Take this, Gov. Peter Shumlin, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), former governor Madeleine Kunin and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, all of whom have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
The Vermont Progressive Party and a group of Democratic state legislators are backing Bernie Sanders.
The Progs, at their quarterly state committee meeting Saturday, voted nearly unanimously for a resolution singing Sanders’ praises, said Kelly Mangan, party executive director. The resolution notes that the party’s positions on many issues align with Sanders’ campaign platform, and urges Progressives to support Sanders.
The backing is via a resolution because party bylaws don’t allow the Progressives to explicitly endorse a candidate who isn’t asking for the party’s nomination, Mangan said.
But in passing the resolution, members were mindful of the fact that Sanders had been snubbed by some of the state’s highest elected officials, including those Sanders has gone out of his way to help — such as Shumlin and Weinberger, Mangan said.
A group of Vermont legislators wasn’t really focused on that when members recorded short video clips touting Sanders. “We just wanted to support Bernie,” said Rep. Warren Kitzmiller (D-Montpelier).
Kitzmiller was one of 19 Democratic House members who stood before the camera at the Statehouse and vouched for Sanders. The video, produced by Rep. Teo Zagar (D-Barnard), went up on YouTube on Monday.
Rep. Jim McCullough (D-Williston) recited on camera: “Bernie, Bernie, he’s my boy. Never, never a billionaire’s toy.”
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Here’s an idea. These legislators should have the courage of their convictions. Resign from the Democratic Party and run for their legislative seats as Progressives or independents.
Ah, right. The Clintonian New Democrats and their neo-con figurehead apparently were unable to completely destroy the Progressive Wing of the Democrat Party. So, the poster ASSumptions want the remaining Progressives to self-select, in the name of purity. Can’t have any differing viewpoints, now can we?
Exactly why should Democratic legislators resign from the Democratic Party because they’ve endorsed a candidate running in the Democratic presidential primaries?
Easy. Because he’s NOT a Democrat. He has clearly stated in the past on multiple occasions his absolute contempt for the Democratic Party. Frankly, I don’t give a s___ whether you’re a Prog, a Republican, a Democrat, or a Libertarian. Run in your own goddam party, or as an Independent. Either party labels mean something, or we get rid of them altogether. In the rest of the world, a member of the Labor Party or the Social Democrats would never endorse a Green, or a Socialist, or a Communist, over another candidate from their OWN party. They’d get kicked out of their party. When Bernie declares himself an actual Democrat, then legislative members of the Democratic Party can endorse him.
I am glad to see these Democrats speak their minds. Too frequently the parties have become militarized and haven’t given room for independent thinking. #feelthebern and #vt4Bernie
Somehow I think the Democratic Party can manage to get by without the “concern” and advice from a right wing troll about how we conduct our internal business.
Bernie Sanders is recognized as a bona fide Democratic candidate for President under the rules adopted by the Democratic National Committee. He is a member of the Democratic caucus in the US Senate.
We’ve seen what happens when your Republican Party imposes rigid ideological purity tests on their members – the result being the teavangelical far right cabal that have purged almost all moderates out of the party nationally.
We don’t live in a parliamentary system like the rest of the world where strict party discipline controls every member.
Democrats choose to have a bigger, more welcoming tent.
But hey, by all means, tell your own party that they should continue to drive out anyone other than the most doctrinaire right winers. Now run along and focus on the question of your own party – not ours – and decide which extremist nut job is your Presidential front-runner this week.
Here’s an idea. These legislators should have the courage of their convictions. Resign from the Democratic Party and run for their legislative seats as Progressives or independents.
And while we’re labeling and dividing they should do so from the back of the bus while using their own water fountains.
@ terjeananderson
The Democratic Party is not “your” party. It is mine, too. Lifelong. So you can leave off with your smug attitude of party ownership and your incorrect assignment of me to the Republicans. In fact, I suspect you didn’t even call yourself a Democrat until Bernie crashed “my” party for his purely utilitarian, electoral purposes.
Mark Lade,
“And while we’re labeling and dividing they should do so from the back of the bus while using their own water fountains.”
Really?
Wow!
@knowyourassumptions
Once more, someone hiding behind the user name “knowyourassumptions” should stop making inaccurate assumptions by saying things like “I suspect you didn’t even call yourself a Democrat until Bernie crashed “my” party for his purely utilitarian, electoral purposes.”
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’ve been an active Democrat my entire life, voiunteering on campaigns since the age of 10 – and that includes a 10 year stint as Vermont’s Democratic National Committeeman, time as state Party Vice-Chair and as Executive Director, managing and working on numerous Democratic campaigns, delegate to 4 national conventions and more than a decade on state, county and town committees, and getting appointed to government positions by President Clinton. (And I use by own name here, so my political history is no secret.)
I’ll gladly match my Democratic Party credentials (and right to support whatever candidate I want) against some anonymous right wing poster claiming to be a Democrat, but whose posting history consists almost entirely of:
– attacks on Democrats (including recently wishing that the 3 Democratic candidates running for Governor destroy each other in the primary)
– praising Republicans (no one who thinks Bruce Lisman is a preferable candidate for Governor is in a position to criticize others for insufficient party loyalty), and
– repeating right wing talking points on public policy issues.
You claim to be a lifelong Democrat – that’s fine, we’re a big tent, and while I may not believe you you’re free to use the label while posting anonymously in a on-line forum while you attack other Democrats. But you’re clearly not in a position to credibly lecture long time Democratic officeholders and activists about party loyalty.
Whoa! Take a deep breath or go for a walk… Time to chill.
In the grand scheme, it doesn’t matter who supports Bern or for that matter, Grandma C. Who cares?
The deal is that Bernie is not gonna be the nominee of the Dems, let alone the POTUS. As for Grandma, she’s got a shit ton of ‘splainin to do and her tendency is not on the side of the truth. The minute Obama’s guy Biden say’s he’s in, Bern & Hill are both doomed. You’ll see. Then who does everybody support?!
Time to make America great, again. Go Trump! And for the record, I’m a registered Independent, for nearly 40 years. What evs, who cares…
You can yell till you’re blue in the face that you’re a Democrat but if you’re supporting a Hugo Chavez-loving socialist who’s spent his entire career openly hating on the Dems then you certainly aren’t the Democrat of my grandparents, of my parents, or of me.
Bernie Sanders Echoes Pope Francis on Poverty, Social Justice, Climate Change!
“Pope Francis is not just asking us to alleviate poverty and move toward more a equitable distribution of wealth and income. Nor is he simply requesting that we act boldly to combat climate change and save the planet. He is asking us to create a new form of society where the economy works for all, and not just the wealthy and the powerful. He is asking us to become a different kind of person, where our happiness and well-being comes from serving others and being part of the human community – not by spending our lives accumulating more and more wealth and power while oppressing others.”
“He has a very, very progressive agenda,” Sanders said. “He is looking in the eyes of the wealthiest people in this country … and he is saying, ‘You know what? You cannot continue to ignore the needs of the poor, you cannot continue to ignore the needs of the sick.’ And he is also saying trickle-down economic theory … really doesn’t work. That government itself is obliged to protect those who are vulnerable, and that is a message, I have to be honest, that my Republican colleagues do not want to hear,” Sanders said.
Watch Bernie Sanders Talk About Pope Francis on YouTube
https://youtu.be/-_7HDhsNwlc
Here’s another idea, why don’t we get off the labels of Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Anarchist or whatever, and start discussing actual policies and positions on relevant issues. I could care less what party a candidate associates themselves with, I care about what that candidate has to say and whether their beliefs and values are in line with my own. I agree with the Republicans that there should be minimal intrusion into my life by the federal government and that the states should be allowed to make their own laws based on the majority of their citizens. I agree with the Democrats that healthcare is a human right and should be accessible to everyone regardless of their size of their bank account. I agree with the Progressives that For-Profit prisons are absolutely reprehensible and that a 6.9 percent interest rate on federal student loans is nothing less than extortion. I also disagree with several positions taken by all of these political parties. We as a society have become so polarized into either the “Right” or the “Left” that too many people simply follow the banner blindly, not realizing that many of the positions they so adamantly defend are in direct conflict with their own self-interests. You can’t compare the modern version of American politics to the past, simply because the modern incarnations of both parties bear absolutely zero resemblance to the Republican and Democratic parties that our parents and grandparents knew. These modern parties have been warped into self-serving platforms for those who can afford millions in campaign contributions, whether at the local, state, or national level.
Elections are no longer about ideas to make us a better society, or about ways to improve our standards of living, they are about money. Plain and simple, who has more money, who can afford more air-time, who can buy a bigger billboard (Well, not in Vermont). By continuing to bicker and squabble over Republican or Democrat we are all falling right into line with what the establishment wants us to do, ignore the fact that out political system has become an oligarchy and continue to fight among ourselves about pointless issues, continue to be distracted by the media overinflating completely irrelevant stories (Volkswagon lying to regulators, how full were Tom Brady’s balls, etc.) and continue to hang on the every word of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. It amazes me that when a candidate like Bernie Sanders comes out with a platform that directly addresses the most significant issues facing us as a society, he is regarded as a “fringe candidate” who “can never win”. Why? Why can’t he win? Because he doesn’t have enough money? Because he is not accepting corporate financing? Because he is actually honest and speaks his mind? Since when have these become such horrible traits for someone seeking political office? Have we become so jaded that we need our elected officials to lie to us, to focus on issues that concern a minute percentage of the American people while completely ignoring issues that the rest of us face? Please, just for me, take a look at the bills that actually reached the floor of Congress this past session and tell me with a straight face that we have a government that is concerned with the well being of the average citizen.