Bernie is far more of threat to the dreams of O'Malley, Webb, or Warren supporters

[pnwmom]

than she would be to the dreams of those who support Hillary Clinton.

Hillary's supporters aren't going to be deserting her for Bernie; but he may draw support away from other candidates who have been dipping their toes in the pool.

The more anti-Hillary candidates there are, the smaller their portions of the anti-Hillary vote.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. Hillary will benefit from his populist positions. It is a win win for all of us

[MaggieD]

27. I agree

I'm thrilled he entered the race for that very reason. But I'm still going to vote for HRC (not that it matters - the nomination is all but decided by the time the primaries happen in WA state).

[leftofcool]

2. No doubt! As well, Republicans are excited about Bernie running!

They want Bernie to win the primary because Hillary is beating every one of their candidates by double digits. She is ahead of all Republicans in the polls even in North Carolina. I am glad to see Bernie in the race. I hope O'Malley gets in too.

[peacebird]

9. Hillary is beating all R's on name recognition. Once the campaign begins in earnest she will drop

The R's want to run against Hillary. Someone else, a true populist, is their worst nightmare.

[Very Orange]

15. And the populist is Bernie

and he'll attract everyone, from the left to the right.

[Ed Suspicious]

51. lefties and righties in my facebook list are all on board the Bernie train. He's going to surprise

some folks. Not me. I know he's the ass of the cat.

[Autumn]

3. I don't see Bernie as the anti Hillary.

I see him as a Senator I respect a man who cares deeply for the people and the next President of the United States.

[Agnosticsherbet]

4. Let him become a Democrat, run for the nomination, and we see who the voters want.

The person who gets the most votes and earns he most delegates should be the candidate.

[VanillaRhapsody]

5. He did not say he was BECOMING a Democrat...and he doesn't have to..

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/politics/bernie-sanders-democrat-or-independent/

[ucrdem]

7. Uh oh . . .

not good.

[Agnosticsherbet]

8. Interesting.

[gotj90]

10. He is running in the Democratic primary

I don't know how many times people need to say it. Either some people here aren't listening or they don't want to because it creates the Nader narrative.

[VanillaRhapsody]

12. did you read the link at all?

It says he doesn't HAVE to...AND he didn't say he was BECOMING a Democrat!

[gotj90]

13. He's running in our primary

and he has caucused with the Dems for years. I don't really care whether or not he "becomes" a Democrat.

[VanillaRhapsody]

22. and he STILL doesn't have to become a Democrat

you still didn't read the link...here it is again..

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/politics/bernie-sanders-democrat-or-independent/

[Very Orange]

17. Go ahead and try to register as a Democrat in Vermont..

Go ahead...

[VanillaRhapsody]

24. BUT...he has to at least SAY he is a Democrat....to be one...HAS he said that yet?

because according to my link...he doesn't HAVE to be one to run in our Primary...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/politics/bernie-sanders-democrat-or-independent/

[Autumn]

42. You keep posting that link from February

Here's the one from today
http://digital.vpr.net/post/bernie-sanders-announce-presidential-run

VPR News has learned from several sources that Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday.

Sanders will release a short statement on that day and then hold a major campaign kickoff in Vermont in several weeks.

Bernie Sanders will announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. Can't get any more clear than that

[VanillaRhapsody]

49. Just because it was from February doesn't make it any less valid...

did you read it?

Of course not....how do I know...because it has nothing to do with what you just posted.

Bernie CAN announce his candidacy...but unless he ALSO announces he is a Democrat...then he is still NOT one BECAUSE as the link shows...he doesn't HAVE to!

[Ed Suspicious]

52. I think you're just being think as a sort of temper tantrum, but in case you aren't I'd like to

Autumn's link as it is more current and more relevant.

[VanillaRhapsody]

54. Since when is truth temper tantrums?

Is Bernie Sanders calling himself a Democrat or not?

[ucrdem]

14. If he doesn't switch, he creates the Nader narrative.

He runs against Barack and Hillary on their own ticket and can say whatever fiddle-dee-dee he pleases, like Nader. He won't win the nomination but he'll make Hillary look like a fool and that will drive away voters.

Maybe I'm just being pessimistic but this worries me.

[Very Orange]

19. He doesn't have to.

DNC rules says as long as the nominee is caucused with the Democratic Party and have signed on to the platform of the Democratic Party, Bernie can run.

And go try registering in Vermont.

[ucrdem]

20. So I gather, but per CNN the rules also say "a bona fide Democrat"

How is Bernie a bona fide Democrat?

[Very Orange]

26. To me, he is a bona-fide Democrat

Hillary? Republican Lite. Third Wayer. Only interested in the 1% while giving lip service to the 99%

There's a huge difference between Clinton and Sanders, and Sanders has the bona fides of a real Democrat.

[ucrdem]

29. Gotcha, but if this gets Bernie in the Dem primaries and Dem debates

he's going to drive voters away from the Dem candidate in the general. This looks to me like an unbelievably bad idea.

[VanillaRhapsody]

30. to YOU?????

Oh that will work!!!

[MaggieD]

31. Yeah, you're right - we should just ignore her populist voting record because....

Bill or something like that.

[Very Orange]

38. Social issues - I got no problems with Hillary on it.

She's fine on it - we see eye to eye on the social issues.

It's the economics issues that we differ. She is completely lost on it. She supports the TPP which is a major disaster waiting to happen. She favors the 1% more than the 99%. I don't believe her when she went 'populist' - i know she was merely giving lip service to the 99% and she isn't going to win giving any thoughts to the real Democratic base - the left. If her base is the corporate, she is in the wrong party and must join the Republican Party.

Recent reports show that Clintons are trying to be in the 1% of the 1%.

http://nypost.com/2015/04/21/hillarys-latest-oops-hitting-the-top-1/

[MaggieD]

40. The NY Post is a right wing rag

And, please show me where she supports the TPP. Here is a verifiable list of her populist positions based on actions and statements from many years past, including in the senate:

Pushed for SCHIP
- Early childhood education
- Expansion of the earned income credit
- Expansion of CPSF
- Spoken out about outrageous CEO compensation
- Wants decrease in corporate welfare
- Against corps using bankruptcy to do away with pension responsibilities
- Support for universal healthcare
- Wants repeal of corporate subsidies for companies moving US jobs offshore
- Criticized "corporate elite" for treating workers as "invisible"
- Against school vouchers
- Voted against CAFTA / opposed NAFTA even though she wasn't a senator yet (gets a 17% rating by right wing group CATO on free trade)
- Supports constitutional amendment against Citizen's United
- Supports same day voter registration
- Supports increase in the minimum wage - has repeatedly stated the working poor deserve a living wage
- Supports unions
- No SS privatization - rejects COLA adjustments that screw seniors
- Pushed for unemployment insurance extensions
- Voted no on raising estate tax exemption from $1 mil to $5 mil
- Rated 80% by CTJ in supporting progressive taxation

[betterdemsonly]

59. I dislike her foreign policy too

She is very much a Scoop Jackson neocon dem, who along with neocons Victoria Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan, and their Liberal Interventionist sisters in arms Susan Rice and Samantha Powers have made a terrible mess in Libya and Syria. Their actions have played a role in the ascent of the ISIS Al Qaeda Kalifate. It is a taliban wahabbi empire which intends to expand to include the middle east, North Africa, and South Asia. If they had just left those countries alone, Isis would never have happened.

[former9thward]

48. You have to take one party's ballot or the other in the presidential primary in Vermont.

And that choice is recorded. So it would be public record what ballot (if any) Sanders took in 2008, 2004, 2000, etc.

[VanillaRhapsody]

55. and Patrick Leahy manages to call himself a Democrat from Vermont....

[cali]

23. where would he register as a democrat???

He's a Vermonter and we don't have registration by party.

The article you link to is crystal clear. He is running in the democratic primary. He has said repeatedly he will not be a spoiler.

[VanillaRhapsody]

25. Then how does he get the "bona fides"

has he even SAID he is a Democrat yet?

[cali]

32. wtf would you care?

He won't be a spoiler. He has the absolute right to run in the democratic primary. You're acting threatened and scared

[VanillaRhapsody]

34. He has the right....but he won't BE a Democrat unless he claims he is one....

and that won't fly with MOST Democrats....

and guess what....supporting him as an Independent running in the Democratic Primary might not "fly" on DU either!

[Bjorn Against]

56. Most Democrats in Vermont have voted for Bernie even when he has had Democrats run against him

DU has always allowed support for Bernie even when he has ran against Democrats in the general election. If we allowed it when he was going up against Democrats in a general election then it would be pretty stupid to stop allowing support for him when he decides to run in the Democratic primary where he will not be a spoiler.

I honestly don't care whether or not he calls himself a Democrat, he has consistently stood for progressive values and that is far more important than his party affiliation. He is not a spoiler candidate and the large majority of people are not so blinded by partisanship that they will worry about a label over all other issues.

[MaggieD]

28. If he runs as an indie he is as dead to me as Ted Cruz

I don't think he will play spoiler like Nader did though.

[VanillaRhapsody]

33. well I still haven't read that he is BECOMING a Democrat...

just that he will run in the Democratic Primary...

[cali]

36. ffs. He is running in the democratic primary. every article says so

He wants to go head to head with Hillary. He couldn't be clearer on this.

[ucrdem]

6. Do we know for sure that he's planning to switch parties?

Because if he doesn't there goes the ball game.

[gotj90]

11. He is running in the Democratic primary

http://digital.vpr.net/post/bernie-sanders-announce-presidential-run

[ucrdem]

18. But not as a Dem.

Sorry but this looks to me like a worst case scenario for electing Hillary or any other Dem in 2016.

[VanillaRhapsody]

21. He CAN run in the party...doesn't make him a Democrat

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/10/politics/bernie-sanders-democrat-or-independent/

[jeff47]

47. Vermont doesn't have registration by party. There is no "switch parties".

Well, beyond one poster's fever dreams.

[daleanime]

16. The only part of the vote that Bernie appeals to is the "anti-Hillary" portion?

[Thinkingabout]

43. Agreed

[L0oniX]

35. Oh so now Bernie is an "anti-Hillary" candidate. Nice false framing.

[Scootaloo]

37. And yet, here you are, characterizing support for other democrats as purely "anti-Hillary."

That's interesting.

[Zorra]

39. I can't believe y'all have started this shit already.

[WillyT]

41. But... I Thought Y'all Wanted A Debate And Not A Coronation...

I can't WAIT to see how this all plays out.

Ya See... The HRC Campaign has to tread Carefully here.

[Thinkingabout]

44. Only HRC Campaign threading carefully?

[WillyT]

45. Again... I Have No Idea What That Means...

[Bjorn Against]

46. Webb and O'Malley have more in common with Clinton than they do with Sanders

Warren is a lot closer to Sanders but she is probably not running so I suspect many who were hoping for her will go to Sanders. I don't think Webb or O'Malley will get many votes, but they may well get cabinet positions in a future administration and I think that is what they are really running for.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

50. Bernie is going to turn up the heat in this campaign

It's not going to be good for the republicans

[Smarmie Doofus]

53. Warren is not running, as Clinton supporters here have been frantically insisting for the past 6 months.

Webb's not a candidate.

O'Malley is an unknown whose state is in the process of burning down as we speak .... following, what..... two terms as Gov? Not a lot of accomplishment to point to there, it would appear.

Sanders' entry should unify the rank and file opposition to the corporate wing, status quo candidate(s).

[Thinkingabout]

58. As a supporter of Hillary I am ready for the primaries. I am not frantic.

[ALBliberal]

60. I think his unique position of being an independent in the

Democratic primary will be a plus for him. He will be seen as an independent thinker and voters will find it interesting and intriguing. I am thankful he isn't looking to be a spoiler. He has tremendous things to add to the debate. He's passionate about middle class economic opportunity and lifting the poor out of poverty. I wish him the best and I am happy he decided to run.