Bernie Supporters Are Trying To Divide The Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is truly a "big tent" party. It encompasses many different political views -- liberals (progressives), moderates, and even some reasonable conservatives. And candidates of all three persuasions (even the conservatives) would represent this country better than the extremists of the right currently being put forward by Republicans.

Sadly though, there is now a segment of the party that doesn't believe this -- some of the more hardcore Bernie Sanders supporters. They attack any Democrat that doesn't agree with Sanders 100%, and their actions are dividing the party. Unfortunately, Bernie Sanders either won't or can't control those supporters, and that could cause trouble for the party in 2018 -- because these "democrats" want a purity test applied to all Democratic candidates.

I agree with most of the ideas put forward by the Bernie supporters (progressive ideas), but I think it's a mistake to apply any kind of purity test to Democratic candidates. This is a nation that has always preferred moderation in politics. The voters tend to vote against extremists (on either side), and while they want changes, they want those changes made in moderate steps. I wish that wasn't true, but it is -- and an all or nothing attitude will just hurt the party and the country.

The following article, written by Gabriel Debenedetti, is from Politico. I post only a part of it, but the whole thing is well worth reading if your love the Democratic Party. Mr. Debenedetti writes:

Prominent Democrats are increasingly riled by attacks from Bernie Sanders' supporters, whose demands for ideological purity are hurting the party ahead of the 2018 midterms and 2020 presidential election, they say.

But it’s not just the outside agitators that Democratic lawmakers, operatives, and activists are annoyed with: They’re tired of what they see as the senator’s hesitance to confront his own backers, either in public or through back channels.

Tensions boiled over recently when a handful of Sanders loyalists bashed freshman Sen. Kamala Harris — a rising star in the party and potential 2020 hopeful — as an establishment tool. Democrats were also rankled that other prominent Sanders allies said support for single-payer health care should be a litmus test for candidates.

In response, Democratic senators and outside groups have begun telling Sanders and friendly intermediaries that if he wants to be a leading figure for Democrats ahead of 2020’s presidential election, he needs to get his supporters in line — or at least publicly disavow their more incendiary statements.

The confrontations, they insist, threaten party unity ahead of a critical midterm election cycle, when Democrats have a shot at winning the House and several governor’s offices. . . .

The mutual mistrust goes beyond the establishment vs. insurgent divide that defined 2016’s presidential primary. Some Democrats from the progressive wing of the party agree that he needs to do more to rein in his supporters.

If Sanders intends to lead the party, said one Democratic operative who’s worked with him, requesting to speak anonymously like many others for fear of reprisal from Sanders backers, “you don’t get to wash your hands of all of this.”. . .

Democrats' frustration about Sanders' unwillingness to confront his backers has intensified since it first emerged during the 2016 campaign. . . .

Many Democrats are concerned that Sanders no longer has any control over the vast political network surrounding him after his 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver left the helm of Our Revolution in June. That national political organization, Sanders' post-campaign creation, is now led by former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, who was a strident supporter of the Vermonter and a Clinton critic in 2016.

Last month, Democrats across Capitol Hill were quick to circulate a BuzzFeed report in which Turner called the DNC “dictatorial” and “insulting.” They were concerned that a group with the reach of Our Revolution’s could be doing significant damage to the party’s efforts to re-engage with Sanders voters. . . .

Sanders, now a member of Senate Democrats’ leadership team, never publicly condemned or endorsed Turner’s remarks. People close to him say he views Our Revolution as a separate entity from the political team he controls.