Should Loser BS Get To Speak at the D Convention?

[stopbush]

Sanders is on track to not be the D nominee. In fact, he's on track to not being it big time.

I understand the desire for party unity, but at this point, with all the negativity Sanders has heaved at Hillary, the fact that he is dividing the party, the fact that he doesn't contribute to down-ticket races, the fact that he's admitted he only ran as a D to use the party apparatus to advance his personal agenda, the fact that he continues to disparage Ds as being not much better than Rs,

does he really deserve to come anywhere near a microphone when the Ds nominate Hillary as our candidate?

He certainly hasn't earned it, at least if you get down to basics and realize this is a DEMOCRATIC convention, not a covention that should be elevating usurpers, or enabling a liar who has the audacity to lay the entire cost of bush's war on Hillary. Not if you're disgusted by the fact that Sanders is now encouraging his sychphants to boo the very name of Hillary Clinton at his rallies of low-information political naifs.

Seriously - I hope the DNC sends a loud and clear message to Sanders and others hell-bent on destroying the D Party that you will not be rewarded for such behavior. You will be punished, shunned and treated like the bad apple you are.

Opinions?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Only if he endorses the winner

Otherwise go back to Vermont better yet Cuba. And take Ted Cruz with you.

[CalvinballPro]

2. I'm concerned he could go on stage to speak and embarrass the party.

Either with a bunch of sour grapes about losing or his same old "You're all the same as Republicans" message.

[stopbush]

4. That's a real concern.

They would have to kill his mic if he did that, followed by getting out the hook.

[MADem]

15. I wouldn't be concerned. He would only do that if he'd decided to caucus with the GOP.

Because he could kiss his committee chairmanship goodbye, and any perks he has--he'd be in a basement office so far from the chamber that he'd need to leave his office a half hour early for a vote!

[still_one]

19. I agree with your assessment MADem. He isn't going to commit political suicide. He will be given a

speaking spot, and will emphasis single payer, and overturn citizens united.

[LiberalFighter]

33. The key would be losing committee assignments he would want.

Along with not caucusing with the Democrats. The leaders would have to debate whether that would happen.

The only perks he would lose would be as a result of not having a committee chair position. He would still have perks that are Senate related. His office assignment is based on seniority.

[MADem]

42. And that would not happen without a bit of conversation....

With Chuck Schumer--not Harry Reid--as HR is on his way home.

I know HR is tough, but I think CS is tough as nails too.

As for his office? No--the party can kick people out of their spaces. The party in charge gets the plums. But if the Dems want to move him, he gets moved. If he doesn't like it, he can caucus with and petition the GOP for a better office.

If he's not a committee chair, he doesn't need the extra staff and space that a chair gets. They always get at least one or two "extra" staff and if his VA gig is yanked from him and given to, say, a war hero, he's gonna have to move.

[okasha]

41. If Hillary has sufficient coattails,

Sanders may find himself in that situation anyway. No wonder he doesn't raise money for downticket Dems.

[metroins]

3. Yes.

He'll fade after the election anyway.

Let him have his moment so we can forget it. Denying it will bring worse press.

[jmowreader]

5. If he does speak, they better be ready to unplug his mike

I wouldn't put it past him to try to sabotage the convention if when he loses.

[NBachers]

6. Yes, and he should give a pro-Hillary and pro-Democrat barn-burner.

Then he should go out and campaign for Hillary right up until the election.

If Sanders isn't the nominee. If he is, then I expect Clinton to do the same.

[DemonGoddess]

7. I have no doubt that Clinton would do exactly that

Sanders, however, is all about himself. So, I don't see him campaigning for Hillary, endorsing Hillary, or doing anything else that would benefit her OR the Dem party. By his own admission, he is NOT a Democrat. By his own admission, he's not interested in fundraising for down ballot Dems.

[NBachers]

8. It will be interesting to see if your scenario does, indeed, play out.

[Basic LA]

9. Gee, I wonder what he'd talk about.

Oh, right. What he always talks about.

[Cha]

10. It's the Democratic Convention.. he just joined to "media attention".. he'll be done.

No reason for him to speak about how much he hates the Democratic Party.. by now the feeling is mutual.

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. I, personally, won't watch BS hog the stage at the DNC. I can't bear to listen to or look at him.

I hope, if he is invited to speak, that it's early morning or in the wee hours...just not in primetime. I don't think he's earned it. The open primaries where Repukes & Indies were responsible for his victories shouldn't be rewarded for meddling in our nominating process.

[livetohike]

24. Same here. Some start their posts with "I like Bernie, but"

I don't like him and will be turning off the tv if he is permitted to speak. There are so many Democrats the organizers can choose.

[Tarheel_Dem]

37. I don't know if they use that qualifier ("I like Bernie") because they really mean it, or if they're

just trying to appear evenhanded. Either way, you'll never catch me saying that, cuz it wouldn't be the truth. I can't stand him.

[SunSeeker]

12. He should only be allowed to speak if he is endorsing Hillary in the speech.

And the speech cannot contain criticism of the Democratic Party or any Democrats. This is the Democratic Convention. No more using our party for his personal aggrandizement or for bashing Dems. But he can bring a bird if he wants.

[Stand and Fight]

13. Yes. n/t

[MADem]

14. Usually--if they're gracious about it, and helpful -- the losers get a spot at the convention.

Where the spot is depends on how well the former candidates work/play with others. Some spots are better than others--the closer to prime time, the better.

Usually, up-and-comers get a sweet spot. Bill Clinton got a great spot when he was a new face, and gave a clunker (yes, really) of a speech. Barack Obama, when he got his turn, hit it out of the park.

Hillary gave a GREAT speech in 2008:

[Cha]

16. Thank you for this, MADem..

[MADem]

17. I hope EVERY DUer watches this speech again--she shows everyone how it's done. nt

[Cha]

18. Yes, with grace and dignity which BS seems to be incapable of.

[brer cat]

20. a big "amen" to this, Cha.

He is coming across as very churlish these days.

[Kaleva]

21. If he endorses Hillary then I'd be fine with him speaking.

[leftofcool]

22. Only if he endorses Hillary, otherwise absolutely not.

[livetohike]

23. No. Who wants to hear his stump speech yet again? Besides that,

the Democratic convention is for Democrats. He won't be one once he loses.

[72DejaVu]

25. Anyone who has there name placed in nomination has the right to speak

And every speech is well vetted beforehand. Otherwise, you end up with crazy shit like Clint Eastwood and his chair.

[Cha]

26. Haha.. no clint eastwood types @ the DNC.

I read they didn't vet him because of who he is.. but, then they started getting red-faced and embarrassed pretty damn quick.

[72DejaVu]

27. How can you let such a thing happen?

Even at our state convention, you have to give a copy of your speech to the Convention Committee in advance for approval.

[Cha]

29. Because they're the rnc and he's clint eastwood.. perfect storm for comedy gold @ their expense.

what a night that was.. I was all worried about him giving a speech @ their convention.. you can imagine my delight!

[liberal N proud]

28. Depends on his actions once Hillary hws clinched the nomination

If he continues to be an ass, then he should just go back to Vermont.
If he is going to support the nominee and urge the BSER'S to vote for her, then yes.

[Hoyt]

30. I think he has earned that.

[LiberalFighter]

34. It depends on what he does between now and the convention.

If he makes an ass of himself. Hell no!

[Gothmog]

31. Sanders Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum comments pester me

Sanders and the traitor Nader share a love of stating that there is no difference between the Democratic and Republican parties and have even used the same sad terminology. Sanders first used the same terminology of stating that there are no differences between the Democratic Party and the Republican party when he ran as a spoiler for governor. http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/04/when-bernie-sanders-ran-against-vermont/kNP6xUupbQ3Qbg9UUelvVM/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed

Hillary Clinton is not the first progressive Democratic woman to be challenged by Bernie Sanders. He ran against me in 1986 when I was running for my second term as governor of Vermont. At that time he had little affinity for the Democratic Party. When advised that his third-party candidacy might result in a Republican victory, he saw no difference between Democrats and Republicans, saying: “It is absolutely fair to say you are dealing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”[/div
After Sanders used this termination, Nader joined in first http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jun/30/ralph-nader/nader-almost-said-gore-bush-but-not-quite/

Again and again throughout the campaign, Nader implied that he thought Bush and Gore equally objectionable. "It doesn't matter who is in the White House, Gore or Bush, for the vast majority of government departments and agencies," Nader said in a news conference in September 2000.

"The only difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door," he told supporters in California a month later.

"It's a Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum vote," Nader said in Philadelphia four days before the election, repeating a favorite refrain of his. "Both parties are selling our government to big business paymasters. ...That's a pretty serious similarity."

Nader also failed to challenge Sam Donaldson on ABC's This Week when Donaldson said, "You don't think it matters. You've said it doesn't matter to you who is the president of the United States, Bush or Gore."

Nader replied, "Because it's the permanent corporate government that's running the show here ... you can see they're morphing more and more on more and more issues into one corporate party."

Sanders needs to back down from this crap if he wants to speak at the national convention

[Tanuki]

38. Sanders and Nader both copped the "Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum" line from George Wallace,

who also said there wasn't "a dimes worth of difference" between the two parties. He was another demagogue who filled up big stadiums.

[Gothmog]

39. Sanders and Nader are in good company

[Her Sister]

32. Knowing HRC

I think she is such a good connector and great at diplomacy so I foresee that BS will speak and it'll be well! and forgotten! and on for the future! and on for the fight!

[cosmicone]

35. He should speak at the convention in support of Hillary n/t

[book_worm]

36. Yes, especially since he will endorse Hillary

[DavidDvorkin]

40. I'd be happy if I never hear him speak again.

[Tanuki]

43. Only to repair some of the damage he has done to the party and to our prospects in November

with his relentlessly negative-by--proxy campaign. I started out with a certain amount of respect and admiration for Sanders, but that has been eroded the more "I got to know him." Jake Tapper interviewed him on CNN this morning and pressed him on the discrepancy between his claim to be avoiding a negative campaign and his use of surrogates to get the ugliness out there, and showed a clip of Rosario Dawson smirking about the FBI investigation at a recent rally. He also pointed out the discrepancy between his criticism of HRC for fossil fuel donations, and Sanders' own donations from the same sources. Sanders weaseled on both. I hope a weasel crawls up to the podium at his next Berniepalooza event to make the point.

[Orrex]

45. Maybe he can speak about his tireless support of the F-35 money pit

[Orrex]

44. Will he still be a Democrat by that point?

Or will he have decided instead that he's as an Independent again?

[stopbush]

46. He's already filed as and is raising $ as an Indy

for his 2018 Senate run.

I hope the Ds pull their funding from his Senate race and field a real D to challenge him in 2018.