"I'm returning to the Democratic Party to Support Bernie Sanders"

[sabrina 1]

I'm Returning to the Democratic Party to Support Bernie Sanders

I'm moving to a different part of Brooklyn in two weeks and when I change my voter registration I will, for the first time since 1996, register as a Democrat. I've been a Green since I first registered to vote in the city in 1996. While I've often voted for Democrats on the local, state and national level during the last 19 years, there have been none that I've been particularly enthused about [with the exception of mayor de Blasio - but even there I didn't see a reason to change my registration]. With the announcement that Bernie Sanders will run as a Democrat, it's time for me to put away my issues with the horrific leadership of both the state and national party and return as well. Too much is at stake with the direction of the party and the country for me to passively scowl at the backroom machinations of party politics. I will finally roll up my sleeves and work. Senator Sanders is the man to take back the party from the corporate assholes that have screwed up the world and I will be there to support him in every way I can.

I've already donated to his campaign and signed up on his mailing list. I would very much like to get involved with his organization in Brooklyn. I'm happy to canvas. I even have experience doing fundraising for political parties as one of my first jobs in the city was as a fundraiser for a small progressive party called the New Party back in 1994/95. While I'm terribly busy, it's just too important not to set aside time to do this. Our country cannot stand another four years of neo-liberal economics as we slide into a neo-feudal nightmare. Our world cannot take another four years of complete denial that both our economic system and energy infrastructure must drastically change to avoid environmental catastrophe. And while I'm considerably to the left of Bernie Sanders, his policy positions, honesty and moral exactitude are precisely what this country needs to start down the path to sustainable economic principles and social and environmental justice.

According to Gallop, at least 5% of the base of the Dem Party left the party and registered as Independents over the past number of years.

I think Bernie can attract those voters back in order to help him win.

DUer 'sadoldgirl' posted a thread in this group to remind people that in some states people will have to change their registration if they want to vote for Bernie.

Her thread is Just a reminder, though it may not be needed

[Autumn]

1. Recommended. This is important to get out

[sabrina 1]

2. I have to admit I had not really thought about that in all the excitement of Bernie's announcement

but it really is important.

Maybe we could compile a list of the states where people need to register as Dems in order to support him?

[FlatBaroque]

3. Pin that thread

and post the info in the state forums where needed.

[sabrina 1]

4. That's a good idea. We do need to let people know this. I'm sure a lot of people do not.

[Old Codger]

5. Many Years Ago

I registered as a repug in order to be able to vote in their primary so as to vote against a candidate I absolutely hated... Since that time I have re-registered as and independent...I live in Oregon and by the time the primary here rolls around the choice has pretty much been made without our voting at all so I have not worried about any of that, I still vote straight democrat always and ever... If it is going to make a difference at all I will definitely re-register democrat in order to have a say in the process this election cycle...

[sabrina 1]

7. That is one of the things that is so wrong with our system. I hope you do get

a chance to vote this time, for Bernie! Thank you for being willing to do so.

[Nite Owl]

6. I'm pretty sure that in NY

you can't vote in a primary until one General election has passed.

[daleanime]

8. Could be wrong....

but believe it's more like a month ahead of the primary. Which isn't scheduled yet?

[Nite Owl]

9. Hope you are right

[madfloridian]

10. Recced here and at DKos.

Glad to see something at Kos about Sanders. Front pagers not having much about him.

[sabrina 1]

11. That's not surprising. I rec'd it there also. DK is establishment. The FP won't be promoting

Sanders, unless he wins the primary.

[BrotherIvan]

28. In another Bernie thread there, they are talking about how front-pagers are all HRC

And they feel it's very obvious. Hope they get a groudswell too. But Marcos is a hack, so not really expecting anything else. He'll love his share of the Clinton money train. That's what we can't forget. THere is an army of political and media consultants who stand to make a lot of money from a Clinton run. Bernie is taking money out of their wallets and they will fight just as hard if not harder to make sure that doesn't happen.

[madfloridian]

29. A post of Markos from last year. I think he will be fair overall.

"Daily Kos will not enable those who enable Third Way" By Markos at DKos. Names names.

[sabrina 1]

34. I agree with you re Kos. Saw him in action when he drove women (we are not going

to let your 'pet issues' lose this race for us' off the board in the hundreds.

And Liberals, he despised them and said so often when he would jump into a thread and support the bullies, banned anyone who didn't bow down to them.

'Ponies, pet issues, all that lingo was common on DK. And when people reminded him he was dependent on their donations he told them 'I don't need your money' and stopped taking donations from members. Which caused people to ask him who was funding him blog, which got them banned.

That place was worse the FR for several years.

He used to let the membership pick the FPers until he felt secure enough regarding the membership. Then just stopped doing that and picked them himself. Nearly all of them were part of the crowd that would attack liberals. So no surprise they would be pushing the party candidate.

He must have felt the loss of all those Liberals and minorities and women because now he's asking for donations again.

[BrotherIvan]

35. That doesn't sound like he will be fair at all

He sounds like the uber asshole I think he is. Jeez, now I'm confused...

[octoberlib]

37. I don't wander over to DailyKos very often but Markos posted this about the debates

That said, the DNC is wrong on one major aspect: the rules allow it to bar any candidate from attending its sanctioned events if they participate in any other debates. That blatantly undemocratic clause needs to be ignored by all candidates. If you don't want to call it a "debate," then fine, but if candidates want to participate in joint forums, hangouts, gatherings, symposiums, roundtables, or whatever, that's their right as Americans and fuck the DNC for trying to squash it. Hillary can show up to those additional events if she wants to. Or not. No one is forcing anything on anyone.

If the insurgent candidates want to generate some attention, they should openly flaunt that rule then demand to be included in the sanctioned debates. And if the DNC holds its ground, all of Clinton's opponents should boycott until Clinton is forced to either stand alone on stage like an idiot (thus the story becomes a farcical event), or she asks the DNC to bend the stupid rule.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/06/1382849/-Six-debates-is-fair-but-the-DNC-isn-t-off-the-hook?detail=twitter_sf


Of course, in the first few paragraphs of the piece he got all snarky and called O'Malley's aide a whiner for complaining to the media

[sabrina 1]

41. He could change his mind tomorrow, I've seen flip on a candidate within 24 hours.

I have noticed him being a bit more conciliatory towards those he used to be so nasty to, maybe because most of them left, and I wondered if he had lost whatever funding he was getting.

I'll believe him when has a few Liberals writing on the FP. I remember him announcing that what he wanted as FPers were not GOOD WRITERS but people who would 'loyal', iow, like the MSM those who wouldn't rock the boat. And that's what he has on the FP. They have one token Liberal, but when push comes to shove, even he will side with the status quo.

He had some great Liberal writers there in the early years, and either drove them out, banned them, or they just left.

[secondwind]

12. lifelong Dem here, rooting for Bernie.. have donated twice already n/t

[Enthusiast]

13. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

Great post, sabrina 1! Thanks bunches!

[BobbyBoring]

14. me too

The Reform party will have to get by without me

[sabrina 1]

15. Yay! Dem party is going to see a big increase in their registration I think. I hope they know why!

[SoapBox]

16. This is indeed important.

G...O...T...V!

[antiquie]

17. I just registered as a Democrat for the first time since 1991.

I was inspired by this OP and Bernie Sanders.
In 1992 I registered as Green (NOT NADER) to protest this treatment of Jerry Brown.

Thanks for the suggestion, now I'll get to vote in the Democratic primary.

[sabrina 1]

20. That is great. Thanks for the link, didn't know about that.

Every singe vote for Bernie counts, so thank you for doing this!

[Babel_17]

18. Thanks, it was nice to hear that (nt)

[TM99]

19. I registered as an Independent

when I left the Republican party decades ago.

If it was required, and it is not in Arizona, to register Democratic to vote for Sanders, I would be doing so in a heartbeat!

Not only are there Greens but also former moderate Republicans (think Teddy R & Eisenhower types), left-leaning Libertarians, etc. that are coming over to the Sanders campaign.

[sabrina 1]

21. That's fantastic:

Not only are there Greens but also former moderate Republicans (think Teddy R & Eisenhower types), left-leaning Libertarians, etc. that are coming over to the Sanders campaign.

So in Arizona people don't need to register as Democrats to vote for him?

We really need a list of states where people need to do so.

I would hate for people to find out too late.

[TM99]

26. In Arizona

we have a semi-open primary. As an independent, you can choose which one you want to vote in but naturally not both. I have no party affiliation and will be choosing the Democratic Primary to vote for Sanders. If you are a third party, then yes, you must change affiliation or choose no affiliation in order to vote in the Democratic Primary.

I know a lot of independents, Libertarians, and Greens here. Many are very excited about Sanders for all the right reasons. I am telling the independents to choose the Democratic Primary, and I am encouraging Greens and Libertarians to switch to the Democratic Party or to no party affiliation so they can vote for him in the Primary.

I believe a stickied post got started on this, and if not, I will see about starting one.

[sabrina 1]

42. Okay, thanks, so Greens and other third parties in Az must register as Dems to vote for Bernie. .

Registered Independents can choose either Primary. Thanks for clarifying that.

I haven't seen a post about this with all the info on all the states pinned anywhere. But if you put one up, I will definitely rec and kick it and maybe we can get it pinned.

[TM99]

49. I started researching more

as I think this needs to be a sticky post.

Arizona also has a something called the Presidential Preference Election which is separate and different from the Primary. Honestly I have never voted in it and not fully clear on what makes it different.

But, if I want to vote in it, I would need to register as a Democrat. Otherwise, what I stated holds true for the Primary in August 2016.

I will see if I have time to start this tonight.

[sabrina 1]

50. Thank you, that would be great. Just read about Ca. below which is very confusing it seems.

Maybe the bottom line will be to just register as a Dem in states where it is confusing.

Will look for your OP, but no pressure, I know it's a lot of work so only you have the time.

[TM99]

51. I will register as a Democrat to vote for

Last edited Thu May 7, 2015, 02:38 AM - Edit history (1)

Sanders in a heartbeat. I will also do it in order to volunteer.

I know that I will not be able to persuade all my third party friends, family, and acquaintances to do so. Thankfully they can still vote in the Primary if they at least re-register as no party affiliation.

I just started a thread.

[sabrina 1]

58. Just saw your thread, thanks so much for doing that. I will post a link from this thread in the

comment section which might be useful.

Good your family and friends can at least vote in the primary. A question, IF they do that, can they then vote in the GE without changing registration?

[Ineeda]

61. Any registered voter

can vote in a general election, regardless of their affiliation. Behind the curtain (metaphorically speaking) one votes for whomever they want, regardless of the candidate's affiliation. Primaries are a different kettle of fish.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

63. In Minnesota, you do not register affiliation to a party

Though parties keep their own databases.

BUT, the Party Caucuses are open to the public:

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=886

In 2008, it took me more than an hour to drive the last half-mile of the short drive to high school where the Democratic Caucus was held in my district. I would have parked and walked, but there was literally no way to do that (all parking was gone and people had already just pulled their cars up onto lawns and left their cars) and there were no exits in that stretch of road. Police were there and doing what they could, but it was amazingly packed. Fun night, great show for Democracy.

[LiberalElite]

22. For voters in NY State or NYC who want to register or change party affiliation, 3 links for info:

http://vote.nyc.ny.us/html/voters/voters.shtml

http://dmv.ny.gov/more-info/electronic-voter-registration-application

http://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html

[sabrina 1]

23. That's great information thank you for posting it. We definitely need a thread that

is pinned with all states listed imo.

So far from this thread I learned that Az voters do not need to register as Dems.

NY voters do.

Thanks a lot for the links.

[LiberalElite]

24. 1 down - 49 to go (not including territories)

[sabrina 1]

25. 2 Down, someone above said Az doesn't require registration as a Dem. But we should probalby

make sure just in case.

[LiberalElite]

27. Ta-Daaaaa - It may all be in here:

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtml

-snip-
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has resources for voters, including voter guides, registration information, voting accessibility, and information for military and overseas voters.

Voter Eligibility

To be eligible to vote, you must be a U.S. citizen. In most states, you must be 18 years old to vote, but some states do allow 17 year olds to vote. States also have their own residency and identification requirements to vote. For additional information about state-specific requirements and voter eligibility, contact your state election office.

How to Register or Change Your Registration

In almost all states, you can register by mail to vote using the National Mail Voter Registration Form. North Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not accept the National Mail Voter Registration Form. New Hampshire accepts it only as a request for an absentee voter mail-in registration form. If you live in one of these states, please check with your state election office to find out how to register to vote.
-snip-

[sabrina 1]

43. Great link, thank you. It is confusing so rather than have people miss an opportunity I hope

each State's Bernie supporters will let voters know what they have to do in order to be able to vote for him.

[madfloridian]

30. Florida has closed primaries.

So folks who are indy or Green will have to sign up as Democrats.

[sabrina 1]

44. Thanks, I'm hoping someone will post an OP re all states. There are few good links

in this thread that could be added.

I wonder how many states, eg, have open primaries. Just found out in this thread eg, that in Az Indies can choose either primary, but 3rd Party members must switch to vote for either party.

[cantbeserious]

31. Good News

eom

[CanonRay]

32. I just sent Bernie $35

[sabrina 1]

45. Thank you! I sent him $50 yesterday. I'll be sending more as soon as I can.

He already has 75,000 donors! In less than a week. Every little bit counts. I think he's going to make his goal re the money he needs.

[Luminous Animal]

33. California is a little complicated; thus, I'd likely

encourage people to re register as a den.

However, in a Presidential Primary election, voters registered with a political party can only choose among candidates for president who are registered with the same party (the same is true for party central committee elections). Independent voters (now called "No Party Preference" voters) may have the option of voting in the Presidential primaries of political parties that allow independents to participate; whether parties allow this can vary from election to election, but generally the Democratic Party allows independents to vote in its presidential primaries and the Republican Party does not.

[sabrina 1]

46. That is confusing. As you say, probably best to register as a Dem to be sure.

[L0oniX]

36. I was also about to re-register as Ind before Bernie stepped into the race.

[Cryptoad]

38. Gallup?????

is that not the polling outfit that had Romney with the big lead and "surging" right up to the day of the Election?

[sabrina 1]

47. Quinnipiac had Bernie doubling his numbers BEFORE he announced about two weeks ago.

Nearly all polls are showing him steadily gaining since he was first included as a virtual unknown in Oct 2014. He was 1% back then. Jan, in the Quinnipiac poll he was at 3%. their last poll showed him more than doubling that to 8%.

Several polls at that same time varied between 7.1 - 10.

So as people find out about him, his polls have risen.

None that I know of since his announcement las Thursday.

The more exposure he gets, the more his poll numbers are rising.

And Gallup isn't overly kind to Liberals like Bernie, so his numbers are no doubt higher than whatever they have.

[sabrina 1]

54. Oh, forgot to mention, other polls say that it was over 10% who left the Dem Party over the past few

years. I used the lower figure provided by Gallup though I have no way of knowing who is right. I do know that many Dems and many Repubs, have left both parties and registered as Independents making that the largest voting bloc in the country right now.

[Cryptoad]

59. Fair and Balanced Polling,,,,,,

[WillyT]

39. Huge K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[IronLionZion]

40. I imagine a lot of folks who have not been active voters for a while

should probably check their registration information if it's even up to date and find out their polling place for the primaries. This is especially true for many in the "both parties are the same" crowd.

And while they're at it, check out the downticket races since many progressive candidates at all levels could use the support as well.

Wouldn't it be great to have more liberals like Bernie and Warren in Congress? Well wishing doesn't make it so. There are liberal candidates for state legislatures and city council type positions too that could rise up to run for US Congress.

[sabrina 1]

48. Very, very good advice, especially checking out the down ticket. He will need a good, progressive

Congress when he is elected in order to implement his policies.

We should start finding out what seats are up for election in Congress and the Senate and try to help get good Dem candidates elected.

Hey, we did it in 2008 and now with Bernie in the race, there is a similar amount of enthusiasm which should draw more Independents, Greens etc to join in the effort to get him elected.

[Joe Turner]

52. Sabrina You have a Beautiful Mind

I'm going to donate to Bernie's campaign as well. Last chance. This country simply cannot afford to have another neo-liberal /con president. It's time to stop digging.

[sabrina 1]

53. Aw, you are very kind, Joe Turner ... and I agree completely that this country cannot

afford another four or eight years of Corporate rule.

Just think, Bernie got small donations from over 75,000 individual people.

If we were to go by the number of people who support him v all the other candidates, he wins hands down.

Rubio, eg, who came close to Bernie's donations, on the day of his announcement, of $1.5 million, only received HIS money from a HANDFUL of wealthy donors.

That speaks volumes.

[hay rick]

55. 5% of the base...

I think the trend is much stronger than that.

I have access to voter registration information in a very red county in Florida. I know the county is not representative, but I have no reason to think the sea change in registrations that I am witnessing is unrepresentative.

Here's the context: overall registrations in this county: R-49.5%, D-25.4%, O (Other)-25.1%
New registrations (Q4, 2014)..................................: R-36.1%, D-20.5%, O (Other)-43.4%
New registrations (Q1, 2015)..................................: R-34.7%, D-14.3%, O (Other)-51.0%

Both major parties are losing registered voters at a calamitous rate. Florida is a closed primary state. The voters who are registering as Independents, NPAs, or other parties are excluded from voting in most of the significant primary elections. They have opted out of the first half of the process and, as you would expect, are less likely to vote in general elections.

This is not an accident...

[sabrina 1]

57. I agree, I used the Gallop number of 5% because it was the most recent I read. But other

polls I have read over the past few months say that it is more like 10% lost Dem voters to Independents. And I think that is probably the case.

Eg, airc, Dem registration was over 40% in 2008. Now it is hovering around 32%. Nearly all polls I've seen seem to agree on that.

Repubs are around 29%, not sure what they were in 2008.

The Independent vote is now at 42% according to most polls. So it is now the biggest voting bloc in the country.

From what I've read this is the largest Indie vote for a long, long time.

Bernie is definitely aware of this and I think he can tap into that, not just the former Dems but Repubs who are moderate, Libertarians and others.

Because when you look at polls just on issues, the very issues he talks about are the most popular issues across political lines.

Thanks for your post, I think you are probably right.

Btw, do you know what Florida's voter registrations laws are, because there is a thread which is hoping to cover all states laws on voter registration so no one misses out on voting for Bernie.

The thread is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12804841

The OP will add info to the OP when people post it in the thread. Links are good also.

[oberliner]

60. Hopefully that person will stay with the Democratic Party in the General Election

And work just as hard for the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever she or he may be.

[sabrina 1]

64. I'm sure when Bernie wins the nomination, lots more disillusioned voters will return and

vote for the Dem nominee, AND to put more Progressive Democrats in Congress so Bernie has a good, reliable on the issues, Democratic Congress that begin the process of deconstructing the Corporate takeover of our electoral system.

The Independent voting bloc is the biggest in the country right now due to the American people's disillusionment with both parties and the economic inequality they have created over the decades.

Which is why many are returning now that someone who represents those voters, is actually running.

And that is why it is so important that he wins. Voters returning to the party, or joining it to vote against the status quo, will not remain if he does not win. Which means we could end up with a Republican in the WH.

The refusal to look outside the DC bubble and look at WHY Dems lost the last two midterms, has been the cause of those losses.

Iow, they did not listen to the people, kept pushing Corporate candidates until finally many people just gave up, or began to focus on local elections and getting progressive issues on their local ballots AND WINNING.

It's up to the party now to decide who more likely to draw voters to the party.

The people are not going to keep on telling them and being ignored. They will go back to where they believe they have some influence, to their local and state politics.

[oberliner]

65. You are really that confident he will win the nomination?

That's great.

But, even with such confidence, you must at least acknowledge there is a possibility of someone else winning the Democratic nomination.

Were that to happen I would hope the same sort of passionate action towards getting that candidate elected would follow.

[mother earth]

62. Sanders is revitalizing our party, gaining support from independents & getting GOP'ers to switch.

That is what populism does, it makes everyone wake up to the fact that change is not going to happen via the corporate candidates. Change comes from a social wave that brings a clear message to the politicians & gov't, that enough is enough. Big money may not change, but people are & they are fed up with the status quo & having less and less to live on and raise their family.

K & R.