For those DUers that want to criticize Bernie and others for not helping Ossoff,...

[StubbornThings]

He wasn't the only Democrat in the race.

Maybe they wanted to wait until this first election was over, and it was down to one D vs. one R, before helping any one candidate.

Just wanted to put that out there in case some didn't realize that there were other Democrats in the race.

[hrmjustin]

1. Bernie has never had a problem endorsing in primaries before.

[niyad]

6. this is a special election, not a primary.

[hrmjustin]

9. true but it was fairly clear from polling that Ossoff had consolidated almost all party support.

I certainly hope he campaigns for him now.

[niyad]

10. so very true

[StubbornThings]

7. True but he is working with the DNC right now.

Maybe he was asked to hold off until this first election was over.

[hrmjustin]

11. I doubt that considering Ossoff had clearly consolidated support in the party.

I think he got this one wrong.

[StubbornThings]

18. What about the leaders of the party?

Do you criticize them as well?

[hrmjustin]

35. There is always room for criticism of party leadership, but...

... Bernie is looking to remake the party in his image so he needs to do the hard work to do it.

If he wants the party to move to him then he should lift a finger to help the party. Sanders is very popular right now and his help might have pushed Ossoff over 50%. That is why Democrats are pissed off right now.

[StubbornThings]

36. "Critism of party leadership"

Where can I find those posts?

[hrmjustin]

39. People criticize the party leadership here all the time.

[StubbornThings]

46. Hillary supporters?

Can you provide some examples since it happens all of the time?

[hrmjustin]

47. With respect you can look for those examples on your own.

I don't keep a list of things people say here.

[lies]

51. People routinely

Have negative but accurate posts removed all the time. This place does not support criticism of the party. Which is why people say that.

[Historic NY]

44. Is he? Sounds like he is working on his legacy or his #OurRevolution group

There was Kansas
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/327985-dem-boasts-of-support-from-sanders-aligned-group-in-deep-red

Now today.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/329559-sanders-i-dont-know-if-ossoff-is-progressive

[ProfessorPlum]

42. haters gonna hate

[hrmjustin]

43. I don't hate Sanders.

[panader0]

2. DUers are not criticizing others. Only Bernie.

Bernie seems to be the reason for all of the problems in the Democratic party.
Go figure.

[StubbornThings]

3. I hear ya.

[PatsFan87]

5. You didn't hear? He's the reason why the Titanic sunk as well. What iceberg?

[Eliot Rosewater]

20. Bernie created a class of voters who demand the candidate be perfect or they will

withold their vote or go elsewhere.

[panader0]

26. How did he do that? Really?

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. Slip is showing.

[panader0]

30. How cryptic. How about a real answer?

[Eliot Rosewater]

33. That is my answer.

I have to protect my posting rights here.

[panader0]

37. Bernie ran as a Democrat. When he ceded the nomination to Hillary

he encouraged his followers to vote for her. To my knowledge, almost all
of them did, including me. On the other hand, far fewer HRC voters went for
Obama when she lost the nomination. Sour grapes to the max. Get over it.
Hillary lost, she would have been a great president, but she has signaled that
she won't run again. Bernie is still a powerful member of the Senate, and the
leader of the now majority Independents.

[JTFrog]

49. Bernie isn't helping.

The things he thinks are helpful I can't understand. Calling to primary a sitting Democratic President, claiming our Democratic nominee was not qualified to be President, calling the party corrupt and the primaries rigged. About as far as you can get from valid or constructive criticism.

Democratic party "corruption" has kept Bernie Sanders in Washington for the last twenty five years. He whines about "rigged" Democratic party processes, about insiders, about the party keeping the little guy out of power. Bernie Sanders is actually fine with all of that. As long as it benefits him. Take a look at his electoral history sometime. Did he go off about corruption when the Dems turned their back on Dolores Sandoval for him? How about all the other times he has benefited?

Trashing the party after being given a leadership role because this was somehow gonna unite the Democratic Party seems to be more damaging than ever. If these are his ideas, he needs better ones. Perhaps he can look to other Democrats who have been working hard for the party for years.

[babylonsister]

45. Yup. nt

[SticksnStones]

48. This didn't help

Link to tweet

[creeksneakers2]

52. I think that was the more helpful response

Georgia 6 is a conservative district. A Bernie endorsement and a progressive label might hurt Ossoff more than it helps.

[SticksnStones]

53. Depends on who you're trying to get to the polls

Repubs will show up. Seems they always do. I thought the Sanders magic was about getting the disinterested more involved.

No matter how you slice it, his statement wasn't very supportive of Democrats. Regardless of why...it just isn't helpful for democrats when he speaks.

Which is ok, I guess... that's his thing. Free speech and all. I certainly don't begrudge him his opinions.

But I'm more about supporting Democrats... And championing those who do the same.

Peace.

[boston bean]

4. That is rich if that is the case....

[randr]

8. I think Bernie would have made a difference with some Trump leaners

We need to focus on the end game and so does Bernie.

[still_one]

12. Here is my position. Ossoff received 48% of the vote in as red as it gets district. That very

fact means, as others have been posting of late, that it is vital that we as Democrats, cut the crap out, and do what we need in order to win in 2018.

For those who have a purist view, all or nothing, or a finger-pointing view, we better get over that nonsense damn quick, or we are doomed decades to come

[StubbornThings]

14. I don't disagree at all.

The DNC, Bernie, and all of the other leaders should have been in Georgia up to two days ago fighting for all of the Democrats.

The point of my OP was to inform others that there was more than one Democrat running in the race.

[Cattledog]

13. There were 4 other Ds in the race

They got a total of 1,521 votes between them. They were never in the game. Everyone down here knew that.

Ossoff got 92,390 votes.

[StubbornThings]

15. What's your point? nt

[pnwmom]

19. The point is they didn't have a chance and that was obvious a month ago.

Plenty of time for Bernie to campaign.

[LovingA2andMI]

16. It's Amazing How Some Expected Bernie To Get Involved....

In a Runoff (Primary) Race While Other Democrats Candidates Were Completing Against Ossoff, While They Fault Bernie STILL For Being Involved In A Primary Race In 2016 For President (Like He Did Not Have The Right Like Anyone Else To Run)....

Talking about Cognitive Dissonance.

[StubbornThings]

21. Only Bernie, huh? What about the leaders of the party that Bernie doesn't belong to?

Are we allowed to be critical of them for not helping Ossoff?

[LovingA2andMI]

29. Well, no because....

They are not Bernie in some eyes. Which is sort of a double standard in the air of double standards and all....

(P.S. - Bernie should not be expected to do beyond what any other person would have done in this primary -- including Democratic Leaders like Perez, Ellison or Hillary Clinton for that matter -- which did not travel to Georgia and personally help Ossoff either).....

[Eliot Rosewater]

23. Nonsense

[LovingA2andMI]

32. Because....

It does not support your "World View" it is assumed? Oh well....

[Eliot Rosewater]

34. Nov 2016 it worked for the GOP, these efforts are working for them still

[LovingA2andMI]

38. .......

Lame..... Seriously.....But Nice Try,.....

[pnwmom]

24. He could have been campaigning for Hillary starting in May (against the united GOP)

if he had recognized that it was mathematically impossible for him to win. There was an awful lot of wasted time between then and September, when he finally campaigned in 2 events.

[mwooldri]

54. Maybe the fault should lie with all the other D's in the race?

Ossoff would have been closer to 50%+1 without them, assuming people who voted for them voted for Ossoff instead.

Mr. Ossoff can still win this one.

[LovingA2andMI]

55. Fair Point...

Thanks for making it!

[LanternWaste]

17. Allegations and suppositions are indeed, stubborn things.

Allegations and suppositions are indeed, stubborn things.

[UT_democrat]

22. But

It's so fun to blame and bash Bernie for every failure of the DNC! /s

[Eliot Rosewater]

25. Yeah, that's what it is. Voting and working for the party for decades

and now we just want to be mean to Bernie.

Sure.

[UT_democrat]

28. Then we agree

Cool

[Eliot Rosewater]

31. Nonsense

[Samantha]

40. I think Bernie did more than he was given credit for

USA wrote an article which said Pelosi and Sanders were propping Ossoff up:

Some 95% of Ossoff’s donations have come from outside Georgia, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The NRCC, the House Republicans’ campaign arm, said Ossoff’s reliance on out-of-state money shows he’s a “far-left Washington insider whose campaign is propped up by Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders and the like.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/04/06/democrat-jon-ossoff-raises-8-million-in-georgia-special-election/100122138/

In another place at another time, I read he sent one of his aids down to help the Ossoff campaign.

He might not be a "Democrat" but he has been a Democratic Socialist for decades, and takes his personal political beliefs farther than the Third-Way members of the party. A Democratic Socialist believes the government should work for all of the people, not just the wealthy and corporations. Schumer asked Sanders to take a leadership position in the Democratic party. He specifically thought Sanders could attract more Dems to become involved in the party rather than defecting to Independent status. He could also bring some Republicans on over in the voting booth, since he gets a substantial percentage of Republicans in Vermont supporting him during elections there.

I think he is one of the best politicians I have seen in my lifetime, and I will continue to support him. We have already seen him promoting some of the issues he advocated for during his campaign starting to be considered by Congressional members, and that, as far as I am concerned, is progress.

Sam

[Quixote1818]

56. Very informative post. Thank you. nt

[WomenRising2017]

41. interesting

It was always going to be tough for Slotin and fellow Democrats Ragin Edwards, Rebecca Quigg and Richard Keatley to emerge from the crowded ballot and at least make the runoff between the top two vote-getters June 20. But seeing Democrats and Republicans alike obsess over Ossoff has caused frustrations that erupted into public view Sunday, March 12, at a Democratic forum held by the group Needles in a Haystack.

Slotin, who has the experience and connections in the district to have entered the race with the reasonable hope of being the progressive voice his party would rally around, criticized national Democratic organizations for rushing to support one candidate instead of letting the democratic process play out.

“I knew I was going to have to take on the Republican political machine,” Slotin said, but not Democratic Washington insiders. “You don’t know anything about this district.” He cited Sen. Bernie Sanders’ uphill, unsuccessful campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination as another example of those insiders picking a candidate, obstructing the process and offending voters.

http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/outside-influence-upsets-6th/

It appears that you are correct. How helpful.

[Gothmog]

50. That explanation is really so very weak that it is sad

The DNC, Daily Kos and most Democrats were supporting Jon but evidently that was not sufficient for Sanders

Will Sanders support Jon in the run off? If Sanders does not join in and support Jon in the runoff, then it is clear that the premise of the OP is false

[tallahasseedem]

57. Okay Nina.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

58. maybe maybe maybe