Did the NH Democratic Party Establishment just Disrespect Bernie Sanders?

[Skwmom]

Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2015, 09:35 AM - Edit history (10)

See my update at the end.

Per the Ny TImes: The convention drew about 1,000 delegates, many of them traditional politicians and elected officials not unlike Mrs. Clinton, and 3,000 other participants, many of them longtime avowed liberals like Mr. Sanders.

Bernie was the third speaker (after Hillary and O'Malley). I noticed the room held a lot less people after Bernie started his speech.

Did the NH party people not have enough respect and decency to listen to Bernie's speech? They just got up and left the room? Wasn't this an event held by the NH Democratic Establishment?

If they left, that is downright disrespectful. And they expect us to vote for their candidate IF they win the primary and to help get local Democrats elected? Really?

And to add insult to injury, they used his and other candidate supporters to try to create a false perception that Clinton packed the house. This post will explain what I mean by this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251607251

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/us/politics/hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders-in-own-ways-show-pull-at-new-hampshire-convention.html?_r=0

Note: I am posing this as a question because when I saw shots of the audience when Clinton was speaking versus Bernie, the room seemed emptier to me.

Update: The speeches were spread out over a long time period, unlike the Iowa Dinner. Clinton started around 1:17 into the video, O'Malley at 2:41 - almost an hour and a half later and Bernie at 3:32, almost an hour after O'Malley. O'Malley and Bernie supporters had quite a wait and that would explain why some people opted to leave - though I think the establishment should definitely have stayed since they were in charge of how it was structured. If the supporters of the candidates have to sit there and wait, so should the party members. Maybe for the next convention they should draw straws to see who goes first. I can't imagine that they would want people to think one candidate was favored over the others.

Now that I've thought about it some more, I think Bernie and the other candidates and their supporters were disrespected in the way this convention was choreographed to favor one candidate and to help spin a narrative.

[liberal_at_heart]

1. I just almost can't stomach this election and it has barely begun.

[sabrina 1]

2. So the crowds that were there, the non establishment crowd, were there for Bernie, not for Hillary.

Well, there goes the 'she can attract crowds' claim. Only if Bernie is in the room apparently.

And if that is what happened, it was definitely disrespectful.

I am coming to view our party as mean spirited and nasty, under the current leadership.

And if more people are thinking the same way, they better not count on people holding their noses THIS time. Screw these tactics, Brock, negative campaigning, nasty insults, disrespect for a candidate who is the Front Runner in NH.

Sick to death of their inability to just run a campaign on the issues.

[Skwmom]

3. O'Malley also had supporters and I'm sure there were some regular (non party) Hillary supporters

but the room was so much emptier when Bernie gave his speech that a lot of people had to have gotten up and walked out.

That is why I posed it as a question - though I think I know the answer.

[underthematrix]

4. MSNBC Alex Witt claims HRC recieved a two minute standing ovation

when she came onstage. They also said most of the people there were HRC supporters. They even suggested while Bernie supporters were not there in large numbers and that maybe that was the result of not getting the word out. But HRC was definitely the star of the event.

[sabrina 1]

5. She will be the star of any establishment event. And if he establishment walks out when the

most popular candidate in the state gets up to speak, and I'm only going on what I am reading here, that won't help Hillary outside of the establishment when word gets out. Which it will, if true.

[Skwmom]

8. I don't know which is why I posed it as a question. It seemed like the room was a lot fuller

Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2015, 04:30 AM - Edit history (1)

when Clinton spoke, or at least the panning of the audience I saw.

[underthematrix]

9. Hey establishment event put on by an establishment state party

filled with establishment delegates and superdelegates.

[Skwmom]

7. Maybe from the people in the front, the Hillary party people.

Isn't Alex the one that lost her show but they kept her on to do special reporting.

Per the NY TIMES

While Mrs. Clinton received an enthusiastic reception, with people beating inflatable noisemaker sticks that her well-financed campaign passed out, the ovation for Mr. Sanders was striking because he is not a party member (he is a democratic socialist) and has far fewer endorsements than Mrs. Clinton from members of the state political apparatus. The convention drew about 1,000 delegates, many of them traditional politicians and elected officials not unlike Mrs. Clinton, and 3,000 other participants, many of them longtime avowed liberals like Mr. Sanders.

[underthematrix]

11. No Alex Witt has been a weekend staple for years.

There was a reporter at the event relaying what was happening. THey specifically said HRC got a standing ovation and I saw that reported at other sites too. They never mentioned a standing ovation for Sanders. They his people were loud but not present in large numbers. Your scenario is just as viable as the one reported by Alex Witt. For some people facts are relative.

[Skwmom]

14. Well with 1,000 Democratic Establishment people there that makes sense since

the establishment is backing her.

[MindfulOne]

6. I watched it all.

Secretary Clinton got to go first and she was provided considerably more time than the others.
It was like twice as long as the others, like 40 minutes compared to 22 minutes for O'Malley, not sure about Sanders, and then Lessig spoke to a mostly empty room.

It had the appearance of having been rigged to favor the frontrunner, but that's not surprising and it's not new.

[underthematrix]

12. Yep. It was reported HRC spoke for about 40 minutes.

[highprincipleswork]

15. Not new, but unacceptable,

Now that people have been given a choice of someone they really like, if the choice for someone else is ordained outside of their control through an apparently rigged system, that spells big trouble for the next election.

I will gladly support Hillary if she wins this fair and square. But if the game is that rigged, at every turn, by the same old jokers who have let us down and also lost elections before, they really cannot count on my support. Nor that of many others, I imagine.

The difference is, I don't just like Bernie and his positions, I love him and his authenticity and what he stands for. If he is not given a fair shot at this, I don't think they even realize what a whirlwind they will be unleashing. Or they choose to live in denial.

The genie is out of the bottle folks. That is Bernie Sanders. The power of his ideas and his performance may be enough to win the nomination. They may not. I am absolutely sure that it is possible that he can win the nomination and I am even more sure he can win the election.

But we should all be for a fair nomination process that gives even the underdogs with less name recognition the same chance. Let's find out who is truly the best for us, for people in general, for a win next year. We can't do this with behind closed doors politics. That spells out disaster.

[Skwmom]

17. Sanders spoke for about the same as Clinton but not until about 2.25 hours later.

If you were there for O'Malley, Sanders, Chafee, or Lessig you had quite a wait.

[msongs]

10. omg hard to believe people have real lives not revolving around bernie sanders' every move lol nt

[LuvLoogie]

13. Here is a musical interlude

while we all contemplate the possibility...

[BeanMusical]

16. Kick and R

[left-of-center2012]

18. Loved Bernie's speech

"It was Mr. Sanders ... received more ecstatic cheers from the crowd,
as he denounced big banks, trade deals, tax breaks for the wealthy and “super PACs” like the one supporting Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy."

[restorefreedom]

20. i really think we are seeing the beginning of the end

of the Democratic Party as we know it. It is become so patently obvious that the forces are aligning against Bernie, and not just against Bernie but against all of us who are in favor of a new day and setting things right for people again. People are not going to just suck it up and take their medicine this time if for some freak reason Hillary becomes the nominee. People will stay home in droves or they will write Bernie's name in, or they may even start the process of beginning a third-party. H wont be able to use fears about the Supreme Court nominations to scare people into voting for her. Fear-based politics is over ,money rule is over. The snowball has started down the hill. people are no longer interested in settling for the least of the worst. We want and deserve the best.Go Bernie