Someone please explain to me why the Democrats have allowed someone who isn't a democrat to run for their party. I still can't wrap my head around that one.
Florida Lawsuit says that the Democrats are getting Berned by Independent Bernie Sanders
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who has wide experience in New Jersey Democratic politics.
When the subject turned to the Super Tuesday primaries occurring today, I asked him a question that has been puzzling me since the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries: After that debacle, why the hell are the Democrats letting a senator who lists himself as an independent run in their presidential primaries again?
“It’s the elephant in the room,” my friend replied.
Actually it’s more the donkey in the room. The party of the pachyderm has never to my knowledge let someone who was not a registered Republican run in its presidential primaries. Why do the Democrats permit the practice?
I’m not the only one asking that question. A week from today a Florida court will consider a motion by a prominent attorney on behalf of two Democratic voters who want to boot Bernie Sanders from the ballot in the state’s March 17 primary.
The attorney, Karen Gievers, is a former circuit court judge who aged out at 70. She knows her Florida election law and she argues that a proper reading of it would result in Sanders being ruled ineligible to run as a Democrat.
“The argument on behalf of my clients is pretty straightforward,” Gievers told me. “Mr. Sanders is holding office as an Independent and therefore he is not eligible to run in the Democratic primary.”
Unlike Sanders’ home state of Vermont, Florida holds a “closed primary.” That’s one in which you have to pick your party a month or so before Election Day and then stick to it.
“We don’t have laws like Vermont where you can go in and ask for whatever ballot you want on Election Day,” she said. “We’re supposed to be a strictly construed closed primary.”
So are a lot of other states, including New Jersey.
Gievers argues that if you have to be a registered Democrat to vote in the primary, then you have to be a registered Democrat to run in it. Sanders doesn’t qualify under Florida law, the suit states.
As a Senator, defendant Sanders defines himself as an Independent, not a Democrat,” the suit states.
The suit cites the campaign committee he has set up for a possible Senate re-election run in 2024, which also lists him as an Independent.
It’s true that Sanders has signed an affirmation to the national Democratic Committee that he is a Democrat, she said.
“But that’s not enough,” She said. “He also has to comply with the laws of every state.”
Sanders hasn’t done so in the case of Florida, she argues.
How far that argument will go in court is anybody’s guess. In one news article on the suit, the head of the Florida Democratic Party referred to it as “ridiculous.”
Ridiculous? I’ll tell you what’s ridiculous: Letting a candidate who refuses to identify as a Democrat run in Democratic primaries - not just in Florida but all over the nation.
There’s an old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
This is the second shaming for the Dems. The first came in the last cycle when they let Sanders participate in the primary election and the convention - while he listed himself as an Independent in the Senate.
And even though Sanders conceded to eventual nominee Hillary Clinton at the Philadelphia convention, his supporters who rallied outside the arena made it clear that they disliked Clinton as much as they disliked Trump.
“It’s outrageous that this happened last time,” said my Democratic friend. “Are they gonna let it happen again?”
It sure looks like it. I have no idea what motivates Democratic leaders. But if I were one, I would have spent the past three years making sure that Sanders either went all-in as a Democrat or went all-out as a candidate.
Instead the Democrats are on track to once again let a non-Democrat sabotage their nominating process. Polls project Sanders to have the most delegates, but not the majority needed for a first-ballot victory. Accordingly, he’s been arguing that the candidate with the most delegates should be declared the nominee - even if he can’t reach the required majority for a first-ballot victory.
Or in other words, a guy who’s not a Democrat is calling on the Democratic National Committee to bend the rules - so a guy who’s not a Democrat can get the Democratic nomination.
But the whole super team lineup he put together yesterday ("we are all standing together and joining forces against Trump") is turning it into a small Moderate Lollapalooza. Moderatepooza!
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Because out of all the candidates, she is by far and away the most successful legislator Sponsored or co-sponsored over 100 bills that have been passed
Can anyone tell me why Bernie S is still in it? Specifically, how much successful legislation has he passed?
Seems to be a guy with character, and who doesn't throw staplers at people. What term did Pete steal from Obama for a speech.. "beacon of light" ? Maybe that is what he is.
So tomorrow my choices are basically Bernie, Warren, Biden, and Bloomberg. What am I going to do? I still have no idea.
Bloomberg will be be horrible, just horrible on the level of a Betsy DeVos styled appointee to the Dept of Ed (charters, corporate technocrats selling our public schools to Silicon Valley, more testing, etc). His record in NY is clear on this. I can't support him for that reason alone.
I just don't think Biden has the wits left to beat Trump in a debate. It will be so painful to watch him shuffle his feet to November and still potentially lose. As a President, I think he will be a great leader who can work with Congress to get things done and will appoint a strong Cabinet who will keep us safe and do his best to help us prosper (as much as any President can control, really not much in my view).
Sanders will either: a) lose the election; b) win but accomplish nothing except divide the country more; or c) win and bankrupt the country. None of those options work for me.
I had been favoring Warren for a while many months ago. I like her spunk. I would love to see her squash Trump in a debate. She's got the fire to do it. I think she'll campaign hard. I think she's moderated on the trail because she understands where the country is at. I think she would be a strong leader but I'm not sure where she is at currently on the issues due to her flip flops.
So it's Biden or Warren for me, and I've got less than 24 hours to decide. I'll be figuring this out in the voting booth. It's 2016 all over again.
He was a successful mayor in a liberal city for 12 years.
How warren has slandered him and all men ("women always tell the truth") quite frankly is disgusting
If Warren were the nominee I'd have a tough time voting for her. Me voting for trump. Unbelievable.
Thank the heavens she has been rejected by a majority of Democrats.
So tomorrow my choices are basically Bernie, Warren, Biden, and Bloomberg. What am I going to do? I still have no idea.
Bloomberg will be be horrible, just horrible on the level of a Betsy DeVos styled appointee to the Dept of Ed (charters, corporate technocrats selling our public schools to Silicon Valley, more testing, etc). His record in NY is clear on this. I can't support him for that reason alone.
I just don't think Biden has the wits left to beat Trump in a debate. It will be so painful to watch him shuffle his feet to November and still potentially lose. As a President, I think he will be a great leader who can work with Congress to get things done and will appoint a strong Cabinet who will keep us safe and do his best to help us prosper (as much as any President can control, really not much in my view).
Sanders will either: a) lose the election; b) win but accomplish nothing except divide the country more; or c) win and bankrupt the country. None of those options work for me.
I had been favoring Warren for a while many months ago. I like her spunk. I would love to see her squash Trump in a debate. She's got the fire to do it. I think she'll campaign hard. I think she's moderated on the trail because she understands where the country is at. I think she would be a strong leader but I'm not sure where she is at currently on the issues due to her flip flops.
So it's Biden or Warren for me, and I've got less than 24 hours to decide. I'll be figuring this out in the voting booth. It's 2016 all over again.
He was a successful mayor in a liberal city for 12 years.
How warren has slandered him and all men ("women always tell the truth") quite frankly is disgusting
If Warren were the nominee I'd have a tough time voting for her. Me voting for trump. Unbelievable.
Thank the heavens she has been rejected by a majority of Democrats.
Yeah, we get it. You have an unreasonable and unhealthy hate of Warren. She has little chance of winning so maybe it's time to move on.
Because out of all the candidates, she is by far and away the most successful legislator Sponsored or co-sponsored over 100 bills that have been passed
Can anyone tell me why Bernie S is still in it? Specifically, how much successful legislation has he passed?
Seems to be a guy with character, and who doesn't throw staplers at people. What term did Pete steal from Obama for a speech.. "beacon of light" ? Maybe that is what he is.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Yeah, but he was sworn in 3 months later. The ads talk about him helping the city recover. It might seem distasteful, but if you were the mayor during that time, it is part of your record. To not talk about it would be political malpractice.
So tomorrow my choices are basically Bernie, Warren, Biden, and Bloomberg. What am I going to do? I still have no idea.
Bloomberg will be be horrible, just horrible on the level of a Betsy DeVos styled appointee to the Dept of Ed (charters, corporate technocrats selling our public schools to Silicon Valley, more testing, etc). His record in NY is clear on this. I can't support him for that reason alone.
I just don't think Biden has the wits left to beat Trump in a debate. It will be so painful to watch him shuffle his feet to November and still potentially lose. As a President, I think he will be a great leader who can work with Congress to get things done and will appoint a strong Cabinet who will keep us safe and do his best to help us prosper (as much as any President can control, really not much in my view).
Sanders will either: a) lose the election; b) win but accomplish nothing except divide the country more; or c) win and bankrupt the country. None of those options work for me.
I had been favoring Warren for a while many months ago. I like her spunk. I would love to see her squash Trump in a debate. She's got the fire to do it. I think she'll campaign hard. I think she's moderated on the trail because she understands where the country is at. I think she would be a strong leader but I'm not sure where she is at currently on the issues due to her flip flops.
So it's Biden or Warren for me, and I've got less than 24 hours to decide. I'll be figuring this out in the voting booth. It's 2016 all over again.
He was a successful mayor in a liberal city for 12 years.
How warren has slandered him and all men ("women always tell the truth") quite frankly is disgusting
If Warren were the nominee I'd have a tough time voting for her. Me voting for trump. Unbelievable.
Thank the heavens she has been rejected by a majority of Democrats.
Yeah, we get it. You have an unreasonable and unhealthy hate of Warren. She has little chance of winning so maybe it's time to move on.
Claim: “He’s the only democrat who’s run the largest and most diverse city in America, rebuilding after 9/11, creating over 450,000 jobs…”
Reality Check rating: Mostly true
Bloomberg is the only former mayor of New York City in the race, and he was in office three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Depending on how you crunch the numbers, there were more than 450,000 jobs created between Dec. 2001 (immediately before Bloomberg took office) and Dec. 2013 (Bloomberg’s last month in office).
Bloomberg’s team cites the New York State Department of Labor for his numbers. New York City’s seasonally adjusted total employment was 3.6 million in Dec. 2002 (one year into his term) and 4.08 million in Dec. 2013. The difference there is 472,700, in concurrence with his claim of more than 450,000 jobs.
Those numbers start a year later than we did, but we wanted to see his numbers from when he entered office, so we started in 2001, when the New York State Department of Labor puts total nonfarm jobs at 3.71 million in the city. By the end of 2013, total nonfarm jobs were around 4.02 million. The difference between the two dates was 314,900 jobs, which is below what Bloomberg said. However, if you don’t count the years when job numbers went down, thereby isolating “created” jobs (his claim), the number is around 567,000 jobs, well over his claim of 450,000 jobs.
Biden now has better odds than Bernie on 538. Brokered convention still odds on favorite
Bernie dropped to 8% in 3 days.
I am concerned about the fact that democrats tend to vote early. I think I heard 40% of Cali has already voted? Plus it's obviously too late to removed Pete and Amy from the ballots. So Bernie should still have a good night. I am hoping Bloomberg sees the writing on the wall after today, drops out and throws his billions behind Joe.
Say what you want about Bloomberg, his ad campaign was/is massive AND effective. Imagine what they can do to help Biden...
So tomorrow my choices are basically Bernie, Warren, Biden, and Bloomberg. What am I going to do? I still have no idea.
Bloomberg will be be horrible, just horrible on the level of a Betsy DeVos styled appointee to the Dept of Ed (charters, corporate technocrats selling our public schools to Silicon Valley, more testing, etc). His record in NY is clear on this. I can't support him for that reason alone.
I just don't think Biden has the wits left to beat Trump in a debate. It will be so painful to watch him shuffle his feet to November and still potentially lose. As a President, I think he will be a great leader who can work with Congress to get things done and will appoint a strong Cabinet who will keep us safe and do his best to help us prosper (as much as any President can control, really not much in my view).
Sanders will either: a) lose the election; b) win but accomplish nothing except divide the country more; or c) win and bankrupt the country. None of those options work for me.
I had been favoring Warren for a while many months ago. I like her spunk. I would love to see her squash Trump in a debate. She's got the fire to do it. I think she'll campaign hard. I think she's moderated on the trail because she understands where the country is at. I think she would be a strong leader but I'm not sure where she is at currently on the issues due to her flip flops.
So it's Biden or Warren for me, and I've got less than 24 hours to decide. I'll be figuring this out in the voting booth. It's 2016 all over again.
He was a successful mayor in a liberal city for 12 years.
How warren has slandered him and all men ("women always tell the truth") quite frankly is disgusting
If Warren were the nominee I'd have a tough time voting for her. Me voting for trump. Unbelievable.
Thank the heavens she has been rejected by a majority of Democrats.
Yeah, we get it. You have an unreasonable and unhealthy hate of Warren. She has little chance of winning so maybe it's time to move on.
Biden now has better odds than Bernie on 538. Brokered convention still odds on favorite
Bernie dropped to 8% in 3 days.
I am concerned about the fact that democrats tend to vote early. I think I heard 40% of Cali has already voted? Plus it's obviously too late to removed Pete and Amy from the ballots. So Bernie should still have a good night. I am hoping Bloomberg sees the writing on the wall after today, drops out and throws his billions behind Joe.
Say what you want about Bloomberg, his ad campaign was/is massive AND effective. Imagine what they can do to help Biden...
I heard on Sunday that it was only 20% in California.
Yeah, but he was sworn in 3 months later. The ads talk about him helping the city recover. It might seem distasteful, but if you were the mayor during that time, it is part of your record. To not talk about it would be political malpractice.
Last night I listened on C-Span to Trump at a rally bragging about his greatest presidency in human history.
I woke up to Sanders at a rally bragging about his campaign being the greatest campaign in human history.
The cheering crowd sounded the same.
As Sanders bragged about how much money he's raised, I couldn't help but wonder how all these cash strapped young people can send him a check every month but can't pay their loan payment.
You sound bitter. I don't think you understand the student loan situation for millennials.
I'm mildly sympathetic. I do know that those high loan balances (over 50K) are disproportionately concentrated in grad level students. I have a daughter who is graduating college in May, and a son heading off this fall. We talk a lot about smart choices. My daughter could have gone to any school in the country, but I said no to private and out of state. She went to William and Mary instead. She graduated in 3 years because she took ap classes in hs and maxed out in undergrad. It was the same cost to do 12 to 18 credits. That saves her 28k right there. For my son, his grades aren't as good as my daughter's, so I may have him go to juco for two years and then transfer. This will save tens of thousands. Last, my daughter entertained going to get her MBA but we said nope. Go get a job, work for a few years, and get with a company that offers tuition reimbursement. She just landed her first job last week with a company in DC that does just that after 2 years. So like I said, I'm mildly sympathetic, but I've watched lots of people make really bad judgments on their education decisions. I'm not inclined to bail them out.
This "No One" seems like a pretty strong candidate based on that projection. Maybe Bloomberg should throw his billions behind No One.
Watch Bernie change his stance, once again, on the candidate having the most delegates being the nominee, regardless of him having the actual number required.
Comments
Florida Lawsuit says that the Democrats are getting Berned by Independent Bernie Sanders
The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who has wide experience in New Jersey Democratic politics.
When the subject turned to the Super Tuesday primaries occurring today, I asked him a question that has been puzzling me since the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries: After that debacle, why the hell are the Democrats letting a senator who lists himself as an independent run in their presidential primaries again?
“It’s the elephant in the room,” my friend replied.
Actually it’s more the donkey in the room. The party of the pachyderm has never to my knowledge let someone who was not a registered Republican run in its presidential primaries. Why do the Democrats permit the practice?
I’m not the only one asking that question. A week from today a Florida court will consider a motion by a prominent attorney on behalf of two Democratic voters who want to boot Bernie Sanders from the ballot in the state’s March 17 primary.
The attorney, Karen Gievers, is a former circuit court judge who aged out at 70. She knows her Florida election law and she argues that a proper reading of it would result in Sanders being ruled ineligible to run as a Democrat.
“The argument on behalf of my clients is pretty straightforward,” Gievers told me. “Mr. Sanders is holding office as an Independent and therefore he is not eligible to run in the Democratic primary.”
Unlike Sanders’ home state of Vermont, Florida holds a “closed primary.” That’s one in which you have to pick your party a month or so before Election Day and then stick to it.
“We don’t have laws like Vermont where you can go in and ask for whatever ballot you want on Election Day,” she said. “We’re supposed to be a strictly construed closed primary.”
So are a lot of other states, including New Jersey.
Gievers argues that if you have to be a registered Democrat to vote in the primary, then you have to be a registered Democrat to run in it. Sanders doesn’t qualify under Florida law, the suit states.
As a Senator, defendant Sanders defines himself as an Independent, not a Democrat,” the suit states.
The suit cites the campaign committee he has set up for a possible Senate re-election run in 2024, which also lists him as an Independent.
It’s true that Sanders has signed an affirmation to the national Democratic Committee that he is a Democrat, she said.
“But that’s not enough,” She said. “He also has to comply with the laws of every state.”
Sanders hasn’t done so in the case of Florida, she argues.
How far that argument will go in court is anybody’s guess. In one news article on the suit, the head of the Florida Democratic Party referred to it as “ridiculous.”
Ridiculous? I’ll tell you what’s ridiculous: Letting a candidate who refuses to identify as a Democrat run in Democratic primaries - not just in Florida but all over the nation.
There’s an old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
This is the second shaming for the Dems. The first came in the last cycle when they let Sanders participate in the primary election and the convention - while he listed himself as an Independent in the Senate.
And even though Sanders conceded to eventual nominee Hillary Clinton at the Philadelphia convention, his supporters who rallied outside the arena made it clear that they disliked Clinton as much as they disliked Trump.
“It’s outrageous that this happened last time,” said my Democratic friend. “Are they gonna let it happen again?”
It sure looks like it. I have no idea what motivates Democratic leaders. But if I were one, I would have spent the past three years making sure that Sanders either went all-in as a Democrat or went all-out as a candidate.
Instead the Democrats are on track to once again let a non-Democrat sabotage their nominating process. Polls project Sanders to have the most delegates, but not the majority needed for a first-ballot victory. Accordingly, he’s been arguing that the candidate with the most delegates should be declared the nominee - even if he can’t reach the required majority for a first-ballot victory.
Or in other words, a guy who’s not a Democrat is calling on the Democratic National Committee to bend the rules - so a guy who’s not a Democrat can get the Democratic nomination.
But the whole super team lineup he put together yesterday ("we are all standing together and joining forces against Trump") is turning it into a small Moderate Lollapalooza. Moderatepooza!
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/tulsi-gabbards-nine-supporters-urge-her-to-drop-out-of-race/amp
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
He was a successful mayor in a liberal city for 12 years.
How warren has slandered him and all men ("women always tell the truth") quite frankly is disgusting
If Warren were the nominee I'd have a tough time voting for her. Me voting for trump. Unbelievable.
Thank the heavens she has been rejected by a majority of Democrats.
AOC (and progressives):
"Uh, we believe we are entitled to split the majority moderate voting block into 4 slices, so we can claim a revolution with 28% of the vote "
Get real, man
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
:-)
Bully.
Claim: “He’s the only democrat who’s run the largest and most diverse city in America, rebuilding after 9/11, creating over 450,000 jobs…”
Reality Check rating: Mostly true
Bloomberg is the only former mayor of New York City in the race, and he was in office three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Depending on how you crunch the numbers, there were more than 450,000 jobs created between Dec. 2001 (immediately before Bloomberg took office) and Dec. 2013 (Bloomberg’s last month in office).
Bloomberg’s team cites the New York State Department of Labor for his numbers. New York City’s seasonally adjusted total employment was 3.6 million in Dec. 2002 (one year into his term) and 4.08 million in Dec. 2013. The difference there is 472,700, in concurrence with his claim of more than 450,000 jobs.
Those numbers start a year later than we did, but we wanted to see his numbers from when he entered office, so we started in 2001, when the New York State Department of Labor puts total nonfarm jobs at 3.71 million in the city. By the end of 2013, total nonfarm jobs were around 4.02 million. The difference between the two dates was 314,900 jobs, which is below what Bloomberg said. However, if you don’t count the years when job numbers went down, thereby isolating “created” jobs (his claim), the number is around 567,000 jobs, well over his claim of 450,000 jobs.
Bernie dropped to 8% in 3 days.
Say what you want about Bloomberg, his ad campaign was/is massive AND effective. Imagine what they can do to help Biden...
Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
Last, my daughter entertained going to get her MBA but we said nope. Go get a job, work for a few years, and get with a company that offers tuition reimbursement. She just landed her first job last week with a company in DC that does just that after 2 years. So like I said, I'm mildly sympathetic, but I've watched lots of people make really bad judgments on their education decisions. I'm not inclined to bail them out.