# Let's keep sneering at "Bernie bros", it worked so well last time. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524 "2020-02-05T03:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/381 "2020-02-13T19:52:29Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > “Moderates” like you will either vote Trump or stay home regardless of who the Dems nominate. You got any basis for that retarded opinion? I’m pretty sure that I have consistently said I would vote for whoever was running against Trump. I prefer Biden (and Cory Booker when he was still running), but I will vote for whoever isn’t Trump. From the sounds of it, Senor Beef (and probably you) are far more likely to stay home than me (or any other responsible adult), just to spite the Democrats or because of hurt feewings. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/382 "2020-02-13T20:02:58Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > You act as though the democratic party is entitled to the vote for those Sanders supporters no matter what. No. It’s not ABOUT what the Democratic Party is entitled to. It’s about what the United States of America is entitled to. Since 1972 (at least) the United States of America has been entitled to never have a Republican in the Oval Office. And since the year 2000 (at least) the United States of America has been entitled to never having any Republican in ANY elected office. Obvs, the electorate has consistently failed to give the United states of America what she is entitled to for some fifty years. But until the nation achieves an electorate with none of the MAGAT mindset, the nation is entitled to EVERY VOTE going to the Democratic candidate in EVERY election. The above objective facts will not change unless and until a paradigm shift occurs that releases us from the inevitabilities of Duverger’s Law. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/383 "2020-02-13T20:06:55Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > … Like wanting Joe Fucking Biden to run as a moderate republican … Upthread I posted a synopsis of Joe Biden’s healthcare plan. You didn’t bother to fucking read it, did you. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/384 "2020-02-13T20:13:16Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > If given the choice between one extreme right wing candidate and one moderate right wing candidate and being told hey, you have no choice, you have to vote for the less right wing candidate - well, that’s how we’re in this mess at all. That’s how the democratic party has stayed alive for 40 years without any sort of progressive agenda. > > If they can take your vote for granted even if they don’t do anything to represent you, then they have no reason to try to represent you. > > Sitting out an election and saying “if you want my vote, do something for me” is a perfectly valid tactic to change the strategy of a party. Oh, NOW I see where the confusion comes in. Some people think that the task before us is to change the strategy of the Democratic Party. Well, it’s not. IT’S TO SAVE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/385 "2020-02-13T20:19:22Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Upthread I posted a synopsis of Joe Biden’s healthcare plan. > > You didn’t bother to fucking read it, did you. Dude, what is up with your fixation with Joe Biden’s healthcare plan? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/386 "2020-02-13T20:19:47Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It’s also perfectly valid to judge someone for disregarding the cost of their tactic. Or, I suppose, for carefully regarding the cost and still feeling like it’s worth it. > > The only thing stopping Sanders and AOC from making their own party is that it would be inconvenient for them. Well, that plus the fact that doing it before the Republican Party stops existing would spell the end of the Democratic Party as any kind of effective counterbalance to the MAGATS. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/387 "2020-02-13T20:39:05Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I have several answers to this. Me too. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I don’t know that such a thing as a “moderate democrat” exists. What would that mean? Someone who wants to support the Democratic Party but doesn’t want any leftist policies? I feel like those people would better be called establishment democrats or conservative democrats. I don’t know if such a thing as a “reasonable” Bernie supporter exists. I feel like those people would better be called… well, I won’t say it… I know how much it hurts your feelings. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I am not a democrat, I do not like the Democratic Party, and I do not want any candidate outside of Sanders or Warren to be president. So I don’t feel that I have to convince people of the merits of the Democratic Party, given that I do not like them. > > If you’re an establishment democrat, then I don’t need to convince you to vote for a democratic establishment candidate. You’re the democrat, I’m not, it doesn’t make much sense to hold me to the obligation of the sales pitch. Got it. You don’t want to go to the party. Not your kind of people. Not your kind of scene. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > But that doesn’t apply to the reverse. Since I am not a democrat, do not generally like the Democratic Party or the candidates they nominate, but the Democratic Party and their supporters want my vote, it’s on them to make the sales pitch to me as to why voting for their candidate makes sense. Wait a minute. You just said you don’t want to go to the party. Unless of course everybody really really wants you to go to the party. So it’s their job to sell you on how great this party will be and to convince you to want to go. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > And so if I’m in a position where I really don’t want to vote for Joe Biden, you should probably appeal to me by helping me see the merits of that decision, not saying “oh boo how you dumb shit Bernie Bro, eat your shit sandwich or you want to suck Trump’s dick” - having the people who should be convincing me why I should vote for their candidate instead treating me like shit makes it harder for me to swallow that pill. Not easier. So even though the party isn’t just for you, you expect everyone to change the theme and music and food of the party so as to make you really want to go. Else, you’re not really feeling like enough people have made enough of an effort to make you feel welcome at the party, under the big tent. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > And most relevantly, if Bernie were the nominee, and I saw someone who was struggling or uncomfortable with voting for him, my reaction _would not be to insult them_ and make the decision less appealing to them. I would try to make the decision more appealing. This seems obvious, and yet you have countless democratic supporters who want to convince people to vote democrat insulting and alienating them for no fucking reason. Oh, there’s a reason, Becky. Here it is: Fuck you. Nobody cares if you come to the party. Stay home. Petulant fucking cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/388 "2020-02-13T20:39:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, that plus the fact that doing it before the Republican Party stops existing would spell the end of the Democratic Party as any kind of effective counterbalance to the MAGATS. Oh I missed that. Thanks. AOC wouldn’t win if she wasn’t a Democrat Elizabeth Crowley would be the new Congresswoman from New York’s 14th district the next even numbered year. Bernie would have no chance at winning the Presidency if he wasn’t running as a Democrat. He would be Jill Stein. We don’t need AOC to fill that seat. She needs us to have a platform. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/389 "2020-02-13T20:48:26Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Dude, what is up with your fixation with Joe Biden’s healthcare plan? 😕 Healthcare is THE big issue that supposedly separates the leftists from the moderates on the Democratic stage. (Not the ONLY issue, but certainly one of the most talked-about. It was over-reach on her M4A that might have triggered Warren’s collapse.) **SenorBeef** calls Biden “moderate Republican.” I think another used the term “Republican-Lite.” The obvious way to address this characterization is to make a practical comparison of the healthcare plans of Sanders, Biden, and a moderate Republican (if there is such a thing). What part of this is hard to understand? Kapische? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/390 "2020-02-13T20:56:05Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > How is there a “progressive circular firing squad”? Progressives are pretty united. > > Or are you calling the entire democratic party progressive? Because, you know, that’s not even close to being true. If one understands the fact that, on this specific axis, there are exactly TWO sides, and that they are MAGATs and progressives, it’s more than _close_ to true, it’s _absolutely_ true. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/391 "2020-02-13T21:02:36Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > You got any basis for that retarded opinion? > > I’m pretty sure that I have consistently said I would vote for whoever was running against Trump. I prefer Biden (and Cory Booker when he was still running), but I will vote for whoever isn’t Trump. > > From the sounds of it, Senor Beef (and probably you) are far more likely to stay home than me (or any other responsible adult), just to spite the Democrats or because of hurt feewings. Yes, everything you have posted on this message board. You _say_ it, but I don’t believe you. Don’t lump me in with these Bernie Bro dorks who won’t vote Dem either. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/392 "2020-02-13T21:05:09Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If one understands the fact that, on this specific axis, there are exactly TWO sides, and that they are MAGATs and progressives, it’s more than _close_ to true, it’s _absolutely_ true. Pathetic, isn’t it. If ever there was a common enemy (TrumpCult) to unite against, the Sanders-nistas decide to apply the Progressive purity test. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/393 "2020-02-13T21:45:16Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Oh for fucks sake, I didn’t demand special treatment. I said that you shouldn’t do your fucking best to insult Bernie supporters and beat them enthusiasm out of them and try to get them to go away. > > If “don’t be an asshole to this group” means to you “oh they want to be coddled”, you’re an asshole. > > I bet you’re one of those assholes who tries to be as rude to Bernie supporters as possible, beat the enthusiasm out of them, and then whine that young people don’t vote. It’s like you’re trying to lose. You’re trying to fucking gatekeep people voting for your party. Is it a wonder that democrats are so fucking bad at winning elections? Oh, for fucks sake, can we all just acknowledge the fact that any pejorative spoken of a Bernie supporter only applies to a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? And that if one is not a “Bernie or Bust” supporter, one does not have to go into a tizzy of any type just because they heard a pejorative about a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? I recognize that this proposition sort of rhymes with rhetoric about “True Scotsmen” and “Not All (_insert name of group here_), but would those even be a thing if there was absolutely ZERO validity to the concept? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/394 "2020-02-13T22:13:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, for fucks sake, can we all just acknowledge the fact that any pejorative spoken of a Bernie supporter only applies to a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? And that if one is not a “Bernie or Bust” supporter, one does not have to go into a tizzy of any type just because they heard a pejorative about a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? I agree, it would be very useful for people not to label somebody as a Bernie Bro just because they said something positive about Sanders. I get a bit of a chuckle out of it when somebody tries to apply it to me since I will never vote for Sanders (or in any American election for that matter). On the other hand, I cannot speak for my AIs once they finish hacking the election machines … but I’ve said too much (also I’m kidding). ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/395 "2020-02-13T22:17:17Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, for fucks sake, can we all just acknowledge the fact that any pejorative spoken of a Bernie supporter only applies to a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? And that if one is not a “Bernie or Bust” supporter, one does not have to go into a tizzy of any type just because they heard a pejorative about a “Bernie or Bust” supporter? Yeah, I was under the impression that when people said “Bernie Bro” it refers to Bernie supporters of the “Bernie or Bust” variety - where if their guy doesn’t win they wish to fuck the country with a rusty backhoe out of spite. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/396 "2020-02-13T22:50:15Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Hey, Senorbeef, pro-tip: sarcasm in thread titles doesn’t register for all readers. …and, just on the cusp of 450 responses is a _really good_ point to bring that to his attention… 😃 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/397 "2020-02-14T06:06:43Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > 😕 Healthcare is THE big issue that supposedly separates the leftists from the moderates on the Democratic stage. (Not the ONLY issue, but certainly one of the most talked-about. It was over-reach on her M4A that might have triggered Warren’s collapse.) > > **SenorBeef** calls Biden “moderate Republican.” I think another used the term “Republican-Lite.” The obvious way to address this characterization is to make a practical comparison of the healthcare plans of Sanders, Biden, and a moderate Republican (if there is such a thing). What part of this is hard to understand? > > Kapische? 😕 I don’t know if Romney is considered moderate, but he is a Republican. Let’s compare Romneycare to Obamacare. Obamacare pretty much _is_ Romneycare! :smack: I guess Biden would improve on Obamacare. I guess? His policy position doesn’t stand out clearly in my mind like Sanders’ does. Sanders’ approach would be disruptive, yes, but when the dust settled, you gotta admit everyone would be covered. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/398 "2020-02-14T07:48:52Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Yeah, I was under the impression that when people said “Bernie Bro” it refers to Bernie supporters of the “Bernie or Bust” variety - where if their guy doesn’t win they wish to fuck the country with a rusty backhoe out of spite. I hope your Impressionometer came with a warranty. I think you saw what you wanted to see, and what you wanted to see was ugliness. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/399 "2020-02-14T10:42:05Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > … I guess Biden would improve on Obamacare. I guess? His policy position doesn’t stand out clearly in my mind like Sanders’ does. Sanders’ approach would be disruptive, yes, but when the dust settled, you gotta admit everyone would be covered. So you jump into this sub-debate without bothering to read my summary of Biden’s plans, nor my comments thereon. Got it. Thanks, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524/400 "2020-02-14T13:36:39Z")
To return to harping on the thing I’ve been harping on, I just saw this post in Elections: > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > But there are some things many people, even republicans like. I for one like universal healthcare. I would like the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. I want more funding for social security and persons with disabilities. I want our corporations to pay fair share of taxes. > > I have family in Denmark and I like how Bernie wants to embrace many of their ways. If you are familiar with the poster, I think it would have been reasonable for you to assume that he was an example of someone who it would make no sense, in left/right terms, to be a potential crossover voter. And yet. If you are concerned with electability, and if you think potential Sanders voters who _don’t_ vote Bloomberg/Biden/Raymond Shaw are just betraying the world for goofs, and just need to be reminded that they are “petulant cunts” and so on until they learn their lesson, rather than actually considered as part of your calculus, consider the case of this dude. He’s got his politics, and they aren’t yours or mine. He’s reachable on economic and labor grounds, where he is never going to be reachable on others. If you want to win the election, you can imagine that the Sanders voters who cost “you” the election were all teenagers who need a good spanking and to grow up, and that there’s nothing in your own orthodox non-Bro politics that you need to reevaluate because you had the right of it all along, _damn it_, and just hope it goes differently this time. That is one possible option of several. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-keep-sneering-at-bernie-bros-it-worked-so-well-last-time/847524.md?page=21)