Sanders as a third-party candidate.....might it work?

[Peter Lemkin]

It seems Sanders has given up without a fight even at the DNC. Very very disappointing!....::doh::

I [slightly] overstated Sander's position - due to the skewed reporting by the BBC [famous for their skewed reporting done in impeccable English style]. When I actually heard his speech to his followers, he asked them to carry on the fight to change the Democratic Party, but that he would then [implying he would not become their candidate] support whoever was [gee, wonder who was unnamed] in the necessary fight to defeat Trump. Still, a disappointing speech, but he has not [totally] given up his fight just yet...only partly, IMHO.

We turn now to the presidential race. On Thursday night, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders addressed supporters in a live webcast, vowing the continuation of what he called his political revolution. The speech came two days after Hillary Clinton won the last primary in Washington, D.C. While Clinton has claimed victory in the Democratic race, Sanders announced he would stay in until next month's convention. He did not endorse the former secretary of state, but vowed to work with her to defeat the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: The major political task that together we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated, and defeated badly. And I personally intend to begin my role in that process in a very short period of time. But defeating Donald Trump cannot be our only goal. We must continue our grassroots effort to create the America that we know we can become. And we must take that energy into the Democratic National Convention on July 25th in Philadelphia, where we will have more than 1,900 delegates.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Bernie Sanders went on to say he plans to push the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party to adopt a more progressive agenda.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I look forward in the coming weeks to continue discussion between the two campaigns to make certain that your voices are heard and that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history, and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda. I also look forward to working with Secretary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party, so that it becomes a party of working people and young people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors, a party that has the guts to take on Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry and the other powerful special interests that dominate so much of our political and economic life.

AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the Sanders campaign, we're joined by RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, the nation's largest organization of nurses, the first national union to back Senator Sanders last year for president. Sanders recently attempted to place DeMoro on the Democratic platform committee, but according to Sanders, the move was blocked by the Democratic National Committee. This weekend, National Nurses United is helping organize a major conference in Chicago called the People's Summit. RoseAnn DeMoro will be speaking there, but is speaking here first.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, RoseAnn. Why don't you start off by responding to Bernie Sanders' announcement last night that he's staying in the race into the convention and what he wants to see happen, and then what you want to see happen?
ROSEANN DEMORO: Thank you. It was aI listened to the announcement in a room with 1,400 registered nurses, and I have to say it was music to everyone's ears. Prior to Bernie speaking on the teleprompter, we played his commercial, "America." And it justit just so much symbolizedthat beautiful commercial that he did with the Simon and Garfunkel song. And everyone wasjust fell silent. And then, when Bernie spoke, there was a massive relief in the room that there was an advocate that would be fighting for them, for the nurses, for their patients. It was justit was thethe passion was palpable. And it was beautiful. And I think that's probably how it resonated with people across the country. What we know about Bernie is that he will be there. He's always been there as a fighter in the Senate, but that he will continue to be there for us. But most importantly, his message was, we have to be there, we have to build a movement, we have to fight.
Now, followingI just have to say this, because it was just so sweet. Following his presentation, the nurses, because they always dancewe ascribe to Emma Goldman's philosophy: If we can't dance, we don't want to have the revolution. So they wereyou know, started up karaoke. They chose their songs. The Veterans Administration nurses who were in the room chose "My Guy," and they got up and they sang it for Bernie. And it was justI mean, it made everybody tear up. And then, the next group did a song for Bernie called "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. So that, actually, I think, is emblematic of where things stand.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: RoseAnn DeMoro, I wanted to ask you about this issue of theDNC nixing you for being on the platform committee, and also the reasons that they felt that they didn't want labor union representation, the ostensible reasons, what that signifies?
ROSEANN DEMORO: You know, Juan, I think, exactly, ostensible. Well, the fact that the DNC could use not having a labor leader on the platform committee as a reason says everything that you need to know about how far the Democratic Party has drifted from the working people of America. But actually, the real reason is that I amI fight. You know, we are one of the only organizations, I'd say, that has systematically fought in its history for a single-payer healthcare system, because the nurses see the human suffering of people, and it's not negotiable. And that's the thing. You know, we've seen with the neoliberal agenda and the austerity programs, we're all supposed to get on board and just accept cuts. Well, when it comes to health, the nurses see the consequences of that. They see the fallout. They see people who can't afford their prescriptions. They see people who get to the hospital so late, and their lives are compromised because of it. And so, when it comes to single payer, we don't compromise. We are going to fight. Every other country can achieve a single-payer system. People shouldn't suffer. And that's basically the bottom line and one of the reasons that the nurses are so heartfelt in the Sanders campaign and remain so.
And so, excluding me fromI was not surprised whatsoever. I mean, it was ironic, because, you know, they chose Cornel West, who we like very, very much, but they excluded me. And what that says isto me, is the role of finance in healthcare and what they don't want to see in the platform. There isn't a commitment to taking care of America's people by the Democratic Party any longer. A single-payer healthcare system is more cost-effective, it's the most efficient, and it guarantees access for everyone. And that's off the agenda. That's what that says.