On today’s BradCast [audio link posted below], our coverage of the Democratic National Convention continues; a fascinating conversation with a longtime Sanders supporter who explains his gut-wrenching decision to vote for Clinton this November; and pundits on the Right continue to melt down as the two major party conventions illustrate stark differences in world views between Democrats and Republicans.
First up, Donald Trump does not want you to watch the proceedings in Philadelphia, as he told supporters in a fund raising email today. Wednesday night’s blockbuster DNC speeches from President Obama and Vice President Biden to the one from Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine to a particularly stinging Trump critique from self-made billionaire and former Republican-turned-Independent NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, make the case for why Trump would be delighted if you didn’t notice what was going on in Philly.
But it’s not all unity and flowers at the DNC, as some Sanders supporters and anti-war advocates continue to protest, and as polls between Clinton and Trump remain very tight for now.
Then, we’re joined by Black Lives Matter advocate and fierce Bernie Sanders supporter Shaun King — former Daily Kos blogger turned NY Daily News journalist — to discuss his column this week describing the difficult choice he’s made to support Bernie Sanders by supporting Hillary Clinton.
He explains, in detail, that while he’s “disgusted that the Democratic establishment clearly did everything in its power to make sure Bernie didn’t win,” he has determined that Trump represents a “dangerous threat” to the nation that must be stopped with “a necessary vote” for Clinton this fall.
“Donald Trump has out-maneuvered and out-thought seventeen other candidates in the Republican primaries, and I think he’s doing it now in this presidential race,” King warns. “I think it’s going to be a dog-fight to the very end. There’s a distinct likelihood he could win. And anybody who says otherwise doesn’t really have their finger on what people are thinking right now.”
I think it’s important that you, particularly Sanders supporters, listen to the conversation, hear out the reasons for his decision — which he has clearly struggled with — and then decide for yourself what to make of it. So, I don’t want to quote too much from our conversation today. I will note, however, that he tells me: “I trust Bernie as a person and as a politician. He’s maybe the only politician I would say that about. I felt like if he could swallow not only a sense of pride but compromise on some of the things that matter most to him — be it disagreements he’s had with the Clinton campaign — then if he could do that then I could do it.”
I also get King’s thoughts on why he has long supported (and still supports) Sanders; on the belief of Bernie partisans that the primary was “stolen” by fraud; about the option for voting “third party”; on the idea that only after a Trump win, as some suggest, will the Democratic Party finally learn its lesson; and why it is that some folks at his former journalistic home Daily Kos (one of the places where The BradCast is posted every day) seem to absolutely freak out whenever I report on polling that suggests Clinton may have a difficult time defeating Trump. (Or, frankly, when I report on anything that they perceive as being critical, somehow, of the Democratic nominee. That, even as Sanders supporters elsewhere have been accusing me for months of being a “HillBot”. Sigh. As much as I love democracy, sometimes I really hate elections.)
Finally, Bill O’Reilly seems to be melting down, again, as he plays the victim card on behalf of himself and Fox ‘News’, again, following his recent comments about slavery. All of that and more on today’s show…
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[audio:http://bradblog.com/audio/BradCast_BradFriedman_ShaunKing_DNCObama_072816.mp3]
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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There is no case to be made for Clinton.
Except maybe a criminal case
For decades,I have “voted” for third party candidates, no more. After the BLATANT ELECTION FRAUD in full view this summer, it should be clear to all would be “voters” that our so called “elections” are a FRAUD they are FAKE “ELECTIONS”! No third party candidate will ever be allowed to “win” any “election” so there is no point in trying to “vote” for them.
I will NOT “vote” for “Killery” or “Rump”, I am through with “voting” for the “lesser” of the two EVILS! All that has ever done is to elect another EVIL CANDIDATE!
Because we don’t actually have a “vote” in either the primary or the general, there is no point in wasting our time & fuel “voting” in an “election” that is a FRAUD from beginning to end.
“Voting” just tells them that you still believe in the system, NOT “voting” tells them you no longer believe in this CORRUPT, PLUTOCRATIC CORPORATE CONTROLLED FAKE “ELECTIONS” WITH FAKE “BALLOTS” that aren’t even counted, are switched to a candidate you didn’t want, “lost” or your disenfranchised.
Stay home, don’t waste your time “voting” in a RIGGED system!
Sheila Chambers said @2:
What “BLATANT ELECTION FRAUD”? Please be specific, because I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Bernie Sanders won for years as an independent. Jesse Ventura became Governor of Minnesota. There are also Green Party Mayors and state legislators all over the country.
I beg to differ.
Actually, all that tells them is they don’t have to bother trying to steal your vote. You’re giving it to them. They asked me to thank you on their behalf.
The right wing wants normal people to be discouraged from voting. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying so god-damned hard to actively suppress their right to vote. They know they don’t have an ideological edge over facts and reality, so they lie, cheat and steal in an attempt to maintain their greedy power structure.
No? All you have to do is refer to the judicial decisions handed down in Wisconsin and North Carolina saying their “voter ID” laws are blatantly unconstitutional smokescreens for suppressing the minority vote. And still the right wing administrations in those states vow to appeal their cases. Really? Their seeming inability to realize that what they’ve done is wrong tells me they aren’t simply either ignorant or stupid, rather it tells me they are unrepentant sociopaths with an unsalable ideology.