# Bernie Withdraws **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349 "2020-04-08T15:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/241 "2020-04-10T15:57:45Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Who’s Kamilla? Kamala’s mirror universe counterpart. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/242 "2020-04-10T18:19:20Z")
I was hoping that it meant the Duchess of Cornwall was under consideration. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/243 "2020-04-10T19:04:08Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Congratulations, you’ve won. I am a Bernie Bro, and I still intend to vote for Bernie in the Pennsylvania primary in June if he’s still on the ballot as a symbolic protest vote, but in November I will bend the knee toward Joe Biden. With gritted teeth, I will reluctantly vote for the neoliberal centrist who won’t change a goddamn thing, because he’s the lesser of two evils. Bask in your victory. You’ve earned it. I’m basically in the same boat…but I’m also in a non-competitive, small state so I could vote for The Zombified Corpse of Ronald Reagan and it wouldn’t mean a thing. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/244 "2020-04-10T22:00:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Donald J. Trump > @realDonaldTrump > · > 6h > Nobody wants to say that if Elizabeth Warren gets out of the race before Super Tuesday, Crazy Bernie Sanders wins virtually every state in a blowout…NOT EVEN CLOSE! I haven’t heard one member of the Fake News Establishment even mention this irrefutable fact. FAKE NEWS! Trump seems to be off his meds today, if this tweet is anything to go by… ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/245 "2020-04-10T23:58:55Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Who’s Kamilla? Prince Charles’s second wife, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/246 "2020-04-11T01:37:02Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Donald J. Trump > > @realDonaldTrump > > · > > 6h > > Nobody wants to say that if Elizabeth Warren gets out of the race before Super Tuesday, Crazy Bernie Sanders wins virtually every state in a blowout…NOT EVEN CLOSE! I haven’t heard one member of the Fake News Establishment even mention this irrefutable fact. FAKE NEWS! > > Trump seems to be off his meds today, if this tweet is anything to go by… Here’s the [link to the tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1248637403893583872) in case anyone else had to see it to believe it. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/247 "2020-04-11T01:53:58Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Here’s the [link to the tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1248637403893583872) in case anyone else had to see it to believe it. Wow. Thanks for that. I had to do a double-take myself, and question my certainty that the past month had actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/248 "2020-04-11T02:03:11Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Donald J. Trump > > @realDonaldTrump > > · > > 6h > > Nobody wants to say that if Elizabeth Warren gets out of the race before Super Tuesday, Crazy Bernie Sanders wins virtually every state in a blowout…NOT EVEN CLOSE! I haven’t heard one member of the Fake News Establishment even mention this irrefutable fact. FAKE NEWS! > > Trump seems to be off his meds today, if this tweet is anything to go by… :smack: :smack: :smack: From the Man With His Finger On The Button. “Mr. President, we–we can’t just nuke London! The UK is one of our closest allies!” “But they burned the White House!” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/249 "2020-04-11T02:59:11Z")
He’s so full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/250 "2020-04-11T11:01:13Z")
If you want to read Trump’s tweets without getting the dirty feeling you’d get by going to his Twitter feed, I recommend the [Trump Twitter Archive](http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com/). Here’s a good one from yesterday: he retweets someone named Tom Fitton saying, “AG William Barr says Russia probe targeting @RealDonaldTrump was started ‘without basis’. Where are the prosections?” Assuming he meant “prosecutions”, Trump can just fucking _call up Barr and ask him_ where the prosecutions are! And if Barr won’t prosecute, he can find someone who’s even more of a toady than Barr is (admittedly a challenge, but Trump’s up to it) to be AG. His tweets often have this weird aspect of Trump seemingly yelling at the TV about what his government’s doing, _even though he’s in charge of it_. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/251 "2020-04-11T12:51:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > His tweets often have this weird aspect of Trump seemingly yelling at the TV about what his government’s doing, _even though he’s in charge of it_. “Very sad! We are getting killed by this Wuhan Virus PLUS unbelievable numbers of Americans out of work! POTUS very incompetent and a big LOSER! Buck stops with HIM! USA deserves better! #ImpeachPOTUS NOW!” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/252 "2020-04-11T13:06:33Z")
Fascinating, and disturbing…but this has to do with “Bernie withdraws” because…?? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/253 "2020-04-11T13:22:12Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Because Sanders’ own “ruthlessly efficient steamroll-the-opposition mentality” has been so effective in advancing his goals over his decades-long Senate career. This > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > A week ago the GOP wanted to pass a stimulus. Democrats blocked them until democratic agenda items were added. > > Extra oversight was added (which Trump is already trying to get around, but it was added) > UI was expanded beyond the GOP senate bill > Extra funding was added for minority groups > Extra funding for health care frontliners > etc > > Yes, that is ruthlessly efficient. Did the democrats get everything they wanted? No, but they stood up for themselves and fought for what they believe in… and Sander’s role in that was? He has nice ideals. He’s never felt like a practical, get stuff done guy, though. Not that i think Biden is the strongest, either, I just don’t think Sanders would be any better. They’d fail in different way. Sanders would yell, Biden would smile. But neither seems super to me. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > We’ve got 4-8 years of that to look forward to. Biden encouraging the democrats to abandon their voters and abandon their principles until the GOP realize they’ve won and don’t put up as much of a fight… God, I hope so. I’m anticipating trump wins the election and i think there’s a nontrivial chance he makes himself dictator for life. At least he’s old and unhealthy. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/254 "2020-04-11T15:24:35Z")
Matt Yglesias made a very interesting point on the latest Vox podcast. He said he met with people close to the Sanders campaign back in February 2019 and suggested that Bernie actually formally join the Democratic Party. He says they laughed that off and in fact said it was so absurd they weren’t even going to bring the idea to Bernie. Yglesias goes on to say that he doesn’t want to claim that Bernie would have won if they would have just listened to him, but that it is a remarkable thing in a candidacy that (unlike 2016) did not start out as a protest candidacy but was really aimed at winning the nomination, that they were so dismissive of doing “literally the simplest thing you could do to make yourself seem more acceptable to a mainstream political party.” And I agree that this was a big mistake and a strange form of hubris. It would not have required him to change a single substantive position. There is just some sort of stubborn point of pride about not actually joining the party. But then it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the party instead chooses a guy who keeps pointing out at every televised rally that he’s a proud lifelong Democrat. So are most Democratic primary voters! You can set all questions of policy and electability aside and even then, people are going to be reluctant to warm to someone who acts disdainful of joining their club. That’s basic human psychology, and the left is going to have to learn from that mistake and not make this unforced error in the future if they want to gain power. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/255 "2020-04-11T16:45:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Fascinating, and disturbing…but this has to do with “Bernie withdraws” because…?? It doesn’t. It’s just irrelevant\* ranting. - — irrelevant to Bernie Withdraws ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/256 "2020-04-11T20:02:00Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Matt Yglesias made a very interesting point on the latest Vox podcast. He said he met with people close to the Sanders campaign back in February 2019 and suggested that Bernie actually formally join the Democratic Party. He says they laughed that off and in fact said it was so absurd they weren’t even going to bring the idea to Bernie. > > Yglesias goes on to say that he doesn’t want to claim that Bernie would have won if they would have just listened to him, but that it is a remarkable thing in a candidacy that (unlike 2016) did not start out as a protest candidacy but was really aimed at winning the nomination, that they were so dismissive of doing “literally the simplest thing you could do to make yourself seem more acceptable to a mainstream political party.” And I agree that this was a big mistake and a strange form of hubris. It would not have required him to change a single substantive position. There is just some sort of stubborn point of pride about not actually joining the party. Other things Bernie should have done: abandoned the “Democratic Socialist” label. In addition to scaring people away, it’s also not technically accurate. Democratic Socialism is about abolishing capitalism. But Bernie’s policies don’t do that, they merely add a stronger safety net and more regulation to our capitalist system. The “revolution” talk may have excited the younger people, but it scared the older folk. In reality, despite the way he branded himself, he’s a reformer, not a revolutionary. A Social Democrat, not a Democratic Socialist. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/257 "2020-04-11T22:34:59Z")
“All the scariness, half the policies!” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/258 "2020-04-12T00:04:16Z")
I continue to not buy that you have to do all that much to undo what Trump has actually done, because what Trump has done is mostly “Don’t do the things a president should do,” and “do things any president would not do.” Simply having him replaced means the unstaffing goes away, and that the organizations that were crippled come back. Then all you need from there is to stop the stupid trade wars and stop saying stupid, hostile shit. I’m not after some huge change in how government functions. Not yet, anyways. You have to first have a foundation that is working, then you can experiment with making things better. you don’t go from dysfunctional to “never tried this before” and expect it to work without harming people. The main issue I have with Biden is the lack of enthusiasm, and the unfortunate fact that enthusiasm (rather than just rational thought ) is so important in winning elections. It shouldn’t matter how enthused you are for a candidate, as long as they are the better choice (i.e. the lesser of two evils–concepts that mean the exact same thing in a two person race). But, for some reason, it does. It’s winning the election, not what happens afterwards, that concerns me much more. That’s been a concern since Biden would clearly win. Given that, I care about Bernie dropping out only in terms of how well it will help Trump lose the election, not what happens afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/259 "2020-04-12T00:23:21Z")
It’s this big trope that there is no enthusiasm for Biden, but the record turnout of people coming out to vote for him would suggest otherwise. It’s just that those people are not on social media. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349/260 "2020-04-12T00:29:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …The main issue I have with Biden is the lack of enthusiasm, and the unfortunate fact that enthusiasm (rather than just rational thought ) is so important in winning elections. It shouldn’t matter how enthused you are for a candidate, as long as they are the better choice (i.e. the lesser of two evils–concepts that mean the exact same thing in a two person race). But, for some reason, it does. > … Does it, though? When the alternative to Biden is not Romney or Jeb Bush, but TRUMP? This emphasis on “enthusiasm” seems a relic of a time when the two major-party candidates were both basically sound and sane. But that’s not the situation we’re looking at, this particular November. Is the talk about ‘not inspiring enough’ a way forward for fans of Sanders to excuse a failure to vote? As if the non-Trump candidate _ **owed** _ it to them to get them excited? Because that’s not what voting is. It is _not_ an obligation of the candidate to make voters feel any particular way. A vote is _not_ a magical device that ensures the voter is happy and satisfied and feels Seen by the candidate. **A vote is a tool you use to get as close as possible to what you want.** In this case, what millions want is for Donald Trump to GO AWAY. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernie-withdraws/851349.md?page=14)