# Unifying the Democratic party at the convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 4, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930 "2020-03-04T17:40:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/61 "2020-03-11T16:22:37Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And if they don’t, what will you do? Vote for Trump? Stay home? What? > > You are basically admitting that Bernie supporters are really not committed to supporting the Democratic candidate, they are only committed to supporting THEIR candidate who happens to be running as a Democrat. > > I don’t know if it’s better to bite the bullet and cut off the cancer of the left wing tea party or to appease them and encourage future hostage taking. I don’t know what you’re disputing that I wrote – I support Bernie and will be voting for the Democratic nominee no matter what. I want to maximize the chances of the Democratic nominee (probably Biden) beating Trump, and thus I suggested this strategy. If you disagree that this will maximize this chance, then feel free to disagree, and I’d be interested in reading why you disagree. But if you just want to shit on Bernie supporters, I’d recommend another thread – this is a thread for how to help maximize the chance that the eventual candidate (probably Biden) can bring the losing candidate’s supporters onboard. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/62 "2020-03-11T17:02:24Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t know what you’re disputing that I wrote – I support Bernie and will be voting for the Democratic nominee no matter what. I want to maximize the chances of the Democratic nominee (probably Biden) beating Trump, and thus I suggested this strategy. If you disagree that this will maximize this chance, then feel free to disagree, and I’d be interested in reading why you disagree. But if you just want to shit on Bernie supporters, I’d recommend another thread – this is a thread for how to help maximize the chance that the eventual candidate (probably Biden) can bring the losing candidate’s supporters onboard. I posted this in another thread: You know what would help and finally, maybe for the first time in his political career, make Bernie a statesman? If on that debate stage with Biden, Bernie turned to his supporters and asked them to cast their vote for the emerging Dem nominee, Joe Biden. He can talk about progress and change and helping the Democratic party become a more progressive entity. He can talk about the fact that this is just the first of many elections in which the progressive ideas win over the traditional conservative values of the past. He can talk about moving towards a more just society. There is a lot he can do and say that will help, not just Biden in the immediate term, but all progressives in the medium and long term. That’s what he can do. And Biden has already extended his hand to all Bernie supporters. Is Bernie going to embrace that offer, or do Bernie and all his followers need another angry ideological lecture about democratic socialism? Your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/63 "2020-03-11T17:14:15Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I posted this in another thread: > > You know what would help and finally, maybe for the first time in his political career, make Bernie a statesman? If on that debate stage with Biden, Bernie turned to his supporters and asked them to cast their vote for the emerging Dem nominee, Joe Biden. > > He can talk about progress and change and helping the Democratic party become a more progressive entity. He can talk about the fact that this is just the first of many elections in which the progressive ideas win over the traditional conservative values of the past. He can talk about moving towards a more just society. There is a lot he can do and say that will help, not just Biden in the immediate term, but all progressives in the medium and long term. That’s what he can do. And Biden has already extended his hand to all Bernie supporters. Is Bernie going to embrace that offer, or do Bernie and all his followers need another angry ideological lecture about democratic socialism? > > Your thoughts? While Biden is in the driver’s seat, I don’t see a need for Bernie to give up so soon. About half of the delegates are still out there. It’s very unlikely Bernie can change things around quickly enough, but it’s still possible. I hope, for this debate (and the 1st one-on-one debate so far) he goes all out for his case for the nomination. It probably won’t be enough, but improbable things happen occasionally. If he’s tired of campaigning, sure, I hope he does something like this. But if he still feels like campaigning, then he should continue until he feels his dwindling chances are down to zero. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/64 "2020-03-11T19:48:24Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > While Biden is in the driver’s seat, I don’t see a need for Bernie to give up so soon. About half of the delegates are still out there. It’s very unlikely Bernie can change things around quickly enough, but it’s still possible. I hope, for this debate (and the 1st one-on-one debate so far) he goes all out for his case for the nomination. It probably won’t be enough, but improbable things happen occasionally. > > If he’s tired of campaigning, sure, I hope he does something like this. But if he still feels like campaigning, then he should continue until he feels his dwindling chances are down to zero. This election is all about beating Trump. When it looked like Bernie was in the driver’s seat and Biden in 4th or 5th place, I was ready to support Bernie. In fact, I voted for Bernie in early voting in the Texas primary. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, I think that Bernie supporters should support Biden. All that being said, if Bernie wants to continue to campaign, more power to him if he sticks to a positive campaign. Medicare for all? Higher minimum wages? Free college? I support him talking about all those things till the cows come home. However, if he starts in about “corporatists” or “the establishment”, or even worse starts in against Biden personally, that’s going to piss a lot of people off. So let’s have a debate between the far left and the moderate left. That’s great. But let’s not have a debate about Biden himself. Trump will do that and more, and if Bernie starts helping Trump out on that front, that’s just going to piss people off and not win Bernie any points. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/65 "2020-03-11T19:56:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I posted this in another thread: > > You know what would help and finally, maybe for the first time in his political career, make Bernie a statesman? If on that debate stage with Biden, Bernie turned to his supporters and asked them to cast their vote for the emerging Dem nominee, Joe Biden. > > He can talk about progress and change and helping the Democratic party become a more progressive entity. He can talk about the fact that this is just the first of many elections in which the progressive ideas win over the traditional conservative values of the past. He can talk about moving towards a more just society. There is a lot he can do and say that will help, not just Biden in the immediate term, but all progressives in the medium and long term. That’s what he can do. And Biden has already extended his hand to all Bernie supporters. Is Bernie going to embrace that offer, or do Bernie and all his followers need another angry ideological lecture about democratic socialism? > > Your thoughts? I’d need Bernie’s magic unicorn. Shitbag Sanders definitely believes that only he can fix it. He’s no different than Trump. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/66 "2020-03-11T20:02:06Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’d need Bernie’s magic unicorn. Shitbag Sanders definitely believes that only he can fix it. He’s no different than Trump. Wow. I sure hope most older Democrats are more like my parents, who welcome diversity of thought within the party, and want young progressives to be reliable Democratic voters, than like you, who apparently value settling scores with other progressives more than anything else. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/67 "2020-03-11T20:10:46Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’d need Bernie’s magic unicorn. Shitbag Sanders definitely believes that only he can fix it. He’s no different than Trump. You can’t possibly believe this. I mean, Bernie is certainly an ideologue and you can make the argument that he’s been smoking too much of his own product. But the two could not be less alike. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/68 "2020-03-12T16:36:15Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > And if they don’t, what will you do? Vote for Trump? Stay home? What? > > You are basically admitting that Bernie supporters are really not committed to supporting the Democratic candidate, they are only committed to supporting THEIR candidate who happens to be running as a Democrat. > > I don’t know if it’s better to bite the bullet and cut off the cancer of the left wing tea party or to appease them and encourage future hostage taking. And yet Bernie still has nearly half the delegates awarded so far. If a fake Democrat who wants to blow up the establishment is getting nearly half your party’s votes, perhaps the party should take notice and make some fundamental changes? Or else in 2024 when there’s no Bernie Sanders to excite people anymore, the DNC will run yet another white male nursing home resident with tired 20th Century ideas and wonder how they lost to an inexperienced nitwit like Ivanka Trump. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/69 "2020-03-12T16:40:33Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > And yet Bernie still has nearly half the delegates awarded so far. If a fake Democrat who wants to blow up the establishment is getting nearly half your party’s votes, perhaps the party should take notice and make some fundamental changes? Or else in 2024 when there’s no Bernie Sanders to excite people anymore, the DNC will run yet another white male nursing home resident with tired 20th Century ideas and wonder how they lost to an inexperienced nitwit like Ivanka Trump. Ah, yes, the DNC conspiracies. The Bernie Bro is strong in this one. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/70 "2020-03-12T16:45:34Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Or else in 2024 when there’s no Bernie Sanders to excite people anymore, the DNC will run yet another white male nursing home resident with tired 20th Century ideas and wonder how they lost to an inexperienced nitwit like Ivanka Trump. Have you met Bernie Sanders? - white male nursing home resident? Check. - 20th Century Socialist ideas? Check. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/71 "2020-03-12T16:50:56Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > And yet Bernie still has nearly half the delegates awarded so far. If a fake Democrat who wants to blow up the establishment is getting nearly half your party’s votes, perhaps the party should take notice and make some fundamental changes? Or else in 2024 when there’s no Bernie Sanders to excite people anymore, the DNC will run yet another white male nursing home resident with tired 20th Century ideas and wonder how they lost to an inexperienced nitwit like Ivanka Trump. Bernie is a 78 white male. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/72 "2020-03-12T19:14:41Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Bernie is a 78 white male. He’s a minority. But it is true that he’s old. His ideas aren’t geriatric though, and that’s the point. Biden would feel right at home in the Nixon administration. > [@dalej42](#): > > Ah, yes, the DNC conspiracies. The Bernie Bro is strong in this one. What conspiracies? I contend the DNC is _incompetent_, not the mastermind behind some conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/73 "2020-03-12T19:36:16Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > He’s a minority. But it is true that he’s old. His ideas aren’t geriatric though, and that’s the point. Biden would feel right at home in the Nixon administration. > > What conspiracies? I contend the DNC is _incompetent_, not the mastermind behind some conspiracy. You mentioned that the DNC will run candidates and you should know that isn’t true. And, Nixon went ballistic when he found out Biden won in 1972. Admittedly, it was more because Nixon hated that he had no coattails even with the blowout win. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/74 "2020-03-12T19:52:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > He’s no different than Trump. If it came down to the two of them, I guess I should vote for Trump then? Maintain the status quo, at any rate, as opposed to disrupting the system just for more of the same? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/75 "2020-03-12T21:08:58Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > You mentioned that the DNC will run candidates and you should know that isn’t true. They clearly have favorites. Biden was their favorite in 2016 too until he refused to run. Then they backed Clinton. It was obvious and plain to see. I’m not saying they’re rigging votes, but they have a lot of control over the message that is getting to voters. They, and their friends in the media, send the message that Biden is “more electable” though in head to head polls Bernie beats Trump by higher margins. They make sure everyone knows “Biden has this locked up”, to curb future Sanders votes. They did the same with Clinton last time. They make it out like Bernie is a crazy Che Guevara Marxist for advocating policies nearly all of Europe adopted over fifty years ago. If you think Russian trolls could sway the 2016 election, you have to understand how messaging like this can shape a primary election. I’m not even saying they don’t have the right. It’s their party, they could throw darts to decide who they’ll nominate. If they want to have state by state elections to decide the nominee while having a clear favorite of their own who they support in every way they can short of rigging elections, so be it. I’m just saying that they’re making a poor choice. Many people who support Bernie _are not Democrats_. Democrat lifers would make that out like a bad thing. But why the hell would the party _not_ want to court a large bloc of enthusiastic unattached voters? They can keep running boring, “everything is fine, there’s nothing to fix” moderates if they want, but I think it’s extremely foolish. As an example of the opposite tack, the RNC was pretty clearly against Trump in 2016. If they had a favorite, I’d say they were gunning for Jeb. But they failed to prevent Trump’s nomination and the DNC succeeded in obtaining Clinton’s. You know how well that worked out. I think putting their thumb on the scale was bad for the party and they’re making the same mistake again. So get ready for a second Trump term. But whatever. It’s their party. I never liked that Bernie joined them, and clearly the Democratic party didn’t like it either. I would have been far more enthusiastic if he had stayed independent. He wouldn’t have had much chance of winning that way, but it turns out he didn’t have much chance of winning by hitching his wagon to the DNC either. Oh well, hindsight is 2020. You guys can keep your “Don’t like it? What are you gonna do, vote for Trump?” party all for yourselves. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/76 "2020-03-25T22:31:07Z")
538 had a good chat on this topic: > **[How Much Does Biden Need Sanders Voters To Beat Trump?](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-much-does-biden-need-sanders-voters-to-beat-trump/)** > > Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited. sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): With the spread of … And the suggestion came up that Biden should select a VP that energizes younger voters, which is pretty close to my recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/77 "2020-03-25T23:14:08Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > _goes to Urban Dictionary to see if “progressive revolution” is now code for spending your child support payments on crack and strippers_ Well, it certainly redistributes wealth. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/78 "2020-03-25T23:30:45Z")
Unifying Democrats is one thing. Unifying Democrats and Sanders supporters, who aren’t necessarily Democrats is another thing. Shit, Sanders, Democratic candidate, isn’t a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/79 "2020-03-25T23:44:15Z")
Meh, they make almost every suggestion in those chats. That said, no that isn’t close to your recommendation. You called for Bernie having a veto on the VP choice and giving his allies cabinet positions. What they talked about in the chat was pleasing under 45 voters, not pleasing Sanders voters. ---
**Author:** ![Warm\_blood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Warm\_blood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Warm_blood)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930/80 "2020-03-26T05:04:00Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > He’s a minority. In what way? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unifying-the-democratic-party-at-the-convention/848930.md?page=5)