# Obama's Double-Leg Takedown of Bernie Sanders and Supporters
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [May 9, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439 "2016-05-09T21:04:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/1 "2016-05-09T21:04:21Z")
There’s a good post in a WaPo editorial by Johnathan Capehart in which he references some really good points made by Obama. I’m not good at this quotation and linking stuff but I’ll give it a go.
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/05/09/at-howard-obama-had-words-for-those-blacker-than-thou-and-feeling-the-bern/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/05/09/at-howard-obama-had-words-for-those-blacker-than-thou-and-feeling-the-bern/)
I’m going to quote some of the president’s remarks which are quoted in the Washington Post.
Undoubtedly referring to Bernie Sanders’ politics of frustration, Obama says the following (the bold is mine for emphasis):
> [@](#):
>
> The point is, **you need allies in a democracy.** That’s just the way it is. It can be frustrating and it can be slow. But history teaches us that the alternative to democracy is always worse….
Obama delivers some of his best stuff here:
> [@](#):
>
> **And democracy requires compromise, even when you are 100 percent right.** This is hard to explain sometimes. **You can be completely right, and you still are going to have to engage folks who disagree with you.** If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral purity, but **you’re not going to get what you want**. And if you don’t get what you want long enough, **you will eventually think the whole system is rigged**. And that will lead to more cynicism, and less participation, and a downward spiral of more injustice and more anger and more despair. And that’s never been the source of our progress. That’s how we cheat ourselves of progress.
He gets better:
> [@](#):
>
> But to bring about structural change, lasting change, **awareness is not enough**. It requires changes in law, changes in custom. If you care about mass incarceration, let me ask you: How are you pressuring members of Congress to pass the criminal justice reform bill now pending before them? If you care about better policing, **do you know who your district attorney is**? **Do you know who your state’s attorney general is? Do you know the difference?** Do you know who appoints the police chief and who writes the police training manual? Find out who they are, what their responsibilities are. Mobilize the community, present them with a plan, work with them to bring about change, hold them accountable if they do not deliver. **Passion is vital, but you’ve got to have a strategy.**
And that’s my biggest complaint with the Bernie Bros. They don’t seem to understand this at all. They think passion alone and just installing their choice for president is going to change everything. Even if Bernie wins, they’re already losing their fight if they really believe this – and all the evidence I’ve seen so far indicates that they really do believe in their top-down strategy, or the “bully pulpit” strategy as I’ve seen it written. Very few times in history has that ever worked, and that has only worked when the outrage is overwhelming and almost uniform across the electorate. We do not live in such times.
Obama, though, saved his best for last.
> [@](#):
>
> And your plan better include voting — not just some of the time, but all the time.
>
> …
>
> But let me say this: Even if we dismantled every barrier to voting, that alone would not change the fact that America has some of the lowest voting rates in the free world. **In 2014, only 36 percent of Americans turned out to vote in the midterms — the second lowest participation rate on record.** **Youth turnout — that would be you — was less than 20 percent.** Less than 20 percent. Four out of five did not vote. In 2012, nearly two in three African Americans turned out. And then, in 2014, only two in five turned out. **You don’t think that made a difference in terms of the Congress I’ve got to deal with? And then people are wondering, well, how come Obama hasn’t gotten this done? How come he didn’t get that done? You don’t think that made a difference?** What would have happened if you had turned out at 50, 60, 70 percent, all across this country? People try to make this political thing really complicated. Like, what kind of reforms do we need? And how do we need to do that? You know what, just vote. It’s math. If you have more votes than the other guy, you get to do what you want.
And that’s the other problem I have. Don’t sit out in 2010 and 2014 and then show up in 2012 and 2016 and tell me how to vote. Save it – I’ve done more for democracy than most Bernie Bros. Part of the reason Sanders supporters are voting out of anger now is the fact that their own inactivity is what gave us an obstructionist congress - the worst in American history. And yet here they are advocating a top-down bully-pulpit approach and voting for outrage in an apparent attempt to compensate for their own lack of civic duty. America doesn’t need a revolution. It needs more education, a greater sense of justice, and more action.
---
### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/2 "2016-05-09T21:08:43Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> And that’s the other problem I have. Don’t sit out in 2010 and 2014 and then show up in 2012 and 2016 and tell me how to vote. Save it – I’ve done more for democracy than most Bernie Bros. Part of the reason Sanders supporters are voting out of anger now is the fact that their own inactivity is what gave us an obstructionist congress - the worst in American history. And yet here they are advocating a top-down bully-pulpit approach and voting for outrage in an apparent attempt to compensate for their own lack of civic duty. America doesn’t need a revolution. It needs more education, a greater sense of justice, and more action.
Agreed 100%.
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### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/3 "2016-05-09T21:14:24Z")
No argument from me. You build the house from the foundation, not the roof. I understand Obama needs to remain somewhat above the primary fray but I’m glad he’s coming out and saying this. Words the left should take to heart.
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### Author:  [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/4 "2016-05-09T21:30:20Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> And democracy requires compromise, even when you are 100 percent right. This is hard to explain sometimes. You can be completely right, and you still are going to have to engage folks who disagree with you. If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral purity, but you’re not going to get what you want. And if you don’t get what you want long enough, you will eventually think the whole system is rigged. And that will lead to more cynicism, and less participation, and a downward spiral of more injustice and more anger and more despair. And that’s never been the source of our progress. That’s how we cheat ourselves of progress.
This is one of the best things I’ve ever read. Thanks for sharing!
---
### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/5 "2016-05-09T21:45:54Z")
The past century of this political philosophy has been a total waste for the vast majority of Americans. We have had non-stop cycling of economic bubbles, war, and economic busts. If we keep doing the same thing over again we’ll get the same results. Change requires building a critical mass, easy to prevent with fear-mongering. Great argument for conservative ideologues, more bad news for the country.
---
### Author:  [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/6 "2016-05-09T22:07:59Z")
Good OP asahi, thanks.
[QUOTE=Obama]
And if you don’t get what you want long enough, you will eventually think the whole system is rigged. And that will lead to more cynicism, and less participation, and a downward spiral of more injustice and more anger and more despair.
[/QUOTE]
I think this is also true for Obama supporters that think he’s not liberal enough. The president is present of all citizens, not just liberal ones, and must make decisions accordingly.
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> The past century of this political philosophy has been a total waste for the vast majority of Americans. We have had non-stop cycling of economic bubbles, war, and economic busts. If we keep doing the same thing over again we’ll get the same results. Change requires building a critical mass, easy to prevent with fear-mongering. Great argument for conservative ideologues, more bad news for the country.
And yet today’s Americans live better than any society in history. Seems like it’s working pretty well.
---
### Author:  [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/7 "2016-05-09T22:13:50Z")
Obama wasn’t my first choice in 2008 but he’s been pretty awesome, If he could have a third term I’d certainly help him get it. That’s yet another speech that’s right on the money.
I think his major failing has been effective use of the bully pulpit. I’d much rather him out front giving impassioned speeches rather than trying to negotiate behind the scenes. His goal should be to get speeches like that to the front page.
It’s kinda sad as someone that pays more attention to politics than the average American I would have never seen it if you didn’t link it here
here is the speech [President Obama Delivers the Commencement Address at Howard University - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K4MctEmkmI)
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/8 "2016-05-09T22:29:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> The past century of this political philosophy has been a total waste for the vast majority of Americans. We have had non-stop cycling of economic bubbles, war, and economic busts. If we keep doing the same thing over again we’ll get the same results. Change requires building a critical mass, easy to prevent with fear-mongering. Great argument for conservative ideologues, more bad news for the country.
Oh right, critical mass happens through a lack of voter participation. :rolleyes: The nation’s most meaningful laws get passed when progressive voters show up every four years and vote to support their spirited leader and then make him a lame duck two years afterward. That’s how things get done. That’s how New Deal, Social Security, minimum wage laws, Medicare, and Americans With Disabilities Act get passed. The Supreme Court gets packed full of democratic-friendly justices when voters wait for 16, or 24, or 32 years until the perfect candidate emerges. :rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/9 "2016-05-09T22:35:37Z")
Misleading thread title.
> [@asahi](#):
>
> Undoubtedly referring to Bernie Sanders’ politics of frustration, Obama says the following…
I’m sure he had some of the expressed notions of some Sanders supporters in mind, but there’s nothing exclusive to them in there–and some parts that apply more to other segments.
---
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/10 "2016-05-09T22:49:00Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#):
>
> Obama wasn’t my first choice in 2008 but he’s been pretty awesome, If he could have a third term I’d certainly help him get it. That’s yet another speech that’s right on the money.
Hillary was my first choice, but I had no problem voting for him over McCain and Romney and I agree that he’s largely worked out well. Obama was handed a hell of a mess to clean up and he’s largely done it without the help of republicans in the first two years and by being handed the worst, most obstructionist, gridlocked congress in American history. Not to mention the least popular congress nationally. That he’s been able to accomplish the passage of healthcare reform that has given more people healthcare coverage and that he has nearly 7 years of consecutive jobs and GDP growth to his record is not an insignificant accomplishment. And he’s done that by cutting deals and working with what limited powers he had. Again, things could have been different if more Bernie Bros would have showed up in 2010 and 2012 – well actually a LOT different. But they didn’t, so I really don’t want to hear them lecture us about not effecting change.
> [@boytyperanma](#):
>
> I think his major failing has been effective use of the bully pulpit. I’d much rather him out front giving impassioned speeches rather than trying to negotiate behind the scenes. His goal should be to get speeches like that to the front page.
He’s been cautious - maybe too cautious - but it’s understandable. He has also had to endure more disrespect than any president in American history, on the sole basis that he’s the first black president. Hell even when it was obvious that George W Bush’s administration used false pretexts to invade Iraq, there was never anyone calling him a liar on the floor of congress. Every time he dared to open his mouth about matters of race he was labeled the race baiting president. I think he gave up working with congress and trying to get their respect. He just tried to get shit done, which is ultimately how he’ll be judged. History will judge him kindly, once we take the shades of the present off.
---
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/11 "2016-05-09T22:51:38Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> Misleading thread title.
>
> I’m sure he had some of the expressed notions of some Sanders supporters in mind, but there’s nothing exclusive to them in there–and some parts that apply more to other segments.
I’d agree that it doesn’t apply to Sanders voters exclusively. In fact many of his own voters in 2008 were probably similar to Sanders voters in 2016. I know it sounds like I’m attacking all of Sanders supporters, and I’d agree that my title was over-broad in that regard. I don’t have a problem with all of Sanders supporters, but some are delusional and don’t understand how their own government works and yet they want to change something they don’t even understand.
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### Author:  [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/12 "2016-05-09T22:55:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> The past century of this political philosophy has been a total waste for the vast majority of Americans. We have had non-stop cycling of economic bubbles, war, and economic busts. If we keep doing the same thing over again we’ll get the same results. Change requires building a critical mass, easy to prevent with fear-mongering. Great argument for conservative ideologues, more bad news for the country.
Well Said.
---
### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/13 "2016-05-09T23:09:36Z")
I agree with those who’ve thanked you for the thread topic, asahi; this was important and useful for us all to see.
Obama really called it, here:
> [@](#):
>
> If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral purity, but you’re not going to get what you want. And if you don’t get what you want long enough, you will eventually think the whole system is rigged.
Of course this is exactly what we’re seeing from many Sanders supporters, lately: a declaration that the System Must Be Rigged.
As impressive as Obama’s analytical skills are, perhaps his diplomatic skills are even more praiseworthy. I know I have trouble thinking of this ‘_why should I bother to vote unless there’s a Candidate Who Inspires Me_’ rationale for sitting out elections, as being anything other than pure cussed laziness. But Obama was much more tactful. I do admire him for that.
---
### Author:  [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/14 "2016-05-09T23:14:18Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> I know I have trouble thinking of this ‘_why should I bother to vote unless there’s a Candidate Who Inspires Me_’ rationale for sitting out elections, as being anything other than pure cussed laziness. But Obama was much more tactful. I do admire him for that.
While he and you have a point, I really think this is why something like runoff voting for president would be best. Everyone can vote for their own particular weird candidate who inspires and agrees with them, even though they’re almost certainly not going to win in the end. There’s always a chance the votes fall that way.
The whole primary system is just a system that breeds disdain and distrust within mostly similar viewpoints. If people could just vote “1. Bernie; 2. Jill Stein; 3. Clinton” or whatever in November that would remove a lot of the uglier sides of political fanaticism.
---
### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/15 "2016-05-09T23:31:55Z")
There certainly _are_ some good arguments in favor of the runoff system, as you point out, Jragon.
---
### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/16 "2016-05-10T00:20:29Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> Misleading thread title.
>
> I’m sure he had some of the expressed notions of some Sanders supporters in mind, but there’s nothing exclusive to them in there–and some parts that apply more to other segments.
Indeed. Already in the first half of his first term there was friction with what Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the “Professional Left” who could keep demanding from the safety of media and academia without having to deal with governing (and let’s face it, during those first two years with a Democrat Congress and a supposed Senatorial supermajority, he was stuck with \*Democrat \*members who were too scared for their reelection chances to do anything really bold - hence no public option, for instance, and fat lot of good it did them). I am sure that the 2014 midterms must have also been quite annoying in the repeat performance of his ostensible followers staying home when his name was not on the ticket. Yeah, inspiration schminspiration, how about electing officials we can work with?
But also, giving the commencement speech at Howard, he was bringing up the point that, yes, things are better but no way they are yet as good as they should be so yes you should go out and make things happen, but that while you can and should march and occupy and organize in the street and the net and be a leader in your business community, _you also need to get into a position where you can affect policy **by actually making yourself or an ally the policymaker** _. That does NOT have to mean yielding or surrendering the final goal, you keep your eyes on the prize but if there are means to get closer you don’t waste them and if there is a threat to roll you back you don’t refuse to use the tools and/or help available to block it.
---
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/17 "2016-05-10T02:13:21Z")
> [@Stuffy](#):
>
> Well Said.
But at the end of the day, can you answer Obama’s challenge? Do you know the local DA? Do you know your congressional district number? Do you know the rep? Do you know the mayor, the alderman, the state rep? Do you know who the judges or any of these people are?
No?!
Don’t waste your vote on Bernie then, because it proves you know nothing of the system. If you’re going to start a revolution, it pays to know what it is (and isn’t) that you’re trying to change.
---
### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/18 "2016-05-10T02:36:53Z")
_But let me say this: Even if we dismantled every barrier to voting, that alone would not change the fact that America has some of the lowest voting rates in the free world. In 2014, only 36 percent of Americans turned out to vote in the midterms — the second lowest participation rate on record. Youth turnout — that would be you — was less than 20 percent. Less than 20 percent. Four out of five did not vote. In 2012, nearly two in three African Americans turned out. And then, in 2014, only two in five turned out. You don’t think that made a difference in terms of the Congress I’ve got to deal with? And then people are wondering, well, how come Obama hasn’t gotten this done? How come he didn’t get that done? You don’t think that made a difference? What would have happened if you had turned out at 50, 60, 70 percent, all across this country? People try to make this political thing really complicated. Like, what kind of reforms do we need? And how do we need to do that? You know what, just vote. It’s math. If you have more votes than the other guy, you get to do what you want._
Oh, boo-hoo. The voters didn’t come out and vote for my side. Well, what the hell did you do to get them riled up and wanting to vote? Is this a take-down of Sanders or Obama?
---
### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/19 "2016-05-10T03:36:59Z")
It is incumbent upon the people to vote, not on politicians to coax them into voting! FFS.
I came here to post about this same speech, which might just be my favorite thing ever. There are some other sections that I really love, so here is is my version:
H/t to Nicole for leading me to this, maybe my favorite Obama speech ever–and that’s saying something. In fact, it’s one of the greatest anythings ever. I heart it so much. Some excerpts of some of the awesomeness:
> [@](#):
>
> Given the current state of our political rhetoric and debate, let me say something that may be controversial, and that is this: America is a better place today than it was when I graduated from college. (Applause.) Let me repeat: America is by almost every measure better than it was when I graduated from college.[…]
>
> Since that year – since the year I graduated – the poverty rate is down. Americans with college degrees, that rate is up. Crime rates are down. America’s cities have undergone a renaissance. There are more women in the workforce. They’re earning more money. We’ve cut teen pregnancy in half. We’ve slashed the African American dropout rate by almost 60 percent, and all of you have a computer in your pocket that gives you the world at the touch of a button. In 1983, I was part of fewer than 10 percent of African Americans who graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Today, you’re part of the more than 20 percent who will. And more than half of blacks say we’re better off than our parents were at our age – and that our kids will be better off, too.
>
> So America is better. And the world is better, too. A wall came down in Berlin. An Iron Curtain was torn asunder. The obscenity of apartheid came to an end. A young generation in Belfast and London have grown up without ever having to think about IRA bombings. In just the past 16 years, we’ve come from a world without marriage equality to one where it’s a reality in nearly two dozen countries. Around the world, more people live in democracies. We’ve lifted more than 1 billion people from extreme poverty. We’ve cut the child mortality rate worldwide by more than half.[…]
>
> In my inaugural address, I remarked that just 60 years earlier, my father might not have been served in a D.C. restaurant – at least not certain of them. There were no black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Very few black judges. Shoot, as Larry Wilmore pointed out last week, a lot of folks didn’t even think blacks had the tools to be a quarterback. Today, former Bull Michael Jordan isn’t just the greatest basketball player of all time – he owns the team. (Laughter.) When I was graduating, the main black hero on TV was Mr. T. (Laughter.) Rap and hip hop were counterculture, underground. Now, Shonda Rhimes owns Thursday night, and Beyoncé runs the world. (Laughter.) We’re no longer only entertainers, we’re producers, studio executives. No longer small business owners – we’re CEOs, we’re mayors, representatives, Presidents of the United States. (Applause.)
>
> I am not saying gaps do not persist. Obviously, they do. Racism persists. Inequality persists. Don’t worry – I’m going to get to that. But I wanted to start, Class of 2016, by opening your eyes to the moment that you are in. If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn’t know ahead of time who you were going to be – what nationality, what gender, what race, whether you’d be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you’d be born into – you wouldn’t choose 100 years ago. You wouldn’t choose the fifties, or the sixties, or the seventies. You’d choose right now. If you had to choose a time to be, in the words of Lorraine Hansberry, “young, gifted, and black” in America, you would choose right now. (Applause.)[…]
>
> Even if we dismantled every barrier to voting, that alone would not change the fact that America has some of the lowest voting rates in the free world. In 2014, only 36 percent of Americans turned out to vote in the midterms – the secondlowest participation rate on record. Youth turnout – that would be you – was less than 20 percent. Less than 20 percent. Four out of five did not vote. In 2012, nearly two in three African Americans turned out. And then, in 2014, only two in five turned out. You don’t think that made a difference in terms of the Congress I’ve got to deal with? And then people are wondering, well, how come Obama hasn’t gotten this done? How come he didn’t get that done? You don’t think that made a difference? What would have happened if you had turned out at 50, 60, 70 percent, all across this country? People try to make this political thing really complicated. Like, what kind of reforms do we need? And how do we need to do that? You know what, just vote. It’s math. If you have more votes than the other guy, you get to do what you want. (Laughter.) It’s not that complicated.[…]
>
> So you got to vote all the time, not just when it’s cool, not just when it’s time to elect a President, not just when you’re inspired. It’s your duty. When it’s time to elect a member of Congress or a city councilman, or a school board member, or a sheriff. That’s how we change our politics – by electing people at every level who are representative of and accountable to us. It is not that complicated. Don’t make it complicated.[…]
>
> And democracy requires compromise, even when you are 100 percent right. This is hard to explain sometimes. You can be completely right, and you still are going to have to engage folks who disagree with you. If you think that the only way forward is to be as uncompromising as possible, you will feel good about yourself, you will enjoy a certain moral purity, but you’re not going to get what you want. And if you don’t get what you want long enough, you will eventually think the whole system is rigged. And that will lead to more cynicism, and less participation, and a downward spiral of more injustice and more anger and more despair. And that’s never been the source of our progress. That’s how we cheat ourselves of progress.[…]
>
> Those mileposts of our progress were not perfect. They did not make up for centuries of slavery or Jim Crow or eliminate racism or provide for 40 acres and a mule. But they made things better. And you know what, I will take better every time. I always tell my staff – better is good, because you consolidate your gains and then you move on to the next fight from a stronger position.[…]
>
> So don’t try to shut folks out, don’t try to shut them down, no matter how much you might disagree with them. There’s been a trend around the country of trying to get colleges to disinvite speakers with a different point of view, or disrupt a politician’s rally. Don’t do that – no matter how ridiculous or offensive you might find the things that come out of their mouths. Because as my grandmother used to tell me, every time a fool speaks, they are just advertising their own ignorance. Let them talk. Let them talk. If you don’t, you just make them a victim, and then they can avoid accountability.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-double-leg-takedown-of-bernie-sanders-and-supporters/754439/20 "2016-05-10T03:46:22Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> It is incumbent upon the people to vote, not on politicians to coax them into voting!
The system is great. It’s the people who are the problem. :roll eyes:
Otherwise… cite?
Leaders lead. People who are unable to lead bitch and complain, blaming other people.
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