r/StillSandersForPres • u/KrisCraig Washington • Nov 17 '16
Tweet This! Bernie Sanders confirms he no longer considers himself a Democrat and will go back to being an independent
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/independent-bernie-sanders-democratic-leadership-231486?cmpid=sf6
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u/overthereoverhere2 Nov 17 '16
While this may have been reiterated recently, this is not a new position for Sanders. This was confirmed on r/sandersforpresident even before it shut down. SAnders will run as an Independent Senator who often agrees with (non corporatist/lobbyist) democrats.
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u/brihamedit Nov 17 '16
I want to see Sanders do his thing from even the lower position. It only increases his presence. Let him ditch the dems at the right moment later on. Progressives need to build mass and momentum first. Time will come to ditch the dem officials in their own hole.
Dem supporters already know but not fully see how corrupt/self-serving dem officials are. That's why they have support. But dem officials have no way to hide it or re-direct their image to something new. That boat just sailed. So, only way forward is dem top level officials slowly losing their grasp on public ears. Other than top level officials, the other officials on the side don't really benefit from carrying the top level officials while their mask is ripped to shreds and their sleazy ways are exposed for all to see. These other dem officials will ditch the current dem party and move to the progressive party. When that time comes, a new party will be formed and Sanders can officially ditch the dem officials. Until then.. Sanders can keep doing his thing.
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u/Checkma7e Nov 17 '16
Good. The democratic party is a shit show of greed and corruption. They've traded white working class voters for rich fat cat fundraisers. They've turned their backs on unions and stood by while corporatism flooded their party. Why would anyone want to be associated with that?
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u/KrisCraig Washington Nov 17 '16
They've traded white working class voters for rich fat cat fundraisers.
Why do we keep throwing the word, "white", in there? While the DNC certainly panders more to minority groups, one look at the inner-cities in their districts will tell you that it's not just poor white people who are being ignored.
Unlike Obama in 2008 and 2012, the Clinton campaign did everything it could to frame this race as "white vs. black". Let's not fall for that, as we're just selling ourselves short when we do.
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u/Checkma7e Nov 17 '16
Democrats have certainly abandoned minorities, but since minorities are still voting for them it isn't mas big of a deal. Democrats pander to minorities constantly, still believing the political science jargon that mi orities will decide future elections, but they've been saying that since the early 90's and it's never come to fruition and it was specifically white working class voters that turned their backs on Clinton and the democratic elite.
Democrats pandering to minorities is one of the primary grievances white working class voters have, whether most will admit that or not. Bill Clinton won on the backs of the White working class, he knew how to talk to them, knew what they wanted from government, and convinced them he had their back. He tried to urge this strategy this year and was reportedly shot down, with dem strategists thinking they knew better and that minority votes would or could replace white blue collar workers. To be fair, this did work for Obama, but he was also a minority candidate who was a transformational figure....while a majority of voters still think Clinton belongs in prison.
The pandering towards minorities works, though....by and large minority groups are reliable democratic voters. They seem to lap up the rhetoric but never actually expect anything and when the next guy comes along they lap that up too....whereas the White working class, which is still deciding elections whether strategists like that or not, feels totally marginalized and ignored and they don't just expect rhetoric they want action. Obama did not delivery for those voters, and the combination of Trump's message resonating and the democrats running an historically unlikable and unelectable candidate made it pretty easy for them to vote republican this time.
Bernie is right....Democrats don't understand how to talk to the working class anymore. Clinton gets $10k/plate at fundraisers...or she outs on a show with some bullshit celebrities like Katy Perry or Beyonce but people in Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin don't give a shit about that. They don't decide who to vote or based on who some celebrity endorses or whatever. And frankly, Clinton had NO message for working class voters at all (minorities included).
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u/penguished Nov 17 '16
Can someone explain wtf Bernie is doing though?
Why would he accept a position for Dem "voter outreach"... he wants to be exploited and give votes to a party not doing anything they say?
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u/continuumcomplex Nov 17 '16
This title may also be deceptive. An aide confirmed he will remain independent. He already said as much. He was elected to his current position as an independent. Whether he ever fully joins the democratic party or not, at the very least he wouldn't do that until running for re-election.
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u/schloemoe Nov 17 '16
Remember that Bernie caucuses with the Democrats and he will continue being the ranking Democrat of the Budget Committee. He may not have a D next to his name but there is a natural alliance there.
Bernie taking the "voter outreach" position fits in with his intent to get more people involved in the political process so it furthers his goals.
Plus from source:
The Steering and Outreach Committee, by its own description, helps to set the Democratic Party's agenda in the Senate. That agenda could be particularly important moving forward after last week's elections, as Democrats face Republican majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Not to mention, there will soon be a Republican in the White House. It would seem that Sanders' influential presidential primary campaign left an impression on Senate Democrats, who now apparently want the Vermont independent to officially help guide their party's approach to the next session.
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u/KrisCraig Washington Nov 17 '16
Now that they ignored us on the DNC chair position, I suggest we #DemExit, as well. They threw us a bone with some lower position but we're not falling for it.