If Bernie Has Plurality, but Not Enough Votes for the Nomination...

If Bernie Sanders is the clear leader heading into the convention with more votes by far than any other Dem candidate, but he doesn't get the required total to become the nominee on the first or second ballot then we are most likely looking at a brokered convention.

First off, I am not casting stones here. I simply want to know what Democrat supporters will think if they voted for Bernie and he is robbed of the nomination?

My two cents is I would be furious! I would also wonder if Bernie would try a run as an Independent at that point.

 

It's difficult to say. Back in 2015/2016 Bernie was selected by Hillary and the DNC to run against her in order to make it look like there was a real primary occurring. We now know that Hillary paid off the DNC's debt and so essentially owned the organization going into her candidacy. The problem was that instead of saying, "Bernie is a lunatic and Hillary and her policy ideas look sane in comparison," at least a third of the Dem Party's voters instead declared, "Hell, yes! Let's go for the Berne!" So the DNC had no choice but to Super Delegate Bernie out of contention at the convention. But I understand that Bernie was very happy at the time to get another million dollars or so in his pocket. He apparently didn't really mind shafting his own followers in the process. But that was then and this is now and this time around ol' Bernie does seem to be in it to win it.

So what will happen if the DNC -- apparently owned either by Hillary still or perhaps Bloomberg this time -- again takes it from Bernie; which yesterday a former Obama aide pretty much openly declared that they are going to do? I think that the Dem Party will lose about a quarter of its supporters then and there. As for Bernie, I think that since he can taste the nomination in 2020 that he will go down fighting unless the DNC ups the bribery substantially. If, however, the bribe is substantial enough Bernie will accept it and go into retirement; meaning that, no, he won't try going branching off into a third party.

On the other hand if he does go the third party route then he will do so KNOWING that he's automatically handed Trump the re-election. Too many variables. While I do think that I have a base line accurate reading on who and what Bernie really is -- and the corrupt to the core DNC for that matter -- the options simply branch in too many directions for accurate predictions.

Bottom line? If the DNC does again steal the nomination from Bernie then about a quarter of the Dem Party voters will stay home on election day UNLESS Bernie is given the Vice President slot. The huge irony is that as of now about one quarter of the Dem Party's voting pool is as adamantly opposed to going the socialistic route as are conservatives, and so one could easily see the Dem Party still going into the presidential toe-to-toe contest one quarter of their voting pool short if Bernie does get the nomination.

 

Frankly, I'm kinda hoping for a brokered convention for a couple of reasons. 1: Bernie won't be President. 2: The DNC has based their selection process on the EC. It will be funny as hell to see the consequences and what people will say about the DNC using the EC and going with that instead of the popular vote like they advocate for the States.

 

Yes, I noticed the similarities to the Electoral College as well. But only people to the Right of Center will notice that aspect. The political Left notices only what their political propaganda outlets tell them to notice.

 

I feel that I should just SLIGHTLY disagree here. But only with the bolded part. I would say that anyone that isn't a complete partisan hack and/or is not ignorant will notice that aspect. There are plenty of Independents and left leaning individuals that will notice it because they're not blinded by the DNC. It was actually a left leaning individual that pointed it out to me. Of course I didn't know much about the DNC selection process until this election season so didn't know how similar it was to the EC. After a bit of study I couldn't really disagree with them.

 

If Bernie doesn’t win the nomination on the first ballot the “super delegates” have already announced they will rig the vote so he can’t win it on any subsequent ballot despite that he will have the popular vote. If anyone believes we have a democratic system in this country you would be seriously delusional.

 

First off, I am not casting stones here. I simply want to know what Democrat supporters will think if they voted for Bernie and he is robbed of the nomination?

but you are casting stones...the purpose of your post is to turn Sanders supporters against supporters of other candidates in order to help your candidate. Perhaps you should register as a Democrat so you can help Sanders win.

 

Bernie voters will stay home. Trump wins in a landslide.

Then we begin working on repealing the 22nd amendment so Trump can serve a third term.

 

We have a Democratic Republic. We've never had a straight democracy. Wish people would learn the difference and how our government works.

 

No. I support Trump, but we don't need him for 3 terms.

 

I’m joking, and trying to annoy libs.

 

Meh, there are enough crazy libs, we don't need more.

 

I never said we have a Democracy. I said a “democratic system” of voting, which we don’t have anyway. We are actually guaranteed by the Constitution a Republican form of government. However we have no such thing. We don’t have a democracy either despite the false propaganda we are constantly fed. What we do have is a fascist oligarchy teetering on the edge of nazism. In any case a democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting for what to have for dinner. This government does not work as mandated by the Constitution, it is completely dysfunctional. But you’re correct most people haven’t got a clue as to what kind of government we are guaranteed and what kind of (non)government we actually have. And that’s why we currently have a bunch of self serving criminals running a pretend US government.

 

Bernie Bros will riot if they think they're being cheated out of their free stuff.

 

You would be wholly incorrect! I really want to hear what Dems think of this prospect. What citizens of this country think of our very broken nomination processes and election processes. In the nominations it is as if we vote and it really doesn't matter. I would be furious at the situation if I was a Dem, but I am very irked at it regardless.

 

I'm a bit torn on how the dems will play ol' Bernie.
I have a theory that some dems have calculated that they stand no chance of unseating an incumbent president during good times, the socialist in their party are grabbing power, and the Bernie Bros will riot against the DNC if they perceive Bernie is cheated again; they could just let Bernie and his buddies have it suffer a humilating defeat,..... the dems problems solved.

 

Perhaps I misread your intent. I interpreted you use of "is robbed of the nomination", "I would be furious", and "run as an independent" from someone who is not a Democrat as injecting bias into your question. If you had asked me If Bernie Sanders was the clear leader with more votes by far and he didn't get the nomination on the first or second ballot I would say it is time to nominate him, even though there are several others I prefer.
The rules say one must have a majority of the delegates to win, not a majority of the votes. In that respect it is much like the popular vote and the Electoral College.

 

You clearly defined what I would expect out of most fair minded people. If he is the clear leader in this process, then he should get the nomination.

I am not going down that rabbit hole, but it is not nearly like the Electoral College. The EC makes sense based on the intentions of the founders. The purpose it was meant to serve is exactly what it performs today.

 

I would be thankful that Bernie would be gone! Although I'm a democrat and have defended some of Sander's policies these last few days, I don't want the rest of his socialist revolution. Free college and Healthcare are my primary concerns in this election. That's about it. No socialist re-education camps, please.

 

While I agree with you that healthcare and college education are important issues, describing the rest of Sanders' agenda as "socialist re-education camps" only fuels the hysteria of the right, who for the most part can't tell the difference between a socialist/communist and Swiss cheese.

 

Except it has nothing to do with the EC, it's about hand picked superdelegates overriding the will of the people...

 

I wouldn't be mad because I know that plurality voting is invalid to begin with. The more candidates there are, the more advantage goes to the candidate that is distinct from the others, regardless of what the majority want. If they wanted to avoid a mess, they needed to use preference-ranking to begin with.

That said, with the way things are, they would be better of giving it to whoever gets the plurality because otherwise they'll piss too many people off to win with a "better" candidate.

 

I got the idea of socialist reeducation camps from another thread on this forum:
Chris Matthews of MSNBC admits Bernie is a danger to America

 

Several points:

The rules set up by the Democratic party make it a delegate count, not a popular vote count.
The rules about super delegates changed after the last election and Sanders had input and then agreed with those rules
15% of the delegates at the Democratic convention will be "super delegates"
7% of the delegates Republican convention will be similar to "super delegates" as they are not voted for and could override the will of the people..

https://www.pbs.org/weta/washington...erdelegates-and-yes-republicans-have-them-too

 

7% is only enough to decide a close contest, 15% is enough to override the will of people...