Will Bernie Sanders be gracious in defeat?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Just because he's not going to win doesn't mean he should drop out. There are other reasons to keep on fighting.

But no, obviously he's not going to go "nuclear" on Hillary or anything. The Democratic campaign has been very civil so far, and it will continue being so.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes. The overarching goal at the start of his campaign was to influence the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, and the country as a whole. Given Clinton's leftward shift to more Sanders-esque policies and rhetoric, he'll probably agree that he succeeded in his goal to some extent. He'll support Clinton wholeheartedly to carry his ideas into the White House.

No, the goal was to win, not to have Hillary feint left.

Do you really think Bernie thought he could win when he began his campaign?

Maybe later on it seemed possible to him, but initially there's no way.

Back in 2014, he was saying he was thinking of running, but only if he thought he could win.  Just because he wasn't taken seriously for a long time didn't mean it wasn't a serious campaign.

Incidentally, I just happened to read this article today:

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http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/bernie-sanders-2016-inside-213692?o=1

Good to know Bernie saw things more or less the way I did. He always struck me as a very down-to-earth guy.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes. The overarching goal at the start of his campaign was to influence the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, and the country as a whole. Given Clinton's leftward shift to more Sanders-esque policies and rhetoric, he'll probably agree that he succeeded in his goal to some extent. He'll support Clinton wholeheartedly to carry his ideas into the White House.

No, the goal was to win, not to have Hillary feint left.

Do you really think Bernie thought he could win when he began his campaign?

Maybe later on it seemed possible to him, but initially there's no way.

Back in 2014, he was saying he was thinking of running, but only if he thought he could win.  Just because he wasn't taken seriously for a long time didn't mean it wasn't a serious campaign.

Incidentally, I just happened to read this article today:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/bernie-sanders-2016-inside-213692?o=1

Good to know Bernie saw things more or less the way I did. He always struck me as a very down-to-earth guy.

Bernie knew the odds were always definitely stacked against him, but he did make it clear he was running to win. Back in 2014, he said he'd only run if he thought he had a chance.

Yes, he was running to win, and rightfully so, but I think he also knew that he could have an important role in the Democratic party even if he didn't. And that's what he will be doing now, trying to lay the groundwork for a lasting progressive movement.

[Antonio the Sixth]

After this issue of possibly attempting to flip pledged delegates, I'm not so sure he'll be all that gracious. If his campaign actually tries that strategy, it's pretty much unlikely that he'll even endorse Clinton after the primary.

I'm sure it was just one staffer talking out of his ass. They can't possibly actually try that.

[Antonio the Sixth]

This campaign has not caused anything worse than scratches between the candidates themselves. Sanders is not technically out of it yet and he has favorable states coming up, so he owes it to his supporters, who literally blew up the "corrupt campaign finance system", to stay in the race.

At the convention, I expect Sanders to be given the respect he deserves by the party and for him to be gracious in defeat and call for unity against Trump. There won't be any grandstanding like Ted Kennedy at the 1980 convention.

Knowing Bernie, his convention speech will be something along the lines of:

"In America today, we have a billionaire class which controls a vast majority of the wealth. According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of workers..."

etc.
etc.
etc.

Yeah, how dare he have issues he's passionate about and back them up with facts which are genuinely shocking.

[Antonio the Sixth]

So far, he's been more gracious in (virtually assured) defeat than Hillary has been in (virtually assured) victory. Which really says all you need to know about her.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wonder if the Hillary hacks in this thread will ever eat crow? Who am I kidding, of course they won't.