I’ll be saying more about the March 15 deadline in the coming days, as I work to clarify several concerns and misconceptions. But I’ve several quick ones right now:
- If you are a Hillary Clinton supporter being a dick, you are immediately on notice. That means comments like this one are sanctionable starting this second. The March 15 transition isn’t about giving Clinton supporters a chance to celebrate, spike the football, rub the faces of their opponents in the mud. It’s about uniting toward a common purpose. I’m sorry my last piece came off as one-sided because that wasn’t my intent. When I think of the kinds of people who will have trouble with the transition, I see in my mind an equal number of Clinton and Sanders partisans.
If you feel the need to pull a Nelson, shut it or suffer the consequences. I have zero patience for that shit. The point here is unity, not celebration. You know when we can celebrate? The evening of November 8, when we’ve kept the White House, won the Senate, and severely reduced GOP advantages in the House and state legislatures.
- I made it explicit, but people seem to be hell-bent on willfully misrepresenting what I wrote: nothing prevents anyone from promoting Bernie Sanders at any time. Once we hit the point where Clinton’s victory is essentially guaranteed (which seems to be March 15), I will no longer allow this site to be used to maliciously shit on our presumptive nominee. If you can’t advocate for Sanders without shitting on the person who stands in the way of a Trump or Cruz presidency, then yes, we have a problem, and you can go do that shit somewhere else.
- There is ambiguity between what is legitimate criticism of Clinton from the left, and what is a right-wing or destructive malicious attack. I get that. Language can be imprecise, and perspective matters. One person’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. So here’s one way to think about it: intent.
If your goal is to make Clinton a better candidate and president, that’s allowed. Constructive criticism falls under that rubric. If your goal is to sabotage Clinton, then that won’t be allowed.
Again, what is what can be in the eye of the beholder, but that’s how moderators will evaluate these matters. If your goal is to make Clinton better, then great! If your goal is to destroy her, then boo hiss.
- The new rules kick in, tentatively, on March 15 for reasons stated ad infinitum. If Sanders changes the delegate equation by outperforming the next week, that changes the equation, and the more restrictive rules are pushed back. However, that first bullet point above? That takes effect immediately.
I’ve taken similar steps after every contested primary. There’s nothing new or different about these rules. The site has a purpose, and I will defend that purpose above all else. Every cycle, once we have the nominee, whether that nominee is Dennis Kucinich or Andrew Cuomo, we will unite against our bigger enemy. After the election, you can go back to calling our Democratic president a sellout blah blah, because that’s what we do. But for 8-9 months, we have a singular purpose, and that’s winning in November. I have no tolerance for anyone who undermines that, no matter who they support in the primary, and no matter whether they ended up on the losing or victorious side.