Bernie Sanders' supporters are fighting back, but they might be hurting his campaign

[Surya Gayatri]

Original OP here LBN, with interesting thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141415354

Source: LA Times

Shawn Bagley thought he knew what he was getting into when he was elected to become one of California’s so-called superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention, and energetic debate with other activists was part of it.

What Bagley had not anticipated was being jolted out of bed by a 2 a.m. phone call from an angry Bernie Sanders supporter. The caller accused Bagley, a retired produce broker from Salinas, of stealing democracy from the citizenry.

“Why is Bernie Sanders letting these people loose on us?” said Bagley, a Hillary Clinton backer who says he was branded corrupt, immoral and thickheaded over the course of some 200 social media posts and phone calls from Sanders fans. “He lost my vote at 2 a.m.”

Sanders supporters are known to be a spirited bunch. But as their frustration mounts over their candidate’s failure to significantly cut into Clinton’s lead, no small number of them are lashing out in ways that are not particularly helpful to his campaign.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-bernie-sanders-supporters-20160415-story.html

___________________________

So, the BernieBro (TM) phenom is NOT just to be found here at DU.

Who knew?

[geek tragedy]

1. not everyone with that temperament wears tricorner hats nt

[Surya Gayatri]

2. Or, has teabags hanging ostentatiously from them...LOL!

[KittyWampus]

9. Yup, one DU'er quipped they are the "Green Tea-Baggers".

Hold up a mirror and they just can't see the reflection though.

Hillary Clinton had the PUMA's although most of them were right-wingers sowing dissent.

[geek tragedy]

12. PUMAs were mostly racists

"alt-left" and "Tea left" are the two I keep vacillating between.

[cwydro]

3. It's amazing that they can't see how counter-productive that behavior is.

Just odd.

[Surya Gayatri]

5. Totally blind and deaf and wrapped in their cotton-wool world.

Oblivious to the power of diplomacy and the importance of persuasion.

[Tarc]

4. Some of the lines are rather telling, and rather apropos to the DU

There are the online trolls who have come to be known as "Bernie bros," who attack journalists, politicians and fellow voters they perceive to be pro-Clinton with misogynistic, often vulgar attacks.

His increasingly hostile tone can be a combustible mix with a group of supporters who, in many cases, are new to the mechanics of party politics, delegate lobbying and campaign messaging. As a campaign so heavily focused online, it is especially vulnerable to the Internet’s darker impulses.

“People on the Internet can be jerks,” said Neil Sroka, spokesman for Democracy for America, a large grass-roots advocacy group supporting Sanders.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. So true. They're alive and thriving in the underworld of Democratic Underground.

Spewing out their hateful rhetoric with untrammeled abandon.

[brooklynite]

7. I helped run computer user groups for about 25 years....

...I came to the conclusion the technology platforms and online communities give voice to a lot of people whose social interaction skills are lacking.

[Surya Gayatri]

30. "Does NOT play well with others"...appeared often on their report cards.

[Orsino]

8. Another goddamned "supporters" thread. n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

11. Another news item on the subject.

Yes, this is a thing.

[geek tragedy]

13. check out the thread in LBN--more than one Bernie supporter endorsing harassment

Jacobinism exists in our political culture

[Orsino]

14. People being mean on a message board can be handled though the alert function..

The sniping back and forth, the attempting to paint mean meanies as somehow unique to this primary, or the responsibility of either campaign...these things are silly and doomed to failure.

"Supporters" threads seem almost invariably to be attempts to score points on other DUers, like unto middle school.

[geek tragedy]

15. no, I'm talking about people who endorse calling strangers at 2:00 in

the morning and berating them.

[Orsino]

18. Again, people being mean on a message board can be handled via the alert function.

But if a post does not break rules, I wouldn't advise it.

[geek tragedy]

22. they're not being mean, just endorsing IRL harassment

this is going to be a safety issue at the convention.

[Orsino]

27. You make it sound mean, and potentially criminal. n/t

[geek tragedy]

29. calling strangers at home, where they live with their spouses and children, at 2:00

in the morning in order to harass and threaten them is something well-socialized people who understand the limits of basic decency recognize as being out of bounds.

If Sanders tries to steal the nomination at the convention, his most radical supporters very well may take things to the next level in the manner in which revolutionaries have done so in the past.

[Orsino]

34. I doubt Bernie is going to turn ninja at the convention...

...and there's really no point in accusing any candidate of "stealing" what isn't yet theirs. Nor of accusing a none of terrorism.

[geek tragedy]

35. if we take Sanders at his word, he said he's going to take the fight to the convention

even if he decisively loses the primary voting.

the only hope is that somehow the superdelegates get persuaded to all vote for him. that

you don't see some of the people harassing super-delegates now trying to take it one step further?

[Orsino]

36. That's what candidates do, unless they drop out first.

Delegates are the currency traded at the convention. It's how running mates, cabinet members and even platform planks are chosen...as 2008's runner-up could certainly attest.

Primaries are about far more than just a winning number of delegates.

[geek tragedy]

37. Clinton didn't choose Obama's running mate or his cabinet members

Sanders behaving like a team player would earn platform planks and other possible concessions.

Taking an illegitimate claim for the nomination to the convention floor would pretty much ensure that he would get no concessions. Not even his name being put into nomination for a vote, or a speaking slot.


Right now, he's saying his going for the latter option. Hopefully that's just hot air instead of irresponsible narcissism.

[Orsino]

40. That's an unverifiable assertion.

What seems certain is that Clinton's tenure as SecState kept her viable as a 2016 presidential candidate. It would be naive in the extreme to think that the subject didn't come up at the convention. Her selection as SoS strengthened her resume, but it also strengthened the fledgling president.

We don't have to fear negotiation. It occurs all through the primaries, through the general, and continues after the inauguration.

We cannot predict what disgruntled supporter of which candidate might do what before, during or after the convention.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. At least they haven't advocated the guillotine for counterrevolutionaries, yet!

I have actually met people who have been in re-education camps. Their stories are harrowing. Such is the cost of moral certainty run amok.

[geek tragedy]

19. I hope he considers public safety when deciding whether to launch a vanity attempt

to overrule the will of the voters at the convention

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. I have to believe at his core he is a man of his word and will not do anything to empower Republican

[geek tragedy]

24. Sad! (see what I did there?) nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. I edited my post to convey a more hopeful note.

[geek tragedy]

28. aw man, harshed my attack haiku reference.

Sanders has yet to rise above my expectations of him.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. I have no alternative despite my profound reservations he will do the right thing.

The alternative is too depressing to ponder.

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. Retired produce brokers should have no vote for Sanders supporters to lose.

It IS a corrupt system.

I'm disinclined to ask "pretty please" for superdelegates to reflect the will of the voters.

[Surya Gayatri]

42. Yeah, much more effective to harass them and their families at 2 a.m.

That'll get their undying allegiance for sure.

What don't you get about "changing the rules in the middle of the game"? And this, by a late-comer who's never even been a member of the team before.

[lumberjack_jeff]

47. For the sake of convenience, perhaps they should vote at the same time and place...

... as their neighbors.

[Sheepshank]

17. It appears they are challenging themselves to do something...anything to save Bernie's campaign

Apparently, he's sinking his ship very well. And unwittingly, their help is adding water to the sinking ship.

[marmar]

20. Bernie Bro, echoes of "Obama Boys" from 2008......

Funny how these bullshit perjorative terms always crop up when Hillary Clinton is running for president. One might suspect that her campaign engineers this crap.

[geek tragedy]

25. how many Obama supporters called people at their homes at 2:00 in the morning

to harass, threaten and intimidate them?

[Tarc]

33. Funny how Sanders himself identified the problem and had to step up to tell the "bros" to get lost

Bernie Sanders Tells Berniebros To Knock It Off — ‘We Don’t Want That Crap’

“We don’t want that crap”: Sanders repudiates sexist “Bernie Bro” supporters

Sanders slams sexist ‘Bernie bro’ supporters: ‘I don’t want that crap, I don’t want them’

[JoePhilly]

23. You might say they are "revolting".

[Surya Gayatri]

32. In every sense of the term! LOL!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. 10

[KingFlorez]

39. These people have lost their minds

Who is crazy enough to call someone up at 2 am and call them names? That is messed up.

[Avalux]

41. I'm absolutely positive this is true, of course. No way it could be a paid Hill shill, right?

It's put out there, then the minions post it on message boards and use it as a springboard to denigrate Bernie supporters and try to damage Bernie.

Hillary Inc. Groupthink™ in action.

[redgreenandblue]

43. Meh. Is this even true or just some crap that person made up to trash Bernie?

Tape or it didn't happen.

By the way, there is an easy solution to this: Get rid of super delegates.

[Armstead]

44. A response here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511742074

[frylock]

45. You can tell how badly they're hurting the campaign from his rising poll numbers..

and winning 7 out of the last 8 primaries.

[GeorgeGist]

46. N=1. WOW