Yes, what the hell was Bernie doing with his 'Game on"!!

[riversedge]

TWEET:

What the hell are you doing, Bernie? The VT senator inexplicably agrees to debate Donald Trump http://www.salon.com/2016/05/26/what_the_hell_are_you_doing_bernie_the_vermont_senator_inexplicably_agrees_to_debate_donald_trump/ … BERNIE Got PUNKED




Thursday, May 26, 2016 09:12 AM CST

What the hell are you doing, Bernie? The Vermont senator inexplicably agrees to debate Donald Trump




Sanders has nothing to gain by facing off with Trump. And it's no-lose proposition for the billionaire






Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump (Credit: AP/Elaine Thompson/Gene J. Puskar/Photo montage by Salon)

Unless Hillary Clinton is indicted (which remains unlikely), Bernie Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee. It’s a tiresome task, having to make this point over and over again. But it’s necessary. Sanders continues to campaign as though the race isn’t over, and that’s understandable. There are still votes left to be cast and he has every right to lobby for as many as possible.

His campaign has made it clear the goal at this point is to secure as many votes and delegates as possible before the convention. The more successful they are, the more leverage they’ll have. If Sanders is sincere about reshaping the party and influencing the platform, this makes perfect sense. So when he says things like, “When I’m elected president, we’re going to open the Democratic Party wide open,” as he did recently at a rally in California, that’s a candidate playing to the crowd. If you’re still asking for people’s votes, you have to feign optimism. “We can’t win the nomination but I want more leverage at the convention” lacks inspiration.

So I’ve no problem with Sanders campaigning aggressively until the last vote is cast. However, if the primary aim at this point is influence over the party, burning it down is unwise. I don’t believe challenging a presumptive nominee in the primaries is wrong or counterproductive, and so calls for Sanders to pivot away from Clinton are misguided. Applying pressure on Clinton is part of the broader effort to push the party leftward.

But the latest news that Sanders wants to debate Donald Trump in California before the Democratic primary is perplexing. Wednesday night, Trump appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and was asked if he was prepared to debate Sanders. If the money was donated to a “worthy charity,” Trump replied, “I would love to do that.” Sanders quickly responded on Twitter, writing “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.”.................

[JimDandy]

1. No debate happening-Trump chickened out.

[CorporatistNation]

42. Bernie Was Responding to Trumps BIG MOUTH INVITATION To Debate...

Trump subsequently "bailed" because after a little thought, he realized that he would... GET MURDERED BY THE BRONX BOMBER... BERNIE SANDERS WHO WOULD TAKE ZERO SHI* FROM TRUMP! Bernie comes out of THIS smelling like a ROSE... Hillary increasingly LESS relevant.... and Trump not looking so good either!

Bernie!

[JudyM]

58. Aw, have a heart. It was only the SOS disregarding basic national security and records rules

for her entire tenure, impeding an investigation and lying to the country about it all. Bernie cowardizing tRump is far more significant an issue.

[silvershadow]

3. It worked! Trump backed out. Bernie challenged him and he backed out. nt

[riversedge]

11. ha ha. Rather-Bernie said Game on--and now Trump punked him.

[JTFrog]

15. It worked alright. Bernie did indeed get punked. n/t

[HumanityExperiment]

4. ...debate distraction...

HRC and her supporters will run with this 'narrative' to distract from the private email server debacle...

[lunamagica]

5. He just fell into Trumps game, who played him like a little toy until he got bored

[riversedge]

13. Yup. and Trump gets bored easily. Maybe Bernie will have learned his lesson.

[wildeyed]

30. Really?

Nah. Remeber, Bernie is unchanging, like the rock of ages. Lessons are for other people.

[WhiteTara]

6. BS didn't agree, he instigated the

idea of a debate. It would have been fun to watch the finger wagging just to see how short Daffy Donald's really are.

[riversedge]

7. Sanders quickly responded on Twitter, writing “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in C

From the OP--you are mixed up--


Sanders quickly responded on Twitter, writing “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.”.................

[Lucinda]

9. There is a story out that Sanders camp was responsible for the question Kimmel asked Trump n/t

[riversedge]

10. There was a vague tweet about that but no link that I saw earlier. I could not

make any sense of it--.


It will get out if true.

[riversedge]

17. see post #12 below. Yes, correct. I had not seen that.

[WhiteTara]

12. here's the article

The idea of a debate between the two men came up on Wednesday when Mr. Trump was appearing on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and Mr. Kimmel said that Mr. Sanders had passed along an invitation to Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Mr. Trump, who opted out of a debate in Iowa in January and decided that he would no longer participate in primary debates after the Republican field narrowed to three candidates, said he would be open to debating Mr. Sanders if the proceeds were donated to charity, although there were conflicting reports about how serious he was.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/us/politics/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-debate.html

I think you must have missed this a few days ago after the Kimmel show

[riversedge]

14. So Bernie did start this silly game. He is more stupid than I gave him credit for!!

[riderinthestorm]

19. Lol, Bernie showed up Trump as the coward he is after Hillary reneged on her debate promises

They both look awful and Bernie comes out smiling.

[riversedge]

22. will agree--each look awful but you can bet Trump is smiling. Bernie wanted the media

attention he would have gotten.

[pmorlan1]

53. Bernie Did Get Media Attention

and he came out as the guy who was fearless. Clinton broke her promise and Trump was painted as a chicken. That's pretty good media attention in my book.

[silvershadow]

25. ^^This. Out of the whole thread. This. ^^ Bernie 1. Trump 0. nt

[riderinthestorm]

16. Yup, Bernie instigated it and showed Trump for the coward he is

http://www.npr.org/2016/05/27/479772862/no-sanders-vs-trump-debate-sad

On Wednesday, Trump responded to a question Sanders had sent via Kimmel on whether the Republican would debate him since Clinton wouldn't agree to another Democratic debate before the June 7 primaries in California and five other states.

"Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country before the California primary? Yes or no?" Kimmel asked on Sanders' behalf.

[KingFlorez]

8. He got tricked badly

Trump knew how desperate Sanders is right now and he played on that.

[Eric J in MN]

18. Trump looks like a coward.

Sanders looks like a man willing to speak out against Republican policies anytime, anywhere.

Some trick.

[riversedge]

23. Sanders is left standing without his free media.

[redstateblues]

28. The media has been propping up Bernie for months

MSM makes it look like a horse race to keep ratings up

[w4rma]

40. Bernie made Clinton and Trump look like little weasels. They both weaseled out of their pledges.(nt)

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. I'm thinkin' you're the one who got punk'd, by you.

[senz]

21. Bernie was willing to take on Donald Trump. Trump blinked.

So choose your side. We see you.

[wildeyed]

32. Bernie was willing to take on Donald Trump.

But he lost the primary so Hillary is going to do it. That is how it works.

[senz]

34. Hold your horses, buster. Nine states still to go.

[wildeyed]

36. EXACTLY.

Nine states to go! Why would either candidate debate the GOP nominee until after the convention?

[basselope]

39. B/c it would be smart to do so.

[wildeyed]

41. So it would be smart for Hillary to debate Trump

BEFORE the Dem convention? Yes or no answer.

[basselope]

43. Yes.

If your ideas are better, you should be willing to debate, anytime, anywhere under any circumstances.

This ain't that deep

[wildeyed]

44. Nah. The nominees should debate each other.

After the conventions. It is presumptuous for either do so until then. Sanders was just looking for a hail mary.

[basselope]

45. No.

Fear of debate anytime, anyplace, anywhere is simply cowardly.

[wildeyed]

46. There is fear and there is decorum.

Nobody is actually afraid of Bernie Sanders. He is down by 3 million votes. It would be ironic if the second and third overall vote-getters, both men, decided to debate before the primary was over, excluding the only female and most popular candidate of the three. The optics are not good.

Trump should be afraid of Clinton though. His hardcore misogynist schtick is a much harder sell against a female candidate, particular one as battle hardened as Hillary Clinton.

[basselope]

48. Candidates with courage are willing to share their ideas in hostile environments.

She was offered the opportunity and backed out.

She should follow the same tact if she wants any chance of winning the general election.

Putting her on a stage against Trump would be devastating for her.. she would be on stage with one of the people who actually has the receipts from buying her off.

This is a woman without any guiding principles except for #winning.

That doesn't work in the long run.

It's sad that she is trying to force us to have to endure 4 years of Trump.

[wildeyed]

56. She is not forcing you to endure anything.

She WON fair and square. It's called democracy. Sorry that is hard for you, but it is how we play the game.

Bernie Sanders opinions on the topic of SuperDs evolved dramatically on the topic of when HE realized that was his only chance at #winning. And the Trump debate was either a hail mary from a losing and desperate campaign or a vindictive effort to harm Clinton's GE campaign. That had zero to do with principles. Just nasty, hardball political machinations from a career politician named Bernie Sanders.

[basselope]

57. 4 years of Trump is going to be hard for a lot of people...

But that is what she is forcing us to endure. Even she is smart enough to know she can't win, at this point the only thing driving her must be her need to be in the history books as the first major female candidate at the top of a ticket. She will, of course, blame Bernie and his supporters for not turning out for her, but why on earth would they.

The American people have never had to choose (at least in my lifetime and likely the lifetimes of everyone on this site) two worse candidates for president. When turnout is at record lows (which strongly favors the GOP), you have only Clinton to thank for it.

[wildeyed]

59. Well more Democrats thought she was a better choice than Sanders. n/t

[basselope]

60. Democrats don't really matter in the equation.

[wildeyed]

61. They do in the Democratic Primary.

You gotta win that first to go the big game! It is really silly to say otherwise.

And they do in the GE too. Go look at the 538 Filp-O-Matic. The Obama coalition is blacks and educated whites. Clinton will hold that coalition and pull moderate GOP women to boot. That should make up for the young, white swing voters who either stay home of go for Trump.

We want Sanders supporters in the coalition. Really, we do. But if they are not persuadable, then we will figure out how to get enough votes some other way. Elections are just math, in the end.

[MFM008]

27. Mr. Sanders

Plans on running his OWN campaign.

[AzDar]

29. Donald Ducked and Hillary Hid.

[polly7]

31. This happened:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7861728

[Number23]

35. Even the international press is tearing Sanders up over this

While Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump danced around the prospect of an unprecedented 1 v 2 pre-convention showdown, the former secretary of state didn't take the bait and held her tongue.

Instead Mr Sanders comes off as a bit desperate, looking for any opportunity to take a moment in the spotlight, even if it would benefit the Republicans and undermine Democratic unity efforts.

And Mr Trump was put in the unusual position of having to claim the event - which would have been compelling television that attracted an audience of tens of millions - was "inappropriate". http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36401179

Getting punked is bad. Getting punked and the whole damn world knowing about it is even worse.

[wildeyed]

37. When Trump thinks a political stunt is too inappropriate to follow through on.....

Even my husband, who is not following this race closely, remarked on how bizarre the whole thing was and how much Sanders must despise the Democratic Party to be willing to go to such lengths.

Rember when Sanders was campaigning on ideas? Well I think he just lost a large chunk of credibility.

[GulfCoast66]

38. This finishes Bernie off

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 01:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Nothing Bernie does will put off his supporters here. But many of the folks that vote for him are actual Democrats. To them, this will proves that Bernie is in it for Bernie. His support among his average supporter will start shrinking.

The sight of the democratic party primary loser salivating at the chance to debate the Republican nominee in that attempt to marginalize the Democratic nominee is pathetic.

[SheenaR]

50. I don't see how two people can see something so differently

Most of us (Dems since age 18) see it as he is still fighting for the platform, NOT for Bernie Sanders. He's salivating at the chance to marginalize Trump. There is NO way he would sit there and let Trump bash Hillary. None

[GulfCoast66]

51. I guess

We just disagree. I guess I am rare here in that I do not love either candidate. Not hate them. But my respect for Sanders is falling.

[CorkySt.Clair]

47. Getting suckered like he has done to his followers

[SheenaR]

49. lol

At all the people defending Trump

Bernie has denounced Trump from the start, before ANY candidate. Used his name over and over in speeches.

Would destroy him on TV and would help the Democratic cause. But it's much easier to take Trump's side and say he punked him somehow.

Idiots.

[deathrind]

52. Lol

Bernie called Trumps bluff and Trump back down...but it was Bernie who got "punkd"

Ok...

[Peachhead22]

54. And yet the narrative in the last few days

repeated by all sorts of media is "Trump chickened out". Not "What the hell was Bernie thinking". Days of bad press for Trump, just by calling Trump's bluff/boast. Yeah Bernie did that.

[jack_krass]

55. ROTFLMAO. Let me explain it slowly for you..

Bernie is trying to win an election. Since HRC is too chickenshit to debate him, why *not* debate Trump?

Bernie's truth, against Trump's lies and deception, like light shined in a dark place, would send Trump (metaphorically) scurrying like a cockroach found under a refigerator. Trump quickly realized this and backed out like a fucking coward.

I know you Trump and HRC supporters wish Bernie would just shut up and go away, but he wont, and Im glad.

GO BERNIE!!! ALL THE WAY TO THE CONVENTION.!!!

[anotherproletariat]

62. We have learned that Sanders idealism is only trumped by his ego. nt