# Why don't you support Bernie Sanders? (if you don't) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 17, 2019, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632 "2019-06-17T02:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/501 "2019-09-30T11:48:43Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Simple. Listen to the people and vote the way they want. If not, find yourself going home on election day. And if you don’t like what “the people” are saying, then carry out a nationwide campaign to stop the people who disagree with you from voting, as the Republicans have done and openly admitted to. Purging the voter rolls, illegal gerrymandering, reducing access to voting machines in opposition areas, adding obstacles to voting that disproportionately affect opposition voters, and when all else fails actively destroying opposition votes and engaging in voter fraud - all of these are current GOP tactics (we won’t even get into the “reduce security against voting machine hacking” issue). And several prominent GOP leaders, including Mitch McConnell, have made it clear that they are doing this to stop Democrats from voting and winning. So let’s not pretend that the “voice of the people” is being accurately reflected in the current system. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/502 "2019-09-30T15:22:19Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well the only thing I can add is in the case of political parties they put themselves and their views out there and the people vote so when you have a group that used to get maybe 5% of the vote suddenly gets 50%, something must be happening and the other candidates and parties better start listening. True. But saying that something must be happening and attention ought to be given to it isn’t at all the same thing as saying “Simple. Listen to the people and vote the way they want.” And, while we’re at it, what group that used to get 5% of the vote is suddenly getting 50%? The only issue I can think of that’s taken anything like that sudden (if by “sudden” you mean over about 40 years) leap upwards is gay marriage; but somehow I doubt that’s what you’ve got in mind. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/503 "2019-09-30T15:33:43Z")
Nope, I’m not a socialist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/504 "2019-10-01T06:51:33Z")
I went from an unabashed Bernie Sanders supporter to someone who rolls his eyes at him now. I had followed Bernie for years before 2016 and was glad that someone was there to help move Hillary further left. I didn’t think he had a real chance and the fact is that he never really did. The exact moment Bernie was done was March 15th. He had a huge surprise win in Michigan the previous week and the idea was he could follow it up with a big week in other Midwestern states and show some staying power. Instead he got swept. This made it obvious that Michigan was a glorious fluke and that he would never be able to come back. I knew this because of math & demographics. But then Bernie lost his mind. I don’t share the school of thought of some that it was calculated. I don’t waste my time worrying if he is a Russian plant, where are his taxes, all that stuff. I don’t need to - I just think he came closer than anyone thought possible (including him) and as a result he failed to lead when he really had to. I actually think Jeff Weaver was the main instigator of the worst things to come from the campaign, but at the end of the day Bernie hired him and he was in charge and he is responsible. I didn’t hold him responsible for some of his most ardent supporters for a long time. That all changed with Nevada state convention. The facts showed one thing and Bernie and Weaver helped promote an alternate reality to what actually happened. They fanned the flames by encouraging conspiracy theories instead of stifling them. They let me down. And it happened in mid-May, two full months after he was stick-a-fork-in-him done. All that time Hillary could have turned her attention to Donald Trump. Instead she, despite having the nomination all but sewed up, had to spend money, time and energy against someone who was already lapped and be respectful so as to not alienate his supporters. Even in California which was never going to Bernie (math and demographics) which his supporters screamed about. His supporters turned the logistical clusterfuck of having over four dozen elections with a myriad of rules exclusive to each of them into conspiracies against Bernie. Instead of realizing that these events are what happens in such cases, and that sure Brooklyn was a mess but Brooklyn went to Hillary overwhelmingly and even if those affected voted for Bernie 100% he still loses the state. (I use Brooklyn as one example, they screamed and still do about a lot of dumb things.) They became insufferable. They were screaming about how things were rigged, screaming about superdelegates that would never decide the race, screaming about conspiracies, screaming #NeverHillary. When he should have been uniting us to beat Trump, he was wasting everyone’s time. A basketball player fouling when his team is down by 35 points is not a warrior competitor, he’s an asshole wasting everyone’s time. The fact that even now many of his followers still cling to discredited conspiracy theories, blaming his loss on malfeasance when there is zero evidence of this, and whatever mistakes were made weren’t disenfranchising four million Hillary voters. Sorry, but election results are not illegitimate just because you do not like the outcome. Bernie ignored the south, never appealed to minorities - especially blacks - and generally didn’t do well in big, diverse states while winning smaller, whiter states. Math and demographics. I just had to block someone on Twitter just last week because they said I was brainwashed that Russians hacked DNC servers even though it’s kind of indisputable. A non-zero number of Bros still fly that flag, the same flag that Trump desperately wants to see fly. When you have the same goals as Trump, maybe you need to check yourself. Fortunately I can vote for Elizabeth Warren who has just as liberal bonafides and ideas and she has the distinction of not letting me down with inaction that directly helped Donald Trump get elected. Should he win the Democratic nod against all of my wishes, he will get my vote in the general election because Bernie - with all of his flaws and blind spots - is still better than Donald Trump. And I am in a state that will almost assuredly have zero chance of deciding the nominee because we vote very late in the process. But I’n done with him and especially his fan club. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/505 "2019-10-01T15:00:19Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > …I don’t waste my time worrying if he is a Russian plant, where are his taxes, all that stuff… That reminds me. HAS he shown his taxes yet? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/506 "2019-10-01T20:01:28Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I went from an unabashed Bernie Sanders supporter to someone who rolls his eyes at him now. I had followed Bernie for years before 2016 and was glad that someone was there to help move Hillary further left. I didn’t think he had a real chance and the fact is that he never really did. > > The exact moment Bernie was done was March 15th. He had a huge surprise win in Michigan the previous week and the idea was he could follow it up with a big week in other Midwestern states and show some staying power. Instead he got swept. This made it obvious that Michigan was a glorious fluke and that he would never be able to come back. I knew this because of math & demographics. > > But then Bernie lost his mind. > > I don’t share the school of thought of some that it was calculated. I don’t waste my time worrying if he is a Russian plant, where are his taxes, all that stuff. I don’t need to - I just think he came closer than anyone thought possible (including him) and as a result he failed to lead when he really had to. I actually think Jeff Weaver was the main instigator of the worst things to come from the campaign, but at the end of the day Bernie hired him and he was in charge and he is responsible. > > I didn’t hold him responsible for some of his most ardent supporters for a long time. That all changed with Nevada state convention. The facts showed one thing and Bernie and Weaver helped promote an alternate reality to what actually happened. They fanned the flames by encouraging conspiracy theories instead of stifling them. They let me down. And it happened in mid-May, two full months after he was stick-a-fork-in-him done. > > All that time Hillary could have turned her attention to Donald Trump. Instead she, despite having the nomination all but sewed up, had to spend money, time and energy against someone who was already lapped and be respectful so as to not alienate his supporters. Even in California which was never going to Bernie (math and demographics) which his supporters screamed about. > > His supporters turned the logistical clusterfuck of having over four dozen elections with a myriad of rules exclusive to each of them into conspiracies against Bernie. Instead of realizing that these events are what happens in such cases, and that sure Brooklyn was a mess but Brooklyn went to Hillary overwhelmingly and even if those affected voted for Bernie 100% he still loses the state. (I use Brooklyn as one example, they screamed and still do about a lot of dumb things.) > > They became insufferable. They were screaming about how things were rigged, screaming about superdelegates that would never decide the race, screaming about conspiracies, screaming #NeverHillary. When he should have been uniting us to beat Trump, he was wasting everyone’s time. A basketball player fouling when his team is down by 35 points is not a warrior competitor, he’s an asshole wasting everyone’s time. The fact that even now many of his followers still cling to discredited conspiracy theories, blaming his loss on malfeasance when there is zero evidence of this, and whatever mistakes were made weren’t disenfranchising four million Hillary voters. > > Sorry, but election results are not illegitimate just because you do not like the outcome. Bernie ignored the south, never appealed to minorities - especially blacks - and generally didn’t do well in big, diverse states while winning smaller, whiter states. Math and demographics. > > I just had to block someone on Twitter just last week because they said I was brainwashed that Russians hacked DNC servers even though it’s kind of indisputable. A non-zero number of Bros still fly that flag, the same flag that Trump desperately wants to see fly. When you have the same goals as Trump, maybe you need to check yourself. > > Fortunately I can vote for Elizabeth Warren who has just as liberal bonafides and ideas and she has the distinction of not letting me down with inaction that directly helped Donald Trump get elected. > > Should he win the Democratic nod against all of my wishes, he will get my vote in the general election because Bernie - with all of his flaws and blind spots - is still better than Donald Trump. And I am in a state that will almost assuredly have zero chance of deciding the nominee because we vote very late in the process. But I’n done with him and especially his fan club. So much good here. I’ve been following Bernie since his first election to the House. I remember the articles about him not playing well with others. He completely alienated a natural ally like Barney Frank. He was a nobody, with a cult following among the left, but he was busy doing call in shows with college radio stations rather than the Sunday talk shows on tv. He only became slightly relevant with the advent of YouTube and social media where his long winded rants were spread to more people. I’ve never seen a more toxic campaign than his in 2016. Running against the party you’re seeking the nomination of because it isn’t pure enough? And a lot of the caucuses he won were on Saturday afternoons, even some over Easter weekend which happens to be spring break for many parents with kids. Plus, someone who has been in politics that long should have realized how much danger he was causing naming his younger supporters. They had their heart broke and many of them were politically naive. Instead of giving them time to heal, Sanders and his most fervent supporters kept ripping the wound open. It’s like after a break up with your boyfriend/girlfriend and your fake friend thrives on the drama by telling you what your ex is up to and who they were making out with last night. As of now, Sanders and Buttigieg have released their fundraising numbers. No one that I’ve seen on #TeamPete has claimed rigged or conspiracy theories, there’s a lot of talk about how to do better and yet how amazing it is that a mayor that was unknown on January 23 has raised 51 million dollars this year. There’s a lot of talk on #TeamPete about how to improve minority outreach, none of this looking down at minorities for not being ‘smart enough’ to vote for Pete. Hell, I don’t think Pete even has the majority of the LGBT community yet. I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see trolling on Twitter from the Sanders and Yang supporters this morning. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/507 "2019-10-02T01:05:27Z")
Stamos and Dale, great stuff! ---
**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:** [October 2, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/508 "2019-10-02T14:44:36Z")
Statement from the Bernie campaign (chest pains, had stents inserted, upcoming events cancelled, he’s recovering): > Get well soon Bernie! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/509 "2019-10-02T14:52:19Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Statement from the Bernie campaign (chest pains, had stents inserted, upcoming events cancelled, he’s recovering): > > [https://twitter.com/taragolshan/status/1179405504507981824](https://twitter.com/taragolshan/status/1179405504507981824) > > Get well soon Bernie! Throw in the towel Bernie! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/510 "2019-10-02T15:12:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Statement from the Bernie campaign (chest pains, had stents inserted, upcoming events cancelled, he’s recovering): > > [https://twitter.com/taragolshan/status/1179405504507981824](https://twitter.com/taragolshan/status/1179405504507981824) > > Get well soon Bernie! I’m sure the media that went into a week-long tizzy when Hillary fainted will be similarly preoccupied by his age, the stamina he needs to be president, how he is the weaker sex… Oh wait, that last part is just for female politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/511 "2019-10-02T15:23:35Z")
**John\_Stamos’\_Left\_Ear** and **dalej42** , thanks to you both for your great posts. Those are exactly the reasons why I lost my respect for Bernie. I was never a supporter in the 2016 primary, but I, too, appreciated his candidacy to provide cover for Hillary to move left. When he started employing the “rigged!” attack, I was appalled. It was exactly like Trump – only the phone call was coming from the attic! I couldn’t believe a candidate could be so disloyal. I do think Bernie stayed in the race from spite because of the unkind things said about him in Hillary’s emails. _Which he learned about from the Russian email dump_. It didn’t seem to occur to him to reflect on how he even had come by the information – which should have been what the country focused on, not the content. And he sure didn’t consider what the outcome of the election would be if he indulged his grudge match. Anyone who didn’t have the good judgment to see how bad a Trump presidency was going to be didn’t deserve to gain the Oval Office, in my opinion. I’ve always said if Bernie didn’t like the rules attached to the Democrats’ primary process, he could have run as an independent. But no; he wanted their infrastructure, agreed to abide by those rules and then called “rigged!” when things didn’t go his way. I lost most respect for him in that moment. I wish him well and hope he recovers fully. His current incapacitation is the-god-I-don’t-believe-in’s way of telling Bernie we need him far more in the Senate than out on the campaign trail. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/512 "2019-10-02T15:27:08Z")
I too wish him well. But I suspect he’s not the sort of person to accept this as a message to quit unless it turns out that this is an ongoing health issue and he **can’t** continue. It won’t do his ratings any good, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/513 "2019-10-02T15:37:18Z")
I remember being told in this thread a few weeks ago that age-related concerns are a total fabrication. I think someone noted that he was a jogger a few decades ago. I wish him the best and hope everything turns out well, but can we really pretend that age is just a number, and nothing more? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/514 "2019-10-02T15:49:24Z")
I don’t even think it’s so much about his age, but his health. I know age can play a factor in health issues, but even if a 50-something running for president had to have emergency surgery to put stents in because of chest pains on the campaign trail, I’d be suggesting he or she drop out as well. We don’t need no stinking complications come September 2020 to foul this whole thing up. This primary season isn’t just about figuring out who we most agree with, but seeing who’s up for the fight physically. Someone who had to have emergency heart surgery today is most-likely NOT physically up for it, imo. An almost-80-year-old who had to have emergency heart surgery today is \*definitely \*not. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/515 "2019-10-02T15:57:02Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I do think Bernie stayed in the race from spite because of the unkind things said about him in Hillary’s emails. _Which he learned about from the Russian email dump_ I wrote a screed about that when the fire was still hot in July, 2016: > [@](#): > > Here, from the [Washington Post article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/24/here-are-the-latest-most-damaging-things-in-the-dncs-leaked-emails) on the most damning things learned from the emails: > > #1 - Targeting Sanders’s religion? > > This looks bad but what happened was that one person made a very horrible idea and there is zero evidence that it was ever acted upon. It’s not like Hillary said “Great idea!” It seems nobody did. > > #2 - Wasserman Schultz calls top Sanders aide a “damn liar” > > He was a damn liar. Camp Sanders’ reaction to what happened in Nevada was a reason I went from excusing his campaign for the stupidity of it’s most ardent followers to seeing them as culpable. > > #3 - … and says Sanders has “no understanding” of the party > > This email was sent in late April well after Bernie already lost and the DNC was watching Trump gain traction in polls while Bernie was being divisive. In the context of the time the email was sent, this is not especially shocking of a revelation. > > #4 - A Clinton lawyer gives DNC strategy advice on Sanders > > He was copied on an email and responded with his opinion, and again there is no evidence that his suggestion was acted upon. > > #5 - Plotting a narrative about how Sanders’s campaign failed > > Another one where the timing is important. It was sent in late May. Bernie had already been eliminated and the DNC wanted him to come around. I feel their frustrations at the way Bernie handled the endgame because I shared in them. > > #6 - Mocking Sanders for his California debate push > > He deserved to be mocked for that. The contest was over long before then. > > #7 - Wishing Sanders would just end it > > No shit. > > #8 - Calling an alleged Sanders sympathizer a “Bernie bro” > > Compared to the charges of corruption and malfeasance that the Sanders campaign lobbied at the DNC (and also Democrats at the state level, see Nevada) - calling someone a “Bernie Bro” is pretty slim pickings. > > #9 - Criticizing Obama for lack of fundraising help – “That’s f—ing stupid” > > It doesn’t have to do with Bernie at all but even this one is hilarious if you look at the whole chain: > > “He really won’t go up 20 minutes for $350k?” Shapiro wrote. “THAT’S f—ing stupid.” > > DNC national finance director Jordan Kaplan responded: “or he is the president of the united states with a pretty big day job.” > > How many of us have had email exchanges at our places of employment about the boss? > > #10 - Flippant chatter about donors > > In funeral homes there is flippant chatter about dead people who meant the world to their loved ones. In strip clubs there is flippant chatter about how the person the strippers flirted with is a creep. > > I am guilty of flippant chatter about many customers at both of my jobs that I wouldn’t want them to hear. And so are you. > > If these are among the “most damaging” things about the emails, it’s much ado about nothing. > > I hated Debbie Wasserman Schultz for reasons unrelated to her work at the DNC so I have no problems with her taking the fall over this but the fact is that the HRC campaign was already on their way to getting rid of her anyway, something I pointed out several weeks ago when it hit the news. > > The only way to view this is “damaging” is if you feel that Bernie was still in the race longer than he really was. The DNC knows what those of us who know math and demographics know - the race was over a long time ago. > > Some Bernie supporters had (and still have to this day) very unreasonable and untenable views about where Bernie stood at any given time. He was in bad shape - again, using math and demographics as the metrics (which are the only things consistent in elections). > > Bernie supporters scream that the DNC’s obligation wasn’t to any one candidate, and they are correct, but they ignore what their obligation was: To represent the person who the people chose as their candidate. And they were unable to do that when Bernie became Weekend at Bernies, a candidate who was dead but a bunch of people didn’t realize it. > > Emails in April and May expressing frustration that they were unable to move onto the general is not a flaw in the system and not evidence that it was “rigged.” It is simply a few people in the DNC expressing frustrations that Bernie Sanders was nothing more than a shell on life support with no chance of political life drawing out the process in an unprecedented manner. > > Also, it should be telling that even these supposed bombshells have done nothing to diminish Bernie’s support for Hillary or his new life as a Democrat. Considering how so many Bernie supporters (I had to stop myself from saying “Bernie Bros” because heaven forbid I offend someone) said that they were attracted by his integrity, they sure seem quick to label him a sellout. > > The DNC emails show a handful of quotes out of 20,000 emails from individual members in the organization frustrated that a guy with no chance of winning held up the nomination and coronation of Hillary Clinton, keeping them in a standoff that delayed them doing their fucking job - winning a general election - which allowed the enemy to take a few steps forward with no counter. If the Trump organization was not so incompetent they would have done even better in that regard. > > Bernie lost the election by four million votes. He didn’t lose because it was “rigged,” he didn’t lose because of DNC shenanigans and these emails do not suggest that he did. > > Nothing in these emails suggest the contest was unfair. Most of them are from when the contest was long over. And there is zero evidence that these expressions of frustrations ever evolved into action against the Sanders campaign. > > In fact, nobody can find a single example of Hillary asking Bernie to concede the race even as the DNC were chomping at the bit for him to do so. Because she didn’t ask him to concede. Not once. > > These emails are bad optics and nothing more. The Wizard Of Oz was about optics. Only in today’s political climate can people decide to be on the Wizard’s side even after he is exposed as a sham. But Bernie supporters have shown themselves to be unreasonable, paranoid and quick to accept conspiracy theories and play the victim, so why should they stop now? > > If being four million votes behind didn’t stop them, nothing will. If they didn’t need encouragement from believing bullshit before, these emails just give them more bullshit to believe. I will add with the benefit of hindsight, the main thing about the Russians hacking and leaking these emails wasn’t about pointing fingers, it the fact that the email dump was selective. I recall a Bernie staffer admitting that the DNC was very helpful to them, but the selective release of documents meant that none of that emerged. Even what did emerge was overblown nonsense, yet Bernie supporters still point to them as some kind of damning indictment of DNC corruption. In reality, it was nothing and they are all still being duped by Russian propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/516 "2019-10-02T17:14:54Z")
I’m also a bit angry at the ignorance of some of the media. All Democratic primaries and caucuses appoint delegates by proportional representation, there are no winner take all or winner take most states. Bernie winning 52-48 in a small state doesn’t really help him in the delegate count. Bernie really fell behind the 8 ball after Super Tuesday and it was almost impossible to catch up. If a football scores a touchdown worth 6 points and then the opposing team scores a field goal worth 3 points, it’s quite true that both teams scored but the team scoring 6 is going to win. I talked to my mom about Bernie’s surgery, she’s a nurse well experienced with Medicare patients. This surgery isn’t complicated nor serious. But, it’s not like Bernie has to just lay off his golf game for a couple of weeks. He’s a US Senator in addition to running a cross country political campaign. I watch Chasten Buttigieg on Instagram and the pace of the campaign exhausts me. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/517 "2019-10-02T17:19:26Z")
I don’t support Bernie Sanders because he’s an old, white guy and we’ve had just about enough of those as president, thank you very much! ---
**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:** [October 2, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/518 "2019-10-02T17:29:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I don’t support Bernie Sanders because he’s an old, white guy and we’ve had just about enough of those as president, thank you very much! Fascinating analysis that I haven’t heard a million times already. Thanks. While this doesn’t seem a serious health scare, it’s going to take him out for a while and definitely hurt his chances. I will be very surprised if his polling doesn’t get effected. ---
**Author:** ![Northeast\_Refugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@Northeast\_Refugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northeast_Refugee)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/519 "2019-10-02T17:36:03Z")
I don’t support Bernie Sanders, because he’s a senile old Yiddish communist. From [praising food shortages and bread lines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiM-yNEQ93I) to [extolling virtues of USSR](https://twitter.com/doranimated/status/1099103396928335872?lang=en) just a few years before that country collapsed, Bernie proved himself to have absolutely no moral integrity or compassion for millions of people, who suffered under oppressive Socialist rule. Nathan Scharansky, Ida Nudel, Felix Kandel and others like them would still be languishing in GULAG for the crime of being Jews, had it not been for men like Roland Reagan, who relentlessly pressured Soviets for their release, while, at the same time, moral degenerates like Bernie praised food shortages and one of the most inhumane and repressive regimes in world’s history. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632/520 "2019-10-02T17:37:10Z")
“Roland Reagan” ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-you-support-bernie-sanders-if-you-dont/835632.md?page=27)