Do you think we can convince Independent Bernie Sanders to become a Dem?

[DaveSZ]

http://bernie.house.gov/home.asp

If we could, then we'd only need to pick up 10 seats in November to take back the House!

I watched Bernie speak on the House floor, and he's great!


Check out his website.

[Dookus]

1. not necessary

he caucuses with the Democrats for organizational purposes. It wouldn't make a difference.

[DaveSZ]

2. Ah

Yeah I had wondered about that.

So even if we were one vote short of a House majority, with Bernie it would still put us over the top?

Does the 11-seat count we need to take back the House include Bernie as well?

[Dookus]

3. well

there are 228 republicans, and now 206 Democrats, counting Herseth.

With Bernie Sanders caucusing with the Dems, there's still a gap of 21, which would be overcome with a swing of 11 seats. So he would put us over the top if necessary, but we'd still need 11.

[GOPBasher]

7. Exaclty what I was going to say -- he caucuses with us,

so it doesn't matter.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Yep. He voted for Pelosi for Speaker last year

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll002.xml

[cyclezealot]

4. Sanders sits in the Dem. caucus as does Jim Jeffords.

If needed Sanders vote would give the speakership to Nancy Pelosi as did Jeffords to Daschle..Why switch...His instincts are too pure..
Amazing..Purity in politics..? So, his refusal to be a full time Dem..gives pause for the caucus to realize it must earn the loyalty of independents. Some independent thinking( out of the box) is good for the republic and the Democratic Party.

[Armstead]

5. Democrats should join him

Bernie is what Democrats ought to be.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Bernie is great :^)

[IrateCitizen]

9. My thoughts exactly (nt)

[BringEmOn]

11. Democrats should align more with the Progressive Caucus

of which Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, and other progressives are members.

http://bernie.house.gov/pc/

[lastliberalintexas]

13. And once were

Maybe all the Dems could agree to caucus with the Socialists and we could elect Bernie to Speaker?


I will say, however, that I *do* have some doubts about the man. I once heard an interview of him on Pacifica radio wherein he used the words "Texas Legislature" and "wisdom" in the same sentence. At the very least, that showed extremely bad judgment on his part. ;-)

[no name no slogan]

14. Hey, it (sort of) worked for the Democrats in Minnesota

Maybe all the Dems could agree to caucus with the Socialists and we could elect Bernie to Speaker?

Actually, that's very similar to how the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party came into being. The Democrats merged with the radical/socialist Farmer-Labor party to form the DFL. At the time, the Farmer-Labor party had wider support in the state than the Democrats did. In a way, the Democrats merging with the Farmer-Laborites actually saved the Dems from becoming extinct in MN.

IMHO that's why we're not as afraid of progressive politics or third parties in this state-- we have a long history of both.

[maxanne]

16. Amen n/t

[genius]

10. He votes with us. I don't think he needs to change to add to our numbers

I think he just needs to allign himself with the Democratic Party. Actually, although I'm a Democrat, I think it would be good if we had more independents in Congress. It might eventually give the liberals another place to go.

[weedthesmoke]

12. Not exactly

It was his vote last year the prevented a ban on using snowmobiles on the closed roads of Yellowstone. He sounds like a true independent to me.

[David Zephyr]

15. How Do We Convince Democrats to Become More Like Bernie?

How do we get a Tom Daschle to become a Bernie Sanders?

Bernie is not just an independent. He's a socialist...like me.

[JI7]

17. get VOTERS to be more like bernie

[Eric J in MN]

18. It's 228 Republicans, 206 Democrats, 1 Independent now (nt)

nt