Sanders Campaign has devolved from somewhat inspiring to downright embarrassing

[kennetha]

The Sanders campaign is turning out to be keystone cop operation.

At first, he was running what at least aspired to be an inspirational campaign. Though it always left me a little cold, personally, from the beginning. I gave him credit for having his heart in the right place.

But now he is in desperation mode. And it's a very sorry sight.

Just think about the silly Vatican escapade. It seems as though the real story is that he somehow through a series of connections wrangled his way into tiny academic conference in the Vatican. He was added an afterthought, without even a speaking slot.

All the while, he was, either through a misunderstanding (more likely) or mendaciousness (possible but not likely) selling this wrangled invitation as coming from the Pope and offering Sanders a personal meeting with the Pontiff himself.

When that was exposed as an untruth -- I won't say lie, since he may have been led by his aides or intermediaries to believe it -- he and his aides were still acting as if he would be some sort of headliner at said little conference and that it was some sort of great honor to be invited. Turns out not to be the whole story. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to be shoe-horned in between already and probably long-ago planned sessions. He is clearly an afterthought. There only because of the wrangling of him and/or his intermediaries.


That's admittedly a pretty small thing, in the great scheme of things. But it is a symptom of a bigger rot that seems to spreading throughout his increasingly desperate campaign.

Think of the way he has earned Pinnochio and after Pinnochio over the past month. Think of his baldly sexist attack on Hillary Clinton's qualifications. In all seriousness, if you think that wasn't a bit of implicit sexism, do you think he would have deigned to call a man with a record similar to Hillary's unqualified? There is such a person, you know. That would be John Kerry. He too served as a Senator and Secretary of State (and had a very similar voting record). Would Sanders have thought for an instant to apply the term unqualified to him?

And then there is the flip flop on the super delegate thing. First he declares that super delegates should follow the "will of the people" when he vainly hoped hat the will of the people would be with him. But when that vain hope is dashed he says that the super delegates will follow him and ignore the will of the people

But just to cover his rear, since he knows he isn't going to get more votes or more delegates, he has to diss the voters -- especially black voters in the South.

His whole attack on the 90's and the crime bill for which he voted is just him trying to talk down to black people, again, especially those who support Clinton, as if he knows better than they where their true interests then lay and still lie.


Forget the pie-in-the sky, impracticality of many of his ideas -- which was my original reason for not backing him and preferring Hillary. Whatever the merits of those ideas, his campaign has turned into a sad, ugly, desperate spectacle. I really hope it ends soon.

[highprincipleswork]

1. SEZ YOU

[NWCorona]

2. You must not have watched him at the Apollo

[islandmkl]

6. probably didn't see James Brown at the Apollo, either...

[islandmkl]

3. oh no....not ANOTHER big Bernie fan no longer feeling the 'Bern?

well, not in this case, not really...

this OP was about as surprising as the sunrise in the east...

[riversedge]

4. I think Sanders will self destruct soon with his Round the clock negitivity

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. since sanders supporters said it first, about the clinton campaign

I say Stop copy-catting our platform!

[Armstead]

29. I hope you don't have any stones handy. You might bust some panes in your.....

[HERVEPA]

5. A certain posters' posts have devolved from ridiculous to downright infantile.

[jmg257]

7. Wait - SO he IS going to The Vatican?? And he IS speaking?? At a Vatican economic conference?

Its OK - Really - Hill will be in her element too, hanging with the Clooneys in the Bay Area.


"Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will head to Vatican City just days before the New York primary to attend a meeting on social justice and economic issues."


""According to a report in Politico, Clooney and his wife attorney Amal Clooney will be sitting at the head table of an April 15th fundraiser in San Francisco along with Clinton. To sit alongside the candidate and her celebrity pals, donors just need to raise a cool $353,000."

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. Dine with the 99% will be happening too

[jmg257]

59. Thanks - I finally saw last night what that was all about! Cheers! nt

[Vinca]

8. At least he doesn't have an indictment hanging over his head.

I've got a feeling the POTUS shouldn't have ticked off the FBI. LOL.

[Trust Buster]

9. An excellent analogy. His original intention was to be an issues candidate. He got full of himself.

[chascarrillo]

10. A "tiny academic conference" with the presidents of Bolivia and Ecuador.

Almost sounds, I don't know, presidential.

[COLGATE4]

28. Hardly. I think the President of Zimbabwe

couldn't make it.

[TMontoya]

40. Wow

I'm Bernie is still upset Hugo Chavez died.

[Lucinda]

12. Yep. It has become a very sad thing to see. You are more generous than I am though

in allocating blame for these missteps. Some of the worst may be the campaign staff, but Bernie has not only gone along with things, but done so after learning he was in error.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Worst thing any Democratic candidate has ever said in my lifetime, by miles:

Entirely false, bigoted and insulting to those who lived that history. A moment of towering ignorance that is beneath the dignity of the office of the President.

[noiretextatique]

22. [phone]

Disgusting. Another one her "mistakes."

[NorthCarolina]

13. This is so rich, like they really think they embarrased the Sanders campaign with their

Vatican visit faux scandal, and now they assemble to pat each other on the back as if it were "job well done". How incredibly transparent they are and they don't even know it. Eh...that's life inside the beltway bubble I suppose.

[workinclasszero]

15. Kim Davis part 2....The Pope/Bernie Shenanigans

At least come up with something original Bernie. Copying whacked out teabaggers is embarrassing.


Pope's meeting with Kim Davis not an endorsement, Vatican says
By Ed Payne and Daniel Burke, CNN
Updated 1:44 PM ET, Fri October 2, 2015
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/us/kim-davis-pope/

[Human101948]

23. Actually I think it was Hillary that was against same-sex marriage

Clinton opposed same-sex marriage as a candidate for the Senate, while in office as a senator, and while running for president in 2008. She expressed her support for civil unions starting in 2000 and for the rights’ of states to set their own laws in favor of same-sex marriage in 2006.

As polls showed that a majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage, Clinton’s views changed, too. She announced her support for same-sex marriage in March 2013.

It’s up to voters to decide how they feel about her changed stance, but on same-sex marriage we give Clinton a Full Flop.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/17/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-change-position-same-sex-marriage/

[Bluenorthwest]

16. What self serving bullshit, you never saw Sanders as inspiring you have bashed him non stop since

day one, all smears and relentless negativity of a virulent nature that smacks of the bias that infests Camp Clinton on DU and elsewhere.

[katsy]

17. Hillary has earned at least 10 pinocchios herself

Just on her email scandal.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/03/09/fact-checking-the-hillary-clinton-email-controversy/

The rest of this op is just too silly to consider.

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Endless layers of pinnocchios in her revision of the history of AIDS under Ronald Reagan:

"It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s and because of both president and Mrs. Reagan — in particular Mrs. Reagan — we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it, nobody wanted to do anything about it, and that too is something I really appreciate with her very effective low-key advocacy. It penetrated the public conscience and people began to say, hey, we have to do something about this too."

It's all lies and she opens by claiming her recollection is just better than that of others. Then she spews a fictional narrative apparently meant to pander to Reagan Democrats or Republicans....

[katsy]

32. Amazing the op has the audacity to

Bring up this nonsense. Glass houses and all...

[Hiraeth]

19. op-ed piece. I suppose you have a blog already?

[noiretextatique]

20. No...what Bill Clinton did was talking down to black people

Probably as a fucked-up triangulation strategy, just like that crime bill.

[Live and Learn]

21. Hillary voted for the IWR. No mistake Sanders ever makes will top that one! nt

[Armstead]

25. Yes unlike that uplifting Clinton campaign that claims Sanders is a member of the Minutemen

She lies as a default instinct, and in 2008 did her best to make Obama look like a nefarious cult leader who had no experience or qualifications.

If Clinton is the common denominator in two separate campaigns against two thoroughly decent and honorable men, then I wouldn't put it on Sanders or Obama.

[LondonReign2]

26. He's crashing so bad he lost 1 of the last 9 contests!

Oh noes!

[COLGATE4]

31. And yet he can't make a dent in her delegate lead?

[LondonReign2]

38. It's embarrassing how many states he's won I tell you! Embarrassing!

[COLGATE4]

48. I can feel the embarrassment. nt

[Surya Gayatri]

27. K & R enthusiastically.

[840high]

33. Don't hurt yourself with all

that enthusiasm.

[Surya Gayatri]

35. Thanks for the concern. I'm fine. You stay well now, ya hear?

[CrowCityDem]

30. Bernie last week netted 10 delegates and 13 Pinnochios. That's all you need to know.

[LondonReign2]

39. Hold on: You're a Hillary supporter and you are worried about lies?

[livetohike]

34. K&R

[silvershadow]

36. It is SO embarrassing for him to be getting stronger every day, isn't it?

He's gaining at every turn, as the other campaign is in free-fall

Here's a little tune in honor of Camp Weathervane's woes:

[Kalidurga]

37. Nah this is embarrassing

They probably didn't mean for their hoods to slip until after the primaries were over

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511707289

[Sky Masterson]

41. You were such a Bernie supporter until his tone changed.

Please..

[Doctor_J]

42. Thanks for the big plate of bullshit

No one believes you. No one.

[NurseJackie]

43. When they stole Hillary's data, my feelings about the man and his campaign were CONFIRMED...

... he's really NOT the paragon of virtue that his supporters hold him up to be. He's just another politician like any other.

[Vattel]

45. Bernie didn't steal the data.

[TheSarcastinator]

46. ah yes, the equivocation fallacy

Keep telling yourself that Bernie and Hillary are ethical equals: the cognitive dissonance and self-deception necessary for such a position only feeds into the perception that Her Majesty is a stone cold fraud.

[NurseJackie]

50. No fantasy ... Bernie chooses poorly and ...

... trusts the wrong people. Bad judgement.

[Bill USA]

44. Bernie's fans are preparing your stake. Do you prefer accelerant with your fire? (you die quicker)

[font size="+1"]A heretics fate[/font]

[jrandom421]

47. Personally

I'd prefer a Honey Barbeque Sauce with a hint of ginger and garlic. If I'm gonna be burned, at least I'll smell good!

[Ron Green]

49. You've been shitting on his campaign since the beginning.

It's clear you're not interested in either a fair analysis or fundamental change.

[notadmblnd]

51. Doesn't it just chap your ass, that the candidate you support is so corrupt?

[4dsc]

52. Some people like the same old thing

and some people want change. You don't want change so your part of the problem. Thanks for the clarification.

[Surya Gayatri]

53. Kick.

[Buddyblazon]

54. DU Clintonista opinion thread...

Several paragraphs convincing others while trying to convince themselves.

Don't look at us for approval. Go on with your insecure self.

[apcalc]

55. Sanders has some great ideas.

And I have found him inspirational early on regarding some economic topics. These things are those that we need to talk about. We need to move the meter in his direction.

My feeling is that he is an idea guy. Sort of a " global" thinker. We need those kinds of people. As for implementing any of these ideas , it seems he has little actual practical plans. I find his follow through very lacking. Honestly, as he explains it, I think he doesn't know how to proceed. What will he do when he hits the brick wall ( to date) in the House ? He can't articulate his plans with much detail beyond the origin.

We also need people like Hillary, who are planners and doers, who can follow through, monitor and adjust, take the plans as far as they go. We also need someone who understands the world with a wide angle lens, not a narrow view, like the Republican view. She excels there.

It would be great if it wasn't an either/or.

At times, I do find Sanders "ego" way out of the box, sort of like Trump. ( a contested convention? WOWEE. ). I wish he did something for the
Democratic Party, down ballot Democrats like she is doing. We need to elect Democrats. Maybe he will. I am hopeful.

[yardwork]

56. I've noticed this as well. Plus his campaign keeps getting caught doing illegal things.

I'm still annoyed that the Sanders campaign sued the DNC after they admitted that they stole data. Tried to shift the blame to Hillary. Say what?

[JTFrog]

61. +1 n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

57. Lol! Says the camp with the FBI problem.

And you want to talk embarrassing? Embarrassing is HRC's "PC time" skit.

That was a memorable fail. As always, an unforced error. She screws up a LOT.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

58. Ignoring you. Goodbye. nt

[kennetha]

63. farewell, parting is such....

[jmg257]

60. Yep - look at his poll numbers fall...oops...nevermind.

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-democratic-primary

[kennetha]

62. Did you forget these?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ny/new_york_democratic_presidential_primary-4221.html