Poor Bernie.

[account_inactive]

Trump 2016!

[Jackalope]

I notice you didn't answer the question.

Can you, without the expletives?  Or is this sort of partisan bullshit we're used to from you all you're capable of?

That was the answer.  Sorry you don't like it but it stands.  I don't know who told you that politics is a game for virgins but they lied to you.

Oh fuck you, Min. I'm more than old enough to expect shitty unethical behavior in politics. I just refuse to endorse it.

Even pragmatically, it was an enormous error and will lose them votes, perhaps the election, and they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

[bennyboy]

Easy.  I disagree with their policy of accepting big-business money in their campaign, when they are supposed to be representing the little guy.  Conflict of interests much?

Agreed. But you have to play the game to change it.

I'm not sure this is true. I think refusing to play the game can be more effective. Sanders was able to run a campaign without taking money from Wall Street. Clinton could have done the same. But she didn't-- she's not playing the game to change it, she's pretending she's going to change it so she can keep playing another hand.

[Tiberius]

Frankly, Min, I'm surprised you are not outraged at the DNC's wanting to make Bernie's alleged atheism an issue. What the fuck?!? Or is your outrage over religious bigotry only reserved for low-stakes games on internet websites?

It's worse than that. In this election season we've seen that Min is absolutely OK with anything his candidate or party does, as long as she / they win in the end. It's not the kind of attitude most rational people would expect from a person claiming to be a supporter of the "Democratic" Party, but then the recent revelations have shown us rational people that even the Democratic Party don't deserve that name anymore.

On the surface, and as far as we know (unless there's some massive revealing RNC email leak), the Republican primary process was fairer than the Democratic one. Barely anyone at the RNC wanted Trump, and there were active campaigns by other candidates and their supporters to try to prevent Trump from securing the nomination, but he still managed to secure it, despite the views of the RNC.

[Tiberius]

Even pragmatically, it was an enormous error and will lose them votes, perhaps the election, and they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

Don't worry, if the Democrats lose the election I predict Minimalist will be running around the forums accusing Sanders supporters of betraying their country. To him, if you don't want to vote for Clinton, you must want to vote for Trump. His binary way of thinking is what is wrong with politics in this country. This isn't a "you're either with us or against us" situation; politics is a broad spectrum.

[Jackalope]

Even pragmatically, it was an enormous error and will lose them votes, perhaps the election, and they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

Don't worry, if the Democrats lose the election I predict Minimalist will be running around the forums accusing Sanders supporters of betraying their country. To him, if you don't want to vote for Clinton, you must want to vote for Trump. His binary way of thinking is what is wrong with politics in this country. This isn't a "you're either with us or against us" situation; politics is a broad spectrum.

Indeed - and the fact of the matter is, if there's even a possibility of Trump winning Washington state, I'll vote for Clinton (and not like it one bit) because she is less bad than him - but I don't have to like the process, and I don't have to think that the process was OK.

I don't give a flying fuck who the candidates were, party bylaws are there to be followed, and in the end, when the fall gal resigns and gets rewarded with a spot in the campaign, and presumably a sweet position in the administration, that just stinks to high heaven.

Congratulations, DNC - I like most of your positions and politicians far, far more than I like the GOP - but it's going to be a long time before I and many others are going to forget that the DNC apparently thinks their own bylaws are something to be ignored when it's convenient to do so.

The integrity of the process matters. Congratulations on making a mockery of the "Democratic" primary. Congratulations on denying the members of your own party a real choice and virtually disenfranchising progressive independents.

[Cecelia]

I think people overestimate the impact of the DNC on these primaries. Bernie Sanders ran a great campaign, and in some ways he won--he managed to push many of his points. He failed to get minority voters, and even if the DNC had been wholly unbiased, I don't think he'd have won many (if any) additional states. Certainly not enough to actually win. The DNC absolutely SHOULD have been unbiased, and I think anyone who sent an Anti-Bernie email at the DNC should be fired or forced to resign. But most of those emails were sent at a time where the primaries were pretty much wrapped up, giving Sanders little chance of winning. He didn't have the name recognition to win. Hillary Clinton is just as much a brand as Donald Trump is.

I say this as someone who wishes that the delegates would say "Given the released emails, we must vote our conscience, and give the nomination to Senator Sanders." Then Bernie subsequently names Elizabeth Warren his Veep, and they go on to defeat Trump soundly with Elizabeth Warren running for President in 4 years so we can get a woman President before I'm 40. (Bernie would be 79 in 2020. Ronnie Reagan was 78 when he LEFT office). But I realize that this would be going against the will of the people. The people voted. I don't hear a lot of people saying "If only I had known, I'd have voted Sanders instead of Clinton!" I hear a lot of Bernie supporters upset about it, and they have every right to be--but the people did get to vote.

The bias against Sanders was uncalled for, and is unacceptable. Those responsible should step down, and they should be ashamed of themselves. I'll continue to support the DNC in spite of them, because I support their ideas, even if I don't support their recent actions.

[Chad32]

Given that he almost won when the deck was stacked against him, I don't think it's safe to say he would have lost even if the DNC was unbiased.

[abaris]

It's worse than that. In this election season we've seen that Min is absolutely OK with anything his candidate or party does, as long as she / they win in the end. It's not the kind of attitude most rational people would expect from a person claiming to be a supporter of the "Democratic" Party, but then the recent revelations have shown us rational people that even the Democratic Party don't deserve that name anymore.

Well, there is something to it. The alternative looks like disaster waiting to happen on too many levels to count. If this was some place like the Philippines were an outright nutjob came into power, I couldn't care less. But American politics influence the whole globe. One has to hope that Trump doesn't manage to park his ass in the Oval Office.

That aside, what the Dems did is despicable. It shows them to be the same corporate shills as the Repubs. But given the American political system, third party candidates don't stand any chance. No money to speak off, not present in all states. In short, they do more harm than help in changing the system. The only thing that could bring about change would be getting rid of the bribocracy that has been established through court ruling in 1978, if I'm not mistaken. But as long as both sides profit from that kind of system. Not only in campaigning but also with lucrative job offers awaiting after the political career, it won't change.

[Minimalist]

Bernie Sanders continues to do his bit.  Better late than never.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/bernie-s...n-history/

Bernie Sanders tells Texas delegates: ‘Trump is the worst candidate in modern history’

“It goes without saying that in the next three months, we have got to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton,” Sanders said here at the delegates’ daily breakfast at the Democratic National Convention. “Donald Trump is the worst candidate in the modern history of this country.”

“The cornerstone of his campaign is not economics,” Sanders added. “The cornerstone of his campaign is bigotry.”

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, reminded Texas delegates that before he ran for president, Trump was a “leader of the so-called ‘birther’ movement,” which demanded to see the birth certificate of President Barack Obama. The movement, Sanders explained, was not about policy differences with Obama, but “trying to undermine the legitimacy of the first African-American president.”