Thread by @RickyJMarc

Good morning. Enough w/this false theory that angry @BernieSanders supporters tanked the 2016 election for Hillary Clinton.

He did everything he could to make sure she won in November, and I’ll explain why, putting on my @briebriejoy hat on for a moment.

THREAD:

2/When Obama clinched the nomination over Hillary in 2008, Hillary went on to do about 12-ish events for him between then and Election Day.

Nevertheless, about 25% of her voters went and voted for McCain. Obama still managed to win in an electoral landslide on 04 November 2008.

3/On the other hand, when Hillary beat Bernie in 2016, Bernie went on to do between 37-41 events for her between then and Election Day, and about 12% of his voters chose the current WH occupant. Hillary, as we all remember, still lost 3 states she should have won—WI, PA, and MI.

4/Speaking both proportionally and in terms of raw numbers, significantly more Hillary voters defected and voted for McCain in ‘08 than did Bernie supporters for 45 in ‘16. Bernie worked so hard for her that year that she thanked him in writing a month before the election.

5/So for everyone out there looking for an excuse to dismiss @BernieSanders because of his followers: GIVE IT A REST. His supporters don’t rock with other candidates because of POLICY DIFFERENCES, whereas I see most of the hate against him come over a few zealous supporters.

6/It’s wild sitting here in the Democratic Party and watching actual candidates act and speak like Republicans when trying to take apart Bernie’s ideas, while at the same time adopting his overall theme. Candidates have tried to do that and failed since 2016, and some have quit.

7/So yeah, @BernieSanders did everything he could to make sure Hillary Clinton was elected POTUS, but as we saw in 2008, voters will do what they wish. Obama was a great candidate. Hillary was not. We saw this. The numbers showed themselves as such, and I’ll explain them below.

8/Look at the numbers (rounded up):

— Obama 2008: 69.5m votes, 58.2% turnout, 365 Electoral Votes;
— Obama 2012: 65.9m votes, 54.9% turnout, 332 Electoral Votes; and
— Clinton 2016: 65.9m votes, 55.7% turnout, 227 Electoral Votes.

She didn’t keep pace with population growth.

9/Hillary underperformed relative to the previous two cycles, and neither Bernie nor Obama could save her from that situation. We could blame Russia (Росси́я) all we want, but she wasn’t the candidate Obama (or even Bill) was. 45 won w/Romney 2012’s numbers (62m). That’s wild.

10/Let me finish: more than 80% of Bernie voters voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Bernie did between 37-41 events for her after he lost and the Podesta E-Mails were leaked. He kept fighting for her—and us—long after his campaign ended. He continues to today as a 2020 candidate.

11/No candidate is perfect. None. But @BernieSanders has shown we can take him at his word and trust him to be consistent and selfless. #NotMeUs is not an accident, it’s how he’s managed his political life. Cheap shots will always come. But Bernie will keep fighting back.

12/That’s what he’s done + he’s doing, + he will continue to do from now until he can’t do it anymore. So let’s end this tired narrative. Let’s focus on the issues + quit looking for excuses to dismiss the most transformational platform we’ve seen in nearly a century. #Bernie2020

1. If you're an independent, it's time to change that: visit voteforbernie.org to figure out your situation.

2. Visit rickyjmarc.com/vote and #RegisterToVote. It has everything you need to make sure you're ready, not just in time for the primaries, but for the General.