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

[RaphaelDLG]

He isn't owed one.

[RaphaelDLG]

The word is "blackmail": to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc.

I keep hearing that the supporters of "Hillary's ball and chain" and also the ball and chain himself are demanding things happen a certain way during the convention or else....

What's up with that?

Hillary is ahead of him in every way. What is so hard to understand about that? She has worked very hard for years to garner the support she has in the Democratic Party. What has Bernie done?

It's not nice to threaten blackmail when you lost the campaign.

Clinton has a majority of the Democratic Party (not necessarily delegates) behind her, according to polls, but that is not enough to win in itself. Sanders supporters like myself want to see a more progressive Democratic candidate and Party. Some will be content to see Clinton adopt a few positions of Sanders at the convention; others will not.

Sanders has caucused and voted with the Democratic Party on a majority of issues since he entered the House in 1991, and has supported the Democratic candidate in every election since, with the possible exception of 2000 (I am not sure about that one).

Look kid, your guy tried and he lost, you don't have a divine right to get what you want no matter what.  The election is Clinton vs. Trump, pick one side or the other.  You don't always get to have your personal perfect candidate to vote for.  If this wasn't your first election maybe you'd understand that that's not how politics works.  Your chance to get that candidate was in the primaries.  There's a whole cottage industry out there of fake candidates who exist only to take advantage of people like you for attention; Jill Stein is just one of them, and she doesn't even represent your views anyway because your views probably include the president being sane, mature, and capable of running the country.

I feel like these Bernie children don't even understand what the presidency is.  It's not some page of a history book where you stamp your manifesto.  It's an actual job that requires a massive toolbox of skills and experiences to perform competently.  By wasting your vote on Donald Trump or Jill Stein you're not just saying "oh I agree with some views of this person", you're saying "I think this person should sit in the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next for years, speak for the entire country, navigate the most challenging and risky situations and make tremendously difficult and consequential decisions on my behalf."  You know perfectly well, deep down, that Hillary Clinton is the candidate you would feel most comfortable having in that position, no matter how much you try to immaturely delude yourself otherwise.

Your vote has tremendous consequences that reach across the entire planet.  Helping Donald Trump by voting for Jill Stein indicates a refusal to accept not just reality but also the consequences of your actions.  You can put your fingers in your ears and pretend it's some noble decision all you like but in your heart you know that if Trump were to win by one vote and people suffered as a result, you would regret it until the day you died.

Even though I loathe you, I think you make some highly valid points, but he lives in Maine, so it's not like his vote really matters.  It'd be much different if he lived next door in New Hampshire.

And I think if you don't live in a crucial state, there is a valid reason to vote for a major third-party candidate other than because you think they would make a good President:  For instance, I think Hillary is a way better choice for President than Gary Johnson.  But voting for Johnson in a safe state might be logical because it could eventually help Johnson get on the debate stage and voice an anti-war, anti-police state perspective that desperately needs to be heard on the debate stage.

I don't understand why you're getting that worked up about this for people who don't live in crucial states.

[RaphaelDLG]

As a young PUMA, I have to say that the Busters probably are more scary than the PUMAs were for Obama's supporters in '08.

I was 16 in 2008. I pretended the issues mattered to me because that's what I needed to project, but in reality... I really just *liked* Hillary. I believed Obama wasn't up to the job (and I still think I was right and that it took the guy far too long to grow into his responsibilities, but I digress ). So I supported McCain. In hindsight, if I had actually been an intelligent person, I probably should have gotten over myself and realized that Hillary's values were not John McCain's values. But I couldn't, because I was young and stupid and didn't really understand what was at stake in politics.

Most of Hillary's other supporters, though, were older. They'd been through it all and knew that it just made sense to support Obama in the end. PUMAism didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, draws most of his support from young people who are more likely to not really understand why voting for Hillary is the right thing to do come November. That's what's a little bit scary. They're political n00bs who, like me in 2008, think they know everything.

I agree with you about Hillary. I voted for her in 2008 and I also didn't think Obama was good for the job. I was totally bummed when she didn't win the nomination; I wanted nothing to do with Obama, but I did end up voting for him. And over the years I've grown to like him as a person and I like some of the things he's accomplished...like Obamacare, for one.

But his working relationship with Congress has been a bad marriage from the beginning, and I never want to see a repeat of that whoever the next President is. I feel that with Trump, he won't get any cooperation at all. Hillary, at least, worked in the Senate and there were people on both aisles who had a high opinion of her. I have high hopes that she would figure out a way to work with Congress and get things done! It's what she's geared for.

I think it's naïve to expect the Republican Congress to be an ounce more cooperative with Hillary is Prez.  I do think Hillary is more politically talented than him and will be better at applying pressure when she can.