Revolutions rarely give way to gracious expressions of defeat.
And so, despite the crushing California results that rolled in for him on Tuesday night, despite the insurmountable delegate math and the growing pleas that he end his quest for the White House, Senator Bernie Sanders took to the stage in Santa Monica and basked, bragged and vowed to fight on.
In a speech of striking stubbornness, he ignored the history-making achievement of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, who became the first woman in American history to clinch the presidential nomination of a major political party.
Mr. Sanders waited until 15 minutes into his speech to utter Mrs. Clinton’s name. He referred, almost in passing, to a telephone conversation in which he had congratulated her on her victories. At that, the crowd of more than 3,000 inside an aging airport hangar booed loudly. Mr. Sanders did little to discourage them.
Wednesday Reads: The Aftermath and On To the General Election Campaign
Posted: June 8, 2016 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics | Tags: 2016 Democratic nomination, 2016 presidential election, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton 71 CommentsGood Morning!!
I don’t have the energy to write much this morning. I stayed up pretty late to see if California would be called. I also tried to watch Bernie’s speech, but I didn’t make it all the way through. He seemed calmer and somewhat conciliatory, but I couldn’t believe that he didn’t tell his fans to stop booing Hillary or even congratulate her on winning the nomination. I hope he’ll go back to Burlington and think about whether he’d like to maintain some influence in the Senate if he goes back. At least he didn’t burn it all down by yelling about Hillary’s speeches and his other stupid gripes.
I wonder if Bernie saw that his top staffers had thrown him under the bus to Politico before he took the stage? I know everyone has seen it, but I want to record this for posterity: Inside the bitter last days of Bernie’s revolution. It’s kind of like a mini version of Woodward and Bernstein’s The Final Days. Some juicy bits:
Aides say everything was Bernie’s fault.
There’s no strategist pulling the strings, and no collection of burn-it-all-down aides egging him on. At the heart of the rage against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party, the campaign aides closest to him say, is Bernie Sanders.
It was the Vermont senator who personally rewrote his campaign manager’s shorter statement after the chaos at the Nevada state party convention and blamed the political establishment for inciting the violence.
He was the one who made the choice to go after Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz after his wife read him a transcript of her blasting him on television.
He chose the knife fight over calling Clinton unqualified, which aides blame for pulling the bottom out of any hopes they had of winning in New York and their last real chance of turning a losing primary run around.
Sanders is hoping Hillary gets indicted over her email server.
Sanders is himself filled with resentment, on edge, feeling like he gets no respect — all while holding on in his head to the enticing but remote chance that Clinton may be indicted before the convention.
Aides didn’t care for Sanders’ response to the chaos in Nevada.
“I don’t know who advised him that this was the right route to take, but we are now actively destroying what Bernie worked so hard to build over the last year just to pick up two fucking delegates in a state he lost,” rapid response director Mike Casca complained to Weaver in an internal campaign email obtained by POLITICO.
“Thank you for your views. I’ll relay them to the senator, as he is driving this train,” Weaver wrote back.
Sanders is every bit as much of a micro-manager as Donald Trump and nearly as nasty. He’ll have to get over himself pretty soon, or his “movement” will be dead and so will his Senate career.
The New York Times: Hillary Clinton Made History, But Bernie Sanders Stubbornly Ignored It.
This is who Bernie is–a nasty, mean, self-centered old man. As Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
Now on to some positive articles.
The Washington Post: Primary wins show Hillary Clinton needs the left less than pro-Sanders liberals think.
California was the biggest delegate prize of 2016 for Democrats. Sanders spent the better part of the past month camped out there. And Clinton beat him by 13 points – or nearly half a million votes.
She won the second most valuable prize available last night, New Jersey, by 26 points. And she defeated Sanders in New Mexico and South Dakota.
The Democratic coalition will ultimately unify behind Clinton – as long as she pays a modicum of respect to Sanders, which she will – because the liberal base does not want Donald Trump to become president. And Clinton benefits enormously from growing concerns among independent voters about the presumptive Republican nominee….
— Once again, Hillary excelled in higher-turnout primaries and bigger states with more delegates while Bernie did best in a lower-turnout caucus with relatively few delegates on the line.Clinton unexpectedly won the South Dakota primary, even as she lost in the North Dakota caucuses. “In caucus states, he’s averaging over 60 percent of the vote. In primaries, he averages just under 43 percent. He’s won 71 percent of caucuses; Clinton has won 72 percent of primaries,”Philip Bump notes.
— Sanders hoped a victory in California and some surprises elsewhere would give him an argument to pull superdelegates away from Clinton. Neither happened. And now he has little justification for continuing his quixotic quest, with the exception of trying to maximize his leverage.
Actually, his leverage will shrink the longer he hangs around. Democratic leaders are getting impatient.
Matthew Yglesias: Many of the factors that helped Hillary beat Bernie will let her crush Trump.
The strategies that worked against Bernie Sanders will work even better against Donald Trump — a candidate who’s very different ideologically, but whose campaign shares many of Sanders’s structural weakness in terms of over-reliance on slogans, mega-rallies, and aggressive white male supporters.
Clinton’s primary campaign focused on policy detail, consultations with a wide array of stakeholders, data, and elite validators. Compared to Sanders’s campaign, Clinton’s was relatively dull. Journalistically, there wasn’t much to say about it. And though lots of people were happy to vote for Clinton, relatively few seemed interested in attending her rallies or sharing her memes.
Yet even as Sanders created the more interesting storyline and drew the bigger crowds, he lost the election. Clinton did it through low-key strengths that happen to be valuable against Trump — oftentimes even more so.Clinton is heading into the general not only with an edge in current polls, but with a campaign — and a candidate — that is dramatically sounder on the fundamentals.
Please go read the whole thing at Vox.
Peter Beinart at The Atlantic: Hillary Clinton’s Remarkable Comeback.
Hillary Clinton has now secured the Democratic nomination for president. Because she was the front-runner, because she represents the establishment, because she has been around forever, we forget how remarkable a story that is.
I’m not talking about her gender. In purely political terms, Clinton’s victory—after losing the Democratic nomination in 2008—constitutes the greatest comeback by a presidential candidate since Richard Nixon won the Republican nomination in 1968, after losing the presidential election of 1960.
Hillary Clinton concedes Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in June 2008
Many forget how devastating Clinton’s 2008 loss was. Over the course of the campaign, her party’s most powerful leaders—people she had worked with for decades—betrayed her. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sought out Barack Obama and secretly urged him to challenge her. Former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who according to John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s Game Change, considered Clinton an “icy prima donna,” did as well. Chuck Schumer publicly endorsed Clinton; as her fellow senator from New York, he had to. But he also privately urged Obama to run. West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller, an old ally from Clinton’s health-care fight, endorsed Obama and said he was doing it for his kids.
Ted Kennedy endorsed Obama publicly, despite being repeatedly begged not to by Bill Clinton. So did Representative Lois Capps, even though Bill had campaigned for her, spoken at her late husband’s funeral, and employed her daughter at the White House. Bill had also employed former Energy Secretary and U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson. Nonetheless, Richardson—who ran himself in 2008—made a deal to send his supporters to Obama if he failed to meet the delegate threshold at individual Iowa caucus sites. He did so, according to Heilemann and Halperin, despite having promised the Clintons he would not. James Carville dubbed him “Judas.”
That wasn’t even the worst of it. Civil-rights legend John Lewis endorsed Clinton and then rescinded his endorsement to support Obama. Claire McCaskill betrayed the Clintons twice. They had campaigned hard for McCaskill when she sought a Missouri Senate seat in 2006. Then, that fall, she publicly declared that “I don’t want my daughter near” Bill. McCaskill assuaged the Clintons’ fury with an emotional apology to Bill. Then, in January 2008, she became the first female senator to endorse Obama.
Again, please go read the whole thing and remember back to those days and how painful it was. I honestly never thought Hillary would run again after 2008, but she proved me and everyone else wrong. And I’m so very happy that she did.
That’s all I have the energy for this morning. Please share your own thoughts and links in the comment thread, and remember what we have all been through together. Hillary has made our dreams a reality, and I truly believe she will go onto crash through that highest and hardest glass ceiling in November.
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
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Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
More from Peter Beinart:
She certainly does. And she will prevail over Trump. I have no doubt about it.
That was beautiful. Hillary’s determination speaks to every woman I know. GET UP, DUST YOURSELF OFF, AND TRY AGAIN.
We’re thwarted all the time and we’re used to soldiering on.
Exactly Dak – the thought I have been having all day – same ole, same ole. But, we will persevere this one.
Reading again about her betrayal in 2008 was difficult – but, her strength of character, her love for our country, her resilience, fortitude, brilliance and forgiveness shine as inspiration for me and override my negative feelings about what happened back then.
She will wipe the floor of Mar a Lago with Trump in November and I, for one, cannot wait!
What you said, Delphyne!
Ditto to Delph!!!
That’s great analysis.
Wow! Great column by Beinhart~
I was thinking today about how Hillary embodies forgiveness and letting go and how well that has served both her and us. She makes me so proud my heart just wants to burst! 😭😭😭
With you!
Kerry says all should celebrate Clinton win, regardless of party
Kerry has always been a very classy man.
I hope she keeps him on as SOS.
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What a woman. She always focuses on moving ahead, on the progress that’s been made.
Lots of good stuff here, BB. Thanks. I’m encouraged and have been sharing your links freely.
I’m so happy today!!! 😻😻😻 #imwithher
Hiya, littleisis! 8 long years …
Indeed! 😊
BB, great post. I’m running on too little sleep but happy!
Sanders continues to sink to new lows. The MSM continue to blather about Hillary’s alleged lack of inspiration and enthusiasm and difficulty attracting people to rallies — while #ImWithHer tops Twitter, supporters fill the available space at Hillary’s events, and Hillary makes history! Now, and she will do it again in November.
Hi Luna! I woke up this morning to the great news about CA! 13% woohoo!
Can’t wait for her to fry the T-rump. Our superprepared warrior woman!
ITA – I never understood why having the millennials – who apparently don’t even know how to register to vote correctly – or what a political party is, was so special. They melt away in the midterms and don’t care about local politics. My feeling was Hillary was listening to individuals in her public appearances. Bernie and Trump were just blowing hot gas at theirs.
P.S. Apologies to the many millennials who are politically savvy and active. I suspect they are the ones not easily duped by shiny things.
Agree. If you want to be taken seriously, show you’re committed. Don’t whine about Independents not being accepted by another party. If you want to influence the Democratic party, you join and learn the rules and civilly move for change — not act like toddlers.
There is a graphic at this link. It says a lot more than anything else can.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/07/us/elections/clinton-sanders-delegate-fight.html?
I want to hammer that chart into reporters’ heads! Great find, JJ!
In order to get to 2383 without superdelegates a candidate would almost need to be the only one running. With proportional assignment of delegates, one candidate would need to get about 60% of the vote state after state, landslide after landslide. The Democratic party has had superdelegates since the seventies to prevent another McGovern disaster, like having a socialist as their candidate.
Thanks for that JJ, it helped fill in some gaps for me
What’s happening??? A Hillary sympathetic article at Salon!
http://www.salon.com/2016/06/08/clintons_shining_moment_at_ny_rally_she_celebrates_at_feminism_heavy_event_as_many_stunningly_belittle_her_victory/?google_editors_picks=true
What really chaps my hide is the coddling of the Sanders campaign regarding their refusal to concede. The media, along with some Democrats were calling for Hillary to concede in ’08 well before the final primary contests and now, Bernie has absolutely no chance of winning and yet people are tiptoeing around him and worrying about his supporters. Fuck his supporters. If they would consider, even for a second, voting for Trump then they never had any intention of voting for the Democratic candidate no matter who it is.
I suspect a lot of Sander’s support is from the Ron Paul brigade – and you are correct, they would never vote for Hillary.
I agree…..These aren’t Independent voters, they’re Libertarians and will likely switch over to Johnson in the GE. They need to go on over now and drown in the river of obscurity that all Ron/Rand/Gary voters end up in.
😂😂😂
Yeah, they are acting and talking like Republican rat-fkrs. The inevitable conclusion is that they are.
My sentiments exactly janicen~
They wanted her to get out after South Carolina!
I watched both Trump and Hillary’s speeches last night and there couldn’t have been a more stark contrast. Hillary is going to crush him. I want to believe he’ll bow out to avoid the humiliation (James Carville thinks it’s possible he won’t be the nominee).
Bernie has shown his colors. No surprise people who worked with him shared their views with Politico. Same as in Congress – no one likes working with him. And Jane is the same way – they deserve each other.
Neither Trump or Sanders can run a campaign – and that is a huge red flag indicating they aren’t qualified to run the country.
I saw Carville. He may be right. Trump horrifies the traditional Repubs
I don’t want Trump to drop out. I want him to go to the bitter end, doing as much harm to the Republican Party as possible.
Me too!
Me too.
I understand your POV – but the GOP doesn’t have anyone else who could win either.
Trump worries me because he’s doing so much damage to the credibility of this country. I work with people from around the world and they are SHOCKED he is a legitimate contender – to say the least. They are literally afraid he could win.
I have often wondered if Trump really wants this. It’s a lot of work and he’s just getting a taste of how it feels to be under the microscope. The honeymoon period with his little adventure is wearing off. He doesn’t have what it takes to stand up to the scrutiny. It won’t be fun.
He looked miserable last night giving his pathetic country-club teleprompter speech.
I have to say that both Kasich and Rubio worried me a little bit.
They both can pull that “compassionate conservative” horseshit that served both Bushes so well.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/moveon-sanders-undemocratic-superdelegates
Move On told Sanders he can’t get superDs to overturn the will of the people who voted.
Glad to hear that from MoveOn.
I too am sleep deprived but very happy. I have to go to a budget meeting tonight ( I am mayor of a small town) and I plan to piss all the R’s off by wearing my favorite Hillary tee, the one with her wearing sunglasses.I wore it all over southern MO a couple of weekends ago with a big ole smile on my face. My daughter was sure we would get shot. Ha! they can KMA~
Have fun!
You are awesome. I wish you were my mayor!
The actual rigging of a party’s nomination was done by the Democratic Party in 2008 with all kinds of shenanigans, like the handling of Michigan’s and Florida’s votes (these 2 states were punished for voting out of turn). So Sanders’ can shut the hell up. It’s also the reason I changed my dem affiliation to unaffiliated.
Hillary’s team needs to continuously throw hard balls at Trump and he’ll dig his own hole. Trump nor Sanders could not have withstood all Hillary has over the past 4 decades and come back this year and won a party’s nomination.
She and I share the same generation. I’m so happy to have witnessed her success.
Me, too – June 2, 2008, but I eventually changed back to Dem just to make sure I could vote in the primaries.
I’m also of that same generation being born a couple of weeks into December, 1949 and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED being able to watch Hillary get the nomination – and will love it even more watching her win in November, 2016 and her eventual swearing in in 1/2017.
AND – watching the film of Donald Trump melting down on the floor of Mar a Lago because he’s a LOSER! Huzzah!
(PS – I would have said STFU rather than STHU – but that’s me! 🙂 )
I can vote in my state’s primaries by indicating which party’s slate I prefer. The 2008 DNC’s decisions still resonate with me so I’m not in a hurry to change back, It also greatly reduces my dem party mailings.
Ditto that!
Exactly right, palhart. We were far more justified to be resentful in ’08 than these Bernie kids. They’re just stupid. There, I said it.
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2016/06/08/allow-me-a-moment-to-rant-about-the-god-damned-kids/
Great rant from John g cole
http://wonkette.com/602716/my-vagina-voted-yesterday-and-it-was-fantastic#T6CpAd3WXgumAFTV.01
Oh so laugh-out-loud funny! Comments were interesting too.
The Wonkette commentators are legit hilarious, but not for the faint hearted.
The Beinart article told me things I didn’t know, about the depth of duplicity some Democrats engaged in. One can never forget it, but it is wonderful that Hillary is where she is now.
The best comment I’ve seen all day on TV was by Jeffrey Toobin on CNN, who said that he throught it was ridiculous that Sanders was getting all this coddling, and people who keep asking what they have to do to assuage him. In Toobin’s words, Sanders lost, and he should get in line and support her. I cannot recall any candidate who ended up with 45% of the vote, and lost virtually every major primary, being given any voice in the platform, much less being able to demand all sorts of concessions. One can be polite and gracious to him, but he can’t stand there and demand this or that as the price of whatever lukewarm endorsement he will provide.
Yay for California. I am proud of my state.
That was a shock to hear Jeffrey Toobin state the truth!
Well it needed to be said. I’m glad he spoke up.
http://time.com/4361070/hillary-clinton-historic-nomination-daughters/?xid=tcoshare
Parents let their daughters stay up late to watch Hillary’s speech.
I love that!
That made tears run down my face.
Big news from Massachusetts!
Elizabeth Warren to Endorse Hillary Clinton: Reuters
Uh-oh. She’ll need bodyguards to protect her from the Berner thugs.
She definitely will. They’re even more angry since Hillary has CLINCHED the nomination.
Excellent insightful article at Politico about the racial divide of Sanders vs Clinton voters. Long but worth it.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/2016-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-democrats-race-racial-divide-213948
Good article!
Jslat, that was really interesting article. Thanks for finding it.
Now that Bernard is out of the running we get our first real look at Clinton v. Trump
General Election: Trump vs. Clinton Reuters/Ipsos Clinton 42, Trump 34 Clinton +8
http://thedailybanter.com/2016/06/bernie-sanders-was-on-the-schlong-side-of-history-last-night/