Bernie's In

One wonders if Sanders is going to ever concentrate on his duties as Senator? Apparently he hasn't cast a vote since January 12. I think they think too much of their own leverage but it is a delicate balance Hillary has to strike with him just so she won't come off as a sore winner as they say around here.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Meet as Their Battle Ends

2 Replies

@revelette2,

"Sore winner"
A term used by people who, if they had won, would be calling it "swag".

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@Lash,

Lash wrote:

Who's surprised?

Who's surprised that Bernie thinks, "hey, Hillary won but she should adopt all of my policies because my ideas are the greatest despite the voters saying they prefer Hillary?"

Not me.

1 Reply

@DrewDad,

She definitely doesn't have to adopt Bernie's policies unless she wants the votes of the people who consider those policies important.

1 Reply

@revelette2,

As I recall, Obama refused to vote at all in the run up to his campaign because he didn't want voters to see who he was when it came down to his votes.

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@Lash,

In a creative mood, are you?

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@Lash,

We all know that "Bernie or Bust" is a hollow threat, at best.

But keep beating that war drum.

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@DrewDad,

I think Bernie is keeping in officially to the convention because there is a chance that the FBI might pursue an indictment against Hillary over that Email thing, and he wants to still be in official contention in case they do. I don't think it's likely the FBI will pursue an indictment, but if there is even a 0.1% chance they do, Bernie wants to be there to get the nomination-I don't blame him.

As for Hillary handling Bernie, he has brought in a lot of people who were interested in what he has to say, and she wants to keep as much of those at possible. So respect should be shown, if only for that. Also, Bernie does have a lot of ideas that resonate with a lot of people, he's revealed that there are substantial amount of voters who are interested in what he has to say, and so he can be a valuable voice in the Clinton Administration, should Hillary get elected.

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@Blickers,

Blickers wrote:

Bernie wants to be there to get the nomination

wouldn't it become a contested convention at that point?

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@ehBeth,

Good question. I think Bernie has enough delegates so that if most of the superdelegates support him, he gets the nomination under the present rules. I believe that is why Bernie switched sides on the superdelegates issue, from saying that they weren't fair to saying that he would make a play for them even if his pledged, (elected), delegates were fewer than Hillary.

The strategy would appear to be ridiculous-why should the superdelegates go against the majority of elected delegates-until you realize that Bernie was speaking in code. About the only thing that would make the superdelegates go against Hillary would be that FBI going for an indictment against her. But Bernie, who probably knows the pursuit of an indictment from the FBI is unlikely, doesn't want to hurt Hillary's chances in the general election by jumping on the "she should have been indicted" theme the Republicans are sure to pursue to the max in the likely even that no indictment will be pursued. He doesn't want to say "indictment" at all. So he just switches strategies and lets the public figure out why on earth the superdelegates, who mostly know Hillary, would consider switching.

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@Blickers,

If someone like Mr. Biden appears - saying he's in for one term only - I can't imagine the supers turning to Mr. Sanders.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

Some would characterize your statement as reasonable; DrewDad, "beating war drums ."

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@Blickers,

I think Bernie considered super delegates unfair because they're only supposed to weigh in under certain scenarios after the legitimate delegates have been allocated democratically. His supporters feel super delegates were manipulated during the primary season unethically and illegitimately.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Quote ehBeth:

Quote:

If someone like Mr. Biden appears - saying he's in for one term only - I can't imagine the supers turning to Mr. Sanders.

Nobody except Bernie has enough pledged, (elected), delegates so that the superdelegates can put him over the top. Biden didn't even run, he has no delegates at all. The superdelegates are only 15% of the total delegates. For Biden or anyone except Bernie to get the nod if Hillary drops out, they would have to completely overturn the entire system of how the candidate is elected and put a new one in place at the convention.

Giving Bernie the nod would be the only way the Democratic Party can go by the present rules and produce a candidate. Anything else would amount to throwing out the rule book.

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@Blickers,

Doesn't Mr Sanders want the current rule book overturned?

If that's truly the case, he'll have to support an open convention. The alternative opens the general to Mr. Trump.

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@Blickers,

Well, lets just hope for the best. I mean she did no more than any other secretary of state. Officials have already said they found scant evidence Hillary Clinton broke any laws. (the following is from democraticunderground but there source is WP. I am not going to pay for a subscription...)

Officials: Scant evidence that Clinton had malicious intent in handling of emails

Quote:

Prosecutors and FBI agents investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server have so far found scant evidence that the leading Democratic presidential candidate intended to break classification rules, though they are still probing the case aggressively with an eye on interviewing Clinton herself, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

FBI agents on the case have been joined by federal prosecutors from the same office that successfully prosecuted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui — and who would handle any Edward Snowden case, should he ever return to the country, according to the U.S. officials familiar with the matter. And in recent weeks, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia and their FBI counterparts have been interviewing top Clinton aides as they seek to bring the case to a close.

CNN reported Thursday that longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin was among those interviewed. A lawyer for Abedin did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The involvement of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not indicative that charges are imminent or even likely. One official said prosecutors are wrestling with the question of whether Clinton intended to violate the rules, and so far, the evidence seemed to indicate she did not.

I think if Bernie is indeed hanging his hat on an indictment, he is wasting his leverage with the DNC and his demands.

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@Blickers,

If Clinton releases her delegates, there are enough delegates to nominate anyone they want.

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@engineer,

well there we go - released delegates - contested convention

start the betting all over again Smile

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@Lash,

Quote:

His supporters feel super delegates were manipulated during the primary season unethically and illegitimately

Quote:

Why do they feel that way? The superdelegates behaved no differently this time than they did in 2008. In 2008, the superdelegates were for Hillary until Obama started beating Hillary. If Bernie had started winning more delegates and states, the superdelegates would have indicated they would have been for him the same as they did in 2008 when Obama turned the tide away from Hillary. Hillary lost in 2008 with the same rules and with the same advantages that she had this election season. Bernie was just not able win the same as Obama did. Mainly because he had neither the black vote nor the Hispanic vote and Hillary had both this time so she won.

1 Reply

@engineer,

Can a candidate release his/her candidates on the first ballot at the convention? I don't know if there is any provision for that. In a sizable number of states-I think a third or so-the state laws says that any delegate pledged to vote for a candidate in a primary held in that state must vote for that candidate, at least on the first ballot. As to what the rules of the Democratic Party itself are about that for states that don't have that law, I don't know. I don't recall any candidate releasing their first ballot delegates to any other candidate, but I might be wrong.

Even if it is possible-and it might be-how would it look? Two candidates battle each other for a year, the underdog gets close, the favorite has to withdraw because of an FBI indictment pursuit, (actually she wouldn't necessarily have to do that, it would be up to her), and instead of giving the nomination to the underdog who came close, the favorite releases her delegates and some candidate who wasn't even running but was in tight with the Democratic leadership gets it. Or worse, it might not be possible for the candidate to release her delegates but the Democratic Party changes the bylaws at the convention to make it possible, then those newly freed delegates get together to screw over the guy who fought for a year and came close.

The voters might wonder why the hell they even bother watching the democratic process if the party is going to throw it out the window and put in the party leaders' favorite anyway.

3 Replies

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