Sanders: Recount 'not a big deal'

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Those despairing about Donald Trump’s election to the presidency should not be getting too excited about a Green Party-driven recount in some states, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Sanders also sought to ensure that voters know the recount, which he said is "not a big deal," is not being driven by the Democrats.

“The Democrats, Martha, are not doing the recount,” Sanders told ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz. “I trust that you know that was initiated by the Green Party, who has every right in the world to do it.”

Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, has officially filed for a recount in Wisconsin, which Trump won by about 27,000 votes. Stein has also said she will seek recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Those three states’ 46 electoral votes were enough to push Trump over the top. The Hillary Clinton campaign has said that, while it will not initiate the recount process, it will participate in the recounts.

“Well, of course they joined in,” Sanders said of the Clinton campaign’s participation. “We will see what happens. It's a legal right. It's not a big deal. I don't think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks that there's going to be profound changes. And we will see what happens.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/bernie-sanders-recount-clinton-231858

[milestogo]

1. Since there have already been Republican admissions of "padding" the Trump votes

we can say that Trump won by 22,000 votes and we hope to find out how much more fraud went on in Wisconsin.

[oberliner]

2. Bernie is right

And is not delusional about reality.

[alarimer]

3. Considering the disenfranchisement that has happened, he might be right.

After all, you can't count votes that weren't cast at all.

Some 300,000 in Wisconsin alone. That would have made a big difference.

I'm not sure the Republicans stole the election so much as they prevented "certain" people (who mostly lean Dem) from voting in the first place.

[TomCADem]

4. The Green Party Is Being Hypocritical. They Insist No Difference...

...between Republicans and Democrats, and have repeatedly attacked Democrats on environmental issues. So, why should they suddenly care that Trump is in the White House?

They should focus their resources on raising awareness about environmental issues, rather than cynically raising money to reverse an election outcome that they insisted would not make a difference. Heck, Jill Stein argued that Hillary Clinton could be worse than Trump when Jill was campaigning.

[D23MIURG23]

7. Yeah. IMO this is just Stein trying to combat the perception that she spoiled the election.

She should have dropped out and endorsed Clinton when it might have made a difference.

[EL34x4]

9. "They should focus their resources on raising awareness about environmental issues..."

And $6-7 million in the bank will help them focus.

[TomCADem]

22. That 6 million is only for the recount, not for raising awareness of environmental issues...

...I think most folks who are giving money for the recount, expect it to be used for the recount, not for addressing environmental issues. Jill Stein herself is saying that she is raising money for the recount, not for a future Presidential run.

[Blanks]

15. They claim that both parties are guilty...

Of stealing elections.

But it is important to the Green Party that the will of the people be reflected in the votes.

I have a difficult time being critical of them for this action. In fact, if it were the other way around (counting votes in a democratic victory) I would support the effort.

It's the right thing to do.

[ananda]

5. Ermm... there should be some big changes!

Trump won due to the following: vote flipping, vote padding, vote stripping,
voter suppression, voter intimidation, and hacking.

If there aren't big changes in the votes -- in favor of Clinton -- then there is
absolutely nothing about the election system that we can trust!

[HelenWheels]

6. Of course it's a big deal

We in WI have known for some time our elections have been crooked. Hillary may not win but perhaps some of the dirt will be swept out of our elections. We had a State Supreme Court judge win election with 7,502 votes that the Waukesha Co. ( very concervative) Clerk found in an opened bag of votes in the trunk of her car. This was after the liberal judge won the election by just about that number of votes.
She should have at least lost her job and at best been prosecuted for election fraud. Nothing happened to her because the WI State Supreme court is so corrupt.

[INdemo]

14. Scott Walker,Scott Walker,The Koch Bros.

own Wisconsin's election results, right? If they can destroy votes,flip votes and get away with it,well then Republicans are there to stay Right? Did Walker really win the recall election?

[Eleanors38]

8. I agree. The Party has a lot bigger fish to fry than re-hashing the Bernie vs. DNC fight.

[FBaggins]

13. Actually, that's the fight that may be needed

And that some are desperate to avoid.

[truthisfreedom]

10. Thanks for providing cover, Bernie!

Nothing to look at over here! Imagine if there were protesters brought in by the bus load in like the Gore v bush theft.

[anamandujano]

18. Yup. He gets the camera time he craves & helps spread the side eyeing of the recount.

Like Stein, he enabled unnecessary wear and tear on Hillary by staying too long.

[saltpoint]

11. Some of our public figures are better than

others at handling questions and comments by the media. Sanders has always been especially good at reframing the media's question so the exchanges actually have some day-to-day usefulness.

The Clinton camp has never stated publicly that it expects the election results to be overturned. There may be irregularities found (and, as one poster mentioned, already admitted to by the Republicans), and so the recount is legal, and understandable.

[ucrdem]

12. Perfect opportunity to call out our corrupt election system, his favorite theme ...

... and he fumbled it.

WaPo: Domestic and international experts rate the U.S. elections as the worst among all Western democracies:



This chart compares and contrasts the overall 100-point PEI index for all elections held since 2012 in the Western democracies covered in the survey. In the United States, this covers both the 2012 presidential elections and the 2014 congressional contests.

Americans often express pride in their democracy, yet the results indicate that domestic and international experts rate the U.S. elections as the worst among all Western democracies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/03/29/u-s-elections-ranked-worst-among-western-democracies-heres-why/

[anamandujano]

19. 1,000,000 and then some

[cloudythescribbler]

16. As someone who backed Bernie's candidacy from the start, I am seriously disappointed

Greg Palast has done a massive expose of concerns about MASSIVE and SYSTEMATIC disqualification of voters: http://www.gregpalast.com/election-stolen-heres/

This alone (which may or may not be seriously addressed in the recount, but SHOULD be raised, questioning EACH AND EVERY disqualified vote) could easily have tipped the election in all three key states -- WI, MI, and PA

The Democrats are all but rolling over (paying lip service to the effort) which more or less dooms its chances of going beyond a 'phoning it in' review of the election. Bernie should NOT join in this. His moves that drove hordes of employees to quit from "Our Revolution" was a serious misstep (unlike a slip of the tongue and the like) and this position is also

There was also a massive petition that went around organized primarily by Michael Albert and backed by scads of leading progressives.
I don't know what ever became of it

Bernie Sanders' candidacy created a massive opportunity for progressives, one that all-but-required adequate leadership from him POST-campaign. This leadership has fallen seriously short and he should be called on it. Organized efforts like Michael Albert's should not be ignored or left to fizzle

[flamingdem]

17. I hope that Bernie is just managing expectations

It's not good for the dems to be seen as deluded. However, we absolutely must do as much recounting and auditing as possible -- for this election and future elections. Whatever we learn can help define the direction needed to stop the pukes from owning our country for years and years

[YOHABLO]

20. So why does it take a third party candidate to initiate this?

Why isn't the DNC participating with fervor. How many elections are they going to roll over on? Totally disgusted with Sander's tone. I think if it were him, he would be calling this a very Big DEAL.

[LisaL]

21. Because they haven't seen any evidence that anything was actually hacked on election day.

[YOHABLO]

23. You can not see until you look.

[brooklynite]

24. ...and you realize the the recount won't be looking?

It will be a recount of the votes on the voting machines; no examination of the computer code.