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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsVT-SEN: Sanders to run as an independent in 2018
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has confirmed that he will run for re-election in the Senate as an independent in 2018, despite recent pressure from some Democrats to join the party.
Sanders told Fox News of his decision to hold onto his independent status during an interview Sunday night.
I am an independent and I have always run in Vermont as an independent, while I caucus with the Democrats in the United States Senate. Thats what Ive been doing for a long time and thats what Ill continue to do, Sanders told Fox News.
Sanders had been facing pressure from some Democrats to officially run as a member of the Democratic party. Sanders caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/356650-sanders-to-run-as-an-independent-in-2018
delisen
(6,044 posts)Response to RandySF (Original post)
Post removed
brush
(53,792 posts)get on the Dem ticket for presidential primaries.
aikoaiko
(34,172 posts)brush
(53,792 posts)and he keeps declining. No chance he'll be offered that chance again in 2020 after spurning the party again.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)Demsrule86
(68,593 posts)The woman's convention brouhaha showed a weakening of support for Sen. Sanders in my opinion. While he remains popular. I just don't think Democrats (many who are smarting from some of his anti-Dem remarks) will vote for him. That being said, while I will not vote for Sen. Sanders in a primary (pesky identity politics), I would crawl across broken glass to vote for him should he win the nomination. My fear is a Sanders primary loss will cause division and possibly a loss in 20 for us. If we lose in 20, we truly are screwed for a generation...they won't have to win...just use their packed courts to advance their agenda.
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)alienating and losing a lot of those potential voters who support him. Tom Perez is way too smart for that.
still_one
(92,233 posts)Last edited Mon Oct 23, 2017, 01:31 AM - Edit history (1)
Democrats who will not vote for him in the 2020 primaries should he decide to play that game again
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)still_one
(92,233 posts)for an office as a Democrat as far as I am aware
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)or vote GOP if they dont get their way?
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)But, all I'm saying is that it would be WISE, in the spirit of democracy, not to bar Bernie from the Democratic primary... that way, win or lose, his followers would not feel ostracized from the process.
I would like to think, as long as Bernie was allowed to participate, even if he lost, in a fair primary contest, his supporters would be far more willing to vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election, than if Bernie was not allowed to run in the first instance.
I think that's just makes logical sense, something we should all be able to agree on.
Now, if Bernie's supporters refused to support the Democratic nominee AFTER he was, in fact, allowed to run in the Democratic primary, and lost fair and square, in my mind, that WOULD be an absurdity, akin to a small child stamping their feet, having not gotten their way.
Me.
(35,454 posts)With anything like a fact?
InAbLuEsTaTe
(24,122 posts)Ace Rothstein
(3,164 posts)karynnj
(59,504 posts)Tom Perez has little impact on who wins here.
comradebillyboy
(10,155 posts)karynnj
(59,504 posts)The DNC should provide the organiation and support for the Democratic candiadate once he/she is nominated. They should NOT have an influence in choosing the party's nominee.
As to the re-election of a Democratic incumbent, clearly it will be a referendum on that legislator.
Me.
(35,454 posts)He was never a DEm
still_one
(92,233 posts)the Democratic party as a vehicle to further their political ambitions
DURHAM D
(32,610 posts)He reminds me so much of Dennis Kucinich.
R B Garr
(16,954 posts)contributor. Hmm
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)Wwcd
(6,288 posts)Just wondering how it works in such a situation.
Wasn't there a issue where his campaign collected in error or somehow, a list of HRC voter data that was worth millions to her campaign.
I do know that the value has to do with donors, etc. As well as the large amount it costs to accumulate & maintain a candidate's lists.
I don't recall if Bernies campaign ever returned that valuable voter data .
Doesn't that have to be returned to the DNC since he's now left the Dem Ticket?
I have no idea how that works or if the voter data was returned.
Just asking.
murielm99
(30,745 posts)Bernie's people took advantage of a glitch and stole data that they had no right to look at. Then they turned around and sued the DNC!
Talk about gall. We don't need people like that.
Yes, it does cost a lot to accumulate and maintain voter lists. I think that once someone has the list, it is impossible to demand that it be returned. I still have printouts of older lists from Vote Builder, from phone banking. No one ever asked for them to be returned.
I do know that I started receiving solicitations from BS after the lists were collected "in error." That never happened until after that incident.
Wwcd
(6,288 posts)What a cutthroat dirty business.
Oh well, if they don't find a way to impeach trump, we wont have to worry about anymore elections.
Somedays I cannot believe this is really happening to our country.
Who let this happen!
George II
(67,782 posts)DFW
(54,410 posts)Results of the Vermont Democratic primary last year, as per the New York Times:
Democratic Primary
Bernie Sanders won Vermont, according to A.P.
Candidates Vote Pct. Delegates
Bernie Sanders 115,863 86.1% 16
Hillary Clinton 18,335 13.6
Martin O'Malley 279 0.2
Rocky De La Fuente 94 0.1
Of the Democrats running in the Democratic primary in the State of Vermont, the winner was Bernie Sanders.
And now Sanders claims, "I am an independent and I have always run in Vermont as an independent"
Except when he didn't, that is.
Now, I don't care if he runs as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party, and of COURSE we all prefer having him in the Senate over some Republican. But I wish he wouldn't make ridiculous blanket statements like that when the one time he launched a high profile presidential campaign, he did NOT run in Vermont as an independent.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)I don't think he ever got over that first debate.
DFW
(54,410 posts)I know he has had that combative streak in him for many decades, even as mayor of Burlington, but I always thought winning the peace was a greater accomplishment than winning a war.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)And I think I know what it is.
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)Look, I'm not a Senator Sanders lover, but the ACA should not have been nor be the goal line of health care in this country.
And now, things are going to get worse before they ever get better....and better WILL FINALLY be single payer when people get fed up and sick of bullshit boogeymanism about "SOCIALISM".
Sadly, many will have to die, go broke and both before it happens.
Of course, I'll never see it my lifetime.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)And we only by a miraculous alignment of stars did it. Possibly Sanders wants something better but he has no clue how to get it. His "Medicare for All" plan was nothing but a slogan slapped on a meme and shopped around like an actual policy. It wasn't. So what's the point of making empty promises and worse, crisscrossing the country railing against the current healthcare system -- which, of course, includes the ACA? It looks like, well, like what it looks like.
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)And morally, that is not good enough.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Which is one reason the ACA drives the rabid right round the bend. They can't get their hooks into it.
George II
(67,782 posts)SaschaHM
(2,897 posts)that means VT Dems won't float a serious challenger and he gets to be a ranking member/chair of a committee. It's such B.S. His power in the Senate comes from the fact that he caucuses with this Democratic establishment, not because he pissed in their cheerios.
George II
(67,782 posts)arthritisR_US
(7,288 posts)up and not be pushed around by purists.
still_one
(92,233 posts)that by him coming out like this and saying essentially that he doesn't want to be identified with the Democratic party, if he decides to run in 2020, and uses the Democratic label to further his political ambitions, it will fail miserably for him within the Democratic primaries.
That bridge has been burned.
arthritisR_US
(7,288 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)He has never been a Democrat. He will never be a Democrat.
He has been very clear on this point.
arthritisR_US
(7,288 posts)coolsandy
(479 posts)democratisphere
(17,235 posts)of our political party and move it forward.
Vinca
(50,279 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)and we'll do what we have to do...
R B Garr
(16,954 posts)"transparency for thee but not for me" hypocrisy can finally be exposed.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Senator, you have had enough of having your cake and eating it too. Time to be like the rest of us and pick a side.
k8conant
(3,030 posts)jalan48
(13,871 posts)Demsrule86
(68,593 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)....with the FEC as an independent within days of the 2016 Convention. I actually think it happened before the Convention.
For those who will claim that Vermont doesn't have party affiliations, Patrick Leahy registered as a Democrat for more than 40 years.
k8conant
(3,030 posts)No. There is no party registration in Vermont.
All registered voters can vote in the primary electionbut can only vote on one ballot. You will be given a ballot for each of the major parties. You mark one of the ballots and put the remaining unvoted ballots into a discard bin. Which ballot you chose to vote is private and not recorded (except during the presidential primary, where voters must publicly take one ballot or the other, and their choice is recorded on the entrance checklist).
https://www.sec.state.vt.us/elections/frequently-asked-questions/voter-registration.aspx
George II
(67,782 posts)"Do I HAVE to register as a Democrat, Republican, Independent.....", but they CAN do so if they want.
And that's referring to voter registration, not candidate registration.
k8conant
(3,030 posts)Voters in Vermont cannot register with a party affiliation.
Candidates in Vermont do.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)SaschaHM
(2,897 posts)This just keeps him and his team from pulling it again in 2020.
Stinky The Clown
(67,808 posts)Beyond that, I'll keep mum.
Snackshack
(2,541 posts)procon
(15,805 posts)Response to procon (Reply #52)
0rganism This message was self-deleted by its author.
Demsrule86
(68,593 posts)he might have towards the Democratic Party.