The not terribly perceptive ultra-left at The Guardian is getting a bad feeling.

With Donald Trump and this election, it feels ominously like 2016 all over again

We could so easily step into another Electoral College victory for a populist authoritarian clown who loses the popular vote.

This writer is full of foreboding and doubts about Biden's stay-mum strategy, but had Biden spoken up much earlier and attacked the rioters from the start and equally hammered the leftism this writer so loves, where would the support of the Bernie Bros and racist/racial leftists have gone?

He doesn't see that it isn't Trump's entirely fictitious political genius that has made a second term increasingly likely.

Nor some lack of political wit on Biden's part.

He doesn't know to ask himself these questions.

Are the Democrats going to be sunk because their party so heavily depends on ultras whom they cannot get to the polls without embracing or appearing to embrace positions feared and loathed even by most Democrats, let alone the rest of America?

Or is that dependence merely a self-destructive delusion or poor strategic choice from which Democrats may yet hope to recover?

Though not before this election has run its course.

Perhaps losing twice in a row to a naked emperor with nothing at all to commend him but the deplorable talents of a clown might teach them that lesson.

A Democratic turf war is raging — even as progressives try to elect Biden

Is Biden Ceding the Law-and-Order Issue?

But would that make it Trump v. Harris?

If Joe, for whatever reason, dropped out.

Bernie and his supporters would sure as heck question that, I think, if Joe was out before the convention anointed anyone.

Anybody might question that, given the GOP might well run better against a woman of color not so well known they can't paint her as a crazy radical, which they are already doing without too much trouble.

Interesting question which way AOC and the Squad would jump.

Of course, Bernie actually is a crazy radical, but he's an old and well known white guy as well as a crazy radical, and that's probably a better combination for white voters Trump needs in battleground states than a relatively little known woman of color.

Though if Bernie bumped her off the ticket that might cost him nearly all the black support he would absolutely have to have to win.

Fox News host baselessly claims that 'something's going to happen' to Joe Biden

She just went a little over the line, maybe, in course of playing her part in Fox's propaganda onslaught that Old Dodderin' and Sleepy Joe is just a Trojan horse for flaming, insane radical black woman nutjob Kamala Harris.

All of Fox's talking heads are fairly shouting it's really Trump vs Harris and Joe is at best a signature monkey for the craziest, darkest (heh, heh) elements of the "Democrat Party".

More of that by now infamous Republican projection, I'd say.

Claiming Joe will not even make it to election night is just making the prospect all the more terrifying, eh?

The Fox News opinion host Jeanine Pirro baselessly suggested on Wednesday evening that "something's going to happen" to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, and that it would cause the former vice president to be removed from the ballot during the presidential election in November.

"For some reason, I just have this feeling that Joe Biden isn't going to be on the ticket," Pirro said during a Fox News segment.

"I have a sense that something's going to happen before the election and he's not even going to be on the ticket, so don't even ask me if he's going to make the four years," she added.

So far as I can tell, she actually is further to the left than Joe B, and she was that at the beginning of the campaign, at the end of the campaign, and in response to the Floyd killing, protests, and riots.

And as she so painfully and forcefully pointed out during the debates, she was and all but incontestably still is to his left of racial matters.

I am truly not sure where that puts her relative to registered Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents.

But she is definitely to the left of this guy, my very own Democratic Congressman, and apparently also to the left of my Democratic Senator.

Die-hards haven't all died, yet

Ted Rall.

If Trump Wins, Don’t Blame Progressives. This Is on You, Centrists.

It's not Sanders. It's the Bernie Bros.

Sanders really hates capitalism

Sanders demands any vaccine be available to all Americans

Bernie Sanders just pressed Senate hearing witness Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health, that if (hopefully when) a successful vaccine is developed to immunize people against Covid-19 that it reaches all Americans “regardless of income” or any health situations.

Giroir said it was his office’s job to serve “all segments of society”. 

When Sanders pressed him again on whether everyone would get the vaccine, Giroir began to say “they should, I do not represent..”

But Sanders cut him off, saying: “You represent an administration that makes that decision.”

Giroir asserted that, yes, all Americans would have access to the vaccine regardless of ability to pay, or any health factors.

First, what Sanders insisted on was both that the vaccine be provided all Americans free of charge and that no manufacturer make any profit on its production and sale.

The latter being an altogether gratuitous stab at the beating heart of capitalism, it seems to me.

Second, Giroir rightly protested neither could be guaranteed by him.

Surely guaranteeing either outcome would require congressional action to see that all costs were covered while no profit was made?

Doesn't seem something to be decided by "the administration" acting all on its own.

Sanders supporters want to dump Biden over Reade.

Biden sexual assault claim divides Democrats as Republicans pounce

While high-profile Democrats voice support for the presumptive presidential nominee, some progressives call for a closer look at Tara Reade’s allegations

What?

Some progressives?

The allegations of sexual misconduct by Tara Reade against the former vice-president Joe Biden have caused new fault lines within the Democratic party, especially between its left wing and the establishment.

. . . .

Peter Daou, a Democratic strategist who has argued that the “Democratic establishment” has moved to undercut Reade’s allegations, said three basic factions had emerged.

“You have Biden’s opponents on the Republican side and they’re going to seize on this,” Daou said, adding that there was also “the left – progressives and leftists” who want to see Reade’s allegations taken more seriously, and then the Democratic party establishment figures who are trying to undermine Reade. 

The latter group, Daou said, is “just absolutely wedded to Biden right now, will not let go, so they’ll defend him at all costs – even if that means completely destroying the #MeToo movement”.

Does Daou, a Bernie fan this cycle,  mean to suggest it isn't too late to switch to his guy?

Is there a pattern here?

Similar questions are being asked by progressives and some more moderate Democratic party leaders. 

David Sirota, a former speechwriter and senior strategist for Bernie Sanders, has argued that Democrats have been too eager to discount Reade’s allegations.

Some are quite frank they want Biden out.

And they look to me like people who never really wanted him in.

Rebecca Parson, a liberal Democrat challenging the Washington state congressman Derek Kilmer, said in an interview on Friday that Biden should step down over Reade’s allegations. 

Parson said she believes Reade and thinks the charges create too much of a vulnerability for Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

. . . .

Parson added: “I think that Biden should withdraw and any one or more of the candidates who aren’t running should restart their campaign because the Democratic primary isn’t over yet.”

. . . .

A Politico/Morning Consult poll found that over a third of Democratic voters surveyed say the party should switch out Biden as their presumptive nominee because of the allegations.

Is that by any chance the third that were all in for Bernie?

Any guesses who they think should be the nominee, instead?

Bernie, himself, is still on board with Biden.

So far, he seems to really mean it that the top priority is to get Trump out of the White House.

Even if his own supporters don't, or are truly delusional about what that requires.

So why couldn't he bring himself to do it when he on TV "suspended" his campaign?

Fucking prima donna.

Bernie Sanders has announced his endorsement of Joe Biden for president, during a virtual livestream on the US response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary last week.

“So today, I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans, to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse,” the senator from Vermont said, appearing alongside Biden, who was hosting the broadcast.

“We’ve got to make Trump a one-term president,” Sanders said. 

“I will do all that I can to make that happen.”

MSNBC says Sanders "has suspended his campaign"

Campaign for what?

Is there going to be an election?

When? How?

Wisconsin voting mess sends a message for November

I would urge online voting is better than mail-in but I don't trust its integrity in a nation so deeply subject to the power of Trump and his allies, domestic and foreign.

It is certain that Republicans, a party that is ever more openly a national criminal gang, in the federal government, in state governments, and in local governments would actively work to enable Russian and other foreign opinion-forming operations as well as outright hacking on behalf of the politically vicious mob boss in the White House.

And I am entirely sincere in saying that.

Update.

Sanders is going on TV to make a formal announcement.

He is not expected to endorse Joe Biden.

Well, no.

Who would expect that from the most personally spiteful and bitterly anti-Democratic candidate for the Democratic nomination, ever?

Oh, is Bernie positive for the virus?

Update.

Actually, he congratulated Biden, called him a good man, and promised to campaign for him and work together with him to defeat Donald Trump, "the most dangerous president in history".

Trump urges Republicans to 'fight very hard' against voting by mail

Compare the things Republicans have to do to help their chances with the things Democrats want to do to help their chances.

What the GOP has to do is racist, Nativist, white nationalist, homophobic, misogynist, often outright criminal, and deeply anti-democratic.

What the Democrats want to do is just the opposite.

An increasingly politically imperiled oligarchy confronts an increasingly cogent and united popular opposition.

Don't expect Sanders to gracefully withdraw

Biden rolls on with big win in Michigan, grows delegate lead over Sanders

It's mathematically possible but not at all likely that Sanders could still get to the convention, if there is one, in the lead.

So the usual suspects are calling for an end to the primary campaigns.

Joe S: the three men running for president are all in their 70's and at least 2 have underlying conditions

Trump is obese and Bernie has a bad heart. And Joe B?

Joe asks do these three follow Fauci's advice for people above 60, especially with chronic health issues, to avoid crowds?

How do you campaign like that?

A widening rift

Will Bernie and his supporters behave worse this time than last, supposing he loses to Joe B?

Biden warns against primary bloodbath as Sanders sharpens attacks ahead of key contests

Democratic presidential rivals Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are racing across the US midwest this weekend, with the progressive Sanders sharpening his attacks while the former vice-president warned against a campaign “bloodbath” as the 2020 nominating contest narrows.

Biden also warned, in an intensifying fight, against what he called “Bernie brothers” – understood to be a reference to diehard fans of Sanders more widely dubbed “Bernie bros” and known for aggressive online attacks on supporters of Democratic rivals and an unwillingness to join up with them if Sanders loses the nomination.

“What we can’t let happen is let this primary become a negative bloodbath,” Biden told more than 100 donors gathered at a private residence in Bethesda, Maryland. 

“I know I’m going to get a lot of suggestions on how to respond to what I suspect will be an increasingly negative campaign that the Bernie brothers will run. But we can’t tear this party apart and re-elect Trump,” Politico reported late Friday.

Before dropping out earlier this week, Elizabeth Warren had called out Sanders for what she called nastiness and bullying of her supporters by some of his supporters.

So what's the real goal?

If it's to deny Bozo a second term then Bloomberg needs to not take sides between those seeking the Dem nomination and work for whoever wins against Trump.

If he feels he must spend money against Trump now attacks on Bozo are fine.

But if the point is to keep Bernie out of the White House even at the risk of crippling the Dem effort against Trump then Bloomberg should go all in for Joe Biden.

Biden had a good Super Tuesday

Bloomberg quits, backs Joe Biden after former VP wins Texas in Super Tuesday breakout

The New Yorker spent half a billion on his campaign and won American Samoa.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrestled with the embarrassment of losing at home in Massachusetts. Biden’s win amounted to a major upset over both her and Sanders, who had led Warren in polls just days earlier. She planned to spend Wednesday assessing her options.

The other major candidate, billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg, a former New York mayor, spent $500 million from his vast personal fortune, with little to show for it but a stack of invoices from TV networks and Facebook, though he did win American Samoa and at least four delegates there – small consolation on a night when Democrats parceled out 1,344 pledged delegates, a third of the total.

He joins a list of candidates through history who tried to bypass the initial small state contests without success. He did top the 15% threshold in Texas needed to get some statewide delegates.

“I’ve always believed that defeating Donald Trump starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it. After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden,” he said.

National Results & Map

Bernie could not today get enough delegates for a first ballot win at the convention

You need 1,991 to win on the first ballot.

If no candidate wins on the first ballot, all delegates become unpledged. 

There are 4,750 delegate votes on the second - and any subsequent - ballot. 

This total is comprised of the 3,979 formerly-pledged delegates from the first ballot as well as 767 automatic delegates with a full vote and 8 automatic delegates with a half vote.1  

This means there are 775 automatic delegates with a total of 771 votes, with 4,750 equal to 3,979 + 771.

Since there are delegates with a half vote, a half vote is considered a whole unit of delegate for any ballot after the first round.  

Half of 4,750 is 2,375. 

Therefore, the requirement is 2,375.5 delegates to win the nomination when all delegates are voting.

Bernie has 60 already and Wikipedia says only 1,357 are available today.

No polls reflect today's new and more Biden-friendly candidate lineup.

Bernie supporters point out that this has not changed, that Biden so far has only shown the ability to win one state.

And that, they do not add but they certainly know and expect you to know, was courtesy of a majority black electorate not at all typical of the nation as a whole.

Sanders is campaigning as he did in 2016, running at the end against the Democratic Party and the majority of Democratic voters who are not and don't want to be socialists.

Bloomberg is and has been running mostly against Bozo.

Super Tuesday: crucial vote under way as Democrats battle for nomination

When do the two stories come together?

The one about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on public activities and the other about the massively public activities of this campaign and election year?

All in

Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O'Rourke endorse Joe B at a rally in Dallas.

Let's hope he doesn't fall over on the way to the White House.

Bernie is already sounding angry and bitter about "the Democratic establishment".

News stories were calling them moderates before this, but now they seem to be echoing Bernie's contemptuous and rather 1960s characterization.

The Stop Sanders movement has gone public

Chris could be right that the point now is to deny Bernie a first ballot victory in order to enable a brokered convention to pick Joe B.

Amy K withdraws, will endorse Joe B tonight at rally

With her 'Klomentum' gone, Amy Klobuchar ends her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who pitched herself as a moderate with Midwestern appeal and the political "grit" to beat President Donald Trump, ended her presidential bid Monday, her campaign said in a statement.

Klobuchar will endorse former Vice President Joe Biden at at rally tonight in Dallas, her campaign said. 

Will Mayor Pete show up at that rally?

Will Tom Steyer?

Bloomberg should drop out now, too, and throw his money and his ads behind Joe B.

But I don't think he will.

Nor will Warren withdraw and throw her support to Bernie.

Does Bernie see it?

Dems say if they win big this fall the Trumpists won't be able to steal the election from them.

And is Bernie now saying the same in his heart about the ability of the Democratic establishment to deny him the nomination at the convention?

Is he thinking that if he shows up with an outright majority of delegates won they wouldn't dare?

Sanders hopes to ride 'blue wave' to victory in Virginia on Super Tuesday

“That is getting the establishment very, very nervous,” he [Bernie - PV] said, gleefully conjuring images of a cabal of Democrats desperately searching for a way to slow his march. 

“They’re staying up day and night trying to figure out how to stop us. And when they see turnout like this, they get even more nervous.”

Sanders wasn’t exaggerating. 

That morning, the New York Times published a report based on interviews with dozens of Democratic Party officials who said they would attempt to block his nomination at the party’s convention in July if Sanders arrived with the most delegates but fell short of a majority needed to win the nomination outright.

Trying to stop him even in that case risks sending Bozo the Crime Lord back to the White House.

And if he's actually got a majority?

The billionaire freak-out continues

CNN Compares Bernie Sanders to Coronavirus

That is, Smerconish did, and CNN was forced to apologize.

When do the zombies get knocked out at last?

Super Tuesday, if Bernie sweeps the states.

Fourteen states go to the polls on 3 March, between them commanding two-thirds of the 1991 delegates he needs to win outright.

In all but two of those states, Sanders is competitively placed or head and shoulders above the pack, including in his home turf of Vermont.

That could even knock out the biggest zombie of them all, Joe Biden, whose South Carolina proved only that he can win big among Democrats in states where blacks make up over 60% of the Dem electorate.

And then the Bernie skeptics would finally have to face facts and get on board if they really want to get rid of Trump - or not, if they want to prove to everyone they actually prefer Bozo, the racist and idiot Republican, to a soi-disant socialist leading the Democratic Party and sitting in the White House.

The super-delegates would not dare to give the nod to Biden, Buttigieg, or anybody else in the face of a really decisive lead.

Would they?

Would they dare to do it if Bernie had more than half the bound delegates won in the primary/caucus season - an eventuality no one has yet addressed?

Velshi had Ed Rendell on MSNBC live earlier today with the shocking news the ex-gov of PA is supporting Joe B.

Rendell says if (when?) Bloomberg drops out he'll use his big bucks to support Joe B against Bernie all the way to the convention.

And after the convention, if Bernie actually gets the nod?

So, about Sanders and Castro et al

When the judge gave Manafort a much softer sentence than recommended by the guidelines and than apparently deserved he explained that, apart from his crimes, Manafort was sort of an OK guy.

And it was an infuriating irrelevancy likely true of damn near all criminals.

Apart from the ways in which they suck they're swell.

And, hey, Hitler got on well with dogs and children, they say.

Joe Scarborough pointed out that Mussolini made the trains run on time.

Morning Joe crew no friends of Bernie

Lots of worrying about red baiting and Bernie's thin record of achievement.

Lots of worrying about Zombie candidates splitting moderate votes.