Bernie Sanders will be able to claim more sway over the convention in July after the Democratic National Committee partially gave in to his demand for more control over the committee that writes the party's platform.
While DNC rules allow the chair to pick all 15 members of the national convention drafting committee, the organization struck a deal with the two campaigns so that Hillary Clinton will pick six members, Sanders will pick five, and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will appoint four, party officials confirmed
It's short of what Sanders lobbied for — he wrote to Wasserman Schultz suggesting that each campaign pick seven members and that the final member be picked jointly by both campaigns — it's still progress for Sanders, who has had an especially rocky relationship with Wasserman Schultz.
Awfully nice of Debbie Wasserman Schultz to negotiate with Sanders while he is actively working to get her primaried out of the House.
Don'tcha think?
Here are Sanders' picks:
Arab-American Institute President James Zogby; Cornel West; Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison; Deborah Parker, an activist on Native American rights; and Bill McKibben, an activist on environmental issues.
Got a couple of bomb throwers in there.
I am not at all convinced that Cornel West, a man who has been attacking President Obama virtually since he took office, is going to be much for negotiations.
Here are Hillary's picks:
Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden, former State Department official Wendy Sherman, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, former White House Energy and Climate Change Policy director Carol Browner, Ohio state Rep. Alicia Reece, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union's Paul Booth.
And look Hillary picks a bunch of reasonable folks well versed in negotiating techniques, folks who have been through this kind of thing many times before.
Of course that does not include the four that Schultz will appoint, which I imagine will not be terribly interested in taking Sanders' side on too many issues.
I swear it looks more and more like this convention is going to be a damn free for all.
Run a brush through that hair Bernie and stick that finger where the sun don't shine.
ReplyDeleteThen, admit you're done and go back to the Senate and do your damn job.
ChuckTX
He is doing a fantastic job of pulling back the curtains and exposing the shenanigans of the DNC and Wasserman Shultz. There is no more important or difficult task. A true American hero!
DeleteAnonymous3:10 PM,
Delete"There is no more important or difficult task"? You are out of your mind. How about going after and exposing the GOP? How about supporting down ticket Dems? How about uniting the party?
It's not Bernie's job to unite the party.
DeleteThat would be the nominee's job. In other words, that's Hillary's job.
As far as blame, DWS is as much to blame as Bernie.
Anonymous6:06 PM
DeleteOh, no, of course not. It's his job to break it apart. It's always someone else's fault and someone else's problem. /s
Oh, so troublemakers have no responsibility to atone, 6:06? How Tea-Party-esque.
DeleteTroublemaker?
DeleteSince when is running in a primary being a troublemaker?
Or is it just the chutzpah of anyone daring to oppose the chosen entitled one and making her work for the nomination?
If Hillary can't take what Bernie is dishing, what is she going to do when Trump and the entire Republican machine is gunning for her?
Anonymous11:19 PM
DeleteIf anyone thinks they're the chosen one, it's Sanders. he's never worked to build the the DNC, never ran as a Democrat, never helped build a coalition, never ran for president before, but thinks he is entitled to just waltz in and get the nomination even though the woman has 3 million more votes than he does and the majority of the super delegates. No she should just step aside and give him the nomination. /s
Bernie, please don't do Trump anymore favors. If Trump gets elected, I am convinced this country will be the one in a free fall. He will destroy us all.
ReplyDeleteBernie isn't doing Trump any favors. Hillary has a lot more dirt than what little Bernie can throw. If she can't stand up to whatever Bernie says she certainly can't stand up to Trump.
DeleteI think it's pretty insulting to imply that no one has a right to run against Clinton or criticize her in any way. What is she? The Madonna?
Love the way you Hillary supporters are already blaming Bernie for Hillary's loss to Trump.
DeleteBill McKibben fell for some of the Karl Rovian r#tf**king propaganda aimed to undermine Hillary Clinton.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/us/politics/the-right-aims-at-democrats-on-social-media-to-hit-clinton.html?smid=tw-share
Life's a bell curve if you live long enough. You end up back where you started. Bernie's obviously back to his toddler days - ME, ME, ME.
ReplyDeleteGeorgiaPeach
Couldn't have said it better myself.
DeleteElaine in Canada
Life's a bell curve if you live long enough.
DeleteThat doesn't really make sense but I think I understand what you meant to say.
Your own life, based on the comments you drop on this blog as if you were a bird flying overhead, would more appropriately be described as a mobius strip.
Brother West!!!!
ReplyDeleteHe pulls no punches, I am THRILLED he has a seat at the table!!
I love that man...
Another one who constantly tears down but builds nothing. Just like Sanders.
DeleteHe's EARNED it. He ran a great campaign and has brought up many pertinent concerns the DNC should be addressing.
DeleteCornel west is an idiot he just spews big word gibberish.
DeleteAnonymous4:14 PM,
DeleteFunny how you think Snaders has "earned it". But for Hillary it's a "coronation". Even after she has run two campaigns and has 3 million more votes than Sanders, you think she has "stolen" the primary. Ass holes.
Cornel West is against Obama.
DeleteCornel West, in your opinion, is an idiot?
DeleteBachelors from Harvard, PhD from Princeton, and went on to teach at Harvard.
That just the tip of the iceberg of his career, the academic list goes on and on.
But, in your esteemed opinion, he's an idiot.
"He just spews big words and gibberish."
Have you considered the possibility that you are simply not intelligent enough to understand what he's talking about?
Just a thought.
Cornel West is an rare breed--a public intellectual and scholar who is a principled thinker with deep sense of justice and a developed conscience.
DeleteBernie earned nothing.Losers don't get prizes.
DeleteThis does not bode well. Sanders won't be satisfied. Give him an inch & he'll want a mile. He'll scream that the committee is stacked against him, 10 to 5. This in turn will rile the Sanders groupies & all hell will break loose. I hope the Democratic Party won't allow themselves to be strong armed by these slimy bastards.
ReplyDeleteWell, there isn't much difference between Hillary and DWS so yes, Hillary will have 10 and Bernie will have 5.
DeleteI think Bernie will fade away and be diagnosed with dementia after the convention.
DeleteSo Hillary will essentially have ten and Bernie will have five.
ReplyDeletePretty much how the entire primary has been run.
SHE HAS FUCKIN EARNED THEM, YOU ENTITLED WHINY ASS.
DeleteThank goddess.
DeleteShe's earned them and Bernie hasn't?
DeleteIf it was winner take all then why is she getting more delegates in Oregon than Bernie. He won the fucking state.
If anyone thinks they are entitled it's Hillary and her boot lickers, who think it's her "turn" and no one has a right to oppose or criticize her.
Stop with the concessions, already. Bernie gets all two year old hissy fit, throws himself on the floor and jerks his head from side to side, and DWS pity's him (after her said he wants her out of her job) Same with Hillary, and he gets what? Nothing worth writing home about.
ReplyDeleteAll this whining by Hillaristas is beyond funny!
ReplyDeleteWTF guys?
She can't put away a geriatric democratic socialist who no one even knew a year ago.
And won't debate him to a previously agreed upon last debate.
She's a weak candidate.Propped up by boatloads of corporate $$.
Threw him a bone?
Hardly.
And I'm with ya 3:20 on Brother West!
Actually, I've been following Bernie since before Barack Obama's 2004 DNC speech. And I'm on the other side of the country from Vermont.
DeleteYes, for the DNC giving in to the whining by the Sandinistas.
DeleteShe did put Sanders away 6 weeks ago. #loser
DeleteShe is beyond weak, her numbers against Trump are rapidly slipping. She never gains momentum duing a campaign, just starts in one spot and slips steadily downward.
DeleteOf course he deserves a spot at the table, he's garnered 45% of the vote. He represents 45% of the people who voted in the primaries.
He's not having a "hissy fit" he's fighting to represent the people who support him.
And yet she didn't, did she, 6:44?
DeleteIf she had, he would not be there.
Anyways if you are so confident about her putting him away, why the pearl clutching?
7:29 - feel the math.
Delete7:29
DeleteHillary has already had 3 million more people vote for her than Bernie has. Yes,she has put him away,but like a rancid carbuncle ,he seems to hang around and flame up. He used to have integrity.Now he seems to have Alzheimers.
...As The New York Times article noted, Bernie Sanders says he does not want Donald Trump to win the White House and that is completely believable. However, his advisers and allies say he is more than willing to harm former Secretary Clinton if it means capturing California delegates and arriving at the Philadelphia convention armed with “maximum political power.”
ReplyDeleteAs noted here, Sanders will have to win over 68 percent of the remaining delegates to have a chance at the nomination and that doesn’t seem remotely possible. Thus far he has only garnered 46 percent of delegates in the primaries.
According to a senior adviser to Senator Sanders, Tad Devine, the campaign does not think its attacks on Hillary Clinton will help Mr. Trump win in November. But he was quick to add that it is something the Sanders’ team was “not thinking about.” Mr. Devine said,
“The only thing that matters is what happens between now and June 14. We have to put the blinders on and focus on the best case to make in the upcoming states. If we do that, we can make the best closing argument before the convention.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2016/05/23/sanders-thinking-helping-trump-effort-harm-clinton.html
NO! Wasserman is in the bag for Clinton.
ReplyDeleteReasonable picks? That's your description. There are a couple of political bomb throwers in Clinton's picks.
I bet you don't even know who they are.
DeleteThere's no reason to believe Hillary's and DWS's picks will be any different than those they've already picked for other duties.
DeleteFor instance those sponsoring the Convention itself.
Wasserman Schultz has lined up Republican donors and Anti-Obamacare lobbyists to underwrite the Convention. There are a ton on the "Host" committee.
Like Wall Streeters and Lobbyists.
Comcast's anti net neutrality stooge.
Monsanto.
"“The Democratic Party, especially the DNC, have never liked Obama’s policies to disengage lobbyists from campaign fundraising,” says Craig Holman, an expert on ethics and campaign finance with Public Citizen. “The party only went along with the restrictions because Obama was the party leader. As soon as Obama could no longer be viewed as the leader of the party, the DNC quietly repealed the lobbyist restrictions. The public learned about it only weeks later.”"
Who is closer to Obama on this issue? It's not Clinton. It's Sanders. That is why he is fighting for a voice at the Convention. He is going to fight to have some input into the party platform so it won't be sold to the highest bidder.
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/11/lobbyists-dnc-2016-convention/
I'll bet you can not read anon. 11:22.
DeleteTake it to the convention, isn't that what it's there for? I'm an indy, but will vote Dem all the way.
ReplyDeleteI sure will miss you, President Obama and family....
How much money did the DNC have to pay the wicked witch of the East under the table? $200.000 plus?
ReplyDeleteParanoid idiot. You need more tin foil.
DeleteBernie spent $202 million and all he got was a loudy platform crew! LOL
DeleteYou mean Jane Sanders?
DeleteBernie is married to a wicked witch who destroyed a university with her magic.Is that who you mean?
DeleteBernie sold out for peanuts.
DeleteWhen Hillary lost to Obama she had all her campaign debts paid plus got Secretary of State.
All Bernie gets is five bodies on the committee.
And still people whine he's a blood sucking leech.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a question on the minds of many Democratic Party leaders right now, which might be phrased: Will there be PUMAs? Or, to update it a bit: Will there be BOBs? Or maybe even PUMA BOBs? Perhaps you’ll hear, at the convention: “I’m Bob Puma, glad to meet you”?
Cheap acronymic humor aside, the question is an important one. PUMAs, for those who have forgotten the 2008 Democratic primary race, were the supposedly-numerous Hillary Clinton supporters who refused to back Barack Obama (due to slights perceived during the hard-fought primary, as well as ideological differences), and were instead going to defect en masse and vote for John McCain. The name stood for “Party Unity My Ass!” which was also their rallying cry. This year, they may be replaced by the “Bernie Or Bust!” crowd, or (to coin a neologism) the BOBs.
But before we got to the BOBs, a quick historical review of the PUMAs is necessary.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/puma-bobs_b_10111592.html
Why Trump Might Win
ReplyDelete...In this era of anti-politics, it’s possible for anyone with enough ego, money, and audacity — in other words, Donald Trump - to do it all himself: declaring himself a candidate; communicating with and mobilizing voters directly through Twitter and other social media; and getting free advertising in mainstream media by being outrageous, politically incorrect, and snide. Official endorsements are irrelevant.
Donald Trump has perfected the art of anti-politics at a time when the public detests politics. Which is why so many experts in how politics used to be played have continuously underestimated his chances.
And why Trump’s demagoguery - channeling the prejudices and fears of Americans who have been losing ground — makes him the most dangerous nominee of a major political party in American history.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/why-trump-might-win_b_10100830.html
North Korea Shuts Down Donald Trump’s Kim Jong Un Proposal
“It’s for utilization of the presidential election, that’s all. A kind of a propaganda or advertisement,” he said. “This is useless, just a gesture for the presidential election.”
“There is no meaning, no sincerity,” So added.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-north-korea_us_57437392e4b00e09e89fcf40
https://www.yahoo.com/news/does-donald-trump-believe-climate-change-affects-only-185116104.html?nhp=1
DeleteCornell has valid points.
ReplyDelete"No one grasps this tragic descent better than West, who did 65 campaign events for Obama, believed in the potential for change and was encouraged by the populist rhetoric of the Obama campaign. He now nurses, like many others who placed their faith in Obama, the anguish of the deceived, manipulated and betrayed. He bitterly describes Obama as “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats."
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_obama_deception_why_cornel_west_went_ballistic_20110516
"He now nurses, like many others who placed their faith in Obama, the anguish of the deceived, manipulated and betrayed. "
DeleteColossal whiny ass children who took their toys and went home when they didn't get all their wishes. They made sure they got nothing else due to handing over both houses to the republicans at the mid-terms. Immature pie-in-the sky petulant children.
With Dr. West at the table, I garuntee there will be zero shady shenanigans going on. He's, loud, vocal and will fight for what's just. It will be interesting what the platform ends up being. I can't wait to see if they can get a significant shift to the left.
DeleteNo shady shenanigans ,just actual shenanigans from a whiny cry baby who didn't get enough of what he wanted. If President Obama couldn't get the things he wanted passed,what makes anyone think that Bernie could get his freebies through ? After his promises of handouts and freebies doesn't come to pass,West will become unhinged,lol.
DeleteAnd what makes you think Hillary will get anything she wants passed anon. 11:20?
DeleteCalm Down, We've Been Here Before
ReplyDelete4. We All Get Over It and Move On
In the end, aside from a few dead-enders, we’ll all get onboard. We did so eight years ago against a candidate who was a comparatively reasonable alternative with decades of experience. And since Trump’s base is even angrier, older, and whiter than McCain’s in 2008, and since demographics have been trending distinctly away from angry old white people in the last eight years, there’s nothing stopping us from an overwhelming victory in November.
Because we’ve seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/23/1530050/-Calm-Down-We-ve-Been-Here-Before
Don't care at all for Cornell West. However, I agree with an earlier poster. If Clinton is such a shoe in, why would the DNC go out of their way to stack the odds in her favor....again. She simply cannot win on an even and honest playing field. All this does is confirm what Anon 4:24PM said, "She's a weak candidate.Propped up by boatloads of corporate $$."
ReplyDeleteI completely understand why Sanders ran as a Democrat. If the two party system didn't lock out other voices from being represented during the primaries, Sanders would have run as an Indie. He has never hidden the fact that he dislikes the yellow-bellied Democrats that were silent and weak during President Obama's terms. However, it's the only platform that he can be heard on. If they didn't want Sanders to run against her, they should have never tried to used him as a foil character -- a bad boy to make Clinton look good. It backfired Boo! Now they have to keep moving the goalposts simply because the old socialist keeps taking off her shine.
At the end of the day, the disdain of Clinton supporters towards Sanders supporters is pretty much ridiculous, sad and laugh out loud funny. It is not her TURN. There is no turn...and Sanders campaign made sure of that. Just like President Obama, she had to EARN the nomination. And, for that, I am truly grateful for the Sanders campaign.
So, with love, I say get over yourselves. Thanks to the direction from the DNC, Clinton has succeeded in pissing on the same folks she needs to win with the shortsighted expectation that they'll just roll over and vote for her. Because. Wrong again Boo! Clinton's going to have to twerk it hard after the nomination to bring Sanders' entire flock into the fold. Best of luck with that.
The great uniter she will never, ever be. More Clinton crumbling and failing....to be continued. Count on that.
Just sayin'... with love from a registered, life-long Democratic voter who supports Bernie Sanders and respects your choice to support whomever you choose.
It's over. Bernie lost on Super Tuesday. Really. He's been behind for 2 1/2 months. If you don't care to vote for HRC, fine. We'll do it without you--with pleasure. Your vote is on you and no one is going to court it.
DeleteExcellent comment!!!
DeleteI agree with everything, except I'm a huge Dr. West fan.
:)
Clinton's going to have to twerk it hard after the nomination...
DeleteI would max out my allowable donation to the HRC campaign (if I were an HRC supporter) were she to try to "twerk it" while wearing a pantsuit.
So you are saying that Sanders couldn't win on his own,so he used the Democratic Party to shoehorn himself into a place on the Primary ballots. Too bad none of his pie in the sky idea can ever come to fruition.I'm sure you would like the freebies he advocates.I'm also sure you have no idea what they would do to the tax bills you pay.I'm not concerned,though,because someone with an ounce of intelligence can see that none of his idea can ever be brought to a vote,let alone passed.
DeleteOld Bernie was in the Senate for 10 years,and in Congress for 16 years before that.Why didn't he get anything passed during that time?
"At the end of the day, the disdain of Clinton supporters towards Sanders supporters is pretty much ridiculous, sad and laugh out loud funny. It is not her TURN. "
DeleteThat is one of the most insulting and intellilectually dishonest descriptions of Hillary supporters. It's not because it's her TURN, ass hole. It's because she is the most qualified candidate, has a well articulated message and platform, and has won 3 MILLION MORE VOTES THAN SANDERS.
Anon 11:16pm
DeleteNo, I'm saying Bernie did not run as an Independent Candidate because the DNC negotiated with him and asked him to run as a Democrat so as not to split the Democratic Party.
To Anon 5:44 PM
I guess calling someone an asshole shows you have no disdain for Sanders supporters, right? Perhaps you only know the meaning of ridiculous, sad, and laugh out loud funny and not disdain -- which makes your cognitive dissonance even more sad, ridiculous and laugh out loud funny.
@5:37
ReplyDelete4:24 here.
Thanks for the shout out in your post and articulating the shit out of what's real here in this country today.
http://i.imgur.com/02JIQ5D.gif
Bernie Is Building an Army of Primary Challengers
ReplyDelete...Instead, it’s Wasserman Schultz’s brand of politics that makes her so worthy of a challenge from the base. Any sitting officeholder who chairs such as vast fundraising apparatus as the Democratic National Committee is going to be the receptacle for impure donations. But dear God, if she hasn’t performed some unseemly donor maintenance. She, along with much of the Florida delegation, has co-sponsored a bill to block proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules reining in payday lenders, an awful industry that has donated her tens of thousands of dollars. She voted last year for another measure to block CFPB enforcement of regulatory guidance that would crack down on auto dealers discriminating by race. The auto dealers’ lobby is no joke. About the only issue on which she is willing to go against her donors’ wishes is medical marijuana, the legalization of which she is weirdly opposed to.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/05/bernie_is_building_an_army_of_democratic_primary_challengers.html
The reality directly in front of everyone is as clear as day, or should be.
ReplyDeleteBernie nomination = Bernie Presidency
or
Hillary nomination = Trump Presidency
That is how it is going down folks.
Enjoy.
@11:32
DeleteYup.
Trump will demand debates on weekly basis and call her a chicken if she doesn't accept even a handful.His throwing of verbal bombs will be relentless.He'll go to any interview anywhere and ask "Where's Hillary?"
Shit,even Obama has gone one on one with Fox THREE times.
He'll sound like a methed out parrot:
"FBI investigation"
"missing emails"
"raper Bill"
"let's debate"
And it won't cost him a red cent to do it 'cuz the media will let him run batshit for ratings/money.
Interesting to note that out of five picks, Bernie chose only ONE woman - once again, Hillary is more progressive.
ReplyDelete