If Bernie wants in, all he has to do is acknowledge the reality that he has no hope in getting the nomination, stop lying to his supporters that he still has a chance and that the system is somehow rigged against him, and generally going down the path of a super Ralph Nader.
Somebody please tell Bernie that, while he may not like âclosedâ primaries, âopenâ primaries are an awful idea.
Open primaries allow Republicans to cross over and vote in Dem primaries, and vice versa. Often they will do so to only to cause mischief in their opponentsâ primary. Bad idea.
What Bernie wants is what California (among others?) does, or used to do; a âmodified closedâ primary.
The way it works is that when you register to vote, you declare a party preference, or register as ânon partisanâ. Then when the primary comes, the party in question - Dem, Republican, Green, Libertarian, etc - can decide whether or not to allow the non-partisans to take part in their primary. If you are registered as a Dem, when you show up on primary election day, you are handed your Dem ballot; as a Republican, your Republican ballot. If you are a non-partisan, the poll workers ask what partyâs ballot you would like, and if that party is allowing non-partisans into their primary, you get that partyâs ballot.
So Bernieâs independent voters can choose to vote in the Dem primary or the Repub primary (or Green etc etc), while Dems are kept from making mischief in the Repub primary and vice versa.
(Usually, but not always, the parties choose to allow the non-partisans in; at least once when I was living in and working at the polls in CA, the Republicans decided to NOT allow non-partisans in. When a non-partisan showed up to ask for a Repub ballot that time and had to be told ânoâ, they were seriously not happy!)
Not âopenâ, not âclosedâ; âmodified closedâ.
âIâm beginning to like the West Coast,â he said with a smile.
I sure hope CA dispels him of that notion
âThe Democratic party is going to have to make a very, very profound and important decision,â Sanders said. âIt can do the right thing and open its doors and welcome into the party. So I say to the leadership of the Democratic Party, open the doors, let the people in.â
You mean other than people saying âOkay. I want to be a Democrat. What do I do, give you my name and address?â
âIn a closed primary, something I am not all that enthusiastic about where independents are not allowed to vote,âŚâ
Bernie - You knew the rules going into the race. Why didnât you, as a lifelong socialist / independent, run an independent campaign for President? Could it be that an independent run doesnât come with the built in party apparatus you would have had to create on your own?
If you are so upset with the rules, why didnât you join the Democratic Party years ago and work from the inside to change the rules? Seems as if you want the party perks, but are not willing to put in the effort to help any other candidacy than your own.
He categorized the nature of the race in Kentucky as the result of the state partyâs closed primary system and railed against those who have called for him to drop out of the Democratic presidential race, saying they donât want late primary states like California to weigh in.
well on a different Earth, Bernie could win that state.
Here thoughâŚ
Yes, you could say its a âsteep climb.â It will also be as successful as going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. At one point, Bernie you have to go home and start working on becoming a good Democrat. Does he have another choice?
Sure he can come to the convention, but the outcome is pretty clear. I might not be getting all the newsâŚ
The Democratic nominating system has issues. Sanders only whines about the rule that is hurting him. The rule, ironically, is to prevent independents from coming in and taking over the party when they have no loyalty. Hmmm.
A modest proposal: Bernie Bros should begin camping out outside the homes of all superdelegates (armed of course). This peaceful protest would convince them to ignore their principles and vote for Senator Sanders.
So itâs a 1-1 split tonight and Bern will net a total of 4-5 pledged delegates and Bern tells his supporters than he can still win and heâs going all the way to the Convention. Uh-huh! I sent HRC $150 tonight. You in Bern supporters? Serious question. I understand him wanting to go all the way and you wanting him to but itâs CA,NJ and DC next month,4 flyover states in between and 2 US territory caucuses. Bern canât self fund that.
If there is a President Donald TrumpâŚBlame Bernie SandersâŚBernie⌠there is no revolution with
President Donald TrumpâŚ
CA has an open primary and with Trump not needing to win there, you can bet there are going to be a LOT of rat-f*ckers voting for Sanders.
NJ,NM,DC and SD donât though.
Seriously, I wouldnât be surprised if his campaign ends up with debt.
You keep shilling that bullshit you are selling, Senator Sanders.
#NotAboutUSAllAboutYou
Of course itâll be in debt, and of course Clinton will help pay it off.
Fuck you, Bernie. I was once a supporter of yours but your self-involved drive to destroy the Democratic Party and put Donald Trump in the White House is not, nor has been, okay with me, or with millions of genuine Democrats. Go back to your party of no consequence and let the Democrats take care of business, you pathetic interloper. Someone has to keep Trump from destroying the nation and, most likely, the planet, but I understand that your quest for personal gratification has no room for actual Democratic concerns.
Let me make this clear: I am now embarrassed that I ever supported you.
PS â Listening to you now, Senator, is like fingernails on a blackboard. Shut the fuck up and start unifying the Democratic Party. You have a legion of thugs at your disposal, just like Trump, and just like Trump, you refuse to repudiate them. You are not a Democrat, sir. You are a populist ideologue, and a detriment to all genuine Democratic voters.
Cali has a semi closed primary
What does that mean?
My state has an open primary, and every election year, we have crossovers. Iâve done it myself (Iâm not proud of it!), voted in the GOP primary for the least electable person.