My message to Sanders supporters who still can't bring themselves to endorse HRC:

[Ken Burch]

(note: I'm trying to reach people here...people we need...if you just want to snipe at the people I'm trying to reach, please don't post in this thread. I'm doing this to help our nominee get elected. Please respect our nominee's interests and stay out of this thread if you can't be positive).


Yes...the emails do reveal that the DNC was biased against our candidate;

Yes...we WERE disrespected by the announcement of DWS appointment in the Clinton-Kaine campaign on the same day she resigned from the DNC in disgrace(though it's possible that DWS insisted on that timing just to stick it to HRC for telling her she had to go);

Yes...it was bullshit that the AP declared HRC the nominee the night before California voted(an annoucement that may have cost us a narrow victory there-although HRC probably would have been nominated anyway);

Yes...it was despicable that we and our candidate were falsely accused of not caring about and not wanting the votes of people of color(we could have done a better job there, but we clearly did try to get those votes and make POC a major part of the campaign and the movement);

Yes...it was painful to watch our candidate concede defeat and to have people mocking the justified and deeply-felt grief of our delegates as they watched his presidential campaign come to an end;

All of that is true...all of that is real...a lot of people have good reason to feel raw, sad, and angry;

But in the hours, days, and weeks soon to come, we must move on from that, as revolutionaries of the past moved on from far more painful moments than this.

This election is about what WE believe in...much(not all, but much) of which is incorporated into the 2016 Democratic platform. About the historic changes we have just brought to the very structures of this party, about the space for activism and mobilization we have now created inside the Democratic Party, through the historic efforts of millions of us over the last year, a year in which we support for real change in this country that had not been seen or mobilized on this scale for decades.

But it is about much more than that:

It is about our responsibilities and our duties.

We have a duty, to the candidate we supported, to the movement we created and the country and world we are fighting to save:
to make sure that Donald Trump, the most openly-fascist major party candidate in American history, never gets anywhere near the Oval Office.

We have a duty to stand now, as we have throughout this campaign, with women, working people, LGBTQ people the poor, with people of faiths and cultures new to this country, with those who struggle against all forms of bigotry and those oppressed by it, to protect their hopes, their chances, their dreams-all of which we share-from a man whose entire vision of our future is a vision of fear, of exclusion, of splendor for the few and despair for the many, a many he will seek to keep divided against itself with endless appeals to hatred, tribalism and the restoration of a golden past that never existed.

And we have a responsibility to make sure that the space for activism and political advance we have created is not forever closed by the election of a cynical tyrant who is eager to get the tools of repression and violent retribution into his tiny little hands.

Voting for the Green ticket presidentially is NOT an option this year. There were and are good reasons for a party like the Greens to exist, to raise the issues it raises, and to try and create a new kind of politics. But a presidential campaign, a campaign the Greens cannot win while the Electoral College still exists, does nothing to create a progressive future. They need to focus on winnable local races and on initiative politics, including initiatives for electoral reform.

We have just come to the end of Bernie's presidential campaign...a good end, with a magnificent speech on his part and which many achievements that all of us who took part in it can celebrate. It is natural for grief to be part of a moment like this. And anger. A lot of work was done and dreams were born in the minds of millions.

So grieve and rage for a few days if you must...rage at the next full moon if need be...work through it as quickly as you can...then join us in the work to come...the work of registering 50 million new voters, getting those voters to the polls, electing the first woman president and progressive majorities in the Senate, the House, and every legislature in the land.

We will decide this election.

We will shape the future.

To do that, we must stand now, as we have always stood, with the many and not the few.

We must elect the Clinton-Kaine ticket AND progressive Dems at every level.

It's not just about us...it's about the whole damn world.

[NurseJackie]

1. ...

[BlueMTexpat]

2. This - absolutely - ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!!

We must elect the Clinton-Kaine ticket AND progressive Dems at every level.

It's not just about us...it's about the whole damn world.

Speaking as one who sees most US politics from the perspective of the "whole damn world" because I have spent the major part of my adult life outside the US, I cannot endorse this sentiment heartily enough.

Thank you! And bon courage!

[sarae]

4. Thank you

Great reminder of what's at stake. We all need to come together.

[Jemmons]

6. And you dont think that you message is a bit too self serving to get any traction at all?

[Ken Burch]

9. Just trying to reach people others haven't reached.

To reach them, it is necessary to respect the validity of their feelings. You have to do that to get them to move past the point they're at now.

Not meant to be self-serving at all.

[Lucky Luciano]

17. No - I have real friends who feel this way. My 72 year old uncle as well.

My uncle's biggest issue is being anti-war - specifically called it more important than the Supreme Court. Views Hillary as a staunch hawk and my uncle rants hard on FB whenever Obama drones sone innocent civilians to death. Of course, this was before the nomination and he us in n the safe state of Washington. In the past he always voted for some third party lefty.

[Ken Burch]

42. Lucky, could you please pm me with whatever it was the "post removed" guy said?

Thanks.

[Lucky Luciano]

46. Post 28 below more or less sums it up.

The Bernie or bust people must be paid Russian trolls shilling for drumpf.

[Ken Burch]

49. Yeah...that deserved to be removed.

Ironically, it may have been an ACTUAL Russian troll shilling for drumpf who posted it.

One of the biggest things they will be doing is trying to drive enthusiasm and turnout down, while driving alienation up..

[padfun]

29. Just in case you missed it in English class

There is a yuuuge difference between "a lot" and "anyone"

And it has already been out there that there are teams of Russian trolls working the forums. Did you actually believe that there isn't any? In fact, they have been working forums for a decade now.

[padfun]

32. There will ALWAYS be false accusations

Your previous post proved that.

[Jemmons]

39. While ignore works for you

'alert abuse' works for everyone here.

[liberalnarb]

40. LOVE your avatar btw. NT

[B Calm]

7. Great post Ken!

[Coolest Ranger]

8. a Bernie supporter

who understands what is at stake. You and those like you I welcome to the party

[Ken Burch]

11. I've been in the party for years. Thanks for the support anyway.

MOST of us get it. The rest will, if given the chance and not badgered.

[Coolest Ranger]

13. Like I said

I welcome you and the sensible ones the ones who like to disrespect folks like me who been with her before the first vote was cast I don't have any love for. I will leave it to people like you to deal with them.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. I'm a third generation Democrat and my guess is I'm older than you.

Welcome to the Party, Ranger.

[Jemmons]

35. If that is true, then why dont you suggest how unity could be served a bit better?

[Coolest Ranger]

37. Every time I have tried

I'm told that my opinion doesn't mean squat. I'm called Establishment and I'm disrespected, so thanks but I will leave that up to guys like you to handle that

[Jemmons]

38. Im not sure I know what you mean by "guys like you"

Who am I being lumped together with today?

[Ken Burch]

48. All you've done in this thread is disrespect the people I'm trying to reach.

I asked people who couldn't check their negativity at the door not to post in this thread. Can you please respect that request?

[markj757]

10. I was a reluctant Hillary supporter, but after hearing Michelle's speech, I'm all in....

that was one of the most powerful speeches I've ever heard in my life.

[JSup]

12. Thank you, Ken...

...as somebody who twitches every time someone on 'my side' (when there shouldn't even be a 'my side' anymore) uses lines like "not far enough" "not fast enough" "Bernie supporters" (they're not Bernie supporters, they're Jillenstein supporters) I thank you for brushing it aside as best you can.

People that aren't marching with Jillenstein don't deserve to be ostracized and ridiculed just because we were mean to each other a couple of months ago.

Hell, ridiculing and ostracizing even those that are marching with her doesn't help anything.

[DFW]

14. That has to be one of the most realistic assessments I have heard

It's never easy to come to grips with such a situation. Now you know how some of us felt in 1968 when we heard the news that Bobby Kennedy had been killed. It was even worse for those of us who had known him. As a 16 year old, I only knew him slightly, but my father worked with him intensely, and knew him well. I still have that picture of Bobby, made out to my dad in Bobby's own hand, saying "with high regard."

"Things that never were," as Bobby himself said.

To that, all us added......"yet."

[VulgarPoet]

15. She's got my vote, only because the alternatives are apocalyptic in nature.

She has none of my support beyond that, and if the DNC calls me looking for money, there will be a diatribe to convince them to never darken my phone's interface again. Never thought I'd have to live through having to pick between effectively technologically illiterate people, and yet, here we are.

[chwaliszewski]

18. I don't think Trump is the problem...

it's the masses of people who are attracted to his message of hate. These are the same people that thought Sarah Palin would've been a good president. It truly has become us vs them in this country.

[Adrahil]

21. Trump is a snake oil salesman.

Like any good con man, and as his ghost writer wrote in "Art of the Deal," he has learned to tell whatever lie will make the sale. He has determined that hate sells, and that the rubes he is targeting will believe anything, so long as it is what they want to hear.

The man is soulless, with no principals at all, except feeding his ego and filling his pocketbook.

[Adrahil]

20. I don't agree with everything you wrote there....

... but I appreciate your efforts never-the-less. Thanks!

[HeartoftheMidwest]

22. Sorry for all the people who think this is a sporting event....

...or a horse race or contest or a cult of personality.

It's the ISSUES, stupid. ( Apologies to Carville and Begala? )

Addressing issues in a non-binding platform is only minimal progress, not a guarantee. And too many people are suffering mightily.
I've taken the temperature among friends and associates here in south-central Wisconsin, and only my wealthier friends are satisfied with the outcome of this convention. I think the party establishment is going to be very unhappy this November. People are going to call their bluff on the Donald. It will be a struggle.

[HeartoftheMidwest]

23. And this......

...is one of the bluest areas of the state.

[Helga Scow Stern]

55. Thank you. N/t

[SCVDem]

24. Life or Death!

I have had my fill of trying to explain what third party candidates do to the democratic candidate. Hell, they recite back through the years to me.

YET, they are so friggin BUTT HURT they will vote green.

At 61, Bush already screwed my retirement. House, career and wife, all gone. I have maybe 20 years left.

Think of the children and their future. Listen again to Bill Clinton's speech.

Bernie was the easy, idealistic road to a better future.

Now they have to fight for a Democratic House and Senate to see the change they desire.

Vote Trump or 3rd party and your future will look like mine.

I choose a Soylent Green type check out. The rest can live with your decisions.

I have lost any admiration for these hard core Bernie supporters. Just shut up and leave.

The whining is an embarrassment!

[Barack_America]

25. The vote may happen, the campaigning never will.

And, fortunately, I don't think anybody is waiting for my "endorsement" of anyone.

[Ken Burch]

44. Trying to avoid the cliche.

And no, it's not a "whip" message. It's an appeal to people who have every right to feel badly done by to move past that for the greater good.

[we can do it]

27. Very nicely put

[KentuckyWoman]

34. I will vote for Hillary.

I was never an evangelical Bernie supporter. I settled on him later in the game because I felt his ideals best matched the needs of my family. It was never about Bernie or Hillary. It's always been about what I think will best benefit the little guy - in the US and around the world.

Hillary is far better than Trump as the face to put up to the world on what we American's stand for. She'll get my vote only for that reason.

[BobbyDrake]

36. Obligatory list of false grievances: check

You almost spend more time refighting the primary than the supposed stated goal of this thread. If that's what it takes to convince the holdouts, no thank you.

[Arazi]

41. Obligatory "we don't need them so fuck them". Check

I'm only surprised yours is the first one. That sentiment is firmly entrenched here and trotted out thousands of times per day. Obviously believed to be a winning strategy

[Ken Burch]

43. I didn't refight the primary and none of those grievances were false.

HRC won. Most likely she'd have won if NONE of those things had been done.

I support her in the fall.

But there needs to be an admission that unnecessarily ugly and harsh methods were sometimes used.

It's not reasonable to just say "get over it, losers". That's the way Trump does things. It doesn't work when WE do it.

[BobbyDrake]

45. No one is saying "get over it, losers." Please debate honestly, maybe? nt

[Ken Burch]

47. That's the tone if not the words.

Sanders people are STILL being badgered by HRC supporters, still being attacked, still being treated as if the primaries AREN'T over.

It needs to stop.

It's not like the remaining Sanders people on DU have done anything but pledge loyalty and speak positively of the nominee.

Save the hostility for the right, folks. THEY are the enemy.

[John Poet]

50. I guess those people still attacking Bernie supporters must actually be

GOP trolls sent here to try to keep us from uniting the party!



That makes more sense now, than when the charge was made by those who were previously making it.....

[Ken Burch]

52. Would NOT surprise me. n/t.

[BobbyDrake]

54. You wrote a post that was half attacks on HRC and her supporters and then wrote this. WOW.

That takes some chutzpah!

[Ken Burch]

57. It wasn't attacks. It was just about saying "you have reasons to feel the way you feel...

...and for the greater good, you need to get past those reasons".

To do that, I have to acknowledge validity of the feelings these folks have.

Doing that is simply human respect.

And I didn't blame HRC herself for anything in that OP, if you read carefully.

My comments were about the media and the process...not one candidate and one campaign.

It's not as though threads that just say "grow up-you're making a big deal over nothing" could ever work to win people over.

They never have in the paste, in ANY election.

[emulatorloo]

51. Well done, Ken. Great post. Reccomending!

[guillaumeb]

53. Gladly recommended. An excellent post. eom

[glennward]

56. Marvelous post, Ken. Thank you. nt