# Is this a preparation to unite or something else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 23, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855 "2016-04-23T01:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855/1 "2016-04-23T01:19:19Z")
[This morning I think.](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/04/22/sanders_returns_its_not_just_about_me_clinton_will_have_to_change_her_platform_to_earn_my_support.html) > [@](#): > > MITCHELL: Will you help persuade your young followers, if she wins the nomination, to follow her the way she campaigned for Barack Obama? > > SANDERS: Well, first of all, I 've got to find out what her platform is, what the views are that she is going to be bringing forth, to what degree she will adopt many of the ideas that I think are extremely popular and I think very sensible. > > But it is a two-way street. I want to see the Democratic party have the courage to stand up to big money interests in a way that they have not in the past, take on the drug companies, take on Wall Street, take on the fossil fuel industry, and I want to see them come up with ideas that really do excite working families and young people in this country. I am most interested in hearing how those who have been supporting Sanders hear this, and what they think his rhetoric regarding his support for a Clinton general campaign in the case of her being the nominee should be at this point. Also what you believe he is saying about what he would be arguing in the case of not getting a majority of the pledged delegates and if you think that is realistic and/or consistent with past rhetoric about what superdelegates should do. (So you others _please_ keep it restrained.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855/2 "2016-04-23T01:35:58Z")
I think he’s continuing his campaign to wake up the left wing of this country. He’s not going to say he’s getting out of the primary process right now because he can use that to keep pushing his message. He’s also telling Hillary she ought to pay attention to his message the way all those people who voted for him did. And realism and consistency with what he or anyone else said about super delegates has as much relevance as continuity in a sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855/3 "2016-04-25T21:23:58Z")
Have we seen anyone demand that Kasich endorse Trump yet? Or Cruz? Sanders isn’t going to jump the gun and effectively concede the contest before he’s mathematically eliminated. And he’s certainly not going to concede on his issues, the reason he’s running. In the general, if you have to concede some things to make a coalition, fine. But not now. And even then, there’s a big difference between mutual concessions in the name of a coalition on one hand, and full capitulation on the other. It is frankly bizarre to insist that Bernie must capitulate to Hillary now, now, now, and the HRC camp have been saying it for a while. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855/4 "2016-04-25T21:30:08Z")
Is he at the point of damaging Clinton’s prospects in November more than he’s advancing the cause of his “One percent, big banks, system’s rigged” mantra? If so, and I think it is, then yes, it’s time. And it sounds like he knows it too. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-a-preparation-to-unite-or-something-else/752855/5 "2016-04-25T21:42:30Z")
It could also mean that, while he would campaign for her (especially as the alternative is a Republican), he doesn’t necessarily have to campaign for her choice of candidates in Congress. For example, in California, a lot of seats are going to be contested between two Democrats, and they may end up being mainstream vs. progressive/socialist - especially for Boxer’s Senate seat. The more “Bernie backers” that get elected, the more likely it is that parts of his agenda get put into law. Okay, maybe not single-payer healthcare, or a tax on stock trading (I can see the pension plan organizers sweating over that one - a lesson from Vegas: the more money you expose to the house’s 0.3% advantage, the less you will end up with in the end), but getting rid of the Social Security tax cap and, if not free tuition, at least setting up some system for students with loans to refinance them is possible.