...that say you can't register for a party.

For proof check his wikipedia entry.....you know his campaign runs that......even it says....Independent....and not Democrat.
....

have had no such problem.

... Says he is a member of the Democratic Party, so I'm gonna say that's not the reason he won't.

Clearly.

clearly

If he gets the Democratic nomination, he's a Democrat. There is nothing he can possibly do in this campaign that would hurt the Democratic Party.

Yoilu can run on the ticket without heing one....there are no rules against it.....therefore it doesnt automatically make you one. He doesnt even claim it. See his wikipedia entry.....dude he does not consider himself a Democrat to this very moment!

Still an Independent. He's not changed parties. He's running on the Democratic Party ticket, with the DNC's blessing. I'm guessing they're regretting that decision right about now. They didn't EVEN see this tsunami coming.

Doesn't his work on issues that all Democrats should support benefit the party regardless?

What about all the people who will become Democrats in order to vote in the primaries, and stick around to support him...does that matter?

What about his record of caucusing and voting with Democrats? Does that matter?

I think his record is as good or better than anyone else with a D after his or her name.

What's really important? The label, or the work?

I live in the reddest part of Iowa.. I will be calling for the nominee.. Huge ..

And what does it have to do with where you live?

It is not hospitable to anything not republican.. so when I go out and knock on doors.. and call people for our Democratic candidates it can be tough.. He is running for the head of my party..its not a difficult thing to ask.. And I have been asked about that already.. and I damn well do not have an answer..

I am not an Independent.. I am a Democrat..

He's not running for the "head of your party". Get that straight. Presidential nominees are not the "head" of their political party.

The current leadership of the Democratic Party consists of:
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chairperson
Amy Dacey, Executive Director
Andrew Tobias, Treasurer
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Secretary

Neither Ms Wasserman Schultz or Ms Dacey will step down from their leadership position in the party to make room for the eventual Democratic nominee - regardless of who that person turns out to be.

Essentially, you're saying is that if Sanders wins the nomination, you will not feel comfortable stumping for him - even if he is the choice of the Democratic primary, simply because he isn't a card carrying member of the party.

Sad, but it really is your problem - not his.

instead of Dems. And he's obviously not going to do that.

If you want to support O'Malley, fine. But Bernie's party status should have nothing to do with that. And, since there's a good chance O'Malley could be out of the race before the Iowa caucuses, I hope you'd be open to Bernie then, because at that point he would be the only clearly progressive candidate in the race.

He is certainly not calling himself one.....

and it's a huge thing that he ISN'T a Democrat.

Why is the label "huge," bigger than the actual benefit the person brings to the party?

party registration.

I'm not a registered member of the Democratic party, but I always CHOOSE to vote in the Democratic primary and vote for any and all Democrats running in the general.

I support workers rights, women's rights, minority rights. I support limiting corporate influence on our elections and on our government. I believe in expanding Social Security and Medicare. I support a single-payer healthcare system.

And, I'm voting for Sanders because he believes in all those things, too.

I don't understand this need by some to have him register. It just feels contrived to me because it's never been required in my state.

It sounds like more prattling about the trees while the forest is turning more to the right.

And frankly, if he expects the party to exert itself on his behalf, is it really too much to actually embrace the party?

ought to acknowledge the number of people who will come to the party because he's running. And then there is this:

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/02/bernie-sanders-said-to-be-close-to-signing-fund-raising-deal-with-democratic-party/?_r=0

Bernie Sanders does nothing but help build the party, drawing back so many that have simply gone elsewhere, or have become apathetic and disengaged.

within the Congress. His campaign attracts both new voters and those who have become disinterested in politics as usual. That's Party building, is it not?

that you do.

and it is us old party people who will be doing all the calling and knocking on doors.. the road goes two ways Cali...

in the caucuses... but I think Senator Sanders is doing a bang up job.. and he certainly could win the the nod.. just as Secretary Clinton could.. and I will be supporting the Democratic nominee..

he cannot be nominated and neither can MoM. It really is a coronation. The primaries and caucuses are more window dressing than anything else.

I've worked on campaigns to varying degrees for most of that time.

Your assumptions about me are some fail.

What you identify as is a trivial point in this context.

And if you're an O'Malley supporter, you shouldn't be using HRC's talking points.

I just ran our local nominating caucus for the fall election. I carry around nominating petitions to get Democrats officially on the ballot. I work on fund raisers etc. etc. I am, on a very low level, an official officer of the Democratic Party. I get that sustaining a political party matters, but I am supporting Bernie all the way. I respect your position but I simply disagree with it.

Had Bernie not contested for the Democratic nomination and gone third party instead I would be with you. Had he not pledged not to run as an Independent if he loses the Dem nod, I would be with you. The way I see it Bernie is more of a Democrat from a values perspective than 95% of the Democrats in elected office. Furthermore I strongly suspect that the official Democratic Party in Vermont never would have supported Sander's political career, given how overtly left of center he is, had Bernie not first proven to them that he not only could, but did win without them. That is because I believe the Democratic Party, for the most part, has lost its moorings.

I believe Bernie was able to develop his uniquely wonderful political persona precisely because he stayed clear of old party machinery, but now by contesting for the Democratic nomination he is bringing critical new life into our party. I think we should be grateful for that.

"Because democratic democrats make the democratic party more democratic for democrats in a democracy..."

When I hear this empty party nonsense, I want to go independent.

Kim Davis and Dov Hikind are both Democrats. If your argument is that party affiliation is more important than everything else, then... well, isn't that saying that these two, and the many others like them (it's a really big tent, and some of the corners aren't properly lit...) are still ahead of the likes of Sanders?

In my state, all you have to do is register as a Democrat, and the DNV and state party organization send you all kinds of stuff addressed to "Dear Fellow Democrat."

How many times has this one been recycled already?

without ever explaining why this is such a "huge" deal, I question the motivation.

Answers a lot of questions now doesn't it.

Maybe Bernie is not comfortable being too closely associated with

1. Mary Oil Company Landreau
2. Joe Coal Manshin
3. Chuck Wall Street Schumer

The list of big business first Democrats goes on and on.

Half the Democrats work for the same billionaires all the Republicans
work for, with little difference in many areas.

As and independent, there is no baggage. You can stand for the
people 100% of the time and only give the billionaires what they
deserve, not everything.

Yours.

Apparently, labels are more important to you than content of character. Can't tell you how to fix that.

Secondly, when he got in the race, his candidacy was accepted by the DNC.

So this is all a done deal.

so party politics don't mean squat.

Partisan politics means nothing when both sides are supporting the TPP, NAFTA and the War of Aggression in Iraq. The lines are blurred and the bought-and-paid for party hacks ON BOTH SIDES are responsible for their own demise.

Bernie is INDEPENDENT, the party hacks see his popularity and they want some of it, not understanding that his popularity has NOTHING to do with "Democrats" and everything to do with the candidate himself.

Since he comes from a state, like mine, that doesn't have Partisan registration? The only way to be a Democrat is Vermont is to claim it. He's running as a Democrat...he's claimed it.

As in my state, (Washington), there is no registration by party.

But, I have a feeling that you already know that.

Not if I ate a mess of greens that would fill Cowboys stadium...

and

Not if I swallowed ExLax piled up like a mountain...


and

Not if I guzzled cod liver oil at a flow like the Mississippi River...


would I have a shit to give about a letter next to a name or about whoever wants to have a case of the vapors about said letter.

Schumer, Clinton, Manchin...all Democrats. Perhaps issues should matter more than labels. Just a thought.