and you vote for him/her.

I don't post that often but when I do I think long and hard about what I'm saying and the reasoning behind it.
There is no serious consideration of the world today and the world then that could equate Nader to Sanders. You're just throwing out fear mongering tripe to scare people into submission.

Please keep playing the game, I'm sure you will feel satisfied and influence no one.

If for no other fact than the voting public has become much wiser about politics. Many now know that it is just a game for most of these candidates. They are saying anything to get into office with no real ambition to try and accomplish anything good for the general welfare of the country. Nader, unfortunately, was sidelined by crappy media that allowed unchallenged rhetoric to pass to voters that clean air and water were a bad thing. Imagine that. Let's hope some of this country is waking up from that stupor.

Democrat, so they couldn't claim that he would run as Independent and split the vote. Bernie has been clear he would support the Democratic nominee if it is not him.

Nader tried, but it is very hard to go up against the most powerful people and corporations in the world. Most of us wished he had bowed out after it was clear he couldn't win.

Bernie has managed to build and grow his campaign despite all attempts so far by these forces, media included. The only way to wrest power from this shadow government is by people, lots and lots of people. We have to have a leader, and Bernie is the right man to do it. What Bernie and his supporters are doing will be of historical significance. Capitol isms domination of America and the world has run riot, witness the TPP!

Bernie has run on the issues, Hillary has gone full on Republican, by introducing her political endorsers and surrogates to her big Donors, she has used them to go full on Swift Boating Bernie using Rovian tactics. Should Bernie win, there will be nothing new the Republicans could use against him! The Master of the Artful Smear will prove Bernie's point, using huge corporate money, and even the DNC, to defeat the Oligarch's worst nightmare! She is earning every penny of the hundreds of millions she and Bill have received!

...to vote for the candidate of their choice. Radical idea!

I became a Democrat because Kucinich asked me to join my local Democratic party organizations and talk to my neighbors, in contrast to Nader 4 years earlier who only asked that I try to get him into the debates. What I discovered was that very few of my neighbors were policy wonks. Not an easy lesson for issue junkies to learn.

Sanders is having that same effect this year, only on a much larger scale. Clinton has nothing whatsoever for the 63%, and she brings no new people into the political process.

election system. Maybe Bernie has a plan for that, too!)

Been saying and thinking that forever. We never do have a choice. It's whoever the oligarchs and their minions want to coronate.

Not a damn thing to do with who we want, what we want. Because it's the WHY we want it that's anathema to the 1% .. HRC/Trump/Bush etc.

Obama stirred up inspiration for a political revolution (that hope and change thing) when he ran in 2008.. Bernie is now taken that baton and we have to have his back all the way. it's about having a clear eyed, and REAL choice for the rest of us.

Not the illusion of "choice" every four years..

"you have nowhere else to go" issue.

"they have no where else to go" with the fear card.

and wonder why voter turnout is so abysmally low cycle after cycle.

disenfranchisement, a lack of an election holiday, and not believing that our vote counts (or is counted,) among other reasons.

Thanks, Cali!

I switched from Green to Democrat to vote for Bernie in the California primary.

in negotiating you always start at your ideal point so what you are giving up still will preserve what it is you want. One thing I'm sure of with Bernie is that he means what he says, he's not going to get into office and change, what you see is what you get and I love what I see.

and then end up giving vital concessions such as cuts in food stamps and no public options in ACA because he started too low. I was always so frustrated.

In order to negotiate you need to include some things in your original package that you can lose without hurting the whole package.

Negotiate from a position of strength instead of weakness. Triangulation assumes that you need to give in from the first and by offering the gop what they want instead of starting with what you want.

being a prime example. I am thrilled to have insurance, but there will always be a part of me that will wonder what might have been added to it had we started out from a different starting point in negotiations.)

Is there something about her that makes you unable to give your support?

I'm asking why Jill Stein is not appealing as a candidate to a lifelong Green Party voter.

Responding to that question will not get anyone banned.

It seems reasonable to ask about Jill Stein to someone who defines themselves with that username.

is forbidden.

And the poster said they are voting Democrat. I am curious to know why a Green Party Voter would choose Bernie Sanders over Jill Stein. If they don't want to answer, they don't have to.

Personally, I would be interested to hear the reasons why. I think Bernie can actually appeal to quite a view people who were previously Green Party members to come over and join the Democratic party.

explain my position.

that is simply not viable at this time.

The idea of a two party system and candidates being viable is not really what Green Party Voters are usually focussed on.

I'm sure he/she has rallied behind many Democrats over their voting history.

the major reasons I originally joined the Maine Green party. You might be surprised to know that a lot of them feel that way.

As to Dr. Stein, she seems nice enough and has some good ideas, but she doesn't click with me the way Bernie does. Add to that his longtime experience in government, and similar ideals and outsider status (from the two party system that I find so flawed,) he seems like the right candidate for me. In all honesty, had he run as an independent, I would have been in a quandary. On the one hand, I would have wanted to support my own party because there are certain (very frustrating) rules about how third parties can even qualify for existence in our system. On the other hand, I would have worried about accidentally allowing the Republican into office by not voting Dem, which I almost always do. (See why election reform means so much to me? Every election in which multiple candidates are running has been heart-rending for me. I know there are better systems out there, the problem is finding the political will to get something done when it is the very parties in power who would suffer most from the changes.)

I hope my answer was cautious enough to not get the big boot from DU!

I wonder if other Green party folks will follow suit (or have already done so).

It seems like Bernie has a message that can appeal to many such voters.

as I pointed out before, there are consequences for smaller parties when people switch or members vote for other candidates. There are sure to be people who desperately want to keep their party alive, even if they adore Bernie. Parties can die from this, wasting a lifetime of work and commitment. I have seen it happen before to my own former state party.

Kshama Sawant had 600 volunteers working to get her elected to a single city council district, which is more than Stein has for the whole country. If you think that most voters are policy junkies like us, you are delusional.

she's a doctor...they tend to be socially conservative...and she can't keep the GOP out the white house....the biggest mistake is to think the white house position is the only thing that matters...certain candidates are right for certain positions and forensically, mathematically speaking I can argue why HRC belongs in the white house ...but of course everyone is valuable.....we need to stop thinking of it as winner takes all when actually they are there to help voters actualize their goals not play king of the hill....not lecturing you really...just talking generally...jill is a fine person...cheers, Maggie

And the only and I mean ONLY reason I did was to caucus for Bernie.
That is it. Period.

Will I stick around? Honestly, I don't know because the Dem party right now has really turned me off a lot. Bernie is growing the party, Hillary isn't and her supporters wave around some flag about how "Bernie isn't really a Dem" and guess what, neither am I and neither are millions of others BUT we are voting for the guy who is running for the Democratic nomination.

Have I felt welcome? No, honestly I haven't and I see all this bullshit pulled by the DNC and honestly, I have not seen one single reason WHY I should stick around.

I am far left and I am well aware of that BUT I believe things like education, health care, shelter and food are human rights. Is that wrong? IMHO no it isn't. Instead of giving companies like Walmart tax breaks, we should take them higher and earn enough revenue to build housing for the needy and poor. We could feed the whole country if we wanted to but nobody has the balls to undertake that initiative.

Bernie though is a step in that direction, a step in the direction that truly gives people who have less a fighting chance.
I am glad I am supporting the correct candidate in this election who actually gives a damn about others because Hillary doesn't and honestly on this board, I see many of her supporters don't either. They cry about themselves; "taxes", "college shouldn't be free", etc etc. If I wanted to support Ann Romney I would have voted for Mitt in the last election.

I am desperate for Bernie to go the whole way!

Not the people running it. Much like a country.

I think this dynamic is a lot of what people are talking about this year.

Welcome, Greens and Indies, to YOUR party.

You have to be registered by 2/16 and I got my absentee ballot in the mail. I called my daughter to ask if she got hers and she didn't know what I was talking about. She and her husband have ALWAYS voted for Democrats, but in my county it rarely matters. I thought she was registered as a Dem all this time but I found out it was Independent. So I told her to get online and register for the Primaries and the she can switch back, so they both did. BUT, time is short and you have to fill out a form and send it to the Supervisor of Elections in time. My daughter wanted to know when she could call for an absentee ballot and I told probably after they got her in the system.

So I called the county and found out that mailing would be impossible because Monday is a holiday and they HAD to have it by Tuesday and the woman told they would have to hand deliver them. So I told her they would, but then she added this little phrase... "but the lines are out the door!" What does THAT mean? Was she trying to dissuade me or them because this IS a predominantly RED County and Katherine Harris was elected TWO times as our Congressional Rep. then the witch went away??

So I had a moment of glee and laughed and said "Really," that's GREAT thinking that WE may have done a very GOOD job of getting the word out. But, it could also mean Hillary is getting Indep., support. BUT, this Primary is just the Presidential Preference Primary, the real one comes later. This one takes 3/16 and you have to be registered 29 days before the election.

I then told my daughter to tell her son & daughter they needed to do the same thing, but I guess G'Ma did a good enough job keeping them informed... THEY'RE already registered as Dems. These elections have NOTORIOUSLY low turn outs and many people having been working their butts off to inform people.

I'm choosing to believe it's because of Bernie, but can't be sure. Only Democrats can vote! Closed Primaries should be outlawed, but it is what it is.

Still, hearing the the LINE IS GOING OUT THE DOOR... well, that's amazing! IF Bernie comes out on top I can tell you that's more than HUUUUUGGE! Even if it's close here, it's HUUUUGGGE!

I personally know 21 people that are CLOSE to me who are voting for Bernie. We may have been able to turn many, many more!

How ya like them apples? Don't want to get too excited, but have my fingers crossed!

In the past nine years since moving to Florida, I have only voted once at the polls. "Lookie here, we got ourselves a DEMOCRAT" (Naples) was enough BS for me.

I was an Independent for decades when I decided to register to vote Dem in the Senate Primary in NY for HILLARY. That was the last time I voted for her. Obama was my choice in 2008, and now my Absentee Ballot is for Bernie!

I suppose in an ironic way you can thank Hillary for my votes for Obama and now Bernie.

My husband is out of town so he too will be voting as soon as he gets home. Neither Obama nor Hillary were my first choices, but did vote for Obama twice.

This time around Bernie got me right away. I jumped on his bandwagon way back when he first announced and ordered shirts as soon as I could. I live north of you, but I think both of our counties are very much alike. Sarasota used to be #1 in per capita income, but I think Ft. Myers or Naples has topped it. Regardless, I'm not in that category but there a many, many around. It's very hard to get much Democratic action going in this county and the Head of the Sarasota County Democratic Party has been very much DLC. I have looked at some of the names who were big names in the Party and am seeing that they too are supporting Bernie.

NEVER thought I would see this from them... I'm looking forward to the results. I KNOW for a fact that many, many people have changed their registration and joined Bernie, just don't know how the Hillary group did in getting people to change. There's been several groups here for Bernie which also surprised me. Even when Obama ran, I don't recall groups being formed BEFORE the nominee was decided.

Trump has been here already, but I don't think I've seen ONE Hillary bumper sticker. I'm retired and don't go out every day, but enough that I should be seeing some. I HAVE seen Bernie bumper stickers. And a few Trump.

It does seem Bernie has attracted a great deal of excitement and support around here, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high. Still, something IS different and IF THIS COUNTY is catching on to Bernie and knowing what I've seen in the past... something IS happening. We'll know pretty soon even though this election has always had a very low voter participation, kind of and off-off election.

Still, hearing that people were standing in a line going out the door isn't a normal thing. Of course, it could mean many Independents & others have chosen to switch, but to which person I don't know. We have a lot of Independents here and it would be strange if it went blue. They may be wanting to vote for the other Party Primary too because of Trump.

Time will tell. Have my fingers crossed for Bernie.

heart when little brother said he was for Trump. I hope he will come around if Bernie gets the nomination and he hears from him in the general election debates.

Perfect

Our whole world needs Bernie. Thanks.

didn't want to abandon my party, but also because of my late father, who was the reason I became a Green. It was an agonizing decision, but as much as I love my Dad and hate the thought of how upset he would have been if he was still here, I also love my kids and I need to look to their future. In my opinion, Bernie is the best chance they and children the nation and world over have.

to have influenced you to the Green side.

advanced degree, but was an enlisted man when he was in the Reserves. He was the smartest man I knew, and was in the process of running as a Green for the state house when he passed away a few years ago.

After Bernie is elected (and more and more, I see it to be so), he needs to use the bully pulpit to rally the people.

This is where Obama failed. He had the people behind him in 2008, and then blew us off to be a third-way corporatist for seven years.

>> start out with the ultimate dream package, present it to Congress, then carve out the middle ground.

Present it to the people -- with all the pie-in-the-sky ideals -- then give Congress no choice except accepting it.

The people are far more liberal than the congressional establishment. Keep each one in fear of not being re-elected.

He wanted me to write things for him, letters, flyer etc.

I spent so much time working on these items and then giving them to him. This man was dyslectic and had ADD. He would take out his red pen and mark it all up. I got wise by the 3 time. So when I got an assignment, I would whip something up and hand it to him. He would edit it. I then took the time to present what I would have given to him in the old model, sure implementing good suggestions and he would always approve. I realized the first draft would never be approved, ever.

That is the republican congress. I agree, ask for everything we want and work back from there.

represents the Repubs as I have described them in my OP.

first ever presidential election. I was so excited to see such a strong woman go to the WH.

Joined the Green party 20 years ago, but will register as a D to vote for Bernie.

I vote green locally...where ever the opportunity presents itself....because there isn't enough representation of greens locally across the nation....it exists in pockets...but after voting for nader in 2000...I said forget that don't want the republicans in the white house...look how that turned out....so green locally and then whoever can be the republicans nationally....I think there are two great candidates...so I am not worried about it the GOP is not in a good place right now; its about who has the ability to spank the republican harder....after that local politics matter more....I think by hiding behind HRC's skirts bernie misses an opportunity to show he can spank the republicans...his campaign supporters spank HRC never proving that bernie could take on the republicans...being forced to work with them instead...perhaps he should have done it the other way around and spanked the republicans first....demonstrating he could do the job....I am supporting HRC because politics is so different at the national than at the local level....however if bernie manages a primary win of course I am voting dem no matter what...unlike the pseudo bernie supporters who will stay home if he doesn't win the primaries....I fail to see how this strategy supports Bernie's ideals (and therefore yours) by abandoning him in the end....cheers, maggie

but I do really hope it is Bernie who does it.

I've voted for Greens and Democrats without suffering significant harm and will do so again.

Obviously, there are those who find that notion distasteful.