dear ms sullivan,

for the present time we are locked in a two party system

in the kabuki theater that USA politics represents, the democratic party plays the role of the party that will feed the poor kids, therefore we the 99 will take over the dem party

you can stay or you can go but you can NOT have it all

She is.

would be wise to heed Bernie's advice.


Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

Do they ever ask what's wrong wirh the party?

Through the super Tuesday states based on HRC s internal and GOP polling
This is Panic. Oligarchs fearing Bernie can win supports the premise of his supporters. He can win. Many Bernie supporters know Republicans will vote for Bernie.
Bernie v Two billionaires. Delicious! They think that stops Bernie. To the Contrary Bernie secures more % more than Bill Clinton did and his coat tails are enormous.

It's the people's fucking party and we're taking it back.

We are Democrats and it is our party. The Third Way types should leave.

Sam

Despite the entire establishment being against him

It's a purity test. We are required to follow along. Vote for shit. Keep our mouths shut. And when we complain we're attacked or shunned. Or worse yet threatened with Republicans taking the WH. It's the same game they've played for years in private. Only now it's out in the open for the entire party to see.

It's no different than the GOP. It's also no wonder it's like that. Both parties protect the 1% while everyone else gets fucked. For that reason they demand purity. Fuck 'em all and I've got their purity right here.

since 1972, and she sure as hell doesn't speak for me. What gall. Bernie's on my side and the Democratic Party that I was also raised in and always voted for no longer is. Bernie is saying and doing what they should be, and how fucking condescending of her to call him a "guest."

It belongs to a lot of people.

You don't have exclusive rights to tell anybody to stay or leave. You're one among many.

Just guests in the house?

Democratic leaders should be welcoming the energy Bernie and his supporters are bringing to the party.

So I guess all of Sen.Sanders supporters are guests

After almost 50 years as a registered Democrat I guess it's time to change to Independent (after our Primary). It seems the "big tent" is really a very expensive umbrella.

Sigh. Establishment. Time to take your pills. It's better than the guillotine.

Even after it utterly failed them in 2014, 2010, 2004, 2000....

There are some unwelcome guests that have taken over the party and it is time to show them the door. No more corporate dems, no more war mongering dems and no more triangulating dems. We need a damned good house cleaning.

It should be in the link in the OP

Cleaning supplies!!

Starting Spring cleaning early this year!!!

but she does not speak for the party. She does not control a "guest list" for membership and participation.

Her remark suggests that she does. She happens to be dead wrong.

many Democrats' preference for their party's nomination.

Her right to do so.

Our right to tell her she's full of shit.

Most Americans are offended at the corruption that exists within the Democratic Party. Like Bernie.

I'm offended that SHE'S offended at what Bernie is doing with his campaign. And, I think and hope that many other life-long Democrats feel likewise.

divided. We have on one hand the DLC/ThirdWay/New Democrats/Hillary Clinton the corporatist. On the other hand we have the FDR New Deal/Progressive/Truman/JFK/LBJ/Bernie Democrats.

Do you really expect those of us who are in the Progressive part of the party to agree with anything the corporate part is doing. We are going two different ways - like it or not. So get used to it we are going to be criticizing the party.

I rejected labels when I was in junior high and I reject them now. What does "Democrat" mean? That answer is going to be different depending on who you ask. I believe the answer has changed these last 35 years.

Anyway, I'll vote for the candidate that I agree with the most and trust the most even if that candidate is a Guest. Fuck both Party's. As far as parties go, they're both lame.

belong to your party. Do you have any idea what FDR stood for and how much of it has been destroyed by The New Democrats which the Clinton people call themselves.

My first historical memory is listening to FDR's funeral on the radio. My first vote was for JFK. I worked for McGovern. I have never missed a vote as a life long Democrat. I worked with MLK and Gloria Steinem for our civil rights. And I am smart enough to know the difference between Socialism and a Democratic Socialist.

I don't let anyone tell me what to think - I listen and I think for myself. It is always a good idea to think for yourself. Hillary expects us to take it for granted that she is thinking for us.

The party's leaders now do not care if new people are enthusiastic. It's all about Hillary. If we don't support Hillary we are considered "guests" in the party.

Bernie has been a better Democrat through the years than the Dems who caved to the conservative Democrats who took over in the late 80s. They gave up on Democratic traditional policies to please their corporate donors.

Damn right I am offended. My fuse is too short!!!!? Really. That's a typical hit phrase on Bernie Supporters.

Would be nice if it were.

What a load of crap, this person is spewing.

BUT I think we are seeing how infected the DNC is, with types like her...the Entrenched Turd Way Establishment types. They don't want anyone messing with their cushy and comfortable DINO lifestyles!

Time for a big fat fucking Political Revolution.

though i knew she was sleeping..."

then would would have a real party

Am I wrong? Should we leave?

I get so tired of the idea of elected officials thinking it's their house and their right to tell us who we should and shouldn't support. She's entitled to her opinion but that's as far as it should go.

btw. I've been registered for the most part as a Democrat since the very early 80's.


I get so little in return lately.

And I always vote. I've missed one (May) vote in the last 10 years.

KICK!

because I support Bernie Sanders.

Welcome to the club of Misfit Democrats. I have never thought of or think that I have been considered a true Democrat. I am a liberal first. Liberals have core values. Not that Democrats don't, but many Democrats are party animals and as such have a my team must win attitude and that is a stronger core value than say seeing that social justice is done.

...2007, ancient history.

the holier than thou ivory tower dems.

They were accused of a coronation procedure, thus they
were glad to include Bernie into their ranks as a pro forma
competition,not to be taken seriously.

Problem was that the "party" did not realize that Bernie
could become a true competition to the anointed one.

As soon as that became clear, they had to point out:
"But he is not really one of us", and the other pretty
accusations from HRC's supporters.

They forgot who made the party great (FDR,JFK), and
plunged into the ocean with the sharks. Unfortunately
more Dems and dem leaning indies woke up and want
to leave those shark infested waters.

(Nothing against the animals here!)

Agree with Bernie Sanders or not - I don't care. But he's as much a Democrat-of-convenience as Charlie Crist. Sanders has always caucused with the party in the House and Senate, but he's always been I - VT. He could have joined the party. Hell - he'd have been in good liberal company with Pat Leahy and Howard Dean (both of whom are D - VT). For whatever reason, he chose not to. So I think it should surprise nobody when lifelong Democrats express resentment to someone who only decided to finally join the party in like the past two months, and who I suspect will drop the D for I about 5 minutes after the election is over, no matter how it turns out.

We fought major leaders in our party over the Iraq invasion. We are paying dearly as a nation for those yes votes today.

We had to fight our own party to keep them from cutting Social Security. So during that time they closed more and more offices to make it harder for people to get to them. Medicare has been cut in subtle ways. If your doctor prescribes expensive lab work, then if its okay the cost will come from your own pocket if you are not under a certain kind of plan.

Yes, we disagree. I think Bernie is more of a Democrat in belief and action than many others.

But then I find there is a lot of disagreement around now. No telling how things will go come November no matter who is the nominee....and apparently it's pretty obvious others will step in to stop him.

Many who have thought about registering as independents might consider it time rather than just be a guest in the party.

Got it.

Z

Bernie Sanders seeks the advantages of being a member of the Democratic Party, but wouldn't actually join until two months ago.

If being I - VT was good enough for the past how ever many years it's been, then he should have simply run as an independent.

Bloomberg will run as an indy to keep Bernie from winning. . Biden is willing to buck the party's activists and jump in the race if Bernie is ahead at Super Tuesday.

Hmmm. now there's an idea.

Look - I don't hate Bernie. I always enjoyed listening to his weekly appearances on Air America and he's a good liberal voice.

His refusal to join the party as a Senator always annoyed me, and now that he's declared himself a Dem for Presidential purposes, I feel like he's using us. If he wants to run, let him run as an Indy or go join the Greens.

I've always liked and admired the Clintons. No President is perfect, but as far as I'm concerned, 1993-2001 were great years in America. After 2001, things went downhill fast.

And it's happening. He ran as a Democrat because he had in mind not to hurt the party he had long caucused with.

They don't want fresh horses, they don't want new thinkers. They want the same old same old.

So Bernie's fresh views took fire with liberals and indys and many others.

There a reason for that. It lies with the stagnation in the party establishment.

...yet by and large, they reelect their local Congressman over and over and over.

The American people want politicians to make their pain (real or perceived) go away. Secondarily, they want politicians to inflict pain on others they perceive as threats. In both parties, there are elements drawing away from the center toward extremes. That's why on the right, you have Trump and Cruz, and on the left you have Sanders. Trump and Cruz demonize immigrants and refugees and attempt to move their party closer to Fascism, while Sanders demonizes bankers and the wealthy and attempts to move the Democratic Party closer to Socialism.

Voters like novelty. They liked John Anderson; they liked Ross Perot; they liked Ralph Nader. Sanders and Trump, in particular, figured out that there had historically been no path to the White House without a party. Trump ran for President before and got nowhere; and has been a registered Democrat in living memory -- and there are Republicans that resent him as a Republican -come-lately, just as there are Democrats that resent Bernie Sanders for that reason.

You speak of stagnation in the party establishment. Didn't Barack Obama supporters (of which I include myself) argue against John McCain and Mitt Romney at least in part on the premise that it was time to have someone other than old white men in White House? How much older and whiter does it get than Bernie Sanders? You don't have to answer that for me, but consider that if Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio is the GOP nominee against Bernie Sanders, it will be asked often.

Being independent allowed him to make moral choices without betraying a party structure that was leaning increasingly to the right. Now he has a chance to lead that party and guide it back to the left where it belongs. He can be a Democrat in the true sense of that name, without selling out his principles.

Otherwise, if the Democratic Party isn't moral enough for him - why caucus with us? He can go stand off by himself and be morally superior. Oh - yeah -- because if you don't work within a party, you don't get committee assignments, which is the name of the game in Congress.

In November , his campaign indicated he was now a Democrat. But then they said he couldn't actually register as a Democrat in Vermont because of their voter laws. So he's been an actual member of the Democratic party for like a whopping three months.

It's almost like he represents Democratic voters more than the people who have been Dems for decades isn't it.

I got news for you....the Catholic Church will take anyone, even 5 minutes before death, if the person wants to be Catholic. Consider John Wayne's deathbed conversion. That's what inclusiveness means. And that's what the Democratic Party stands for: the Big Tent.

Membership! Bullshit.

When they count the votes on Election Day, they aren't going to separate the votes into "cast by Democrats" and "cast by Republicans". They are going to count the results by secret ballot. They don't know and don't care where those votes came from, except that they were legal.

As for the advantages of belonging to the Democratic Party...there are none, nor should there be, except that one gets to associate and co-ordinate with like-minded individuals, at least in theory. Bernie is the most democratic of individuals on this planet. And he's an excellent addition to any group he chooses to join. I haven't seen Bernie get any advantage from associating with this party, just a lot of harassment. The Party is getting all the advantage!

Answer: it does matter. It matters because the parties have always provided fundraising, organizing, and branding. If we'd like to outlaw parties (which I'd be fine with) then so be it. Sanders has chosen not to be a party member -- until now. If membership doesn't matter then let him run as an independent.

As for John Wayne. 1) Money and celebrity make some things possible that aren't possible for others. 2) As a practical matter, Wayne's deathbed conversion was allowed more for his wife's benefit, IMHO.

party so that we would not have our voters divided in the GE.

wealth in the last 15 years, that's over 3 million per year, and much of it came directly from banks and Wall Street. She gets to put a D behind her name but she clearly represents the Wealthy Oligarchy.

That must have come as a Helluva shock to JFK and FDR.

that's the GOP's gig.

Hardly what I'd call grifting.

banksters like Goldman-Sachs who expect quid pro quo. H.Clinton amassed a $50,000,000 personal fortune in less than 15 years mostly from banksters. Can you spell G R A F T?

But some don't care how she got her money because they worship the wealthy.

JFK got his money from his father. Joe Kennedy made his money in many ways -- some of which were actually legal, but much of which came from bootlegging. The Roosevelts made their money the old fashioned way -- taking land from the natives. I don't think the Kennedys and Roosevelts can claim moral superiority over the Clintons. Like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton came from a poor, dysfunctional family and rose o high office and wealth. Both have been great Presidents. I expect nothing less from Hillary Rodham Clinton.

H. Clinton has been collecting money for her personal wealth from corporations that expect to benefit from her favors when she is in office. It's defined as graft. Pres Clinton was a great president if you are wealthy and I expect H. Clinton to also favor the wealthy at the expense of the lower classes.

The wealthy aren't inherently evil but most of them share a goal to expand their wealth even at the expense of the lower classes.

You either side with the 1% or the 99%, there is no other way.

The world is not black and white -- it's shades of gray.

I am not wealthy, but I did enjoy the benefits of the booming economy under Bill Clinton's leadership -- he was advised by Robert Reich and Laura Tyson you might recall.

...and if you think there were no strings attached to the Kennedy money, there's no help for you. You'll get no argument from me that Democrats are better for the nation than Republicans, but at the end of the day, politicians are politicians.

I'm far more bent out of shape over Sanders' support of PLCAA than Hillary Rodham Clinton's investment portfolio.

my widowed mother lost her source of income when that bubble burst. She had given her trust to one of the gambling houses known as an investment company. They got bonuses and she had to rely on SS. Fuck them and those that think that the wealthy are gods.

You've chosen sides and it isn't the side of the People.

I'm sorry for those that bought heavily into Enron, or placed their trust in Bernie Madoff.

I'm a member of the Democratic Party, which has been true since I could first register to vote. I've voted for losers like Mondale, Dukakis, and Kerry and I've voted for winners like Bill Clinton and Obama. Now I'm voting for Hillary Clinton. I don't really give a damn who doesn't like that.

it sound like they used bad judgement. And some did for sure but not all. A very good friend of mine worked for the Portland electric company I think it's PGE. Even though they fought like hell, Enron bought control and invested their retirement plans into Enron stock. They lost most all of their retirement funds. If it wasn't for SS or he would be living in his car.

This is a culture that has been brought to us by, not only Republicons, but also those Democrats that have close ties with the Olgarchy. That includes the Clintons.

I am familiar with situations in which people used bad judgment. I am familiar with situations in which individuals with very good judgment were horribly misled.

To recap:

I'm voting for Hillary Clinton. You're voting for Bernie Sanders. Neither of us is voting for Martin O'Malley.

You are bothered by Hillary Clinton's ties to Wall Street and her IWR vote. I am unphased.

I am bothered by Bernie Sanders' votes regarding gun control bills, and feel that the Democrats can project a better image than an aging white male. You are unphased.

At this point, we should wait two weeks and see where we are then.

Too many politicians with a "D" after their name have sold the Party down the river and made it closer to the old Republican Party than the Democratic Party that I have supported my whole life.

Actions speak louder than words or a single letter.

She founded public kindergarten in New Hampshire, was on the School Board, and Alderman in Nashua, and a State Representative.

She lives in Citrus County, Florida now, but recently bought a condo in Nashua, and transferred her voter registration there. She called me yesterday to say she just mailed in her absentee ballot for Bernie.

Guest, my ass. She just returned from a visit up there, and says everyone she knew in the Democratic Party was supporting Bernie!

They know exactly how to play a Republican administration to their benefit, playing a Sanders administration is an unknown unknown and if there's one thing power hates it is the unknown and unfamiliar.

...fretting their little corporate heads off.

I choose to be amused rather than offended...it means The People are winning the Political Revolution and have them on the run no matter what else occurs from here on in...

It's time to take our party back and put it in the hands of those that remember its ideas and principles.

Bernie 2016. Fuck the third way.

to be able to run for president? Heck, even Trump has been a Republican longer than Sanders has been a Democrat.

Things that matter to the people overall.

but not to Democrats who worked to build up the party for years and who helped other Democrats to get elected.

Rather than continually padding their own nests . They are lost . Enamoured with their own importance they have forgotten why they are there in the first place .

If you would read what I wrote and quit assuming you might see where I'm coming from.

But frankly it really doesn't matter anymore who gets upset with me.

The party should not just belong to one group. It is not the Clinton's party to do with as they like.

Farmwife at Midlife ?@FarmwifeMidlife Jan 18
@NHKathySullivan Sanders represents what the Democratic party used to be and should be, minus political corruption, glad-handing, hand-outs!

Terri Donovan ?@terridonovan12 Jan 18
@FarmwifeMidlife @NHKathySullivan You are from KY...how would you know about NH Dems! #ImWithHer

Farmwife at Midlife ?@FarmwifeMidlife Jan 18
@terridonovan12 @NHKathySullivan Spent most of my life in NH until 2008. I'm 53. Our three children are NH natives. That's how! #NeverAssume

Terri Donovan ?@terridonovan12 Jan 19
@FarmwifeMidlife @NHKathySullivan Well may the blue hills of ky take care of you--your mean spirit is not missed here. #ImWithHer


But, but, but, it's the Sanders supporters that are rude damn it.

Let's work for a New New Deal.

It's sad and strange.

Entitled one percenter who chafes at the notion that there is economic inequality all around her white neighborhood.

I don't think they've though through to a time beyond the Clintons either.

Some of them truly believe the party BELONGS to the Clinrons. Where do they think the party will be even 10 years from now?

Do they even CARE?

The Dem establishment knows how to weather a Republican executive branch just fine, Sanders on the other hand represents change of a very uncomfortable and uncertain sort.

They know exactly what they are doing.

All to keep the fiction that this is a center-right country (and their own jobs) alive.

Tim Smith, NH state rep posted about that pressure on facebook, so it's no secret anymore. Even if he hadn't, the actions of DWS have been obvious, to say the least.

Perhaps you would have preferred that Sanders had made a so-called Third Party challenge, as did Nader?

Truth is, you all had a coronation planned and didn't want anyone interfering with it. You're not making up other reasons to attack O'Malley only because he is not doing well in the polls and therefore is not a serious threat to the queen in waiting. Well, this is America, and the Democratic Party is supposed to be democratic, so @!#% that noise.

Twice.

That there must have been something wrong or deficient with the way the "old" ones were doing things?

They became more like the right to win.

The DNC needs to clean house - it is starting to look like Petyr Baelish's establishment in Games of Thrones.

Has he done any fund raising for other Democrats yet?

It sounds like you would prefer Bernie run as an independent.

support or fund-raise for DEMOCRATS who were running against her GOP buddies.

But, good to know that money is more important to you than issues.

And many of us were going to vote for Bernie no matter what party he joined. The DNC should count themselves lucky Bernie did not run as an Independent.

IS a REAL Democrat.

The 3rd Wayers/DLC/ New democrats are mostly Republicans.
Even Obama himself admits his policies are "Moderate Republican Policies from the 80s".

I was NEVER more insulted.
Throughout the 80s, i FOUGHT Republican Policy.
That is WHY I donated to, and supported Democrats.
i HATED "Moderate Republicans (Reagan) from the 80s,
and I won't be voting for "moderate Republican Policy" now.

How ANY "Democrat" can support 80s Republican Policy (Reagan) is beyond my ability to fathom.

The irony is that when members of Democratic organizations (MoveOn, DFA, etc.) are asked who they want their organization to support, it is Bernie. When such organizations do not poll their members but make an executive decision, (PP, NARAL, HRC), there is chaos and blow back from the members.

The frustration and anger among those Democrats who do the volunteering, the phone banking, the canvassing, the what-we-can-and-even-more donors, etc. has not been recognized by the Party elite. They expect us to hold our noses and vote for THEIR candidate, a candidate that reflects THEIR interests, too often, and not the common good. They have stolen our Party and they expect us to sit down and shut up.

This is a revolution and you are either with us or against us and woe be to you if you are against us. That so many politicians who have professed to be liberals have signed on to Clinton is disappointing but it will be even more of a tragedy for them if they steal the election as Super Delegates (which is not very democratic or Democratic and must be changed).

We are not ignorant children and we will not longer sit down and shut up.

the members of "your" house to decide who is welcome in our party?

How does an independent differ from a Third Way candidate? Well at this point the independent looks more like a traditional Democrat than the Third Way candidate. If you do not want our FDR candidates in the party I am sure we can do something about that.

i.e. I.switched to D.

And I'm ready to trash the joint.
translated--I'm supporting Bernie with everything I've got.

Who the hell does she think she is? Queen of the Democratic Party?

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

He is still being listed as an independent on roll call votes:

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=2&vote=00005

Seems like a form of birtherism to me ...

You point out Obama was born on US soil to a US citizen, but not good enough.
You point out how Bernie has caucused with Dems, this platform is old school dem, but just not good enough.

Like the Deatheaters .... Purity, purity, purity

She might find she's been squatting in someone else's house for many years, while they've been too polite to tell her to quit acting like it's hers.

Looking back all one can say is "Mission accomplished".