Thread by @PhilippAchtel

The #NoBidenPledge:

We pledge to neither vote for, convince others to vote for, nor support the campaign of @JoeBiden in the event he becomes the Democratic Party nominee

#NoBiden
#DemExit

Some of us are independents. Some are lifelong Democrats. Some were #ObamaToTrump voters in 2016. Some are @BernieSanders supporters, others @ewarren supporters, and others undecided.

All of us would have otherwise supported @TheDemocrats in the general election.

Our three major objections:

1) @JoeBiden’s history of support for right-wing policy

2) Concerns about Biden’s health and ability to defeat Trump and carry out the office of President

3) The DNC and media’s collective effort to smother a grassroots progressive movement

@JoeBiden has a long history of supporting right-wing policy. He was chosen as a conservative balance to candidate Obama. He does not align with Party members or the grassroots progressive movement on policy matters.

As @ewarren said, “He does not meet this moment”.

There are many voters who support Sanders' plans such as the #GreenNewDeal and #M4A and believe Biden is a more "electable" shepherd of these policies.

However, Biden's positions do not match these priorities, and as that becomes clear his veneer of electability will vanish.

He will not shepherd these progressive policies because he does not believe in them.

#BidenDoesntSuppportMedicareForAll

Nominating @JoeBiden will give @realDonaldTrump the chance to run to his left on #NAFTA, #IraqWar and other issues, and given his reluctance to support #MedicareForAll, Trump will even be able to run to his left on #healthcare.

We are not swayed by arguments regarding Supreme Court nominations. As exemplified by his disgraceful conduct during the Clarence Thomas confirmation, there is every reason to believe @JoeBiden will work with Republicans to appoint a moderate or worse.

The only way to ensure a progressive replacement on the Supreme Court and maintain or improve its political balance is to nominate and elect @BernieSanders.

Let us note that Biden is campaigning for a "return to normal". Yet the "normal" he desires are the exact conditions that led to the election of Trump.

Only Sanders has a plan to address the root cause of Trump's rise. If you want to truly #beatTrump, Sanders is your candidate.

We will not vote for a candidate who will move the Party further to the right and who will further lock in as "bipartisan consensus" the worst excesses of the Trump and Bush eras.

As documented meticulously by @ggreenwald, there are many serious reasons to doubt @JoeBiden is capable of pursuing a strong challenge to Trump or of meeting the rigors required of a four-year presidential term.

These same concerns were raised by numerous members of the media and Dem establishment before it was clear @JoeBiden would be one of the final two candidates for the nomination.

theintercept.com/2020/03/09/it-…

Questions about @JoeBiden's mental fitness will be an enormous obstacle. The Republicans and right-wing news organizations have already begun to attack Biden on this, and this weakness will be exploited in any future debates between Biden and Trump.

Biden has a pattern of aggressive behavior and language towards voters who question him, pointing at them, poking them, and telling them to vote for someone else if they don't agree. In this clip, he even utters physical threats at a voter.

It is not "ableist" to question Biden's fitness in this respect. Trump's Republican Party is a powerful adversary, and we cannot afford a candidate that continuously invites such distractions and offers such easy rejoinders to an aggressive debater such as @realDonaldTrump.

Finally, we have extreme reservations about the conduct of @TheDemocrats and the media during this primary. Following the 2016 election, the Party made clear in court it believes it is has no obligation to hold fair and free elections.

observer.com/2017/05/dnc-la…

At every point, the Party leaders have hinted they would use every avenue to block a Sanders nomination. First they hinted they would force a brokered convention.

Then, in the wake of the SC primary, they organized a endorsement offensive to force Sanders from the race.

We believe, contrary to the promises of DNC Chair @TomPerez, the Party has put its thumb on the scale and led its own supporters astray in the rabid desire to block a Sanders nomination at all costs.

We cannot support a party that uses these tactics to subjugate its own base.

We've seen this before. In 1968, 1988, 2004, and in 2016, the progressive base was cowed into supporting a moderate, "electable" candidate only to watch them go on to defeat.

With so much at stake in the near future, we cannot and will not fall for the same ploy.

There are some who will dismiss this pledge as astroturfed or a product of twitter bots. We cannot verify every account that signs this pledge, but this movement represents the opinions of real US citizens.

To deny this reality is to court disaster in November.

We do not seek or expect the @BernieSanders campaign to endorse this pledge. We are not representatives of the campaign, but rather a bloc of voters collectively exercising our voice and political power to support the positive change this nation needs.

If @JoeBiden is nominated, some of us will work to convince our friends and family not to support either Biden or Trump, some will work to support a third-party candidate, and some will simply sit this election out.

But none of us will vote for or support @JoeBiden.

Thankfully, it is not too late. The members of the Democratic Party can reject the cynical manipulation of the process by the Party leaders and nominate a candidate who, on policy, is the clear favorite.

We hope that they will.