To my fellow Hillary supporters: stop calling for unity. Let this primary process happen.

[auntpurl]

For these reasons:

1. A long primary makes the candidate stronger for the GE.

2. A long primary makes it so everyone's vote counts and fewer people are disenfranchised.

3. A long primary keeps the focus on the Dem race instead of it being all Trump all the time in the media.

I'm not calling for unity. It's too soon - there's still a primary happening. It is getting closer to being over, and barring a major upset, Hillary will be the nominee, but it is not yet over. I remember in 08 when I was supporting Hillary, the Obama supporters on DU were calling for us to get in line before he'd even won the nomination. Nope. And I'm not calling for that now. In fact, I won't be calling for it the second Hillary clinches the nom (if in fact that's what happens) either. People need time to be pissed off, disappointed, disillusioned, maybe take a step away from DU, plug back into the real world, get away from the frenzy of electoral politics for a while. They will either look at the alarming options on the Repub side and vote for the Dem nominee in November, or they won't. But time is needed for this process.

I think one of the reasons Hillary supporters are calling for unity and for Bernie to drop out is that it has been so unpleasant for so long on DU that we just want it to be over. I understand that feeling. But in the real world, outside of DU, as long as Bernie isn't engaging in malicious smears against Hillary (and vice versa, and I don't think either side has done that), go for it, man. Run your race.

Everybody needs to calm down a little, I think. Saying "But they're being horrible to my candidate!" is just as true from both sides. There are Hillary supporters and Bernie supporters on DU who've been really awful this primary season. I would love if people discussed issues more, but that doesn't get as many hits and recs as slander and smears do.

Just let this process happen. See who the American Democratic Party chooses as its candidate. Be open to the idea that people don't agree with you. Be patient.

I know this thread is a bit too directive, but remember, it's only my opinion. We all have a vote!

[One of the 99]

1. Great post!

I agree with your first three points 100%. And will add a fourth: Bernie is bringing up important issue that would be ignore otherwise.

[auntpurl]

2. Agreed, and another point:

5. Until we have a chosen nominee, The Repubs will hold off on the full GE onslaught. Whether it's Bernie or Hillary, the shorter time the Repubs have to smear them all over the media, the better.

[Frances]

3. I remember 2008 also

In 2008, I was uncomfortable with negative comments about any of the Dem candidates in the primary because I knew I would support the eventual Dem nominee, whoever it was.

IMO, in 2008, any of the Dem candidates was better than any of the Repub candidates.

I feel even stronger now that either Bernie or Hillary is infinitely better than Trump or Cruz.

But for those people who are not concerned about having either Trump or Cruz or some other Repub in the White House, you are right.

[auntpurl]

5. "I feel even stronger now that either Bernie or Hillary is infinitely better than Trump or Cruz."

Yes! Romney was just an idiot. These guys are terrifying. Either Bernie or Hillary would be better by orders of magnitude.

I think it's easy to get caught up in the poo flinging on DU. It's unlikely that some of the things said here, on an anonymous internet message board, would ever be said (or believed) by those people in real life. I'm sure there are in reality VERY FEW people posting on DU who wouldn't be horrified by the idea of Trump or Cruz in the WH. But for Bernie supporters, because they are currently losing this primary, and in the context of DU, they don't have any other cards to play at the moment. To threaten not to vote for the Dem nominee is the only weapon they have. And I remember EXACTLY how that feels, and although I didn't do that in 08 (I always stated very publicly that I would vote for whomever the Dem nominee was - AND I DID), I could understand where others were coming from when they did make those threats.

DU would be a much nicer place if people tried to see things from other people's points of view sometimes.

[samrock]

4. I could not agree more with this thread.. Bravo..

Keeping Bernie in the race as long as he wants is a wonderful way to show we are not afraid of democracy.. I hope there are more debates.. in prime time.. these show what it is like to have adults discuss differences in ideas.. If Bernie were to drop out now would leave the media with no reason to talk about democratic ideas until the convention and that would be a long 4-5 months..

[auntpurl]

7. I like democracy.

I like people being able to vote in their primaries and feel part of the process. That's young, old, and everyone in between.

The difference between the Dem debates and the Repub debates is night and day. As you say, two adults discussing national issues and ideas, versus a clown car full of scary idiots measuring dick sizes.

I doubt there will be more debates as long as Hillary is so far ahead (giving your opponent airtime while you're winning by a lot is not politically strategic), but I wouldn't be averse to the idea, personally.

[JoePhilly]

6. As long as Bernie stays in, the media can't shift to all anti-Clinton all the time.

Don't get me wrong, they'll still fawn over Trump and attack Hillary, but having Bernie around will force them to at least occasionally discuss something else.

[auntpurl]

9. Or even to discuss the Dem race at ALL

I wouldn't be surprised if there were a complete media blackout of ANYTHING except Trump - not even anti-Hillary (or anti-Dem) but just no Dem at all - until the election.

[rhett o rick]

12. The other night Sanders gave an important speech and all your Corp-Media ignored him.

They showed an empty podium for 30 minutes in lieu of switching to Sanders. The Corp-Media loves Clinton, look at their donations.

We are staying in because we are on the side of the People and not the billionaires.

[H2O Man]

8. Recommended.

Thank you for this.

[auntpurl]

10. You're welcome. Thanks for reccing. nt

[Surya Gayatri]

11. Well said...K & R

[auntpurl]

13. Thanks

[Surya Gayatri]

14. I like how you think, auntpurl...

[ucrdem]

15. Well, we have a candidate, now let's give her a Democratic congress!

IOW the sooner we shift resources and media attention to the downticket races the better.

p.s. for all intents and purposes we have a president but I'm not discounting Trump and one way or another it's going to be a battle royale

[auntpurl]

16. I do see what you mean.

But having Bernie still be in the race does not stop Democrats from shifting resources and attention to downticket races. Every precinct-level Dem organisation should be doing this already. Hillary herself has raised many millions of dollars for downticket candidates. One of the reasons I support Hillary is that I think she'll have bigger coattails.

The NATIONAL media is unlikely to cover downticket races to any meaningful extent anyway. So the only person who currently can't shift her focus is Hillary herself. But she is a veteran campaigner, with a strong party machine behind her - I fully believe she will bring as many Dems along with her as it is possible to do, if/when she gets the nomination. She doesn't need that much time. It's only March. Another few months of primary campaigning isn't going to hurt anything.

[ucrdem]

17. Here are my 2 main objections: 1) the negative ads are damaging and there's no denying it.

Look at Michigan. 2) There's a real possibility that the Senate will flip -- I think there are five seats in play and that's all it will take -- and the more momentum Hillary can build the better the chances in those five states.

I think the best outcome would be to simply join forces by putting Bernie on the ticket and shifting to GE mode. That way they could both keep campaigning but focus on bashing Trump instead of each other. Which is a suggestion I made last April . . .

[auntpurl]

18. The Senate is hugely important.

And flipping it would be AMAZING.

But I'm not sure that Bernie is the right choice for VP. I think she could use someone younger, from a more strategic state. And it would be counterproductive to take a senator OUT of the Senate, so I'd rather it wasn't a senator.

Also, Bernie is very idealistic and there's much to admire about him, but he's not shown so far that he's very good at compromise. He would have to really embrace her platform and stump for it - and I'm not sure he would...

[ucrdem]

19. Good points.

I think they can probably come to some strained compromise that will hold until at least Nov but yeah Bernie is not ever going to be happy in that role. But you never know.

[leftofcool]

20. Well stated and I agree.

[auntpurl]

22. Thanks nt

[PeaceNikki]

21. It's stupid that we can't do both. We're all adults. We should be able to let the process

play out without bashing Democratic candidates and buying into asinine right wing smears designed specifically to tear us apart.

[auntpurl]

23. It's sometimes hard to believe that we're all adults

on this forum. And yes, that goes for BOTH sides.

It's crucial to remember who the real enemy is. The Republicans are the party of division and hatred, and they will sow their seeds any way they can.