Facts of 2016 Democratic Primaries (History Lesson)

[Vidal]

Here are the official results of the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries:


Hillary Clinton Popular vote: 16,914,722 Percentage 55.2%

Bernie Sanders Popular vote: 13,206,428 Percentage 43.1%

Hillary Clinton won the delegate count 2,842 to 1,865

Superdelegates never came into play.


The point is that it was not very close. Bernie lost fair and square by over 12 percentage points and over 3.7 million votes.

There was no conspiracy against Sanders.

He did not lose because of "the Democratic Party Establishment."

He lost because more Democrats voted for Hillary in the primaries.

It's important to keep this in mind, in light of Bernie's recent comments on Meet the Press.

[SouthernProgressive]

1. It was a landslide for Clinton.

And it's clear that Sanders support has all but disappeared.

I think the question is. Will Biden be challenged by Buttigieg, Harris, Insleee, Warren......

We know it won't be Sanders. More and more info is coming out about him every day. For the first time in his career he is being vetted and it isn't pretty.

[Demsrule86]

2. No, we need to win and none of the candidates mentioned other than Biden have

Any chance of winning a general.

[SouthernProgressive]

3. I disagree with that.

Timmothy Geithner is the only one!!

I don't do that.

[irisblue]

4. Thx. This is an interesting & thought provoking read.

[Scurrilous]

5. K&R

[aidbo]

6. Another lesson about 2016 to remember:

Neither Sanders supporters nor Sanders himself are responsible for Clinton’s loss in the general election.

There were many factors that caused her loss but Sanders only brought Clinton more votes than she would have gotten without his support.

[NurseJackie]

8. After the convention was over, he disappeared for a month. Not a word... not a speech...

After the convention was over, he disappeared for a month. Not a word... not a speech... not a campaign appearance. That was a crucial moment in time to start the "healing" before the "hard-feelings" and "resentment" had a chance to permanently set-in. It was an opportunity for him to lead by example, but he didn't. I believe that if he had given his prompt, enthusiastic, and sincere support sooner, then things would have been different. Why didn't he? Where was he? These are important lessons to be learned.

It's very important for people to remember what happened AFTER the primary and during the run-up to the general election.

[oasis]

16. 100% This!

[LibFarmer]

18. Word on the street was

that supporters were asked to make sure she would lose so he would have a second shot.

[sheshe2]

43. This!

[namahage]

47. Indeed. What was he doing for that month post-convention?

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bernie-sanders-plans/story?id=41002081

After the Democratic National Convention wrapped, the senator flew with some of his top staff back to his hometown in Burlington, Vermont, Friday morning. Michael Briggs, a Sanders spokesman, says the senator's plan is to spend much of August working on a book, which is set to come out in November after the election.

OK, so maybe he has other priorities, like cementing his place in the millionaires' club. But surely he could contribute in other ways--fundraising, perhaps, tapping into his army of supporters to help fend off the Orange One?

Speaking to reporters this week in Philadelphia, Sanders confirmed that he had no intention using his email list to fundraise for Clinton though he has formally endorsed her, but will be actively raising money for other progressives his team identifies.

[Vidal]

9. Do you have evidence?

You wrote "Sanders only brought Clinton more votes than she would have gotten without his support" but I am wondering where you got this information.

Can you cite a reference to back you up on this? I haven't seen any evidence that this is true.

thank you.

[Amimnoch]

17. Agree that there were many factors. Disagree that he wasn't one of them.

A rather large one at that.

[trueblue2007]

21. Wrong. Bernie was mean to Hillary.

how reckless Sanders was with the anger he riled up. Long after he knew he’d lost, he continued to call Clinton “unqualified” or insist she was the head of a massive conspiracy. He knew it could do no good, and he should have seen that the dangerous toll of his negative messaging — the death threats to Democratic Party officials and reporters, the demolished coalitions and names dragged through the mud, the ever-increasing threat that if there was no Bernie, the nation itself would bust — was rising. Yet he appeared shocked that he could not undo the damage; even Bernie Sanders got booed for not supporting Bernie Sanders.

To destroy one rival this way may be regarded as a misfortune. To destroy them all looks like carelessness. It looks like a candidate who has not yet learned to push his advantage in any other way than going negative, even though any of his rivals, should they defeat Sanders, will be the only protection we have against a second Trump term. To be clear: If Sanders is the nominee, I will vote for him. The good he might do outweighs the harm. It’s just not clear that Sanders knows how to say that about anyone else. The viciousness of the 2016 campaign may just have been a mistake, even if it was a bad one. If the pattern continues into 2020, we will have to call it something much worse.

https://medium.com/s/story/bernie-sanders-bad-attitude-is-bad-for-democrats-and-great-for-trump-bd0ac7376146

1 In 10 Bernie Sanders Supporters Ended Up Voting For Trump : NPR
https://www.npr.org/.../1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-sur...
Aug 24, 2017 - Yes, Bernie Sanders supporters who voted for President Trump could have ... of whom chose not to support Hillary Clinton in the general election in 2016. ... First off, this counterfactual world in which these voters didn't vote for ...
Bernie Sanders Still Has a Hillaryland Hangover Heading Into 2020 ...
https://www.usnews.com › Civic › The Run
Mar 5, 2019 - ... slung between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders didn't come from .... pockets of his support swept up by Beto O'Rourke or another fresher, ...

[Cha]

25. Thank You, trueblue! Reality Check!

[trueblue2007]

42. you are welcome Cha. We KNOW there are FACTS out there that prove this happened

I think sour grapes on part of MR. Senator Sanders. Very very sour. This better not happen with our Dems this time around. If there are ANY inappropriate actions and statements from ANY CANDIDATE that is materially false and hurts our candidates in the election, the DNC should REMOVE the person from the race.

[Cha]

44. They really should.. all

hell should rain down on them.

This election is too vitally important for RF.

[vsrazdem]

58. OMG. Bernie was mean to Hillary, what are we, in grade school. Primaries are rough and tumble, and

if you can't take the heat, get out.

[Fresh_Start]

26. WRONG

Sanders and his "screw the rest of the people in the USA" supporterswere significantly responsible for Clinton's lost.

And the worst of it all is that BS is doing the same crap all over again.
Shitting on Democratic party every chance he gets...while hypocritically taking advantage of the Democratic party label which he besmirches every time he opens his mouth.

[lunamagica]

33. There were many factors and Sanders was one. Refusing to concede in March when it became clear he

could not possible win, giving false hopes to ignorant members of his base who didn't know how primaries work, his and his supporters disgraceful behavior during the convention, his lukewarm support for her at the end of her campaign. Saying that all of these didn't have an effect in the outcome is disingenuous.

[lapucelle]

38. Do you have data to support this clain?

[Cha]

50. ..

donuts

[MineralMan]

7. How dare you just present the factual information?

The very idea!

[Vidal]

10. Wow . . .

Shocking isn't it Mineral Man?

[MineralMan]

11. I know. And really unusual to see, too.

[Gothmog]

59. I like facts

[BannonsLiver]

12. The Bernie fan narrative is that it was razor thin and the DNC conspired to cheat Bernie

Facts are a great antidote to that sort of fan fiction narrative.

[Vidal]

13. Yes that is why . . .

I made this post.

I've been seeing the narrative that Bernie would have won "but for" the interference of the DNC and "the Establishment" Democrats but clearly that is not the case.

Their complaints got the DNC to change the rules on superdelegates, even though superdelegates played no role whatsoever in the 2016 nomination of Clinton.

Fans of Sanders are better off facing the facts than believing in a false narrative, IMHO.

[George Eliot]

14. In your opinion. B/C those are not the only facts of the campaign. Ask Brazille.

Because you say it doesn't make it true. It's complicated.

[BannonsLiver]

20. Not really

Hillary got quite a few more votes and delegates than Bernie. Conspiracy theories wilt in the face of simple mathematics.

[Hekate]

27. I guess math is hard

[StevieM]

29. Bernie was in no way up against a system that was any different from previous candidates.

The DNC did nothing to help her, nor could they have if they had wanted to. It isn't that important.

As for Brazille, she is simply one of many people who is cashing in by trashing HRC. And let's not forget that this is a woman who almost abused her power by stripping Hillary of the nomination, and replacing her with Biden, because she had a sick day on 9/11.

[susanna]

51. ...and no one remembers that re: Brazile.

Brazile had an axe to grind, it's obvious in retrospect.

Plus, she now occasionally appears on Fox as a commentator, so, "dead to me" is where I am at with her.

[lapucelle]

40. What other facts does Brazile have?

[betsuni]

45. Brazile: "I found no evidence, none whatsoever."

When asked whether the primaries were rigged in favor of Clinton on ABC's "This Week" in 2017.

[Cha]

49. Thank You, betsuni!

[betsuni]

52. That conspiracy theory is stupid!

[Cha]

55. The bogus

victim card.

[lunamagica]

46. Actually, the math is very simple. #FeelTheMath

[mcar]

15. These zombie lies will never die, it seems

Thanks.

[mtnsnake]

19. Here's a history lesson specially for you: Sanders did not lose to Trump. Hillary did.

[Vidal]

22. And . . .

Sanders lost to Hillary. What's your point?

[Cha]

24. Yeah, what's your point? The OP

is dead on.

[Hekate]

28. Hillary is not in the WH today due to a multitude of facts, including treason, cyberinvasions by...

...hostile foreign powers, New Jim Crow laws, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, and need I go on? Despite all of that, Hillary Clinton still got a vote count of 3,000,000 more than Trump. Don't even start with me on the Electoral College. We just had our Pearl Harbor, General Tojo installed our potus, and the GOP rolled over and asked for a belly-rub.

[Cha]

30. Mahalo, Hekate!

We know the reality of why Hillary isn't in the WH. Anyone who paid attention does.

[Cha]

23. What did BS say on MTP

about this, Vidal?

Thank You!

[Vidal]

34. Link to post with MTP transcript

check this out

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287126867

[Cha]

37. Thanks..

I was hoping not to.. my blood starts boiling.

Thank you for doing all this Public Service for our Country and the Planet!

[lunamagica]

31. Thank you so much for this post, Vidal. I'm sick and tired of the lie that the Democratic

leadership "gave" the nomination to Hillary. Nothing further from the truth; it's a huge LIE.

Hillary fought hard for the nomination and won in a landslide. That's reality, that's the only truth, backed by facts.

[Vidal]

35. Great

You are very welcome.

Glad you feel that way.

[betsuni]

32. It's not good enough to say, "The primary was rigged and everybody's out to get me, vote for me."

That conspiracy theory is so dumb.

[Vidal]

36. Agree

It is dumb but some people fall for it.

[Cha]

48. ..

[Gothmog]

39. There will be far fewer caucuses this cycle

this change is great and would had hurt sanders last cycle

[Go Vols]

41. :/

PHILADELPHIA —Democrats arrived at their nominating convention on Sunday under a cloud of discord as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, abruptly said she was resigning after a trove of leaked emails showed party officials conspiring to sabotage the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html

[True Blue American]

53. Experts are predicting

A 100 year flood of voting in the 2020 election. 67% because people are excited about the Democratic candidates!

On NBC. Mike Allen, who used to be a Republican!

[Stellar]

54. Why didn't she beat Trump? nt

[Cha]

56. You should know

why trump was rigged into the WH.. it's been all over this board for 2 freaking years.

Your deflection from the OP, which is Dead ON, isn't working.

[Vidal]

61. Lots of Reasons

She did get 3 million more votes than Trump.

He lost three states by a mere 80,000 votes.

With the help of Russia.

The main reason probably is that (as research as shown) many Bernie voters switched to vote for Trump in the general.

So, realistically, it was probably because Russia helped both Bernie and Trump, and then Bernie people supported Trump.

[Mike Nelson]

60. Agree with much...

… observed in this thread. I would advise Bernie Sanders to start saying he lost 2016 "fair and square" and praise both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in every speech. I would say Bernie, that's what you need to win... He would do better in the Primaries, if he would follow that advice. And watch for the TV interviewers trying to bring up Democratic discord... they get a sound bite of Bernie like the MTP one... they love that discord.

… one more thing. Yes there were a small number of Bernie voters switching to Crooked Donald for the General Election, and some Obama voters too... a small number of Obama voters switched to Romney, too. But, nobody mentioned something else to factor in... small number of Republicans switched over to Hillary. They're never discussed. She lost some on one end, but picked up some on the other end - and that was part of the campaign construct.

[Vidal]

62. That would help Bernie

I agree he would be better off praising Obama and Hillary, because the majority of true Democrats remember how divisive he was in 2016.

But he seems to be singing from the 2016 song sheet by blaming the Democratic Establishment, when that is not really his problem.

My research indicates 10% of all Bernie supporters voted for Trump, which is a very high number. These were mostly the sexist "anybody but Hillary" crowd of Clinton haters. They made a difference in the general.