Bernie Suspends Campaign

[lpetrich]

In 2006, Bernie Sanders ran for US Senate, supported by Democrats like Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Howard Dean, and Barack Obama. He won with 65.4% of the vote, in 2012, with 78.8%, and in 2016, 67.32%. Good margins there also. It must be noted that VT has only one House district because of its low population, so the same voters are voting in both the House and Senate elections there. This explains his similar margins in all the elections.

BS may run again in 2022, but I'm not willing to speculate on that.

While in Congress, BS sponsored 15 concurrent resolutions and 15 Senate ones, and of those he cosponsored, 218 became law. Despite his advocacy of progressive causes, Politico once noted that he "rarely forged actual legislation or left a significant imprint on it." The New York Times: "Big legislation largely eludes Mr. Sanders because his ideas are usually far to the left of the majority of the Senate… Mr. Sanders has largely found ways to press his agenda through appending small provisions to the larger bills of others." -- those amendments.

Despite being an Independent, he caucuses with the Democrats, and he is in several committees:

• Committee on the Budget (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
  • Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy
  • Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on National Parks
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Children and Families
  • Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, (Ranking Member)
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs (former Chair)

 

[southernhybrid]

I am not concerned about the more extreme Bernie supporters who are claiming they will vote for Trump instead of Biden. I already know plenty of Bernie supporters who are now enthusiastically supporting Biden. Those are the smart ones. Plus, I also know of many decent Republicans and independents who will vote for Biden. People simply want a decent person with experience after having to deal with Trump. Trump's hard core base are cultists. Nothing will change their minds when it comes to supporting Trump.

Despite the lies that have been told about Biden, most Democrats find him to be a decent person. He just needs to choose a younger VP, who can be like a co-president, in the same way that Biden was to Obama.

It's not that I don't like the more progressive ideas, it's just that I realize that my country is more moderate than that. I know that it would be impossible to pass the things that Bernie wanted. I know that if we had M4A, it would be grossly underfunded, especially when the Republican Party was in control. There are other ways of making progress. There are other more realistic ways of providing UHC. I've read accounts by doctors in the UK who have complained that their system has been underfunded. But, I digress.

The biggest problem we might face is voter suppression and interference in the election. For example, Trump recently voted in the Florida primary absentee but he openly said the other night that he thinks voting absentee is corrupt and gives Democrats victory. WTF! The man is corrupt and mentally ill, but some people simply can't see that. I have one Trump supporting friend. While we never discuss politics, I've seen what she puts on her FB page. I know about all the irrational decisions that she's made in her life. She's a decent person with a good heart, but she is also extremely irrational. People like here will continue to support Trump because they are blind to his long history of corruption, racism and sexism.

Again, our biggest concern should be whether or not this election is carried out fairly, allowing and encouraging everyone to vote.

At least Georgia is allowing us all to vote absentee due to the COVID-19 crisis. I hope all states will support that option.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Do you think Bernie will return his campaign donations to the people since he doesn't need them anymore? A true socialist would.

He stopped asking for donations weeks ago and the money ran out.

 

[Elixir]

I realize that my country is more moderate than that

It IS moving, albeit ever so slowly. It's tempting to look back at the 1960s-90s and re imagine how great society was. But if we inspect our memories closely, we will recall the bigotry, environmental disregard and meanness of the capitalist society. IMHO things have changed in the last 20 years. Admittedly the effect is largely masked by Trump's overbearing stupidity, which pretty much blots out the sun.

our biggest concern should be whether or not this election is carried out fairly, allowing and encouraging everyone to vote.

Amen to that. "Fairly" is a relative term - Republicans are cheaters and they will cheat. They are trying extra hard right now to out-do each other in that endeavor, in adoring emulation of their orange idol.
OTOH I think the fact of voter suppression is more widely recognized and whatever resistance is possible will come to bear. Certainly Dems will try to light a fire under EVERYONE to get out and vote.

 

[southernhybrid]

I realize that my country is more moderate than that

It IS moving, albeit ever so slowly. It's tempting to look back at the 1960s-90s and re imagine how great society was. But if we inspect our memories closely, we will recall the bigotry, environmental disregard and meanness of the capitalist society. IMHO things have changed in the last 20 years. Admittedly the effect is largely masked by Trump's overbearing stupidity, which pretty much blots out the sun.

our biggest concern should be whether or not this election is carried out fairly, allowing and encouraging everyone to vote.

Amen to that. "Fairly" is a relative term - Republicans are cheaters and they will cheat. They are trying extra hard right now to out-do each other in that endeavor, in adoring emulation of their orange idol.
OTOH I think the fact of voter suppression is more widely recognized and whatever resistance is possible will come to bear. Certainly Dems will try to light a fire under EVERYONE to get out and vote.

While I basically agree, lets not forget that things tend to swing back and forth from left and right. I read an article this morning about the history of pandemics and how they influenced politics. In most cases, the people on the lowest levels did better, but that was usually temporary. Look at our own country's history. We go through periods where the under classes gain a lot and then we swing back to times where the. upper crust has too much power and influence. I'm skeptical that it's possible to permanently achieve a society that is fair to all.

Loot to Europe these days. The right wing is on the rise in many countries. It reminds me of the line from a song that I love, "everything must change, and nothing stays the same". That's the way government has always been. Nothing is really permanent, and there are always unexpected influences that cause changes. This pandemic has the potential to help the lowest paid workers as it has following some of the pandemics in the distant past. We can just hope that we all survive this things so we can see what happens in the next chapter of American history.

 

[lpetrich]

Looking back on BS's public-access TV shows, it seems like one can easily do much the same thing on the Internet. Back in 1986-88, the Internet existed, but Internet-related software was in a very primitive state by present-day standards. Mainly e-mail and FTP sites and Usenet News, an Internet-wide messageboard, and mostly accessed with command-line clients.

BS ran for President in 2016, and again this year. He relied heavily on small donations in both runs, avoiding big-money donors.

In the 2016 election, six candidates were in the race, though three of them dropped out in late 2015. Martin O'Malley dropped out after a poor showing in Iowa, BS stayed in until the convention, and Hillary Clinton won the nomination. BS then endorsed her.

BS got about 75% of total HC's delegate count in IA, NH, and NV, though the total dropped to 45% after SC and AL. After Super Tuesday, BS got 60% of HC's delegate count, and by the end of March, 70%. It stayed close to that figure for the rest of the primary campaign.

The winner needed 2,383 of total delegates, and HC passed that point after June 7, when CA, MT, NJ, NM, ND, and SD voted.