Bernie won't go

[Galraedia]

The electoral system creates a math problem wherein the answer to the question “how many major party candidates should run?” is basically two. The use of multi-member plurality voting (in all states but Maine and Nebraska)* with a requirement that the winner must receive an absolute majority of the electors creates a strong incentive for two large parties (although it does not guarantee that outcome).

Throw in a nomination system for each party that essentially invites all comers and you essentially guarantee a duopoly. Basically: the cost (and risk) of a major third party run far outweighs the benefit and opportunity presents by the open doors of the Republican and Democratic nomination processes.

Setting aside the institutional analysis, Sanders is just reinforcing the view that he is an extreme egotist who helps encourage his diehard followers to look to him and not to any broader goals. I get, in the abstract, that by staying in the race and insisting on a debate he is increasing exposure to his policy ideas. The more he gets to talk on a national stage, the greater the chances he can get his message out about MFA and other topics. However, there is a serious diminishing return problem here, especially in the current environment.

The Trump presidency alone creates its own kind of challenge that, at some point, requires anti-Trump political forces to work together. This is Politics 101: coalition building around ranked-order preferences. Bernie (and his supporters) will get closer to what they want from a Biden presidency than from a Trump second term. It behooves Bernie to wake up to this fact and use his resources towards that end. The Covid-19 outbreak only underscores both the stakes of the situation as well as the fact that politics and usual are counterproductive.

Source: https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/bernie-wont-go/

[showblue22]

1. He doesn't want democrats to succeed.

He said many times he despises us.

[trueblue2007]

5. well of course he doesn't. BS is NOT a democrat. I don't even know why he was allowed to run !!

WHY DID THE DNC LET HIM RUN IN THE FIRST PLACE.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. I don't know for sure

But I imagine that they felt that it would be better for him running against the DNC from "the inside" instead of the outside (i.e. Third Party). Also, probably to help keep from inflaming his supporters. However, some of his supporters have so deeply bought into the "DNC rigging" narrative from 2016, they will still reject any outcome other than BS winning the nomination, which is what we're still going to wind up with this year. If Bernie doesn't just drop out, the next best thing is for Joe to ignore him and start running against Trump, like he seems to already be doing. Thankfully, this will almost certainly be the last time we'll have to deal with Bernie being a nominee.

[Walleye]

2. He can make all the speeches he wants from the floor of the Senate

Too bad his oratory isn’t that convincing. I remember Teddy Kennedy’s eloquence in the Senate.

[redstatebluegirl]

3. BS is not nearly as smart as Ted Kennedy.

Not as polished either, I guess that is part of his "charm".

[NurseJackie]

9. LOL

I guess that is part of his "charm".

[The Magistrate]

4. 'Bernie' Is Not Running To Become President, Ma'am

The sooner people get that through their heads, especially his well-meaning supporters, the better it will be for our people and our country.

The fact is Sanders campaigns not to gain the Democratic Party's nomination for President, but to weaken if not wreck the 'Democratic Establishment'. For 'Bernie', ousting Trump and ending the Republican majority in the Senate is barely an afterthought to this long-standing purpose. Once Sanders' supporters face this fact squarely, they may be able to decide honestly what their best course in this election is: voting against 'Bernie' in any future primary, and for Mr. Biden and Democrats all down the ticket to the lowest office on the ballot come November.

It is probably true that Sanders sees destroying the 'Democratic Establishment' as an essential precondition to defeating Trump et al, and so by his own lights he means it when he says he will do all he can to defeat Trump. But that belief is so self-serving and delusional it deserves not just scorn but contempt.

As with Trump, the only real cure is to deprive the man of the oxygen of worshipful attention. The effect would be that of a bucket of water on the wicked witch of Oz....





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Cha]

6. So much for this quote of BS'..

Donald Trump must be defeated,” Bernie Sanders insists, “and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/1287673175

[William769]

7. ...