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I'm sorry to be bearer of this news, but if Bernie doesn't win the primary, the unavoidable conclusion for many on the left of center, especially the young, but also many who have resisted it until now, is that the Democratic Party is the main obstacle to reforming our country.

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Matt Karp

@karpmj

Mar 10, 2020

absolute masterclass by Bernie Sanders on Fox News. There is just no one else in America—no one—who can talk across party lines about the way our government can address the real needs of the people. Imagine what good he could do in a general election video.foxnews.com/v/613996033400

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What I want to argue to people in the left is that there are good democrats we should support and bad democrats we should try to primary and time out. I don't know how I'll be able to argue this ever again, when the last time I argued it was Elizabeth Warren

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The last six months have been me pushing back on people who seem to me to be obsessively distrustful of Warren and only trusting Bernie, who has proven his commitment by standing against the party. But they were right? Now Warren's out there saying the candidates are identical.

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Yeah idk. My heart is pissed at her for not standing with grassroots progressivism. But my head recognizes that she has different power than we do: if her goal is to maximize progressivism, and 538 is right, then a Biden play might be the most good she can do. And I hate that.

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Where I've reconciled it right now is… The only option available to us as citizens is to support Sanders 100%. Either he wins, or we pressure Biden. Warren has more complex leverage, and I have hope she's doing progressive calculus with it. But I'll never get to be sure 😕

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Warren doesn't have shit. She has no votes and Biden hates her. As soon as he wins he can just tell her to piss off and suffer zero consequences.

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From a pure process perspective a thing is that Warren's small number of delegates are of more value to Sanders than to Biden. I believe you can only reassign delegates on the second ballot. But on the second ballot superdelegates get to vote.

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The number is smaller than it appears since many delegate slots will get reassigned to the candidates still in the race when they're selected. washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/ Delegates also aren't forced to vote for the candidate they were pledged to support, even in the first round.

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politifact.com/article/2020/f is a broader overview. Delegates are supposed to be supporters of the candidate, but they aren't necessarily, and they aren't beholden to them at all. Their candidate endorsing someone else is just a recommendation to them. They can do whatever they want.

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That's why this isn't completely insane: realclearpolitics.com/elections/bett Biden could win the majority of the pledged delegates and the nominee could still be someone else... which is well within the realm of possibility. What if he gets sick? The top candidates are 77 / 78 years old...

4:00 PM · Mar 10, 2020Twitter Web App