The Dishy Funeral Articles on Sanders Are Already Coming Out.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/bernie-sanders-campaign-last-days-224041?cmpid=sf#ixzz4AxJXLa2I

Glad they paid us the courtesy of letting the polls close first.

A lot in here to confirm things for Sanders haters, a lot for Sanders lovers.

One thing is left clear though: this campaign was a dumpster-fire shoved at the Democratic establishment, and now it's rolling to a stop.

[Lyin' Steve]

When did "dumpster fire" become such a popular term?  It's replaced "dog whistle" as the political buzzword flavor of the week.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

When the structure of the Trump and Sanders campaigns became public. : (

[publicunofficial]

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If this is true, Bernie is f**king child.

[Badger]

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If this is true, Bernie is f**king child.

If you think that's bad, read about this call between him and Harry Reid right after Indiana:

<<Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s call was part advice, part asking a favor, urging Sanders to use his now massive email list to help Democratic Senate candidates. Russ Feingold in Wisconsin was the most obvious prospect, and Reid wanted to make introductions to Iowa’s Patty Judge and North Carolina’s Deborah Ross—to help Democrats win the majority, but also to give Sanders allies in making himself the leader of the Senate progressives come next year.

Reid, according to people familiar with the conversation, ended the discussion thinking Sanders was on board. He backed Feingold. But that’s the last anyone heard.

Word got back to Reid’s team that Weaver had nixed the idea, ruling out backing anyone who hadn’t endorsed Sanders. Weaver says it’s because the Senate hopefuls had to get in line for Sanders’ support behind top backers like Gabbard and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.)—though neither has a competitive race this year.

Sanders never followed up himself.>>

Sanders will forgo his list for credible underdogs in crucial swing states for the Democrats to support .....Grijalva and Gabbard??!? Who need that money how little?!?

[afleitch]

He was a cuckoo in the nest.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Remember when people were bashing me for telling to anyone who wanted to hear what a fraud and a selfish prick Sanders is?
I can now accept my accolades.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

He's not a fraud or a selfish prick.

Prick maybe, but not selfish.

[Landslide Lyndon]

He's not a fraud or a selfish prick.

Prick maybe, but not selfish.

Ah yes, all that thing about vetoing a possible VP nomination for Sherrod Brown is just about principle.

[publicunofficial]

Love the bit about the Sanders campaign wanting TULSI GABBARD of all people to replace DWS.


Gabbard has all of DWS's faults with none of the pros.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Vindictive is a better word.

Yeah, he took a lot of it personally. Hell, I did too. No way Brown should be let within a 10 foot radius of the VP nod, even if he wanted it. Don't trust him to stand up to Clinton.

But he isn't in this for the money or attention by any means.

[Lyin' Steve]

He's not a fraud or a selfish prick.

Prick maybe, but not selfish.

Bernie Sanders is practically a case study in human selfishness.  Everything about his career and campaign, the way he interacts with others and the way he conducts himself speaks to a fundamental selfishness that forms his core as a man.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Aight.

[Meclazine for Israel]

I feel for Bernie.

Would have preferred a Sanders - Trump election.

I thought he had genuine compassion for the average American and wanted to fix the ills that have begotten the high end of town.

[RaphaelDLG]

He's not a fraud or a selfish prick.

Prick maybe, but not selfish.

Bernie Sanders is practically a case study in human selfishness.  Everything about his career and campaign, the way he interacts with others and the way he conducts himself speaks to a fundamental selfishness that forms his core as a man.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I still hope Sanders will soon come around. Despite being elected as an independent, he was a dependable team player while in the House and Senate, so it's not like he's a loose cannon. It may very well be just to save face in front of his base (many candidates does that). And it's not like Sanders got nothing to lose. Yes, his seat is perhaps the safest Senate seat, but he needs to remember about keeping his position in the Senate.

I'd be greatly disappointed if it goes on, however. I understand if the Sanders campaign remains on war mode for w little longer in order to ensure they'll have a say, but if it goes for too long and too far, they risk wasting what after all was an amazing performance (sneer all you like, but when he declared, we all thought he'll end up as an asterisk candidate).

[Virginiá]

I still hope Sanders will soon come around. Despite being elected as an independent, he was a dependable team player while in the House and Senate, so it's not like he's a loose cannon. It may very well be just to save face in front of his base (many candidates does that). And it's not like Sanders got nothing to lose. Yes, his seat is perhaps the safest Senate seat, but he needs to remember about keeping his position in the Senate.

I'd be greatly disappointed if it goes on, however. I understand if the Sanders campaign remains on war mode for w little longer in order to ensure they'll have a say, but if it goes for too long and too far, they risk wasting what after all was an amazing performance (sneer all you like, but when he declared, we all thought he'll end up as an asterisk candidate).

Based on the Politico piece that documented some of the internal decisions, Sanders seems somewhat vindictive and very stubborn. His indifference to both supporting more downballot candidates and laying the foundation for progress beyond the election shows a terrible strategic error in terms of keeping his movement alive. For someone who cares so much about these things, it makes me wonder what the hell he was thinking. He made 'revolution' a major point of his campaign and yet did nothing to build it and at times made (and continues to make) decisions that blatantly hurt his chances of lasting influence and change.

Bernie's worst enemy in this campaign seems to have been Bernie himself.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I still hope Sanders will soon come around. Despite being elected as an independent, he was a dependable team player while in the House and Senate, so it's not like he's a loose cannon. It may very well be just to save face in front of his base (many candidates does that). And it's not like Sanders got nothing to lose. Yes, his seat is perhaps the safest Senate seat, but he needs to remember about keeping his position in the Senate.

I'd be greatly disappointed if it goes on, however. I understand if the Sanders campaign remains on war mode for w little longer in order to ensure they'll have a say, but if it goes for too long and too far, they risk wasting what after all was an amazing performance (sneer all you like, but when he declared, we all thought he'll end up as an asterisk candidate).

Based on the Politico piece that documented some of the internal decisions, Sanders seems somewhat vindictive and very stubborn. His indifference to both supporting more downballot candidates and laying the foundation for progress beyond the election shows a terrible strategic error in terms of keeping his movement alive. For someone who cares so much about these things, it makes me wonder what the hell he was thinking. He made 'revolution' a major point of his campaign and yet did nothing to build it and at times made (and continues to make) decisions that blatantly hurt his chances of lasting influence and change.

Bernie's worst enemy in this campaign seems to have been Bernie himself.

Unfortunately, it seems to be the case. Staying just for the sake of staying is counterproductive.

[RaphaelDLG]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this anonymously sourced piece on Politico based on leaks from disgruntled staffers is a totally accurate, well-rounded depiction of Sanders or his motivations. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sherrod Brown veto or the lack of communication with Reid were true, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they weren't actually decisions made based on some vindictive personal animus within Sanders.

Also, I want to add that, as someone who gets bombarded with annoying emails from the Sanders campaign, I can count 10 times they've asked me (all unsuccessfully) to donate money to a downballot candidate (most recently, Feingold).

[RaphaelDLG]

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[Higgs]

I still hope Sanders will soon come around. Despite being elected as an independent, he was a dependable team player while in the House and Senate, so it's not like he's a loose cannon. It may very well be just to save face in front of his base (many candidates does that). And it's not like Sanders got nothing to lose. Yes, his seat is perhaps the safest Senate seat, but he needs to remember about keeping his position in the Senate.

I'd be greatly disappointed if it goes on, however. I understand if the Sanders campaign remains on war mode for w little longer in order to ensure they'll have a say, but if it goes for too long and too far, they risk wasting what after all was an amazing performance (sneer all you like, but when he declared, we all thought he'll end up as an asterisk candidate).

Based on the Politico piece that documented some of the internal decisions, Sanders seems somewhat vindictive and very stubborn. His indifference to both supporting more downballot candidates and laying the foundation for progress beyond the election shows a terrible strategic error in terms of keeping his movement alive. For someone who cares so much about these things, it makes me wonder what the hell he was thinking. He made 'revolution' a major point of his campaign and yet did nothing to build it and at times made (and continues to make) decisions that blatantly hurt his chances of lasting influence and change.

Bernie's worst enemy in this campaign seems to have been Bernie himself.

Very well put, my thoughts exactly.

[Virginiá]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this anonymously sourced piece on Politico based on leaks from disgruntled staffers is a totally accurate, well-rounded depiction of Sanders or his motivations.  

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sherrod Brown veto or the lack of communication with Reid were true, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they weren't actually decisions made based on some vindictive personal animus within Sanders.

Also, I want to add that, as someone who gets bombarded with annoying emails from the Sanders campaign, I can count 10 times they've asked me (all unsuccessfully) to donate money to a downballot candidate (most recently, Feingold).

Well let's just say that if most of that was true and mostly accurate descriptions of said events, then my comments remain the same. I don't view media as liars on that scale, but perhaps quick to jump the gun on certain things. It does seem like Politico had that ready and was just holding back on it until the right time, and given how obvious it became month(s) ago that his campaign was going nowhere, I wouldn't be surprised if enough campaign staff members did talk and talk accurately.

In regards to the downballot stuff - It's that he didn't really go as far as he should have and if the comments in that story are to be believed, Bernie didn't seem to care much. Weren't a lot of the more recent candidates in safe Democratic districts, or generally people who didn't need the money anyway (excluding Teachout and Feingold)? This election provides a somewhat rare opportunity to gain our majorities back and instead he supported people who either didn't need the help or weren't strategically useful to help. He could have focused on primarying more moderate Democrats in 2018+. It's just bad strategy. Either way though, the fundraising actions of his campaign reflect such thinking. I'm not going to say that was definitely how Bernie was acting, but there is more reason to believe it than not at this current point in time.

I'm not trying to knock on Bernie for anything and everything here. It's just hard for me to see these actions in a better light given how much emphasis he put in "revolution" and changing the system. He didn't have to make that a big thing, yet he did.

[RaphaelDLG]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this anonymously sourced piece on Politico based on leaks from disgruntled staffers is a totally accurate, well-rounded depiction of Sanders or his motivations. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sherrod Brown veto or the lack of communication with Reid were true, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they weren't actually decisions made based on some vindictive personal animus within Sanders.

Also, I want to add that, as someone who gets bombarded with annoying emails from the Sanders campaign, I can count 10 times they've asked me (all unsuccessfully) to donate money to a downballot candidate (most recently, Feingold).

Well let's just say that if most of that was true and mostly accurate descriptions of said events, then my comments remain the same. I don't view media as liars on that scale, but perhaps quick to jump the gun on certain things. It does seem like Politico had that ready and was just holding back on it until the right time, and given how obvious it became month(s) ago that his campaign was going nowhere, I wouldn't be surprised if enough campaign staff members did talk and talk accurately.

It's not that I suspect that the sources in Politico were straight up making facts and scenarios up - that I actually doubt.  It's more that the interpretation of the facts and the tone of the article has been characteristic of Politico's coverage of Sanders this cycle (which I have followed daily) - that he's this irascible, crazy, megalomaniacal wild man who is out to burn the Democratic party to the ground.

Every comment he's made has been, both in headlines and within articles, blown up into something really aggressive and confrontational - mostly because that's how Politico makes their money, but also because they cover everything in terms of a horse race between teams/personalities, and their writers really wouldn't always appreciate the full range of motivations for a character like Sanders or his voters.

[RaphaelDLG]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that this anonymously sourced piece on Politico based on leaks from disgruntled staffers is a totally accurate, well-rounded depiction of Sanders or his motivations. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Sherrod Brown veto or the lack of communication with Reid were true, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they weren't actually decisions made based on some vindictive personal animus within Sanders.

Also, I want to add that, as someone who gets bombarded with annoying emails from the Sanders campaign, I can count 10 times they've asked me (all unsuccessfully) to donate money to a downballot candidate (most recently, Feingold).

Well let's just say that if most of that was true and mostly accurate descriptions of said events, then my comments remain the same. I don't view media as liars on that scale, but perhaps quick to jump the gun on certain things. It does seem like Politico had that ready and was just holding back on it until the right time, and given how obvious it became month(s) ago that his campaign was going nowhere, I wouldn't be surprised if enough campaign staff members did talk and talk accurately.

In regards to the downballot stuff - It's that he didn't really go as far as he should have and if the comments in that story are to be believed, Bernie didn't seem to care much. Weren't a lot of the more recent candidates in safe Democratic districts, or generally people who didn't need the money anyway (excluding Teachout and Feingold)? This election provides a somewhat rare opportunity to gain our majorities back and instead he supported people who either didn't need the help or weren't strategically useful to help. He could have focused on primarying more moderate Democrats in 2018+. It's just bad strategy. Either way though, the fundraising actions of his campaign reflect such thinking. I'm not going to say that was definitely how Bernie was acting, but there is more reason to believe it than not at this current point in time.

I'm not trying to knock on Bernie for anything and everything here. It's just hard for me to see these actions in a better light given how much emphasis he put in "revolution" and changing the system. He didn't have to make that a big thing, yet he did.

I don't really follow this as closely as you do, but Flores and Canova are both underdogs within their primaries in need of money.

ETA:  If he's really giving to people are literally just flush with cash in totally safe seats, yeah, that's moronic, but I partially reject the strategy argument - there's got to be some sort of carrot and stick here - real progressives get money from Bernie, and corporate Democrats can raise their money from the DNC/their corporate donors.

[Virginiá]

I don't really follow this as closely as you do, but Flores and Canova are both underdogs within their primaries in need of money.

ETA:  If he's really giving to people are literally just flush with cash in totally safe seats, yeah, that's moronic, but I partially reject the strategy argument - there's got to be some sort of carrot and stick here - real progressives get money from Bernie, and corporate Democrats can raise their money from the DNC/their corporate donors.

That's true. There are different ways to approach this. I suppose it's just that my opinion of good strategy is that he help Democrats get back a majority as that provides the best chance of even some of his priorities getting accomplished in the short term, whereas what he did is more of a long-game strategy, maybe? I guess sometimes I forget that other people are concerned a lot more about ideological preferences whereas my focus at the moment is simply getting Democrats back in the majority so we can fix Congressional gerrymandering and voting rights, then we can begin sorting out the corporate Democrats.

Anyway, there is still plenty of time. I'll hold out on faith that he will use his fundraising abilities to raise money for competitive races at least after the convention. I don't see why he wouldn't.