacity to enroll support of significant majorities of the Party and the country.
5
I find all this hand wringing and pearl clutching rather bizarre. Yes, it’s very likely Biden will win the majority of delegates, but less than half the voters have voted! Let’s give everyone a voice. Let’s let the primary play out and the debates continue. Most likely Biden will win and we’ll learn more about what kind of a candidate he’ll be in a general. If you think Bernie’s been tough on him, wait until Trump starts up.
7
@Tom Sanders has had a voice for quite a while now, and he still hasn't managed to bring voters out for him.
2
Great to have Biden and Bernie face-to-face in a debate. Just two old white guys going after each other. To make the debate more interesting maybe we could have them arm wrestle each other, say best two out of three after the debate. Both candidates have pluses and minuses but if you compare them side-by-side, there are more similarities than differences. Where the breakdown comes is in Bernie's approach to fixing say health care. He's going to be in a pitched battle with Republicans, the Insurance Industry, and ultimately the courts. Trump has been packing all of the Federal courts with the most ideological people he could find. Why? That's the GOP's future firewall to strike down any and all progressive legislation. So Bernie's promising to make it all better, I beg to differ. It's going to take a decade to unravel the damage the Trump administration has inflicted on America. That's provided you can actually wrestle power from him. What do you suppose Trump will do if he loses the election? Concede? Leave office? Remember when he was asked if he would concede after a defeat in 2016. The more likely scenario is to say the election was rigged, and send it all to the courts for adjudication. Remember the election of 2000? So best of luck to Bernie and Biden in their debate. Bernie will not withdraw, he will show up at the convention ready for a fight with Biden. Then maybe he will try the third-party thing. We all know how that ends. Trump re-elected.
4
At least in this debate on Sunday, neither candidate will be accused of attacking the other based on race, gender, or sexuality for once.
That will be refreshing.
5
Sanders is going to lose the Democratic primary, again. The question now is, will he get with the program and genuinely support the Democratic candidate?
Or will he play the spoiler?
9
@Duane McPherson
Asked and answered. Sanders is now in toxic territory.
He's made himself the issue, which is ironic because socialism is "us" not "me, me, me".
Of course the real reason Sanders will hang on to the bitter end is the tens of millions of campaign donations he can bilk from his political ponzi scheme.
With millions banked in campaign contributions, Sanders can legally donate all of it to a reconstituted "Sanders Institute" (run by his wife's son who made $100K as director). Sanders shut down Sanders Institute last year because it illegally engaged in political activity with nonprofit resources (like Trump).
This time around it'll be more than a first class trip to Rome for the Sanders clan charged to the campaign.
Running for president is the best investment Bernie ever made, a much better ROI than collecting a federal paycheck for 30 years for doing next to nothing, except promote himself.
5
"As goes Ohio so does the Nation"
... or something like that.
As an Ohio voter, I am glad I still get a choice in the Primary.
The entire Primary system is as antiquated as the Electoral College. I have been disenfranchised election after election and I am fed up with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina (I mean... come on) even the mighty California... tired of these states and the media circus deciding what choices Ohioans get to make.
2
Joe Biden should have the same answer to every question Bernie puts to him: There's no need to discuss this issue. There is only one issue before the voters: The fact that I can beat Donald Trump and you, Bernie, cannot. All the rest is irrelevant.
8
@Maxy G Sorry, but NO! For those Americans living Paycheck to Paycheck, with no Health Care, and No Pension, and No Savings, and No Education, and NO HOPE, NO!!!!! Who can be elected matters NOT ONE WHIT, if the POLICIES DO NOT CHANGE!!!! So I drown in debt under Trump's administration, or I drown in debt under Biden's administration. What is the difference? And while I am at it, if I have to suffer so much because of YOUR indifference, I will take pleasure in watching YOUR suffering under Trump.
So, maybe you have enough secure funds to be cozy, but almost half of America does NOT! Whether Biden or Buttigieg, or Amy, nothing gets better for us. But Bernie at least offers hope. So many, many Americans do not, and can not agree with your narrow views. And I will have the last laugh when Senility Joe get wiped on the floor by Trump.
A vote for Biden is a vote for another 4 years of Trump.
1
Sanders lost every single County in the most important States on Tuesday. Clearly Sanders peaked out 4 years ago. I can't believe
he is not dropping out now to support the clear winner, Biden. Continuing to trash Biden is just so bad for the Democratic Party and for the country.
9
So the cranky old narcissist is fully prepared to once again be the spoiler. He cannot win the nomination. Had he won, he would have been very unlikely to win the Presidency. But that doesn’t stop Bernie. He is positive that he’s right by god and he doesn’t care what damage he does even if he destroys whatever chance the Democrats had of taking Trump out. Bernie and the Berners will burn it down before they will stop and have a care about what happens to this country.
10
This is just "the revenge of the Sandernistas"--a boisterous, "up yours" exit, placing old shoes in the gears (remember the definition of "saboteur") and polluting water that shows abundant signs of clearing.
The point is properly made: Bernie isn't just a politician, he's a crusader at the head of a movement--and he's the chief spokesman and arbiter of what is and is not acceptable. Bernie's "Seven Questions" constitute the script for interrogating Biden and testing him for Purity.
The effect will be not "coalition-building," which has begun to snowball the Democrats into a commanding position, but separation and focusing on how the Good fails to reach the pinnacle of Perfection.
I've had enough, Bernie. You DO have extremely good points to make about our culture's failure to meet ideal conditions. But you utterly fail to acknowledge the realities of what is needed to right a Ship of State that is badly listing. Don't poke holes in the hull as you personally get ready to abandon ship.
16
Perhaps Trump should just put Bernie on the ticket.
4
A vote for Bernie is a vote for trump - 'nuff said.
8
As a Sanders/Warren supporter, it is clear we need to come together to support Joe Biden. But calls for unity have to go both ways. While we have to support Joe (consider the alternative), Joe has to show that he takes seriously, and will work towards, progressive goals. Joe wants to bring us back to the good old days of Obama. But it wasn't so good (not really Obama's fault) and that's what brought us Trump. This is necessary not only to bring the "Bernie Bros" to the polls, but to deal with the problems that led to Trump.
Joe sees the problem as Trump- and boy is he a problem, a danger, a disgrace. He wants to get us back to where we were before being trumped on. But for Bernie and his supporters (me too!), where we were was high rates of poverty, great inequality, little protection for workers, a planet heating up, and the despair, anger and desperation that led some otherwise decent people to vote for Trump.
Two people have transformed politics (and the two parties) in the US in the 21st century- Trump and Sanders. Trump gave us scapegoats to hate while helping his rich buddies to further pollute our politics, our economics, and the air we breathe, while laughing all the way to the bank. It's not enough, Joe, to get rid of him. We have to act on the vision Sanders- and Warren- gave us to genuinely better the lot of the American people, and to turn the ship of state around from the right (wrong) turn it has been taking over the last 40 years.
261
@Peter Wolf You do realize that both sanders and trump have been helped by russia, it is a fact several agencies have reported that, now ask yourself why the majority of America is voting for Biden.
Because we are a moderate country w are tired of trump and we do not want to swing to the opposite extreme with sanders.
Keep that in mind when you ask for Biden to embrace inflexible sanders and be realistic.
27
@Peter Wolf Just help Biden beat Trump. Let him get into office. Then we will see what he does. It can't be anywhere as bad as Trump has and will do. And it probably will be a whole lot better. No need to try to nail him down on issues he needs to shift on in order to win the general election.
22
@Gianni ok if you are correct a huge chunk of the Dem party is going to leave and the DINOS can join the Republicans
8
With a goal of promoting a progressive agenda, Sanders should campaign with kindness, continuing to talk about ideas that matter to progressives, and using his campaign to encourage the party to adopt a platform that includes a strong approach to climate change and other key issues.
His campaign slogan should be the guiding principle -- not me, us -- how can we as a party create a campaign and an administration that really leads the way forward.
4
@Jennifer L. I have never seen or heard this Sanders you describe. If I had, I’d have voted for him. Sanders is his own worst enemy.
6
@Jolton Sadly true, yes. And I don't think his campaign staff understand this approach either, but Warren or other progressives could maybe convince him.
1
Sanders should confront Biden concerning the issues which he believes are important. Hopefully, by the end of the debate we all will get a better grasp of Biden's priorities and maybe by asking Biden, Sanders will see that prioritizing the issues is very important. So far, everything must be done immediately whether that is feasible or not, as Sanders has presented these issues.
4
Sanders and his supporters clearly intend to do to Biden in 2020 what they did to Clinton in 2016. Prepare for another four years of Trump. That is all.
11
There is plenty of time until November. This is no longer the democratic party of old or Republican light. With 1/4 to 1/3 of the party now essentially social democrats the old guard must find creative and compelling ways to bring us into the tent or center right Clinton/Obama/ Biden type democrats may not win another presidential election for a long time. Personally, I'd vote for Biden if I lived in a swing state despite my support for Sanders. I know what's at stake, but not all progressives feel this way. You have work to do. Tune in Sunday as the debate will essentially Bernie holding Biden's feet to the fire of social democracy and the neolibs would be smart to take notes and start granting concessions.
2
@bayoak,
I am with James Clyburn. I know what he and others did to build the Democratic Party. Nobody owes me anything, quite the contrary. I owe him and the others who built this nation. I don't even know what an American 'social democrat' is, but when they have done for this nation what Clinton, Obama, and Biden have I will reconsider my allegiance.
I heard Sanders say today that the young are voting for him, implying that his ideas are the future. He is wrong. The young do not stay young; those who are able to learn from experience change as they age. In reference to public policy, it is a sad thing to see an old person who has been unable to grow and learn from experience.
Old saying: " If you are young and not a liberal, you have no heart. If you are old and not a conservative, you have no brain'.
1
Reid J. Epstein, to quote Sanders on Carville, is a political hack. His reporting is part of the American media's incapacity to objectively report on Sanders and the movement he represents.
It is a very, very old story. Entrenched power mobilizes the minds of people like Reid Epstein and Andrew Ross Sorkin to manufacture words and ideas that justify and maintain their grip on power. Sheltered from the reality of the suffering of millions of people, writers like Epstein maintain their insulation through their servility. Sorkin belittled the Occupy movement. Epstein belittles Sanders.
Today, Norman Solomon wrote a piece at Common Dreams called "In a Dark Time the Eye Begins to See Clearly" (http://bit.ly/CommonDreams9) which is a fitting response to this article.
He writes: "No matter who wins the Democratic presidential nomination, many millions of people will refuse to unsee what has become all too clear. On the verge of spring 2020, we can see what we’re up against:
1) A crowing media establishment, eager to relegate the Bernie Sanders campaign to the political margins.
2) A gloating Democratic Party establishment, glad to rally around Potemkin candidate Joe Biden and extol his carefully crafted façade.
3) Overall, interlocking systems based on greed and corporate power instead of shared resources and genuine democracy.
11
@Christopher Mark Theodore And meanwhile, while you’re wallowing in your Dostoyevsky, we allow Tramp to wreak another four years of havoc. No thanks. Shush, youngster. Just shut up and vote.
3
People didn’t vote for Sanders because....they didn’t want to vote for him. I had no desire to vote for Sanders either, not because of a DNC- or media brainwashing, but because i...didn’t want to vote for him (for many, many reasons).
4
Just when it looked like the people had a chance of change, in moves the Democrat establishment to support Biden. They could obviously see what a threat Bernie is to them and to the oligarchs. Trouble is, it was so obvious, that they now have shown their hand, and revealed to all that Biden is a puppet of big business.
11
Sanders was never particularly fact based. He never offered a stategy to pass legislation to implement his plans. There were 70 Democratic Senators and 26 Republicans in 1935 when FDR was president.
Continuing to campaign against and debate Biden helps Trump. It serves no other purpose, though Sanders will claim his actions are righteous. Neither he nor his supporters can really believe "establishment" (Deep State?) Dems somehow did not notice there is economic inequality and our health system fails many. Biden supporters (like me) believe 2018 evidenced how to win by running moderates in swing states. I want to build on that and win the senate, not just the dogma debate in an all star wrestling ring that diminishes Trump's opponent.
Today Sanders lost all claim to be a champion in the fight against injustice. The sine qua non of the fight is the removal of Trump & McConnell. He now aids them. He will not give up his soapbox to work with others toward a common goal. That is consistent with his history.
In 2016 his actions elected, or helped elect Trump. He is willing to risk our country in a repeat performance. He is unwilling and unable to subordinate his ambition for the common good- even under the threat of Trump.
Does anyone believe Sanders' actions do not help Trump? Why is he doing this? Give me any reason so I might recover my respect for him.
15
Sanders can broker his delegates in exchange for planks in the Democratic Party platform. Someone else who has not pigeonholed himself as a “Socialist” can win the White House and Congress and work to accomplish Sanders’ progressive goals.
Sanders cannot win the White House. Sanders will be a liability all the way down the Democratic ticket. And if Sanders wreaks havoc on his way to defeat — whether by Biden now or by Trump in November — the damage to our democracy that results from four more years of corrupt, right-wing Trumpist rule will be on his head.
Say goodnight, Bernie. Do it gracefully; and do it soon.
8
It is interesting to note the comparison between the baseless claims of Mr Sanders and his supporters blaming media bias for his poor performance and the baseless claims of Mr Trump and his supporters blaming media bias for his poor performance.
15
It is interesting to note the comparison between the baseless claims of Mr Sanders and his supporters blaming media bias for his poor performance and the baseless claims of Mr Trump and his supporters blaming media bias for his poor performance.
2
Vanity Fair has an article right now about Biden's forgetfullness (read it any way you want). And how Trump is coming down hard on that.
Is anybody considering this a potential game-changer if Biden is our nominee.....
God help us that he (Biden) names Lizzie as his VP.... it is the only thing that would save us.
2
The question is, how badly will Bernie have to lose in the next week or two for him to drop out.
Attention "Progressives": You have turned the next two weeks into a straw poll over whether or not a "majority of Americans", as Sanders said, support your policies.
If your candidate loses, it will prove very clearly that only a minority of Americans support the things Sanders is pushing for. Most of us already know that, but you folks seem to be in denial about it.
10
If we do not see Joe Biden debate one on one now, the fall could be a problem. If anyone is positing the argument Liberal voters should coalesce around Joe Biden because voters have spoken, I have not spoken yet. I would like to see how Joe Biden handles an hour or so defending his stances on big banks, health care, and the Iraq War for starters. As for how coherent he'll be, we will just have to see.
6
Bernie gave his opponent the details of his questions before the debate as he can prepare. You would think moderates would consider this amazingly positive yet I hear nothing. Why would an opponent give you his questions before the debate?
He is giving Biden his chance to answer and win the votes. It’s on Bidens court. Time to step up moderates.
Bernie is throwing a softball. Egoists don’t throw softballs.
5
I would ask Bernie those same questions back, with “and how are you going to pay for that” as an addendum.
A secondary issue is how would Bernie’s ideas - basically socialism - pass, given that they don’t have much support beyond a small slice of the electorate.
8
@Lupito I have a lot of Cuban friends of my generation who actually lived in Cuba under Fidel Castro, and I can tell you they weren't too happy to hear Sanders singing Fidel's praises and then refusing to apologize for it. Probably not the best strategy to win Florida.
1
I can see it now: Bernie hangs in there to the nomination, chipping at Biden all the way. Then, his ego not satisfied, he launches a third-party campaign under the banner of “giving people a choice” or something similarly inane. Then we all watch Trump’s second inauguration next January 20, and Bernie goes down in history with Ralph Nader, Jill Stein and the rest of those who sought “moral victories” to the cost of the nation.
10
The very first time I have felt profoundly inspired by a candidate, it has been undeniably by Senator Sanders. He is fierce, honest and a hard worker. His record of tirelessly fighting for people makes me, as an immigrant to this country for 27 years, hopeful about the world, and proud to be an American citizen. Hearing him speak raises the hair in my arms. It makes me want to change the world with him.
I am sadden that instead of hope, many people have chosen Biden because they think that more of the same we had before Trump is all the country can take. You may have forgotten that it was hopelessness about this system that got us here in the first place. To me, Biden represents despair. A compromise that is either going to land us another four years of Trump or eight years of Biden. When I think of things staying the same, I feel anguish. I feel depressed of having to worry how much the ambulance ride to the ER and the exams that I tried to refuse are going to cost me, despite of my "very good insurance." When I think of that possibly staying the same for the next 8 years or more. I feel hopeless. I feel despair.
Sanders, don't stop because at the very least we need hope, no cynicism.
14
I believe the ship has sailed. If the Democratic establishment wanted support from Bernie supporters they should not have paid off Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Beto to drop-out/endorse Biden right before Super Tuesday - and presumably pay-off Warren to stay in/not endorse Bernie. They have CLEARLY colluded against Sanders. (Why else would Julian Castro endorse Warren in January, long after she tumbled in the polls and was effectively out of the race?)
9
@carl bumba Or if the Democrats want support from Bernie supporters, they could just point to who is in the White House at the moment. Feel like four more years of that? Because that's what happens when you hold your vote because your candidate didn't manage to win, and didn't manage to get out all those wildly enthusiastic young people he kept talking about.
1
@Balcony Bill
He DID get the youth vote out. I hate to say it, but most readers here have been brainwashed to think otherwise. The shares of the electorate from younger age-classes went down (relative to 'baby boomer' age-classes), giving the appearance (especially with media spin added) of decreased youth turn-out, compared to 2016. It's actually a demographic artifact (from my study of this, at least.)
1
Since Bernie used Montreal, Canada as an MFA reference in a recent Fox town hall, perhaps a little background on the origins of Canada's single payer healthcare would help.
In Canada the left is split into 2 parties. The New Democratic Party are the progressives and the Liberal Party are the moderates.
The father of Canadian healthcare is generally considered to be Tommy Douglas, leader of the NDP in the 60s. But the NDP never formed the government. The Liberal Party at the time took Douglas' idea and created Canada's single payer healthcare system.
So if Bernie doesn't win, his supporters can tell Joe the ball is in his court. Because good chance Joe is going to find out the only way to make universal healthcare affordable is to go all the way.
BTW, Tommy Douglas was Kiefer Sutherland's grandfather.
1
The ACA was a stab in the stomach for all who wanted single payer.
We voted overwhelmingly for Obama, who campaigned for single payer , high speed rail, restoring our infrastructure, and more.
We had the house and the senate, as well as Obama, but a reported 7 (seven) "Blue Dog" democrats thwarted the single payer health that we voted for. Just as we were about to escape them, these blue dogs cast us back into the hands of the "Your money or your life" extortionists.
Afterwards, Moscow McConnell was back in power, and he thwarted most other of Obama's plans. I don't see high speed rail or infrastructure, (unless it is a toll road). Looks like the honcho's that add million$ to our health costs won't allow single payer. Even if we vote, there are these "blue dog" betrayers that enable them to go on and on with their extortion.
Same ol' Biden will not change this fact. Only Sen Sanders will put his shoulder to the wheel with the mighty effort it will take to help the planet out of its sickness, and bequeath it to the young who will inherit it, in whatever condition the same ol' establishment, or a Sen Sanders change for the better, will leave it to them in.
5
Bernie will hold out just like he did for Hillary Clinton. Going on and on.
But, at this stage. Bernie should throw in the towel and say I support Biden, and he will be the next President of the United States.
And Bernie can go out as a hero.
6
This is the same mistake that was made in 2016.Bernie cannot attain the numbers.As fear mounts due to the covid virus, most people will want a "safer" alternative.
I agree with a lot of Bernie's ideas and observations
.The USA was not ready to elect a female for president.Why would a "very progressive " candidate be chosen now?
By being stubborn and obstinate, Saunders and his followers,by not willing to compromise are just as rigid as the far right wing of the other political party.
5
Sanders is correct. People are still hiking to work, to their low wage jobs, they may be sick (Coronavirus), they may not be, no insurance, just emergency room care, and Americans want you to pledge allegiance to the flag when they could care less about their fellow citizen? I've lived in Scandinavia, health care is basically free. The deductible in Sweden is $110; yes, $110 - from that point on you pay no more. Can you imagine how that would work in a country such as the USA - the economy of scale? Yet, people like Biden are beholden to the insurance companies. You have poor people who are hoping to be rich one day; thus, they want unfair laws and regulations catering to the wealthy to stay in place. Listen, I don't know if Bernie is the answer. But I for sure no Biden isn't.
8
I am not a Sanders supporter, but I firmly believe he should stay in the race until the convention.
The DNC has backed the wrong, old, incoherent horse.
Biden has no viable policies. Biden getting up at the debate and yelling, "my turn" isn't going to do the job.
11
What does one debate do for Bernie? Absolutely nothing. The results thus far, the demographics and polling for next week strongly suggest another electoral drubbing. Bernie has earned the right to go out on his own terms. That said throwing trash on another man's lawn should be avoided.
4
Bernie is a class act. He will go easy on Biden in the debate.
4
@Lupito
Yes, of course. And who better to do that than a 78 year old socialist with ideas that are pure fantasy; a proven inability to accomplish anything; no understanding of math, finance, or economics; and a bad ticker?
5
"Mr. Sanders ... challenged Joseph R. Biden Jr. to explain how he would address issues like health care and climate change."
If Sanders had paid attention at all of those debates he would have heard the answers dozens of times.
4
I am a lifelong Democrat, mother and grandmother who has supported climate change activism, gun control policies, civil rights and prison reform, living wage, educational opportunities for all, rights of Palestinians, immigration fairness and every other issue DEMOCRATS support.
Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat and I have researched his overall performance in Congress. It is NOT Good. He is NOT a team player and generally so adamant on his stances he cannot work well with others.
Might be worth the people touting all his ideas to honesty compare against.
Of course people grow and change but frankly I am LIVID that he is doing the same thing he did to Hillary. He is one of the reasons the criminal is in Power!
Enough with the finger pointing and ego and do what is RIGHT! Stop the divisive talk with your fan crowd and get out!
We cannot afford another four years of this despicable crime family inthe White House. As Congressman Clyburn said, he is afraid!
13
Being a good President and being a good debater are not the same thing.
3
The substantive policy debates were helpful in dividing workable progress from pie-in-the-sky concepts that would only ensure a Trump victory.
I don't plan to watch the Biden Sanders debate.
I don't think Joe Biden has any reason to continue to debate Sanders if he continues his scorched earth campaign.
I don't think Joe Biden has any reason to debate Donald Trump either.
Donald Trump is a side show clown. During the 2016 Republican presidential nomination debates, Trump lowered the bar to puerile name calling and attacking candidate's physical attributes.
The country knows Joe Biden and they unfortunately know Donald Trump. We don't need to watch them tear each other down. The country has had enough of Trump's clown show. We don't need to watch it on prime time anymore.
Trump has created record structural fiscal deficits with a corporate tax giveaway.
Trump has created record trade deficits through trade wars.
Trump badgered the Fed to increase monetary stimulus while simultaneously claiming the American economy had never been better.
Now Trump is talking about a pre-election payroll tax cut, along with a corporate bailout to ensure private companies don't sustain losses before the election.
That is not capitalism, but crony capitalism.
Just like his string of failed businesses, and the family members who have taken hundreds of millions from foreign governments to shape policy (Jared Kushner and Qatar, Cadre, etc.), Trump is cash stripping the nation.
3
Going into a debate you don't advise your opponent of how you're going to attack him. The points Sanders made could be effective if sprung at the right time. But what we're going to see Sunday is Sanders lob his softballs and Biden hit them out of the park, then both men will bash trump. Look at as a 2 hour Biden rally.
1
I wonder what Bernie Sanders supporters would be saying to Joe Biden if Sanders had won a majority of primaries on Super Tuesday and then again this past Second Super Tuesday. For Sanders to stay in the race is just a waste of resources. The objective is to defeat Trump, anything else is a distraction.
6
We are back to past history of Democrats more interested in thier purity of views than winning. Bobby Kennedy and his followers and other "young"anti-war acitivist led to Humphey's loss and we got Nixon. teddy Kennedy's abstinence elected Reagan over Carter. Nader's campaign gave us Bush over Gore. And Sander;s Revolutin fever gave us Trump over Hillary. And we are again. Sanders is more interested in maintaining purity of his "socialist" agenda than winning of a democratic federal government.
3
This man is not a Democrat.
He has ideas and ideals I would love to see, and know are completely impossible in the current USA.
40% would rise up in arms against socialism.
I am a Christian socialist, and I know my place --- it is NOT in the mainstream.
Bernie risks Trump.
I am so very disappointed in him and his ego.
5
Anybody out there advocating for total abolition of any private insurance or healthcare options - think about his scenario: Trump and his government in total control of who gets care, who is left to die, women punished for using birth control. Think about it. Just because Sanders will give everyone fair and even heathcare after destroying our existing freedoms will leave office - and how about having Trump Jr. tell you what treatments you deserve or not. Good luck with that.
Bernie is tone deaf - again. I respect his resolve and don't expect him to drop out of the race at this early point. But the die is cast and the voters are making themselves clear. What I really don't respect is his need to characterize those who choose Biden. A vote is a vote. There are two choices, and that's the business he is in. He failed us the last time, and a Bernie's-Bully environment festered which helped lead us down the path, deplorable path, that we are on now. Taking down your opponent in the Primary is "so 2016". He chose to be a Democrat. Now he's mad at us for being Democrats. I expect better. I expect more.
4
Fortunately Sanders will be far too old to get a Republican elected in 2024.
3
Enough’s enough, Bernie. How many chances do you get? The country doesn’t need this tomfoolery right now. Everyone’s scared. We need unity, not more division.
3
Sanders has been an insider his entire adult life and has brought little to nothing to the table. How does he deserve the presidency? My cousin bumped into a NY congress rep at the grocery store recently and talked about Bernie. They said he was a miserable human being who does not play well with others. I've never met him but he sure seems that way. The only goal should be defeating trump in 2020. This is not a policy season. I held my nose voting for Hillary in 2016, and I will hold my nose voting for Biden. Trump needs to go.
2
The vast majority of the nation doesn’t want Bernie’s “revolution”. Nor do we need another egomaniac in power who doesn’t play well with others.
Of course, when Bernie does eventually lose, he will blame the “establishment” just like Trump wants him to.
We need to first stop the most dangerous administration this country has ever seen, while bringing along a Senate majority and increasing the majority in the House...Bernie just can’t do that.
5
Bernie’s Medicare for All would require everyone to give up their employer-provided health insurance. Can you imagine how devastating that would be if union workers and others gave up their company provided health insurance only to have another Republican like Trump repeal it four years later? The Republicans have nearly killed the ACA, there’s no reason they wouldn’t repeal BernieCare as soon as he’s out of office.
1
Sanders is so thoroughly defeated now, fair and square, that one has to wonder what meaningful, productive point there could possibly be to a Biden-Sanders debate. Sanders should take a Mulvaney (get over it) and join the team (i.e., show us his integrity -- or not). He must erase any doubt that all along he's been nothing but a DINO.
There is one single, overriding goal now and that is to Dump Trump. The prize is within reach! Biden has shown that he can draw the votes to do so. Sanders has shown that he can't, but he sure could sabotage the effort. The next few weeks will clarify whether or not that's what he intends to do.
6
Glad the game is still on. Biden 864. Sanders 710.
Bravo to the indefatigable Senator Sanders.
9
He was NEVER a Democrat, he ONLY refers to himself as one (under duress) during campaign season, and now he again shows that he cares nothing about the party he is hellbent on running asunder. His ego knows no bounds, commentators are continually treating him with kid gloves because they don't want to "offend" the "bros", but the fact is - THE SIMPLE FACT - that the voters within the Democratic Party have REPUDIATED him. Staying in the race is the height of narcissism, in some ways as destructive as that shown but the gangster-president currently residing in the White House. My advice to Biden: DON'T debate. WHY should we be subjected to yet ANOTHER occasion to show disunity within the party, driven by someone who is outside it anyway? I don't see any reason that Biden should agree to another debate when the VOTERS are already making their wishes well know.
6
Where are the Washington state primary results? They have not been updated (67% reporting) since last evening. And where are the updates for the California primary count and delegate allotment?
4
Bernie has the same mad (in both senses of the work) gleam in his eye (and the same unkempt hair) that I recall Nader having in 2000. (Didn't that election turn out great?)
2
Don't really like the NYT referring to Sanders agenda as liberal. He refers to himself as a socialist - and think that it would do readers well, to simply refer to his agenda the same way - as a socialist agenda. It is clearly more appropriate - and in many ways, more respectful to Mr. Sanders.
1
If Bernie voters tank another election, I'm going to stop recycling.
2
Tears from Canada, Bernie.
Still, I'd say stay in the race especially to have a few one on ones with Biden.
2
Bernie Sanders has questions for Joe Biden. "Joe, how are you going to ... ?" All well and good.
I have one question for Bernie Sanders:
Given the present composition of the House of Representatives, and of the Senate, and even accepting that if the Democrat wins election for POTUS on November 3, 2020, how is Bernie going to get his more extreme positions (Medicare for All, free college tuition, etc.) passed in Congress if there are not majorities of not just Democrats, but left wing Democrats?
Today, there are 7 members of the House (AOC, Ayanna Pressley, llhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Raul Grijalva, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal) who are Justice Democrats. They tried to run 9 additional candidates in the primaries, of whom Jessica Cisneros lost in Texas to incumbent Henry Cuellar, Georgette Gomez trails Hillary Clinton adviser Sara Jacobs in the race to replace Democratic Rep. Susan Davis in California’s 53rd District, and Alex Morse is challenging Richard Neal in MA. The other six still have primaries ahead of them.
Even if all of the Justice Democrats won, that is only 15 Democrats, nowhere near enough to redirect the House to the left.
So I ask again: How is Bernie going to get his more extreme positions passed in Congress?
2
Bernie will be blamed for Biden's eventual loss to Trump. Hillary still blames Bernie for 2016. Arrogant and ridiculous.
Time for a third party when progressives are blamed for every Democratic loss, taken for granted on voting day and ignored thereafter.
In the meantime, this year I will vote for the eventual Democratic nominee. You're right: Trump is worse.
However, this problem within the Democratic Party isn't going away. Ignore progressives at your peril.
2
Folks, if you think Donald Trump is delusional, just listen to Bernie Sanders when he claims "a strong majority of Americans support our progressive agenda". Really? Not even a SIMPLE majority of Democratic primary voters are buying Bernie's dreamworld.
The sooner he drops out -- and endorses Biden -- the better chance the Dems have of defeating Trump. Otherwise Bernie and his Bros will probably accomplish what Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in 2000.
Nobody likes a sore loser.
3
@Don David
Are you aware that registered Democrats make up about 1/4 of the voting public and around 1/8 of voting-age Americans. Do you know that only about 1/4 of registered Democrats vote in the primaries? So you are challenging Bernie's assertion based on a majority of votes WITHIN 1/16 of the voting public and 1/32 of voting-age Americans, the voters and potential voters Bernie was likely referring to. And since we've only gone through about 1/3 of the primary contests, these fractions would actually be more like 1/48 and 1/96, respectively!
1
Bernie is getting very selfish by risking Trump's reelection, because of inability to admit defeat and help defeat Trump. This is an unfortunate way of ending his career.
Bernie Sanders is choosing to placate how Bernie Sanders feels versus doing what is best for the country.
SHAME ON BERNIE!
4
I am gobsmacked by people clamoring for Democratic Party “unity”. Are you kidding??
There have been at least two stories in the past year about how self-described “liberals” have been shrinking in the party since 2000, and how registered Democratic African-American voters have grown increasingly centrist and moderate.
The “big tent” days are over. It’s a mirage. A fallacy. And it’s killing any chance at real progress and reform.
It’s just as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said - the great stumbling block towards freedom is “the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice...”
4
We Warren supporters are hurt too, but we know how to be big girls and deal. We know four more years of Trump will be devastating for the planet/climate, for the health of our nation (witness, Trump's response to Covid-19 and his dismissal of Obama's pandemic team at the CDC). Trump will continue to stack the Supreme Court, he will continue to spread the diseases of racism, anti-immigrant xenophobia, he will continue to destroy the values of equality and will continue to destroy our foreign policy as well. Bernie supporters--we need you to come aboard if/when Bernie does not gain the nomination. Failing to do so is truly the political equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Our nation cannot withstand it. Remember that and recognize your power to do good.
2
Sanders needs to shut up and get out of the way, just like the other failed candidates.
Not that I expect Crazy Bern-it-down to do that. He loves the attention and has more in common with Trump than is good for the country.
4
So, 2016 all over again. And then the Bros will all gaslight us with “he supported him right away and went out and electioneered for him harder than anyone.” I am very much over Bernie. Cue the Bros in 5, 4, 3, 2...
3
Sanders unfortunately is as much of a narcissist as Trump. He can't bear to leave the spotlight even though he has no chance of winning the nomination. This NON DEMOCRAT doesn't mid sacrificing the Democratic party on the altar of his own ego. It's pretty sick really.
6
Biden won every county in Michigan. Every. County.
Got the message?
6
I already have experience with Bernie’s tepid support of Hillary in 2016. I just don’t want to see that again in 2020 with Biden.
Bow out Bernie! Before you become a self-parody of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
4
Bernie can not/should not quit while there's serious concern on the status of mental health of Biden!
6
The voters have spoken Bernie.
3
Go Bernie! We still need you. The primaries are not over, this campaign is not over. I am so sick of people saying a vote for Bernie is a vote for Tramp. A vote for Bernie is a vote for Bernie and the working class of America. A vote for Biden is a vote for the Wall-Streeters and the status-quo.
4
All Right Landslide!!
There's still a chance that the lumpen proletariat will heed the call of the revolutionary vanguard.
Please Bernie.....let someone like Elizabeth Warren write legislation that puts your rhetoric to paper in a Democratic Sentate and passed in a Democratic House.
Here's a hint: President Biden will SIGN IT.
When it comes to coat tails, you wear a crop top.
I'd rather have a lame President who cares more about the middle class than one who only just seems too.
2
It better be the first and the last debate, Bernie. American people have spoken. If you want to act like Tulsi, why don't you join hands with her, and form another party. Include Jill too.
Not the time for a revolution, Bernie. Not the year. You can work with Biden and move the platform to the left, but that is up to you. You call him a friend, act like one.
- A 2016 Bernie Bro.
3
I wish Biden would drop out
Dems are going to rue the day he gets nominated
Awful in every single possible way
pay to play establishment dinosaur makes HRC looks good
Nominate him and watch for the ads highlighting
His role in pushing the Iraq war
His handy ways with women - sniffing their hair too
His carrying the water for big banks and the credit card industry -
Crime bills
Anita Hill
His family enrichment - see the times article about his sister getting 40K a speech!
It's all there + he is perhaps senile
NO. Thanks.
He is going to lose to Trump
7
You have a serious case of “alternatefactism”.
At this rate, the future Wikipedia header for Bernie Sanders: “he singlehandedly did more than anyone to get the worst president of all time elected not just once, but twice.”
1
Wasting precious time! Work on real fight: defeat Trump!
1
Good, this Sunday, Bernie can soften Joe up for Donald’s turn at the bag. This wasn’t the tag team I was expecting.
1
As pathetic as it is that corporate media has attacked Sanders with misinformation and open hostility, or that a majority of black Americans voted to incarcerate themselves again with Biden’s horrible drug war and private prison record, the suppression of progressive Democratic votes, or that with Biden we will not solve the pandemic of money in politics much less get off private predatory sick care or using private prisons to exacerbate disease and mental health so bad we can forget about preventing biological pandemics...
...deep breath...
I will say one positive thing... A whole lot of Trump voters voted for Biden in Michigan yesterday... a WHOLE lot more than Republicans are prepared to suppress and cheat away. And that’s something worth celebrating all the way to the Senate.
3
Rock n' Roll!
Sanders will slap Biden around and it will be fun to watch.
3
Hey all. Let’s not succumb to age-ism by making demeaning comments about Bernie’s senior status, or Biden’ alleged dementia.
Remarks about Sanders’ inflexible ideology, bro crush on Fidel, and ginormous ego are fair game.
1
I am SO inspired by the Democratic Party. Depending on delegates, I suspect Biden is going to win the nomination.
Here is my suggestion: If he does, pick Bernie as the VP candidate. Then you will have two potential elderly white octogenarians on the ticket...if they live long enough.
Democratic politicians have instantaneously and uniformly painted Republicans as racists and misogynists for decades. But in this election season, Dem voters have flushed "candidates of color" like Kamala & Corey and women like Warren and Klobucher in favor of the white boys only.
So much for the so called "Party of Inclusion".
In reality a party of fraud......
Persons of color and women need not apply....you don't stand a chance with the elderly white boys running the show.
Not in your lifetime.
There is zero chance I will vote for Biden. Centrists have nothing to offer. Biden is running the same failed campaign strategy as Clinton - name recognition and zero policy substance. Centrists depress turnout. 4.4million registered democrats stayed at home in 2016 vs 2012 (according to WaPo). Like Clinton, Kerry, and Gore - Biden will lose. He cannot stand on stage for more than 90secs without appearing to have dementia. Biden is big on proclaiming his lack of empathy for millennials and telling voters he disagrees with to vote for someone else. If he is the nominee I look forward to lighting my ballot on fire, photographing it and posting it to social media for every Biden supporter to see. Good luck without the left come November corporate centrists - the election will be your mess to worry about.
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/02/there-is-hard-data-that-shows-that-a-centrist-democrat-would-be-a-losing-candidate/
https://youtu.be/-ppVUQwueOc
4
Joe and Bernie have a golden opportunity to heal this Party:
“People! We’re Bros! Now stop this malarky and Get Out The Vote!”
1
Bernie is not even a Democrat. Boot the socialist off the stage.
1
Bernie seems to indicate that in a one on one debate he will have the chance to challenge Joe about his policies on heath care, income inequality, etc. What is astounding is that Bernie repeatedly waves hi crooked finger in the air ad got. the his list of what his presidency will provide (free college, medicare for all, etc.). BUT I have never heard his specifics on how he plans to accomplish any of the items on his big promises list, yet he acts like Joe needs to give specifics to Bernie when Bernie demands it!
Bernie needs to look at what he can do now to be supportive, and attacking fellow Democrats (even tho Bernie isn't one) is not the answer.
Bernie, I love you man. But it’s time to drop out and give 100% to the Democratic cause. You are unelectable and you know it.
2
Elizabeth Warren was the smart choice, in fact she was the only choice an informed electorate was to make. It's not going to be.
So, "never-was" promoted to has-been Biden is the Dem's answer to mentally challenged incumbent Trump. Underwhelmed is an understatement...
America and the world deserves much better, but it's not going to happen. All ideas died or are dying under Trump's presidency. All hope is gone with the demise of Bernie. I'm old enough, 72, to think i'm going to outlive the dire consequences of this debacle. Not so my daughter.
So, when you think about it, how as it come be that America, the strongest, if not always the brightest nation on earth, has to choose between Biden (a never-was recycled into just an has been with a great smile) and mentally challenged (to put it gently) incumbent?
2
This is very very distressing. Never have we seen a losing candidate behave in this manner. In a democracy you respect the majority vote. The majority has spoken. They want the moderate. Why, because this election must be a referendum on Trump. Any pull to the hard left and we lose the swing states. I can only pray that Joe Biden holds tough.
3
As someone who voted for a candidate who is no longer in the race, I think Bernie's campaign and supporters deserve the courtesy of a little time & space to adjust to the new electoral reality. Another week won't hurt anything. So, let's all take a deep breath (just not around anyone who's coughing) and get through the debate on Sunday... and the primaries on Tuesday. We/they can all re-evaluate then. Deal?
Bernie Sanders is never going to win and I am a Democrat. Sorry to say but there are no Democratic candidates I would even vote for. Non are bringing any ideals that would unify the country, let alone defeat Trump.
2
Bernie did not, and never does, let the voters down - they let him down. We don't deserve Bernie. Guess we're gonna do it the hard way.
3
Well, there's a surprise. The comfortable-with-their-body-image lady has sung. Enough already, Sanders, the voters have spoken loud and clear, time to give way graciously, end the Dem debates, and move to the general.
1
No way Bernie beats Trump in a general election, so no way any of his ideas amount to anything. If Trump wins again, it won't be just four more years of Trump, it will effectively push next republican President and Senate out a decade.
Bernie has had many years to convince people to follow his ideas, yet nothing has ever gone forward in Congress, and his bitterness about not winning and trying to pin down Joe Biden about all the problems that Bernie wants to fix all at once...it is a generational battle.
I am not excited about Biden as candidate or President, but Bernie's Bros need to face facts...they are still a minority, they don't have a clue how to pay for everything, and just like 1968, banking on one election to move the needle in society is foolishness.
First, do no harm.
Change the Senate to democrat control.
Vote and change locally first, then connect the dots to national level.
No more New York City natives as President.
1
Although Americans say they want universal health care (I know many people who get no or lousy health care under the ACA, though I thought it would really help at the time,) they are terribly afraid of taxes going up. Whether they will or not. I don't understand this. It's just like the people who don't have children who don't want to pay taxes for schools. Children are our future. Find out where you income taxes go -- fight to have them go for where you want them to go -- but quit complaining about paying your fair share.
Both candidates have been doing ads since they started. We do not need yet another debate to see what their policies are.
Nor do we need a debate just to give Bernie the opportunity to try to make Biden look bad. Since there's no way he can win the nomination, the only reason to do it would be spite.
If Bernie wants to be something other than a sore loser, he should use the debate stage as an opportunity to get the country to unite behind Biden, for the sole reason that only Biden can defeat Trump, and only a Biden nomination can support all those Dems running on the down ballot.
Think about it. Not only is everything else secondary, there is nothing that Biden could do to equal even .1% of the damage that Trump has done to this country.
All their policies are wonderful, but none of them, neither Bernie's nor Biden's, will even be considered if Trump wins and the Republicans remain in control of the Senate.
Trump and Putin both favor Bernie...ask yourself why.
Vote blue. Vote Biden.
2
Probably too late to post a comment but this isn’t Sanders being a spoiler or unable to read the writing on the wall. He passionately cares about the future of this country. Anyone is entitled to agree or disagree with him. I happen to agree. But he is fighting for a more just an equitable country for all us. The man has earned his due. Just 10 days ago everyone thought Biden was out. Things can change quickly. And yes, I want to hear them debate head-to-head.
2
On what basis can Sanders say he has "won the ideological debate" ? That's a pretty big assumption that Biden is winning on "electability" alone. I'm sure I am not alone in preferring Biden's ideological approach .
I listened to Bernie's speech at 1pm and I came away with this:
1) Bernie KNOWS he's got one foot out the door and the other on a banana peel.
2) He wants to beat Donald Trump, with ANYONE
3) He knows this is his last chance to push his agenda.
4) He's giving Joe a head's-up on the questions Joe needs to have answers for to capture the Bernie voters.
5) He is using the debate and the questions to give Joe a good, solid platform to go into the general election..and win!
6) Joe will owe Bernie bigtime and that debt will come due when he is President. Either agree to legislation or a cabinet position.
1
The fatal flaw of Sanders and his base - they’d rather be right than President. Please get out of the way and help, or at least let, the guy with the actual votes win!
2
Yang's program was much more revolutionary than Sanders, yet he was able to deliver it with a sense of humor.
If Sanders could dialogue with grown ups maybe he would see better results. He starts to look - - like some others we have seen - - like a one trick pony.
Just his cavalier self-labeling with the hot button "socialist" label, without much qualifying context, demonstrates his lack of responsible calculation.
I am a progressive liberal who believed that Warren had all the right characteristics to be a fantastic president, and she got my vote. I was disappointed that not enough dems agreed with me, but I agree 100% with all of the candidates past and present that Trump is the most dangerous threat to us all as it enables all of the other dangers we face to get worse. THAT said, I do not trust the extreme voices in the comments sections in the NY times, WaPo, etc, as a very real or sizable voice in the current politic. I take solace in Warrens concession speech, the statement today by Sanders, and Biden's speech yesterday that they, along with almost all of the other Dems and progressives, that we can work together, we can support each others ideas, and we can get our government and our country back on track. Lets keep having a real and respectful conversation. Also, question for the NYT, how do you verify who the commenters are? Have any been exposed as Russian bots, Breitbart, or other extremist groups?
The rhetoric of revolution sounds great until it becomes reality. One of the things Sanders seems to care nothing about are the tremendous dislocations his plans call for. Day One: shut down all wars - great idea, thousands of soldiers who enlisted to serve in return for a paycheck, education, family housing become stranded. shut down the private health insurers and pharmaceuticals - there go hundreds of thousands of jobs. shut down the fossil fuel industries - good idea but there go hundreds of thousands more jobs, and what do americans do to fill the gas tank in the meantime in order to get to work? forgive all student loans - talk about inequality: where is the plan that makes college affordable for all the families who sacrifice to pay without debt? open the borders and give healthcare and college to all who show up - great idea, there goes the national debt that will be paid for and by whom: by the young. raise taxes on households above $250K, there goes the middle class. limit capital appreciation on home investment - there goes the middle class. and do that how, by circumventing congress and using executive privilege, just like Trump? end mass incarceration - what is the plan for that exactly? and legalize pot but give the industry to minorities - didn't that used to be called the cartel? all talk. no substance. no plan for implementation other than another autocrat who plans to bypass congress.
1
Bernie should break from the republican light party and run as an independent. The republican light elites can figure out how to win with their moderate turnout voters.
It is completely pointless to support a party that has spit in the face of working class voters for the last forty years. Of course you’ll hear the old good cop routine where the Democratic Party blames the other side for everything; no wage growth, declining living standards, high medical & education costs.
Even if that were the case that everything is really just the Republican’s sides fault, why would a rational person continue to support a party that has basically been an ineffective failure for several decades?
Civility costs money and the way this society is run for the rich at the expense of everyone else is how we end up with Donald Trump because that’s the amount of civility that’s been paid for. The next guy will probably be even worse.
2
Biden will lose to Trump in the general election and we will have 4 more years of what ever whe're doing now. With the Constitution completely gutted, the environment collapsing, democracy a thing of the past we will devolve into a true revolution midway into 2022. Perhaps it is time to exercise my 2nd amendment rights while I still have them.
3
I don’t want another debate. We have heard the arguments over and over again. We can all recite the sound bites in our sleep. Sorry Senator Sanders, I respect you very much and agree with many of your goals in the long run, but you have failed to convince the Democratic base that your approach is correct for this election.
Instead of demanding that Joe Biden explain how he would immediately fix all the country’s built up woes with a magic wand, drop out of the race — it’s over — and work with him to plan how we can stabilize things as the Democratic voters want first and foremost, fix the immediate problems all Democrats agree on, and implement policies on the issues you disagree on to test drive them on smaller scales, so that we can build support for and implement the ones that work with a disinfected scalpel rather than a raging sledgehammer, and do so on a responsible timetable.
And above all, stop insulting Democratic voters like me who seek stabilization first as the “establishment.” I am a progressive, but I am closing ranks around VP Biden because Donald Trump must be voted out of office with the same urgency that the worst historical threats to world order had to be defeated. Putin and Trump want you, Senator Sanders, as their opponent for a reason. If I have to hear your Election night concession speech about how “America has heard our movement,” and how “this is just the beginning,” it would be the darkest day in American history
1
Yes Bernie has some great Ideas. Yes he has a huge following. Yes he calls himself a Socialist Democrat but there is a big difference between Socialist and Democrat. He has millions in his base but they are not enough. The math does not work. When next Tuesday comes and he looses again then he had better drop out, or he risks giving trump four more years. If by some miracle he wins next Tuesday all bets are off. I really do not think he can win, most people see what I see when he declared himself a Socialist. Unelectable with that monicker.
Bernie will never, not ever, be President of the US. But, as he was for Clinton, he can be a spoiler for Biden and his refusal to bow out (You LOST Bernie. Like you LOST to Clinton), has the very real potential of keeping Trump in office. Bernie, Vermont is calling. The ship has sailed. Now is the time to rest on your laurels.
@Tony's mom
Registered Democrats make up about 1/4 of the voting public and around 1/8 of voting-age Americans. Only about 1/4 of registered Democrats vote in the primaries. You seem to be declaring that Bernie "lost" (we all know the race isn't actually over) based on his percentages of votes WITHIN 1/16 of the voting public and 1/32 of voting-age Americans. And since we've only gone through about 1/3 of the primary contests, these fractions would actually be more like 1/48 and 1/96, respectively. So until Biden clinches the delegate math you have no grounds to proclaim that he won.
1
Looking forward to the debate. I don't know what I call myself but believe very strongly in fundamental changes to our country's tax system and where and how the money flows. The Bernie's of the world only come around once every several decades which is why I've been all in for him. I believe that he wants to help our middle/working class achieve a better (and easier ) Life. One that isn't grind it out with Long hard hours and hope you make it to retirement; only to die a slow death because our health system will either take all your money or you'll run out of it. Life should be more fun for us. The 2 party system must be a great club because they all go in wanting to "change it" but once there you can't get rid of them. It smells bad and if you want a better life you should look beyond Trump and vote Bernie!
2
I think Bernie haters need to think a little outside the box instead of whining about him going to the debate.
1: He’s sending a message, and that message is “I’m going to back Joe, but he has to address the very issues that got Trump elected in the first place.”
Trump won on a populist message and if Biden promises to take us back to way it was before Trump, it will either lead to a loss or a few years of peace before the rise of another Trump.
2: If you want progressives to back Biden, address the issues that are important to us, and stop blaming and insulting us for every little thing that doesn’t go your way. Bernie campaigned hard for Hilary and is still blamed for her loss because “he didn’t quit soon enough”.
Extend the olive branch, make us feel like we’re welcomed voices and maybe we wouldn’t have these problems. You want our votes, but not our voices and it doesn’t work that way.
It really is that simple. Not all progressives want pure socialism and ideological purity, but we want the things we care about not to be tossed out the window the second we vote for you.
3
Time to withdraw Bernie. Time to focus on the primary goal of beating Trump. There is no way that Bernie can win. Voters have spoken.
Yay, Bernie. Your platform is so important to working-class Americans, so please remain in the primary race as long as you can. Alternatively, please think seriously about a third-party run in the general election as I think you would have considerate support across the country.
7
Bernie’s more than willing to help re-elect Trump than to respect the will of the majority of voters in the Democratic primaries.
Dump the Electoral College Now!
Sanders is delusional to think he can win at this point in the primary. He says he wants to defeat Trump but his actions are contrary as he turns on the Democratic Party. He shows up like a bad relative every four years to push his socialistic agenda, creating discord.
He says he wants to unite the party but isn’t reading the tea leaves when a majority of primary voters are voting for a moderate. If he wants to unite the party against Trump now is the time to step aside and bring his following with him to vote for Biden.
We all know Biden can’t debate Bernie, he isn’t up to it mentally. Now we will see if Bernie is for real or gets paid off by the establishment. My bet is Bernie mails it in, takes it easy on ole Joe, and cash’s in.
3
Hey, folks. Neither Biden nor Sanders has half the delegates it takes to win the nomination.
To those who continue to harp on Sanders to quit, take a break and remember that.
There are still a lot of issues to be discussed at the debate. There have been enough denigrating comments about Sanders in the corporate media - including the NYT - to crush most people. Neverthelss, he persists (sorry, Liz). Ever wonder why? Perhaps because he has good things to say about how we can have our country take care of its citizens instead of corporations?
If Biden can't even debate Sanders, how can you expect him to take on the Republican?
Keep on keepin' on, Sanders.
4
I see so many comments from Biden supporters claiming that voters have spoken. On the one hand, this factually is true. But to claim it was merely voter preference for Biden is absurd. The shift towards Biden was a product of a variety of factors. The media’s hostility towards Bernie is breathtaking, but also understandable given the corporate ownership structure. Just look here at The NY Times. Is there any semblance of balance? How many left journalists are employed here? Instead, we saw day after day of columnists talking about Bernie being “unelectable.” That was despite polling data at the time indicating Bernie’s advantage against Trump in a head to head. This was rarely if ever honestly acknowledged. We can continue with CNN and MSNBC coverage. The media had a massive role in this shift to Biden since the panic after Bernie’s win in Nevada. Then we can consider the party’s rapid consolidation around Biden after South Carolina. Candidates not only dropped out, but swiftly endorsed after Biden won a state he was always predicted to win. This sent cues to all voters that Biden was the safe case against Trump. That was despite months of objectively terrible debate performances, weak financing, and poor campaign infrastructure. Biden was the alternative by default. Now we are in danger of having a candidate who has a weak coalition with almost none of the youth vote. Moreover, for anyone watching clearly, Biden lacks coherence. The Democrats have taken a serious risk.
4
Our number one goal must be unify to to remove the current toxic wrecking ball from the White House and start healing the country, as the Democrats always end up doing. I’m a progressive democrat. I respect Bernie’s views, but also beg him to put the future of the country ahead of his ego and support Biden.
Priorities, priorities.
1
It is unnerving to hear Joe Biden talk. He doesn't seem coherent at times. It could be ugly if Sanders goes for him. However, I think Biden is the only one with a chance against Trump. Trump will never debate any Democrat. There is no upside to him. He will never convince anyone that is not already for him. So, this debate means nothing. It is not about who can debate Trump, since that will never happen.
2
Great speech and excellent points, Bernie. But why did you give Joe the test questions before the exam?
1
Sanders supporters didn't show up to vote because there was no immediate incentive to do so. Had Bernie promised them all free Starbucks Coffee for a year or a free cell phone upgrade then they might have came out of their parents basements. This whole cycle has given me a migraine. It's looking like a really good time to leave the Democratic party and switch the channel to FOX.
1
Sanders, so you like rapid-fire questions that seem authoritative. Then here's a few for you: What are you going to do for lifelong Democrats who don't want a Revolution? What are you going to do for those of us who haven't had vacations or many restaurant meals as a family because we have two children in college and know what it means to sacrifice so they can graduate with as few debts as possible? What will you tell people like me who have sacrificed higher pay for strong employer-provided benefits that include lifelong health-care coverage, you know -- those of us who shudder at your plan to blow up the private health insurance industry while you install an untested plan for everyone you call Medicare for All? And, imagine me spitting for emphasis here, as you do, and thrusting my arms in the air to punctuate my acknowledged no-compromise stand: HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THE CHANGES YOU'VE PROMISED? And please, it must be an explanation that includes numbers that add up.
Love,
A lifelong Democrat who believes I still matter even though you wouldn't call me young
Biden will be pummeled by Trump in debates, ole Joe needs all the practice he can. Besides it would be interesting to actually work out what Biden stands for under intense questioning. Forget Trump, Biden needs to make the case to Sanders supporters on why they should go to the polls in November. Hammer him Bernie!
1
It is irresponsible of Sanders to further divide the Democratic Party by staying in this race when it is clear that he has no viable path to the nomination. If he was sincere about getting Trump out of office and maintaining that as his primary goal, then he would bow out gracefully now and back Biden. The voters have made it absolutely clear that Biden is their choice. It is abundantly obvious. Sander's is putting his ego first. I am very disappointed in him.
The establishment is no longer worried about who stands on stage – so long as that person is not a Bernie Sanders in the U.S.
What do you like about Biden?
Same things all Dems like about him . . . The paid-for credit card/ loan shark/ bankruptcy legislation; his fervor for war and slashing Social Security and Medicare, pro-mass incarceration and racially segregated schools. All delivered with a friendly smile . . . what's not to like?
Sad but true that ultimately people get the kind of government, and society, that they have earned.
5
Mr. Sanders left the podium without taking questions.
How telling it could be Bill Barr Pompeo or Trump but is an old man afraid and resentful because he though he is right with him is like with Castro "you are with me or against the revolution"
Thank you but no thanks he can go back where he came from and take those wanna be's like AOC and the rest of the entitled SQUAD
Sanders needs to suspend his race and do what is best for this country and that is removing Donald J. Trump from power. I think Mr. Sanders is more concerned with his massive ego than anything else.
I live in NY, I was rooting for Bernie. I agree with just about everything he stands for. But he lost in places he was thought to win big in. By a wide margin. If it were close, ok, but it wasnt. There is no path to the nomination. We need to come together and defeat Trump. Another debate only sows further division within the party. This speech today shows his true colors. I understand this is a hard loss to swallow but it strikes me as wildly self absorbed. The primary was not rigged. People did not support his candidacy. Please, can we not be sore losers, for the good of our country, can we unite, show up, and end this nightmare together.
Has Bernie been reading Jeremy Corbyn's transcripts? Winning the ideological and generational arguments but losing the electability argument? He needs to pull out now, for the sake of the American people. There is only one argument to win ... who can boot Trump out of the Oval Office?
Hopefully Biden does not fall into the trap of debating universal health care, income inequality and other issues. There is only one thing that matters, get Trump out!
Boris Johnson was criticised by liberals and the media for just taking about 'Get Brexit Done'. He won, Corbyn lost.
Simple!
May all that is good and decent come to the aid of the good people in the United States of America, so the blinders covering their eyes, are taken away, and they become able to see that the only real honest-to-goodness representative of the people to come along in several decades, is Bernie Sanders, the true blue gentleman from Vermont by way of Brooklyn.
Hopefully the debate on Sunday night will shine a blistering light on the Republican-Lite Pelosi Schumer Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, and expose him for the corporate owned tool he so obviously is.
3
I can see where this is going. Bernie will stay in the race, nipping at Joe’s heels all the way to the convention. He’ll stay in the limelight—it’s just as important to Bernie as it is to Trump—and become a martyr for the cause. So noble, so romantic! Then Bernie will find an excuse to run as a third party candidate. The excuse will be heroic, something along the lines of “the people must be given the opportunity to vote for freedom!” The result, of course, will be four more years of Donald Trump. Yes, Bernie will lose the election, but he and his followers will be proud of their “moral victory.”
As for the rest of us ...
Sanders needs to withdraw. It is selfish to continue. Moreover, it very well may set the "progressive" agenda back years
Mr. Biden should thank Bernie for his contributions...
Announce that he is from this point forward going to focus all of his efforts on winning in Nov and as such will not be attending the debate in Phoenix on Sunday.
Move on Joe!
And God's speed to victory in November!
I’d like to welcome Senator Sanders and his supporters to the club of people who did not have Mr. Biden as their top choice (or second or even third choice). That said, the former VP is now the presumptive nominee.
I think that Biden’s shortcomings are obvious to many on the left. That said, we need to throw our full support behind the man. His remarkable ability to commit unforced errors does not need help from any of us!
Senator Sanders, the country needs you to throw your full-throated support behind Joe Biden. Keep holding your rallies, but use them to boost the nominee. Drawing out this process to promote your message is not more important than ensuring Donald Trump is defeated in November. Do this now and you will be remembered — at least by me — as a true American hero.
For my part, I’ll stop telling everyone about my hope for a brokered convention where a Warren/Buttigieg ticket emerges. Okay, now I’ll stop saying that.
Bernie is going to stay in, despite taking a drubbing in states he won in 2016? Last night’s results, Michigan in particular, made me think Bernie’s 2016 strength was more the result of disdain for Hillary than hunger for a revolution.
How long will he rail against the “elites,” and thereby insinuate that the majority of Democratic voters don’t know what they’re doing? Kinda arrogant.
I have always found it disconcerting that Bernie hasn’t altered his world view in nearly 60 years. It’s among the many reasons I don’t support him.
As a person of a certain age, I am aware that life has humbled me and certainly led me to reevaluate and alter the convictions I held so strongly at age 20. Perhaps Bernie could do with a little less stridency.
Sanders is correct that many voters are concerned with his electability. But he is not identifying his greatest weakness--the very characteristics he displays while campaigning (the ones that make him less electable) also show us how he would lead as president, and it isn't pretty. He is arrogant, abrasive, intolerant of dissent. He has some ideas that I like, but he is the wrong person to lead his own revolution.
I'm not sure what Biden will do, but his clear history of not being in Putin's pocket is a good start.
So Sanders should repeat the same lies that Donald Trump is spewing. Not a good plan unless you are a Trump supporter.
Joe, Please prepare questions for Bernie as he has prepared for you.
Your headline states that Biden "took command of the Democratic primary." What a misleading & deceptive turn of phrase. Big Money is the tail wagging the dog of what was once a democracy.
5
@babka1 Actually, Joe pretty much had no money left and not much of a campaign staff to speak of. But, he knew when he got to So Carolina he had a chance and when Clyburn endorsed him, thats all it took. He did get a windfall in contributions after that. But, you narrative is just wrong.
Go get him Bernie.
3
Stop kidding yourselves
Bernie, you and your supporters, letting perfect be the enemy of good, are now working for the re-election of the racist, lying, nativist, misogynist DJT.
You and Jill Stein gave us 4 years
We will not survive 4 more
For the sake of our country, the Constitution and the rule of law, end this and work to oust Trump and elect a Dem Senate so we can say goodbye to Mitch.
6
At least Tulsi is still in to add something to look at on a debate stage full of grumpy old men.
2
Bernie is exactly right. This is a primary. There are delegates to win and ideas to be aired.
5
Sanders already lost the indication . On the other hand Sanders will NEVER win over Trump . The best thing he could do for the sake of our Country would to drop his candidature , so that the Democratic Party could focus on what is the utmost important issue : winning the the White House , maintaining Majority in the House and regaining majority in the Senate .
3
Bernie Sanders has been saying the same thing since he ran against Hillary four years ago. What possibly can Bernie way now that will change anyone's mind? Seriously, you can say the same thing over and over and over again but if people are not buying it, they are not buying it.
This is one of Sanders biggest problems. He refuses to listen to the voters and is determined to stay in a process that he cannot win. If Sanders would own up to the fact his message is being rejected by a majority of the voters and bow out gracefully, he would win people over. If however, if he hangs on until the bitter end like he did in 2016, he will not be looked at kindly.
5
I am all at once amazed and saddened. Mr. Sanders correctly enumerates all the reasons that Mr. Trump must be defeated in November. He euphemistically acknowledges that "last night was obviously not a good night from a delegate point of view" while asserting that he was "winning the generational debate". While it is true that Mr. Sanders is drawing a younger demographic at his rallies and has scored a higher percentage of votes in the 18-45 year old category, this has not translated to delegates due to the lower turnout in that category. If they will not turn out to vote for the candidate they most admire in a primary, will they turn out in a general election? The Sanders campaign claims there is "more fertile terrain in coming weeks". What? Florida? Georgia? It will only get worse for Mr. Sanders. One has only to look at the results in Michigan. I have listened very carefully to post primary voters in SC, VA, NC, MO, MS, etc. ...what I hear most is that they TRUST Joe Biden. Rep. Clyburn said it best: "We know Joe, and more importantly, Joe knows US. " I can assure you that the primary voters who showed up for "Joe" will show up in November. Finally, Mr. Sanders claims victory due to voters' response to the question regarding favoring "Medicare for All". I think the question was framed incorrectly. It should have been "Would you prefer Medicare for All or Medicare for All Who Want It. I think the latter would have won. Now it is time for Bernie to be a Patriot.
3
@Lynne VP Biden cannot win without the younger voters who DID turn out. And we are a vehement bunch. Sen. Sanders cannot fix that problem for the Democratic Party. Only the Democratic Party can. Through major policy shifts. It's that simple.
2
@Midwesterner
Not true. Biden can easily replace any petulant Bernie Bro votes with votes from Indeps & crossover Reps, neither of which ever would vote for Bernie
@Midwesterner I hope with all my heart that any and all voters in the primaries would choose any democrat over Trump. I supported K. Harris, then moved to Mayor Pete, then Biden. If Bernie got the nomination, I would vote for him despite my disagreeing with his proposals. He is, after all, a decent person. So is Biden.
1
It amazes me that the DNC has done it again, pushed a nominee on us that has no chance of winning. I'm not saying I think Sanders would win either but the only way Biden could beat Trump is if our country moved into a recession. The establishment (both sides) continues to push the status quo, which is how we got Trump in the first place. Based on history and statistics alone, Sanders had a shot at beating Trump in 2016, but not so much this time around. It looks like another four years of Trump is the most likely outcome regardless of what Sanders does.
4
Honestly, Bernie staying in the race is the best thing possible for Biden. Not only will Bernie force Biden to hone his skills facing the kind of tough questions that Trump will surely throw at him. But every debate is free publicity. Every pundit talking about the problems with Sanders and the glories of Biden is free advertising. Every examination of the Bernie's plans compared to Biden's plan is one more nail in the Trump "I have a plan, I just won't tell it before I get elected" not plan.
In a podcast that I listened to this morning, David Plouffe (Obama's campaign manager) made the case that Joe Biden's debate performance against Trump would benefit from debating Bernie Sanders.
Bernie should stay in the race until after the last debate. And then he should make a full-throated endorsement of Biden, not the half-hearted one that he made for Hillary.
Bernie's priority should be defeating Trump by any means necessary. Even if that means supporting someone else.
2
It's a good thing that we're going to see them debate on Sunday.
The perception of Biden's electability is wholly due to massive turnout of older moderates in the primary. No offense to those moderates, but they're certainly going to vote in November. Their opinions seem much less important than the younger voters, who rejected Biden categorically. They're the ones whose turnout is fickle come November.
Democrats who believe they can win against Trump without the youth vote are making a dangerous gamble, and it's one they lost in 2016.
6
The debate will put Joseph R. Biden on the hot seat as well it should. Bernie has given him a list of vitals to contemplate, rather than surprising him; a compassionate approach to Joe indeed. If he can't deal with issues of supreme importance to Americans, how can he deal the presidency.
Many of you are asking for capitulation from Bernie. You're not going to get the easy way out.
4
I'm heartened to see that I'm not alone in why I'm voting for Bernie and why it doesn't matter to me whether it's Biden or Trump. They just have different cronies. I don't want the world Biden and Trump want and I have no idea what Biden offers the people who want him as their candidate. It would be great if they would talk about what he offers, what the country will look like if he's president. The people run Bernie and we ain't going anywhere as long as he wants to speak and work on our behalf.
5
Bernie promises policies that he knows that he can't deliver. His campaign thus deceives. A shift to Joe Biden can deliver a better USA in four years.
Joe can deliver on fiscal, health, and redistributive tax reform. The Green Swans of climate catastrophe lurk on the horizon. The calamity has been baked in, literally.
The long-term requires a robust federated, sectional response. Climate catastrophe, fiscal austerity, and slowing economic growth will constrain the capacity of civilization itself to fix the conundrum. The Dark Money of global capitalism will fight stranding fossil assets and falling profits. Crash.
I support Sanders, and I don't want him to bow out just yet.
You need 1991 delegates to win 50%+1 and both candidates are nowhere near that total yet.
I'm not living in a cave... I have seen the results of the last two weeks and over a dozen contests. I also saw the two weeks before them, and how things can change overnight.
If Biden gets 1991 votes then Sanders should indeed suspend his campaign, endorse Biden, and encourage all his faithful supporters to vote in November.
The people who want him to drop out now may not have to way long.
So many in the pundit sphere have done little to hide their disdain and ire for the "Bernie Bros" (and by extension literally anyone who voted for him). They would do well to focus that venom elsewhere (where it belongs). You won't get votes by putting down Sanders' supporters, blaming them for 2016, or anything short of legitimately welcoming them into the tent.
4
We need this debate! The den party is divided as is the country. There is a huge opportunity here for a real dialogue about how to bring us together.
Let Bernie ask his questions of Joe. He speaks for a lot of us.
Joe’s ability to listen and demonstrate that he can represent the whole party is the only way he can beat Trump. Failure to listen to the progressive movement and incorporate at least some items in the platform will lead to a repeat of 2016
Let this debate be a place where Joe and Bernie makes peace and unite.
2
We should not let perfect be the enemy of good.
Even if some hold the opinion that Biden is too establishment for their taste he is still an enormous improvement over Trump. The separation between Sanders and Biden is orders of magnitude smaller than between Either of them and Trump. Dragging out this primary only damages the eventual nominees chances in November. I will vote for whichever one of these people is nominated and it looks like that is going to be Biden regardless of what Sanders does. Ask yourself if you will do the same.
1
Biden has said that he would veto a Medicare for All bill if it reached his desk as president. We need this one-on-one debate to really learn what Joe Biden is all about. The moderators need to ask tough and relevant questions about a wide variety of substantive topics, and not waste viewers' time with horse race questions.
2
@CH In case You haven't been listening, Biden has said, numerous times, he wants to strengthen Obamacare and let those who WANT to buy into medicare do so and, if you prefer to keep your employee based insurance you can do that too. He’s been consistent on that and I just don't understand what you seem not to understand.
1
We need to consolidate as a party. Sanders will not win against Trump, hence why Putin is helping him win the primary. If Biden is our candidate, we have a chance of getting control back (and our sanity). Now is NOT the time for drastic liberal change. One step at a time. Please. Bernie needs to suspend his campaign.
2
Fascinating! By posing the questions he intends to ask Mr. Biden, Mr. Sanders is, effectively and remarkably, laying the groundwork to concede to Joe Biden should the time come.
1
I just read Sanders' speech, and his questions are all perfectly fair. It is also quite considerate of him to give Biden a heads up and give him time to rehearse what hopefully will be cogent replies and workable solutions to these very real and pressing problems. If Biden can't, then why should we vote for him in November?
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