Discussion: Sanders To Supporters: 'We're Not Fringe Players Anymore'

1 Like

So, does that mean they should be good, loyal Democrats and fall in line? Or, they are powerful and should bend the convention to their will?

“Sanders didn’t comment on their reaction to his statement and continued talking about how Trump shouldn’t be elected.”

A little red meat for the people who want to go off on him, TPM? Public speaking is no joke…staying on message with having to make different speeches all the time is a difficult talent to practice and hone. Very few can go off message at the drop of a hat to react to the audience and then go right back into their speeches.

5 Likes

Good for Bernie for saying we need to elect Clinton/Kaine. Bad on him for NEVER addressing their Boos. You helped create a monster, Mr Sanders, and you’ve never had an ounce of courage to do anything about it.

7 Likes

Any politician worth their salt could have addressed that. Obama does it quite often, and quite well. You’re making excuses for a cowardly move on Bernie’s behalf.

11 Likes

Public speaking is no joke? True.

A Presidential candidate should be able to think on his feet–even during a speech.

10 Likes

One of Sander’s surrogates last night on MSNBC kept going on about how the Clinton campaign and Hillary, herself, needed to address the “hurt & pain felt by Sanders’ supporters in their loss” – it was another one of those WTF moments brought to you by generation next.

7 Likes

The media need a story. Most of this is just posturing. Bernie supporters like Bernie have big mouths and no real program that has any chance of becoming law. Improvements in the political life of the country come gradually. Only fringe voters believe in instant gratification.

3 Likes

How about a simple “Don’t Boo…vote!” like the President does?

Aint rocket science here. If they want to be treated as anything other than fringe players - all of them, including Sanders - then it’s time to put on the big kid pants and act like something other than fringe players.

Until then, side eye from me. Bernie Sanders has a responsibility here to help quell this insurrection HE started and HE fed and HE continues to blithely step aside from. I want to believe he’ll do it, but so far I’m not seeing it.

Words are just words.

19 Likes

“And we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine,” Sanders said.

I think Bernie gets clearly what some of his supporters don’t. The substance of the leaked emails is bad especially coming from DNC official or officials. However it is bad in chief part because it was leaked, and I have no doubt there have been DNC and RNC officials alike who have sent similar missives about candidates throughout history.

This is of the order of you don’t want to know how sausage is made.

The FBI is investigating Russian involvement, which sounds a little crazy to me, but no one should allow themselves to be manipulated into helping Trump get elected. The email contents are outrageous, but a Trump presidency could be catastrophic.

3 Likes

Bullshit. How much public speaking do you do?

And I knew you were going to cite Obama. He’s the exception to the fucking rule…an orator whose equal we won’t see for another generation and everybody knows it. Exceptions to the rule don’t make the rule into the exception.

There’s nothing cowardly about continuing your speech and refusing to give power to people who want to interrupt you with boo’ing and disrespect. They want a attention and don’t deserve it. The portion of the crowd that hasn’t lost their everloving fucking minds and can take Bernie’s loss in stride like adults and still go out to do and vote for the right thing…THOSE people deserve respect. And no, the Team Unicorn tantrum throwers don’t get to behave in a way that turns everyone off and makes us want to ignore them and then complain about being ignored. You want to write self-fulfilling prophecies like that you go hang out with the Teatrolls where “oh look, gov’t is broken because we broke it!” is written in blood on a sacred scroll.

5 Likes

I’m glad Sanders is trying. The people who want to be hurt and martyred will never come around. Novelist Richard Ford did a piece for the TLS in which he tries to unpack Trump. Then he did an interview podcast with the TLS editor where he describes Trump as very dangerous and stupid and symptomatic of political disease.

At the end, he comes out as a Bernie Bro, who is so principled he couldn’t vote for Clinton after what she did blah blah blah entitlement etc…blah, blah, blah…so the rest of America will have to save the world from Trump. He couldn’t possibly stoop to do that. Here is the link. If it’s the whole show, Ford comes on at the end.

3 Likes

The crowd launched into a bunch of “boos.”

I halfway expected surreal cries of “Lock him up! Lock him up!”

7 Likes

Well, you’ll be a lot less than fringe players if Trump wins. You’ll be nonexistent. Blew your wad on one campaign and didn’t have the maturity to see the big picture.

9 Likes

Fine. Here’s what he thought: “DON’T FEED THE TROLLS.”

6 Likes

First: it’s not as outrageous as it sounds. Not when all the metadata to everything that was leaked is all Russian fingerprints. It’s also not outrageous because this hack happened months ago, and was only released now through the very public arm of the Russian government (being Wikileaks, who doesn’t exactly hide their pro-RT leanings, nor financing). It also isn’t outrageous when you realize they’ve done the same in Europe in other political elections.

Second: I’ve read those emails. There isn’t anything there except actual DEMs and actual DEM party workers bitching and griping about a non-DEM being allowed to run and use party resources. To quote Bill Clinton, there is no there there. I would fully expect that if the hackers had taken Sander’s camp emails they would be about the same in terms of anti-HRC messaging.

This is nothing more than an attempt by outside sources to skew the outcome of another country’s election.

12 Likes

“Well, a year has come and gone. We’re not fringe players anymore.”

Strangely enough, that’s almost exactly what Nigel Farage said to the European Parliament after the Brexit vote.

5 Likes

No doubt.

1 Like

Sanders should be better to Clinton – who he endorsed – than John McCain was to Obama.

At the town hall meeting, one audience member said that he and his wife are expecting a child next year. “Frankly, we’re scared. We’re scared of an Obama presidency,” the questioner said. Sen. McCain replied that of course he hopes that Sen. Obama isn’t elected but added:

“I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared (of) as president of the United States.” The crowd replied with a chorus of boos. And when another questioner said he couldn’t trust him because “he’s an Arab,” Sen. McCain took the microphone from her and said, “No, ma’am: no ma’am. He’s a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not.”

If Sanders can’t tell his supporters to stop booing, he is telling them that booing is just fine with him. His silence says multitudes.

13 Likes

This.

I don’t expect the world’s greatest orator, but jesus address the booing in some tangible way. He launched this ship.

6 Likes