The Democratic party is beyond help right now. If we prop it up, it is enabling the addict. Time for a detox.

You appear to be a part of a concerted effort from at least one other site to spam us with pleas for unity using scare tactics and the old canard of voting for the lesser evil. You post and run which definitely indicates that you are not posting here in good faith. You posted an essay here yesterday and never even bothered to engage with the commenters. Stop posting and tell your fellow partners in the spamming of this site to stop now. We are NOT a Democratic party site, but we believe in real democracy, not the coronation of the most corrupt candidate to ever run for President.

There are a hell of a lot of us voters who refuse to continue the Democratic party's abusive relationship with the left. The Democratic party is no longer the party of the people and for the people. It is the party of the Clintons and the oligarchs. It is also the corrupt party that rigged the elections in favor of Hillary Clinton. Perhaps you and your fellow Clintonites need to read this essay which summarizes the report issued by Election Justice USA. Its findings are a scathing indictment of how the primaries were rigged to ensure Hillary Clinton got the nomination. This is not just about Bernie, it is more about justice and we cannot have justice when we turn a blind eye to the Clintons' corruption and the injustice they have wrought upon the elcetions in this country.

So hell no! I am not going to support the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton. Every person should vote his or her own conscience and my conscience would never allow me to vote for Clinton. Now please tell everyone who is part of this scheme of spamming this site with pleas to support Clinton to stop now!

essay.

However, and please forgive my bluntness, but this:

know that some Democrats know and appreciate what you’re doing:

is patronizing, condescending bullshit. Check yourself.

And this:

"So if you agree that there's too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders' supporters have been during this election.

We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.

That's right, feel the Bern!"

That’s Obama by the by.

is just terrible propaganda. It requires one to believe: a) that all we care about is lip service and b) that we believe certain folks when they say stuff.

Also, Bernie didn't seem to have a problem reaching out to younger black folks and other non-whites. Stop engaging in that smear. You discredit yourself (further).

Work with Democrats if you like. Change isn't happening through that party, and if you really cared about it you'd abandon them, because they have already abandoned you.

That's a tack to the HARD RIGHT, because the Pseudo-Democratic Party will NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER move one picometer back from the far center right position they have dug themselves into.

That you don't understand this, shows that you don't understand anything and you don't have any advice worth listening to.

You're wasting your time with me: I am not a Democrat and have not been one since...well, some time before the 2000 Electoral Coup.

At this rate I not only will never be one again, I will not see many opportunities to cooperate collaborate with what has become the NeoFascist Party.

Happy #DemExit Day! Its easy for me because I have "never, ever" been a registered Democrat. I am part of the largest group of voters in America, the Independents. Neither major party can win a national election without us. They need us more than we need them.

First, capturing the 45% of the primary vote was not an easy task by any means. Bernie had the people's money and a populist movement behind him, and the party still managed to shut him down by rigging the system for their favored candidate. There is absolutely no way to elect a liberal nominee when the corruption is systemic and institutionalized.

You note that the thumb on the scale was "not as bad" as we thought. I disagree, in that it's not confirmed to be as bad as we thought yet. There was clear collusion between the Clinton camp, the DNC, and the media, and I wouldn't be surprised if the most damning emails that confirm blatant election fraud have yet to be released by Wikileaks.

Yes, people are absolutely against the influence of money in politics and income inequality, however, we know that the actions of our politicians, especially the Democrats, do not match their rhetoric. They give us flowery speeches and platitudes about fixing the system, but they never will, primarily because they benefit from keeping things the way they are. I find the argument that Hillary will try to overturn Citizens United to be one of the most laughable assertions made in the entire primary, particularly since no one has benefited as much from dirty corporate money than she has. That's like asking a junkie to pass legislation outlawing meth. It ain't gonna happen.

Additionally, one of the areas where I disagreed with Bernie was his foreign policy. He was too hawkish for my tastes, and I disagree that an actual peace candidate can be viable within the party. Bernie's foreign policy was not pacifist, rather he was simply more sensible about the use of military force than Hillary and he was not a blatant warhawk. Simply put, it was not one of his strongest selling points.

Finally, I will say what I've noted time and time again. Even if your goal is to retake the Democratic Party, how will you achieve that by voting for Hillary in November, thereby strengthening the establishment and enhancing Clintonian control over the entire party structure? If you think that things are bad internally now, you haven't seen anything yet. In my view, the only way that you can even hope to wrest control away from the Third Way Dems is with an inside-outside strategy that focuses on creating a viable alternative on the left. If you want to take back the party, the Democrats need to lose. Badly. They need to see that what they are doing does not work and that people will not vote for neoliberalism no matter how they dress it up. They need to suffer crushing defeats over and over until the message is driven home. That is the only way that folks like Bernie will get an opening to retake control of the party from the inside; it needs to be significantly weakened. And in my view, the only way to ensure that that happens is to work on building up a third party.

As for the censorship at the convention, the problem is that the party bigwigs really don't respect us. They don't think they need us. They don't understand that their methods have only made people angrier. They, like Hillary, don't seem to understand that we don't respect the process because it is rigged to disenfranchise us. They don't understand that many of us see Hillary as an illegitimate nominee. They don't understand that we don't respect the rules of decorum that are designed to make us shut up and sit there like good little muppets. They don't understand that if they keep shutting down peaceful protest, they will have a full-scale revolt on their hands.

The relative ease with which Bernie leap-frogged all other candidates to capture 43% of the primary vote is encouraging. It’s a sign that the Democratic primary voter is open to left-leaning policies and candidates.

It's a sign that we need a new party that promotes left-leaning policies and candidates.

Bernie showed us the right candidate will not lack funds.

Thus removing a major obstacle to running third party.

Many within the Democratic party tried to sway the primary towards Clinton. Others worked to be fair.

Those others should be provided with an alternate party to be a part of - one that more closely represents their values.

The demographics of the result favor the left.

Which makes this an excellent time to start a third party.

It’s abundantly clear that the electorate understands the relation between politicians and campaign contributions. And they don’t like it.

So they should favor a hypothetical third party that consciously refuses Wall Street's money.

Income inequality is front and center among the Democratic electorate. We need to continue pressing Democratic politicians, but they have heard the message and know it demands a response.

Actually, if you vote for or support them, it will prove that our message demands NO response.

Building a viable third party at the national level is a long-term task. Unless you think it can succeed quickly, we will need to ally with Democrats, perhaps expanding the model the Working Families Party does.

It is a long term task. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that it cannot be a vehicle for the change we seek; indeed, it has proven to be a wholly unconscionable choice. To continue supporting Democrats, even for a day, is to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the people. And every day we support the Democratic Party is another day that we withhold that support from a third party, while every day we rebuke and reject the Democratic Party is a day that creates space for the party that is to replace it.

You think you have given us 8 reasons for the left to continue working within the Democratic Party. I say you have given the left 8 reasons why it is time to utterly destroy the Democratic Party.

Although I see your ideas are not being well-received by some at the moment.

At the risk of being tarred with the same brush that's being used on you, I'll share my perspective.

Imo, the fervent 'Fie on both your houses' position so evident these days carries the risk of pushing the Left back out into the wilderness where it will splinter into its historic unmanageable factions, leading to loss of power among its uncoordinated components. In other words, I fear a replay of what happened after the 1968 Dem convention -- a dissipation of the power that has been brought together by the Bernie Phenomenon.

I see in this post's comments -- and often, here and at other 'Feel the Bern'-type sites -- an adamant and aggrieved 'Either/Or' rejection of the existing political environment. Although these are understandable emotions for the moment, these emotions do not, imo, provide a firm foundation on which to build a different structure for political power.

The brilliance of Bernie's agenda -- and the basis for his wide appeal -- was in his agenda of clearly spelled-out steps (including bills already prepared for Congress) that would lead to specific structural changes that would offer *immediate improvement* in the lives of regular Americans. For example, the combination of 'Robin Hood taxes' that would impose tiny transaction taxes on Wall Street along with plans to use that revenue to fund improvements in people's access to health care and education was just one of the many ways in which Bernie hoped to create meaningful change while working completely *within* the system. Using the organizing tools developed by his campaign, and the human connections developed within it, Bernie also still hopes to generate a new generation of politicians who will embody the broad political change we hope to see.

Bernie's approach seems to me to be 'Both/And' instead of 'Either/Or'. I see more potential for positive political movement in the 'Both/And' model than in the 'Either/Or'.

For me, that 'Both/And' model might include a combination of supporting groups like Brand New Congress AND supporting the Mahakali Overdrive's still-developing model of creating Coalitions of the Left, bringing together already-established activist groups to hammer out a political consensus.

The 'Both/And' model (which includes Bernie's plans as they stand now) will of necessity require that there are some people who work 'on the inside'. To me, subir's post addresses the possibility of working in that zone.

I think that the inclusion of voices like subir's adds and important dimension to the quality of political discourse here at c99.