Vox: The real reason Bernie Sanders’s delegates are so out of control

[democrattotheend]

Interesting article. It says a lot of what I have been saying.

Unfortunately, I fear that these disruptive delegates will just cause the party to make things more restrictive in the future so regular people can't become delegates.

Every modern political convention features thousands of delegates. And traditionally, a candidate’s slate of delegates from a given state will draw heavily from the ranks of local politicians and politician-aligned interest groups.

For example, in Washington, DC, Hillary Clinton’s delegates include the mayor, a couple of members of the DC council, an ex-council member currently serving in the mayor’s Cabinet, and so forth.

As a website for Sanders supporters explains: "Delegates are often party activists, local political leaders, or early supporters of a given candidate. ... Delegates can also include members of a campaign's steering committee. In some cases, delegates are long-time active members of their local party organization."

But while this is an excellent description of Clinton’s delegates, it does not describe Sanders’s delegates at all. As one longtime Massachusetts Democratic Party hack observed, Clinton’s delegates were almost all people he recognized from party politics. Sanders’s were not.

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/26/12285822/why-sanders-delegates-boo

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Their only experience with politics is direct action, opposition, protest

They've never had to build a program, run a program, fight for resources, sustain an initiative.

They know only yelling and disruption. If all you have is a hammer, etc.

[lapucelle]

2. Is it a requirement that delegates be registered Democrats?

[longship]

6. Not in states where there is no such registration, by law.

Then, I don't know what the state party does.

BTW, that would be 19 states, the open primary states.

[Tatiana]

13. My understanding is that you have to be a registered Democrat.

Or, at the very least have documented proof of Democratic support.

Which states allow non-Democrats to be delegates? This is against the convention bylaws.

[longship]

16. How does that happen, though?

I was a county party officer in KS. Our requirements were simple.

1. You had to registered as a Democrat. (KS has party registration.)

2. You had to attend meetings and activities.

3. You had to volunteer.

4. You have to be committee person, AKA, a delegate. In KS, the national delegates were elected from amongst the state party delegation. So one must rise from precinct, to district, to state, to national.

That was decades ago, not sure how it's handled today.

If you do all that, the officers and other members will know whether you are seriously a Democrat.

[NCTraveler]

3. I don't think this is unfortunate.

"Unfortunately, I fear that these disruptive delegates will just cause the party to make things more restrictive in the future so regular people can't become delegates."

West was a big FU to us. We need protections in place to protect against such highly questionable conduct in the future. We also have no need for Trump, Stein, or Johnson supporters in our halls.

[Hekate]

17. Very true. Cornel West is no "regular person," and long opposed to Democrats...

As for newbies, I am all for bringing people into the Party, but how about they open themselves to learning what the Party is and has been over the past 50 years instead of simply fantasizing about FDR. When the men and women of the Civil Rights Era, the lions, our heroes, are jeered and disrespected by people who have no idea what they actually suffered to get here, it's nothing less than disgusting.

[joeybee12]

4. Truth to power? Nope

Just what they think is the truth and they believe they have cornered the market on it.

[Fast Walker 52]

5. IOW, they are newbies

Hopefully, they will stick around, get to learn the ropes, get some perspective and calm down.

[JI7]

9. i didn't behave in such a shitty fucked up way when i was new to politics

[Fast Walker 52]

10. yeah, ok... so what then?

I know they are kind of desperate, maybe radicalized online

[forjusticethunders]

11. We really have to examine how online space shapes opinion and thoughts about politics

Sadly, we dropped the ball big time after Obama. For the most part the right-wing has taken over the a lot of the popular Internet outside of certain spaces like Tumblr (which has it's own problems)

[Fast Walker 52]

18. hmmm... didn't think about that

I know many news sites are over-run with conservatives in comments... not sure how to deal with that.

Plenty of liberals on Twitter and FB though

[wildeyed]

14. Right?

The groups I work with don't tolerate it.

[TeamPooka]

7. I have said that if you get rid of the superdelegates they will take all the regular delegate spots.

[wildeyed]

8. Nah, effective grassroots activists don't act like this.

The dissary in his ranks reflects poorly on their candidate and their "movement". Holy shit, the whip heard the request and didn't pass it on? Total bullshit. No activist group I ever worked with would put up with that for a minute. We all work too hard for no money to let someone else's lack of dicipline destroy our work.

This is not activism. This is just a partisan hissy-fit from a bunch of neophytes who are mad that their chosen candidate lost.

Article got this part right: "Sanders, personally, became much more powerful by going inside. If his followers do too, the same may happen to them."

We shall see.

[tallahasseedem]

12. +1

[geek tragedy]

15. they seemed pretty in control tonight. nt