Should Sanders be given a speaking slot at the DNC if he refuses to endorse

[Beet]

Provided that every reasonable accommodation, and even above and beyond what he deserves (which is a lot) has been made for him, if he still refuses to endorse Hillary, unfortunately I'd have to say no. It'll hurt in the GE. But it's better to have a unified voice than "a house divided." Besides, I can't remember the last time a person was given a major convention speaking slot who used their speech mainly to advertise their own causes, but wouldn't endorse the nominee. Ted Kennedy 1980?

[MaxQue]

Provided that every reasonable accommodation, and even above and beyond what he deserves (which is a lot) has been made for him, if he still refuses to endorse Hillary, unfortunately I'd have to say no. It'll hurt in the GE. But it's better to have a unified voice than "a house divided." Besides, I can't remember the last time a person was given a major convention speaking slot who used their speech mainly to advertise their own causes, but wouldn't endorse the nominee. Ted Kennedy 1980?

Technically, if he forces a rollcall vote on nomination, he will be able to do a speech before the vote.

[RaphaelDLG]

He isn't owed one.

[cwt]

He isn't owed one.

He doesn't owe Clinton an endorsement, either.

[IceSpear]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[NeverAgain]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[Eraserhead]

No Yes, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[Beet]

Provided that every reasonable accommodation, and even above and beyond what he deserves (which is a lot) has been made for him, if he still refuses to endorse Hillary, unfortunately I'd have to say no. It'll hurt in the GE. But it's better to have a unified voice than "a house divided." Besides, I can't remember the last time a person was given a major convention speaking slot who used their speech mainly to advertise their own causes, but wouldn't endorse the nominee. Ted Kennedy 1980?

Technically, if he forces a rollcall vote on nomination, he will be able to do a speech before the vote.

If he does this and tries to make a pitch for himself, he should be booed offstage.

[dspNY]

Absolutely not...

[dax00]

He isn't owed one.

He doesn't owe Clinton an endorsement, either.

[Xing]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[TDAS04]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[Mr. Morden]

Provided that every reasonable accommodation, and even above and beyond what he deserves (which is a lot) has been made for him, if he still refuses to endorse Hillary, unfortunately I'd have to say no. It'll hurt in the GE. But it's better to have a unified voice than "a house divided." Besides, I can't remember the last time a person was given a major convention speaking slot who used their speech mainly to advertise their own causes, but wouldn't endorse the nominee. Ted Kennedy 1980?

Technically, if he forces a rollcall vote on nomination, he will be able to do a speech before the vote.

True, but it wouldn't necessarily be in primetime.

Maybe the Clinton people will engineer it so that such a speech takes place at 3am. 

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Maybe he should give his speaking slot to Cornell West to explain how Obama is a Rockefeller Republican in blackface and the first nized president.

[ProudModerate2]

No, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[This account no longer in use.]

I would make a sarcastic post about how Sanders is a racist and misogynist and should be banished from the Democratic Party, but it looks like LL's already taken care of that for me. Thanks, buddy.

[Lyin' Steve]

He shouldn't be given a speaking slot period.  At some point you have to draw the line and say his behavior thus far has been sufficiently unacceptable.

[DrScholl]

It doesn't make any sense for him to speak when he hasn't even acknowledged that he lost the race. No one said he's obligated to endorse Clinton, but he can't expect to be given a platform to attack the presumptive nominee or otherwise promote himself.

[Suck my caulk]

Yes. He ran a competitive campaign, won over 20 state contests, and has several million followers, many of whom are still on the fence as to whether they can even vote for Clinton in good conscience (I personally cannot and will not). Whether he endorses the nominee or not, he should have a chance to make his case and list the concessions he would like to see from the nominee before he can encourage his followers to vote Clinton. It is also worth pointing out that Clinton does not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to win the nomination outright, and therefore even if Sanders trashes Clinton, he should still get a speaking slot, because he deserves to be able to make his case to the superdelegates. Yes, Clinton is ahead (via questionable campaign tactics and overwhelming establishment backing), but she has not hit 2,383 outright, and Sanders continues to poll better than her against Trump, along with the fact that he is from the scandal of indictment.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

No Yes, but he's obviously going to endorse her eventually.

[Ebowed]

I don't understand how so many people who are supposedly political observers seem to cling to this idea that he won't eventually endorse the Democratic nominee...

[Lyin' Steve]

Yes. He ran a competitive campaign, won over 20 state contests, and has several million followers, many of whom are still on the fence as to whether they can even vote for Clinton in good conscience (I personally cannot and will not). Whether he endorses the nominee or not, he should have a chance to make his case and list the concessions he would like to see from the nominee before he can encourage his followers to vote Clinton. It is also worth pointing out that Clinton does not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to win the nomination outright, and therefore even if Sanders trashes Clinton, he should still get a speaking slot, because he deserves to be able to make his case to the superdelegates. Yes, Clinton is ahead (via questionable campaign tactics and overwhelming establishment backing), but she has not hit 2,383 outright, and Sanders continues to poll better than her against Trump, along with the fact that he is from the scandal of indictment.

Oh my god we got another Bernie child on the forum.  And he's more lucid than jfern.

Let's see how long it takes before he just starts insulting everyone like Chickenhawk and all those Bernie surrogates on twitter.  I'm guessing about twenty posts.

[HAnnA MArin County]

Yes. He ran a competitive campaign, won over 20 state contests, and has several million followers, many of whom are still on the fence as to whether they can even vote for Clinton in good conscience (I personally cannot and will not). Whether he endorses the nominee or not, he should have a chance to make his case and list the concessions he would like to see from the nominee before he can encourage his followers to vote Clinton. It is also worth pointing out that Clinton does not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to win the nomination outright, and therefore even if Sanders trashes Clinton, he should still get a speaking slot, because he deserves to be able to make his case to the superdelegates. Yes, Clinton is ahead (via questionable campaign tactics and overwhelming establishment backing), but she has not hit 2,383 outright, and Sanders continues to poll better than her against Trump, along with the fact that he is from the scandal of indictment.

Jfern, is that you?

But muh general election polls! Polls do not translate into votes.

No, he should absolutely NOT be given a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention if he doesn't endorse the nominee. Take your ball and go speak at the Green Party National Convention. Jill Stein would love to have you there, even though she thinks you're too conservative to call yourself a socialist. Lol

Your same argument above could have been used eight years ago; of course, had Hillary NOT endorsed Obama, she would have been put on the guillotine. Once again, the double standard is beyond sickening. Hillary won the nomination fair and square. You sound like a sore loser just trying to cry foul because your candidate lost. Better luck next time, kiddo.

Bernie Sanders only became a "Democrat" because he knew there was no way for him to win as an independent or to hitch his wagon to the Jill Stein Train. He talks about how both parties are corrupt and entities of Wall Street and yet he sought to exploit the party for his own benefit. He's also hoping to be on the ticket with her, which raises the question, "Why would he want to be on the same ticket with someone so corrupt and morally bankrupt as Hillary Clinton," as you and others in the Jfern Asylum have repeatedly whined.

As for the superdelegates, Bernie should have done his homework before deciding to run as a Democrat. Political parties have every right to make their own convention rules; if you don't like it, you can either run under a different party or seek to change the rules for future elections, which seems to be what Sanders is attempting to do now, and that's all fine and dandy by me. Sanders talks about how the system is rigged because of the superdelegates, but now you're suggesting that he should be given a speaking slot at the convention to try to convince those same cheating superdelegates who are rigging the system to basically overturn the will of the voters and back a candidate who is behind in the popular vote and who is behind in the pledged delegates? Can you say, "hypocrite?" That's really an insult to everyone, including myself, who cast a vote for Hillary Clinton. When will you all on the far left learn that everyone who voted for Hillary Clinton was not bribed by Wall Street to vote for her? I'm sure that's a conspiracy theory being floated out there in the fantasy land of The Young Turks/Daily Kos/Reddit.

Your argument for why he should be given a speaking slot is just weak, sour (and salty) grapes and merits little credibility.

[Lyin' Steve]

I don't understand how so many people who are supposedly political observers seem to cling to this idea that he won't eventually endorse the Democratic nominee...

Well, Eugene McCarthy, Ted Kennedy, and Jerry Brown didn't endorse the democratic nominee.  It's not unheard of for a democratic primary to end in bitterness with the loser making unreasonable demands and refusing to endorse the winner.

The thing is, people remember McCarthy and Brown as tremendous assholes for what they did.  Nobody today remembers Jerry Brown's 1992 campaign fondly, he's remembered as bitter, petulant, and caught up in a one-sided feud with Clinton that Clinton couldn't care less about.  Eugene McCarthy's 1968 temper tantrum is the case study everyone points to for how someone could completely screw up a convention and presidential race, and he had far more of a case than Bernie given that the race was in complete flux after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.  The only reason Ted Kennedy isn't viewed as negatively is because most people are aware that Carter was a dick to Kennedy throughout his presidency.

What is Bernie's justification for going to the convention?  Clinton has been extraordinarily kind and gentle with him throughout the primary process, not running a single attack ad against him.  His claims of the party stealing the nomination from him and being unfair to him or not respecting his supporters are just a bunch of insubstantial fluff and he knows it.  McCarthy and Kennedy at least had motivations for refusing to endorse.  What is Bernie's motivation?  Is he just Jerry Brown '92 redux?  That's the most irritating thing about his issuing of demands and his insistence on going through to the convention.  He doesn't seem to have any actual good reason to do it other than that he wants attention (a.k.a. "the movement must survive", "the revolution must continue", whatever) or, as the Politico article inside his campaign revealed, that he's just bitter and angry at Hillary Clinton and the DNC in a one-sided way.