When it looked like the Biden campaign was on its last legs, I didn't hear the pundits saying the

[still_one]

Sanders campaign or its supporters should make conciliatory gestures toward Biden supporters. In fact I was hearing just the opposite from those parties

I find it ironic now that the roles seem to be reversed how the pundits and others are saying that it is incumbent upon the Biden campaign to make conciliatory gestures toward the Sanders campaign

[Thekaspervote]

1. +1000

[comradebillyboy]

2. Trying to cater to Bernie's demands worked so well the last time.

[Turin_C3PO]

3. I don't have

a problem with Biden supporters being conciliatory to Sanders voters. It’s called not being a sore winner and Biden exemplifies that. We desperately need party unity or we will lose in November.

[TwilightZone]

10. As soon as Sanders' top staffers stop pushing doctored videos about Biden's "dementia"...

perhaps we can start being conciliatory.

I'm of the opposite opinion. Some of these people were never going to vote for anyone other than Bernie, and we shouldn't feel it necessary to kiss up to people who think the Trump War Room is a valid source.

We have party unity. We have as much party unity as we've had in years. Personally, I think the noise should just be ignored, and I suspect there's going to be little or no tolerance for the kind of nonsense that occurred in 2016.

[Turin_C3PO]

14. I agree

that we’re going to be unified. But there’s no point any longer in pissing off Sanders supporters unnecessarily, especially the ones at DU who seem to be loyal Democrats. I’d be surprised if more than 10% of Sanders voters didn’t support our eventual nominee.

[Rorey]

17. I agree - no tolerance for that BS BS NT

[still_one]

11. I used the term conciliatory because it was less inflamatory, and I suspect if Biden is the nominee,

he will make conciliatory gestures, but if threats are made that they must do this or that or they will not vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election, is unacceptable

[Turin_C3PO]

15. Sure,

we shouldn’t give in to blackmail. And the people who are not going to support the nominee should be ignored and isolated.

[still_one]

22. Exactly. All sides should work together

[usaf-vet]

46. If they don't vote for the Democratic nominee in my book that makes them a Trump supporter.

Biden's VP choice should help to unify the party. But in any case, the primary objective is to get Trump out of office. PERIOD!

[Rorey]

12. I don't have a problem, to a point

I don't know that Joe Biden is being a "sore winner", though I'm sure it can feel like that to some who support Sanders.

On one hand, we need to get every vote we can get, but history shows that some aren't going to do what's obviously in the best interest of the country because they'll be nursing hard feelings.

Some folks can't be won over, so to speak, no matter how conciliatory the victor is. That's just the way it is. We'll have to do everything we can to win without them.

[ibegurpard]

16. Biden is not being a sore winner

Some others? particularly on this board? different story.

[Turin_C3PO]

18. Most Biden supporters

have been very gracious winners. I’ve only seen a few questionable posts. Biden sets a great example.

[Squinch]

4. Nor the Harris nor Buttigieg nor Klobuchar nor Bloomberg nor Yang nor Warren nor

any of the others' supporters.

None of those camps demanded prizes for participation.

[still_one]

13. Agreed

[StarfishSaver]

5. K&R

All too true. Bernie's always treated as a special case.

[dalton99a]

7. Because he is not a Democrat

[still_one]

20. and last nights speech by Biden was very gracious, but threatening the Democratic nominee that he

must do this or that, or they will not support him in the general election, is unacceptable.

When Rep. Clyburn said, let Biden be Biden, really hit the target. I sure hope Rep. Clyburn is part of the Biden campaign, and will be part of a Biden administration if Biden wins the general election

[StarfishSaver]

27. His speech was very gracious. And also comforting and inspiring

I feel very good about how things are going in the party right now.

[beachbumbob]

6. all about undermining Biden and creating an issue among the big tent base, it worked in 2016

[still_one]

21. Excellent analysis!!!

[robbedvoter]

8. yeah, let's have another Appeasement Committee declaring that the South

is not allowed to vote - in fact only Vermont, NH, NV and IA are! Because - enthusiasm!

Link to tweet

[frazzled]

9. Agreed

That was the huge mistake in 2016, imo. I don't recall in previous primaries that non-winning candidates were given such an outsized role after a presumptive nominee was achieved. They got to speak at the convention for 5 or 10 minutes maybe, and there were probably backroom deals to be made about them releasing delegates. But they didn't get to have such a big role in writing the platform and dominating committees, and their delegates certainly weren't allowed to boo and demonstrate.

Maybe this is a function of the party becoming so "split." We're always worried about alienating a single voting segment. But frankly, we do cater to this contingent at the party's own peril (as the Republicans did to the Tea Party). Most Sanders voters and delegates are going to do the right thing in the end, but the vocal minority that won't aren't Democrats anyway and have never voted so. We don't need them, and they are more than made up for this time by the energetic black base and by massive numbers of suburban women.

So no: not this time, no how. It only weakens our chances in November.

[emmaverybo]

19. +10000

[pinkstarburst]

23. Does Biden want to win?

And if Sanders is the nominee, absolutely he will have to make concessions, pick a moderate VP, adjust his platform so that he can pick up votes from moderates. I think the reason you didn't hear about "concessions" was that the pundits were so busy screaming "the sky is falling if we nominate a progressive" and lighting their hair on fire.

In all seriousness, Joe has to play this smart. He can't go into the general with the expectation ANY group of people is just going to fall in line and vote for him because "we have to defeat Trump." That kind of thinking didn't work for us in 2016. It's not going to work this time around either. Joe has made such a show of how he can reach out to republicans, reach out to independent voters, reach out to AA voters. If he wants progressives to show up and vote for him of course he's going to have to change his messaging, give them some of the things they were dreaming for with Bernie and give them a reason to vote for him. Or if he doesn't care, that's his choice, but the moment Bernie is out of the race? Any failure to get those votes is 100% on JOE.

[still_one]

26. and if Biden is the nominee, he isn't going into the general with any expectations as was evidenced

by his speech last night.

Reaching out to the opposition within the Democratic party is good, but making demands, or they won't get support or votes in the general election is not

[2naSalit]

28. because "we have to defeat Trump." That kind of thinking didn't work for us in 2016.

We had Obama as president at that time not the Godzilla president. There will be more voters than you can imagine wanting to oust the incumbent this time.

Joe needs to make NO concessions to the interloper wannabe democrat. i think you give Bernie too much credit for losing.

[thesquanderer]

24. Silly comparison. It would've been ridiculously presumptuous for Sanders to do that.

After Nevada, you think he should have assumed Biden's campaign was over and made conciliatory gestures? Come on. He would have been railed against for the hubris, and rightly so.

The situation now is enormously different, because unlike Biden after Nevada, Sanders' campaign really IS effectively over. That makes it an entirely different circumstance.

[LoveMyCali]

43. Thank you

I was wondering if I was the only one who saw a difference between two primaries and 49. The numbers just aren't there anymore, time to concentrate on ridding ourselves of the Republican swamp.

[redstatebluegirl]

25. +1000

[Docreed2003]

29. While I agree totally with winning with class

I'm having a hard time with the idea that we're just supposed to bend over backwards and kiss asses of the same individuals who booed party leaders viciously at the convention in 2016, including icons like John Lewis.

I want to unite the party, but it's hard to get past things like that and the current attacks on Biden.

[still_one]

31. Working together as oppossed to making demands

[Docreed2003]

32. Exactly this

[Sapient Donkey]

30. It makes sense for Biden to do that regardless of what the pundits did or didn't say

[pampango]

33. Indeed. I even heard some ultra-Sanders supporters wanting Biden to withdraw for the sake

of 'unity'. I don't remember them urging 'conciliatory gestures' to Biden and his supporters.

[boston bean]

34. Because he was not on his last legs, obviously. Bernie is, however.

[SunSeeker]

35. K & R

[llmart]

36. Most of what I heard was this...

"The Democrats are in disarray." I thought it was a load of crap then and now of course we know it was a load of crap.

The pundits aren't happy unless they have controversy, even if it's fabricated.

[totodeinhere]

37. And in fact Joe is making conciliatory gestures to Sanders supporters.

In his speech Tuesday night he thanked Bernie and his supporters and invited them to join his campaign.

[stillcool]

38. yeah...I'm tired of irony..

bothsiderism, and all the rest of the bullshit coming from egotistical madmen, and sychophants. There's so much going on, and this Bernie crap can not interfere with my attention span. He is one human being, not nearly as important as he thinks he is.

[NYC Liberal]

39. Same thing happened to Hillary.

The media expected her to make all kinds of concessions and overtures to Bernie supporters after winning the primaries.

Then when she lost to Trump, the media said nothing about Trump making concessions — even though he lost the popular vote.

[slumcamper]

40. Let's all heal and save the nation--TOGETHER.

[keopeli]

41. Typically, the press starts doing this after Super Tuesday, especially if there is a clear leader

They did it in 08 with Hillary, but she wouldn't bow out graciously. Obama had to struggle with Hillary supporters as a result.

They did it in every election I can think of since the 1980s. It's not a Sanders thing. It's what they say when one candidate is clearly going to win the nomination, and not before Super Tuesday.

[Sloumeau]

42. As long as David Sirota and his ilk continue to try and help Bernie Sanders...

get elected by lying about Joe Biden, I require no conciliatory gestures on Joe Biden's part.

[DIVINEprividence]

44. Always play fair when you are holding a winning hand

“Always play fair when you are holding the winning hand” -Oscar Wilde

Being nice to Sanders is just smart politics for Biden. Who cares what Sanders does. Biden has won it and the fact he is trying to reach out to unify the party just makes me secure he is the right choice as the nominee.

[William769]

45. My response is and always will be FUCK THEM!

They know what's at stake, if they can live with that then so be it.

I'll be dammed if I am going to kiss their lilly white asses.

In case anyone misses my understanding, here it is again. FUCK THEM!

[randr]

47. I think the delegate count makes this a bit different

I thought it hyperbolic for Bernie to claim the lead before Super Tuesday.

[keepthemhonestO]

48. I think

because half of his supporters are rabid sycophants and they voted not for Clinton last time and they are going to vote trump or 3rd party again. I say we can win with half of them but the other half are more reasonable so maybe we should try to whew them over?

[still_one]

49. sure

[alfredo]

50. They knew S Carolina was ahead, and so was other southern states

It was too soon to write the Biden CampaIgn’s obit.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

51. How's the weather at your place?

If it’s decent why not go out for a walk? Take your pets if you have them. If the weathers bad why not do something that you’ve been putting off that really needs to be done.

You are going to be Getting what you wanted very shortly. You should be happy about that. Why not try to keep things in perspective?