Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Labor leader: DNC should not change rules to help Sanders avoid a contested convention
Yahoo News ^ | March 1st, 2020 | Jon Ward, Senior Political Correspondent

Posted on 03/01/2020 5:33:56 PM PST by Mariner

WASHINGTON — The head of the nation’s third-largest labor union said that the Democratic Party should not change its rules to award Bernie Sanders or any other candidate the nomination if they finish the primary with the most delegates but less than a majority.

“We can’t change it. We can’t change it. We’ve got to live with the process, and I believe that there were improvements in that process,” Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), told Yahoo News.

Saunders’s comments, in a 45-minute interview for Yahoo News’ podcast “The Long Game,” came on the heels of debate this past week over whether Sanders should be awarded the nomination at the convention automatically if he has the most delegates, but less than 50 percent.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a Sanders supporter that “you write the rules, before you know where everybody stands, and then you stick with those rules.” Former Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday on CNN, “You don’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”

Sanders was the only Democratic candidate to say that superdelegates should not be allowed to vote at the convention, per the agreement reached on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee in coordination with his own representatives.

“The person who has the most votes should become the nominee,” Sanders said at a debate. He insinuated that if superdelegates were to play a role, it would contradict “the will of the people.”

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: afscme; bernie; dnc; unions
Sanders shot down.

Look for excitement in Milwaukee this July.

1 posted on 03/01/2020 5:33:56 PM PST by Mariner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Mariner

He is preaching to the choir. The Dem establishment DON’T want Sanders.


2 posted on 03/01/2020 5:35:57 PM PST by SmokingJoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Plurality rule... divide and conquer.

From Bernie’s point of view, the Revolution was almost in his grasp. A lifetime of striving, he could almost taste the nomination.

He might still get it... but he’s going to need a majority on the first ballot to pull it off.

Even without the superdelegate chicanery, I believe that parties nominated on majorities, which is why a plurality going into the convention meant a back-room brokered convention and a lot of deals. It would be pretty radical to change the rules to award the nomination to whomever has a non-majority lead when the convention starts. Historically so.

For Bernie to complain now about the superdelegates, after he made his deal, is just more political grasping. He agreed to the rules of the game.


3 posted on 03/01/2020 5:40:24 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Just as no one should fail to toss flammable items and a few gallons of gasoline into a dumpster just because someone might flip a cigarette butt in it.

Dems have had 3 years to prepare for what they think is an existential threat, yet they load up a clown car and obey playground rules while putting their bets old white guys who are either senile, socialist, or a-holes. It’s going to be fun to watch.


4 posted on 03/01/2020 5:42:25 PM PST by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Sanders is a wimp. The nomination will be stolen from him and he will end up campaigning for Biden anyway, just like he did for Hillary.


5 posted on 03/01/2020 5:43:43 PM PST by nbenyo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Look for excitement in Milwaukee this July.
Look also for excrement in Milwaukee this July, and in SF right now. ;^)

6 posted on 03/01/2020 5:44:41 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Got my fingers crossed and cheerfully looking forward to it.


7 posted on 03/01/2020 5:51:16 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s........you weren't really there)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mariner

Who does Berne think he is, Lord Obama?


8 posted on 03/01/2020 5:53:17 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Everyone knows Hillary was corrupt, lied, destroyed documents, and influenced witnesses. Rat crime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pearls Before Swine

He’s less popular than when he ran against Hillary


9 posted on 03/01/2020 5:53:59 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Everyone knows Hillary was corrupt, lied, destroyed documents, and influenced witnesses. Rat crime.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson