General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI am a liberal Democrat. The first bumper sticker I put on my car during the last presidential
primary was "Bernie!" I did not dislike Hillary Clinton, but several of Sanders' positions were representative of what I thought our party should be advocating but had not said out loud in quite a while. I supported Bernie, but I kept listening to all the candidates; ours and theirs.
Gradually, I came to realize that, while Republican presidential candidates are always pretty disgusting, this Trump guy was an out and out racist maniac and an existential threat to me, my family and my country. I also started to assess those seeking our nomination by judging them not just on the basis of what they SAID they wanted to do, but also on the basis of what could they deliver. HOPES are wonderful, but laying out reasonable and understandable PLANS is the next step for someone seeking our highest office.
Eventually, I scraped off the Bernie sticker and replaced it with several of Hillary's and I not only contributed money to her campaign, I worked my butt off in a deep red area
to try to get her elected. I had decided that she was the real deal, the whole package and our best bet to protect us from the insane clown and his posse.
It did not bother me at all that Barack Obama was black or that Hillary Clinton was a woman. They were "quality" AND--- they were DEMOCRATS.
I will again listen and judge and possibly change my mind once or twice. But, I will not consider "Democrats of convenience" or those whose announced mission is to "straighten out" the Democratic Party. I will support our nominee without limitations, even if one or two would embarrass me.
stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)erronis
(15,303 posts)I don't think you're trolling given your record (as far as I remember) so I must be misunderstanding your comment.
leftieNanner
(15,124 posts)refers to the fact that Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat.
MyNameGoesHere
(7,638 posts)He isn't a Democrat and isn't supported under current rules. Of course we could get the old switcheroo again.
Response to Atticus (Original post)
Post removed
randr
(12,412 posts)I campaigned and was a delegate for Bernie and proudly cheered as my State chose him as our candidate. I went through and continue to experience the agony we all have shared from that point on to this day.
I most important lesson I have learned during this time, in this so far long life, is to remember I AM A DEMOCRAT FIRST. We have ideals and values that hold us together and that we are duty bound to uphold.
If Bernie wants to make a stand with us, I cheer him on. Until then I have a team that has some ass to kick and I am staying with them.
Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)PatrickforO
(14,577 posts)Or at least I spoke for him in the caucus and he carried my precinct.
But you know, the stakes are going to be really high for 2020. Really high. We've GOT to win.
So, to use an old cliche, if the Democrats run a yellow dog, that dog will have my vote.
Yeah, I'll fight in the primary for who I think best (and against who I think worst), but when the dust settles, I'm going to give the person we run every bit of support I possibly can, all the way to election day.
Because THIS YELLOW LAB would be a better president than ANY Republican!
Timewas
(2,195 posts)The dog and/or the flowers would be way the the hell better than drump
rzemanfl
(29,565 posts)Timewas
(2,195 posts)Almost anything
procon
(15,805 posts)HRC had written, in depth plans and policies for everything. She knew it all, she understood everything, and was committed to It.
It was boring stuff for most voters, but that is what makes a strong foundation where everyone is working on the same goals from the same playbook to make an effective government that works seamlessly.
The same could not be said of Trump. From the beginning he was nothing but an empty suit, a brash, self-serving stage act that offered entertaining zingers and bumperstick slogans in place of detailed policies and plans.
Trump promised to deliver whatever his rabid fans asked for. Lock her up, sure, no problemo. Build a wall and send the bill to Mexico, why not? Dis our longtime allies abroad and cozy up to tyrants, dictators and despotic kings, sound good. Republicans hoped that Trump was a winner, but they got exactly what they signed up for, a loudmouthed loser.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,350 posts)Just ate 'em up. Everything I was for, HRC had a plan to cover it, and lots and lots of stuff I hadn't even thought about.
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,350 posts)It might take that much to cover Bernie's camera addiction.
You guys dont have a clue. I voted for George McGovern.
BamaRefugee
(3,483 posts)Nitram
(22,822 posts)And I'm proud of it. I also voted for Hillary.
shanny
(6,709 posts)Dave in VA
(2,037 posts)Worked my ass off for him. Missed my fall semester in '72 in order to work for his campaign 24/7.
Great memories!
elmac
(4,642 posts)but I'm guessing he will be a formidable foe on the campaign trail. No matter how many anti Bernie posts pop up here, Bernie the spoiler posts, whatever, It really does nothing to help the Democratic party, rehashing, opening old wounds. I did remember that used to be a no no here but guess times have changed. I'm personally not planning on voting for anyone outside the Democratic party during the primaries. there are just too many great candidates that have or will commit but will vote for whom ever gets to the GE against the fascists.
Cha
(297,322 posts)like these..
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11722251
calimary
(81,322 posts)I never felt like he did, even after Hillary clinched the nomination long before the actual convention. She certainly didnt hold out in defiance after Obama clinched in June with the nominating convention at the end of summer. And I couldnt help but see his efforts on her behalf after that, instead of for himself, as half-hearted at best.
It always felt, to me, as though he served far more effectively as a reason for Democrats and others NOT to unite around the nominee, but instead, provided a rationale for those who didnt want to go along with the majority. If one just HAD TO be a refusenik, for whatever reason (and mind you, a lot of that came from BELIEVING the absolute BUNK that Russian trolls were spreading about her to damage her chances), one had an excuse to do so.
We have to stay united! HAVE TO! Look what just happened when we did! Not only yesterday, but back in November, too.
Steven Maurer
(465 posts)Is ANY other candidate, Republican or Democrat, said this:
I think you know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American.
..they would rightly be derided as trying to excuse and suck up to racists. Can you imagine the outcry among the Bernie fan-base if Hillary had said anything remotely like that?
It's been known since 2015 that Sanders has been willing to throw women and racial minority issues under the bus in exchange for going back to the halcyon days of 1950s-style syndicalism - where all white American males regardless of education level were guaranteed a good paying job by joining (largely racist black-excluding) unions. But as the racism and sexism in his campaign has revealed, he simply can't bring the party together. For good reason.
Nitram
(22,822 posts)PBass
(1,537 posts)I'll vote a straight Democratic ticket (again), even if the Democrats nominate Stinky Old Gymshoe for president.
Democratic politicians can disappoint, while Republican politicians are flat-out a-holes. The choice is stark. Sitting this one out, or making a protest vote is no longer an option.
NBachers
(17,120 posts)I saw his stated goals, principles, and targets as most closely aligned with my own. But as time went on, and I saw his campaign and his followers veering into the Larouche lane, I caught a healthy dose of reality and repudiated them all. I became an Obama loyalist and a Hillary supporter. I made myself a target for sneering derision and condemnation around here to declare myself as such.
Everything I've seen since then, from the horrible treatment by the hard-core Sanders cult toward Hillary, to the die-hard leftovers, has convinced me I made the right move.
Sorry, never voting for Bernie. I know the stock boilerplate rebuke is to shriek "BBBUT THAT MEANS YOU WON'T SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE IF IT'S BBBERNIE!!1!!!7!" Yes, yes, OK, call me a traitor to the Democrats, if that makes you feel better.
Sorry, bernbots, not this time.
NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)And yes, you'll get that. All you have to say is, "No worries, he doesn't stand a chance of being the nominee." There are too many strong DEMOCRATS who have or will declare who will collectively clean his clock.
BTW, that also goes for Tulsi Gabbard.
Evolve Dammit
(16,743 posts)He campaigned FOR Hillary after she won the nomination. He stated, at the rally I attended in Portland, Maine: "On her worst day, Secretary Clinton is head and shoulders above Any of the Republicans." He didn't have to do this. He really wanted to help her campaign when she was the nominee.
Trumpocalypse
(6,143 posts)and his endorsement was lackluster at best. Then after over a year of using the Democratic Partys infrastructure and resources, he refused to join the party as he promised he would.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Truthful. Concise.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)calimary
(81,322 posts)The time to go all in and support her and be a symbol of reunification was when the last primary vote in June put her decisively, and legitimately over the top. Instead he sat out and a critical mass of his holdouts did not switch their support to Hillary. Refused to. Because whatever.
And please remember that many of their reasons for hating Hillary, or not trusting her, or whatever-the-hell the excuse was, came from the rumor mill and made-up conspiracy machinery online, much if not all of it Russian-generated. Which then means they, too, were fooled, played, used, and royally HAD.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Last edited Sat Jan 26, 2019, 09:09 PM - Edit history (1)
Hillary Clinton, campaigning here Wednesday with Sen. Bernie Sanders, worked to sway millennial voters by promoting a plan to make public college tuition-free for working families.
In a University of New Hampshire gym packed with students, Clinton sought to connect with those facing sometimes insurmountable college debt. Clinton said that when she graduated from college herself, she repaid her loans as a percentage of her income, which allowed her to take a low-paying public service job with the Childrens Defense Fund.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/09/28/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-rally-shows-new-hampshires-imporance/91213232/
George II
(67,782 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Now that he's running again, these easily debunked myths are being trotted-out to show what a "good Democrat" he is and how he's a true "team player" and those stories are simply not true. He may be running again, but nothing else has changed. His support of the Democratic party is conditional and reluctant and fleeting. Running again as a Democrat is just a means to an ends.
And, OMG, honestly... that "on her worst day" line was really hamfisted and awkward. It sounds like an insincere backhanded compliment than anything else.
Fact of the matter is that after the convention, he got a very late start in campaigning for her. He didn't do it very often. There was even a moment where he came right out and abdicated by explaining that it wasn't HIS job to help convince his supporters to support Hillary. Honestly, the whole thing was very laissez-faire and very que será será. It was culminated with Jane's election eve (election day?) comment that it didn't matter WHO one votes for, as long as they vote. (Nice team spirit, eh?)
Here's a short interview with Hillary where she describes it very well.
"And that feeds-in, I think, to the whole sexism and misogyny part of this campaign. I had large groups of supporters who had to be private because if they lifted their head up online, if they were, you know, responding on a YouTube comment chain, or on Twitter to something, they would just attack! And the attacks were so sexist about "well you're supporting a woman cause you're a woman," and they just never really got to the facts."
Link to tweet
WELCOME TO DU!
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Hes talking about traveling all over the country to help Secretary Clinton," Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said Friday, adding that Sanders also will help other candidates and discuss ballot issues he cares about.
Sanders spent most of August writing a book but has since campaigned for Clinton in Ohio (once) and New Hampshire (twice). An event Wednesday in the Granite State was the first joint appearance for Sanders and Clinton since he endorsed her in July. The event aimed to win more support for Clinton from millennials who supported Sanders in the primaries. Clinton is underperforming among young adults, a significant percentage of whom have turned to third-party candidates.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/09/30/bernie-sanders-step-up-campaign-schedule-hillary-clinton/91342564/
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)BannonsLiver
(16,396 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)..."traveling all over the country", but that really never materialized. I think he made about three appearances in October.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)...On the other hand, Hillary Clinton was on the campaign trail just days after the convention.
Big difference.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)In Lebanon, NH, this afternoon, standing between two Stronger Together signs, Sanders praised Clintons policies and positions, touting the former secretary of state as the superior candidate. He then turned to Donald Trump, slamming the Republican nominee as a pathological liar with a campaign based upon bigotry.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-campaigns-hillary-clinton-blasting-trump-pathological/story?id=41870968
George II
(67,782 posts)...which is more than a month after the convention, which ended on July 28.
sheshe2
(83,791 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Such a long delay really doesn't indicate much "enthusiasm".
Hillary was right when she suggested that his support of her during the run-up to the General Election was perfunctory.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)ananda
(28,866 posts)I liked Bernie Sanders a lot; and I also liked HRC enough
to vote for her in the general.
UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)that. May not like always what he does, his style or what he says...but ultimately he is on the 'right side'.
Now with that being said. I didn't vote for him before and I can't foresee me voting for him in the future.
I'm glad I was not a member of DU during the primary.