General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Sanders reopens Dem primary wounds [View all]billfmsd
(26 posts)It doesn't bother me that he didn't want to join the Democratic party. If he disagreed with the direction the party was headed in, he was just fine as an independent. The party needs to change it's direction and it's tactics. It took a guy like Bernie to bring that to the attention of the party. IMO it helped the party despite the election.
If you look at the places where Bernie did the best on the electoral map, those are the places that Trump won. Maybe it was because the Bernie voters didn't show up for Hillary. Or Maybe it was because Hillary never stood a chance in those places. Either way, Bernie exposed part of the country that mainstream Democrats weren't reaching very well. Now we have our work cut out.
For me, it's all about the positions on issues and the message regardless of party. I'm a loyal Democrat. But I find myself voting "against" more than I'm voting "for" these days. We need to change the party direction. And Bernie (IMO) has the better positions on issues.