Bye, Bye, Bernie, the Sequel

I concluded Ta-ta, Tulsi, as Gabbard gives up by observing "This should be the last one of these I post until it's time for an updated Bye, Bye, Bernie!"  It's time, as Bernie Sanders just dropped out.  CNN has the story in Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 presidential race.

Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, clearing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic nomination and a showdown with President Donald Trump in November.

I'm not surprised that this happened; after all, I foresaw the eventuality last month.  I'm just surprised that it happened this soon.  I expected Sanders would drop out next week, after the results of the Wisconsin Primary were announced, which FiveThirtyEight forecast Joe Biden as having an 88 percent chance of winning with 58 percent of the vote.  That's in a state Sanders won decisively four years ago.  Maybe he decided to get out before the bad news.  Maybe I should let Sanders speak for himself.  Watch 'Victory virtually impossible': Bernie Sanders ends 2020 presidential campaign from The Guardian to hear him explain his decision.

Bernie Sanders, the 78-year-old senator from Vermont who reshaped American politics with his youth-led movement for sweeping social change, announced on Wednesday that he was ending his presidential campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination. 'I wish I could give you better news, but I think you know the truth,' Sanders said. 'I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign'
Bernie Sanders, who reshaped US politics, ends 2020 presidential run

Either way, Sanders is acknowledging the reality of his situation, which is that Biden is the prohibitive favorite and now the presumptive nominee and that the opposition has to unite to beat Donald Trump.

Follow over the jump as I retire all of the recipes I recommended and infographic memes I created for Sanders.

I begin with the drink suggestions I first proposed for Sanders five years ago and recycled last June, last September, and most recently this February.  What do you expect?  I'm an environmentalist; I recycle!

First, the jokes, beginning with a bad one from Hypeline [Now on Medium].

Bernie Sanders = Grain Alcohol

Bernie Sanders is no more than a cheap grain alcohol. Nothing fancy because let’s face it, nobody should have anything better than anyone else. This is a cheap alcohol that will get the job done. Nobody really likes it but since we need to make sure everyone can equally get alcohol, this is only thing you might be lucky enough for the government to afford you.

As I wrote about their suggestion for Clinton, Hypeline leans right, so their bias interferes with their creativity.  Fortunately, I won't have to cite them again. 

Vinepair has a similar suggestion, but at least they're funnier about it.

This self-proclaimed socialist needs a rum with similar values. We’ve chosen Havana Club because it’s still (sort of) Cuban-owned, and thus not sold in the States. Fight the power with a daiquiri, Bernie.

Expect more from Vinepair in future installments.

Like Clinton, Santorum, and Trump, Sanders has a drink named after him.  Like Trump, this one is official.  Food and Wine shared the story and recipe.

Sanders treated everyone at the party to a custom cocktail—the Bernie Paloma. The drink was developed by Miguel Marcelino Herrara from D.C.’s hip cocktail spot, Barmini. And while Bernie Sanders doesn’t exactly seem like the type who throws back $17 cocktails (good on him for drinking Heady Topper), the drink that bares his name still sounds pretty good.

If you plan to vote for the Vermont Senator (or even if you don’t), here’s what you should toast with (per the NY Times):
The Bernie Paloma:

    1/2 oz. Vermont maple syrup
    1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
    2 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
    2 oz. silver tequila
    Garnish: “salt air,” which is sea salt, lime juice, water and Sucro, emulsified with a hand blender.

Bobby Flay of Food Network has another suggestion, The Old Vermont.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce grade B pure maple syrup
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura
Ice
Orange rind

Directions

Combine the gin, maple syrup, lemon and orange juice and bitters in a cocktail shaker. Add some ice and shake a few times. Strain the drink into a martini glass and garnish with the orange rind.

This recipe is one of the suggestions from Berniementum's party guide along with this shot glass.

It may not be fair that I have so many recipes for Bernie, but that's what happens when he runs twice.  I'm ready for him!

Speaking of being ready, I even had a backup recipe for the Old Vermont cocktail that I used the last time Sanders dropped out.


A final toast to Bernie!

I'm continuing with the infographic memes of his ideological position, beginning with the one I made for June's OnTheIssues.org's take on the Democratic presidential candidates from left to center.

Unlike last week, when Voteview did not support that he was "objectively further left then the rest of the Dem[ocratic] primary field," On The Issues ranks Bernie Sanders as the most liberal based on the ten economic questions they ask and grade the answers on with an economic score of 3.  Sanders is also tied for the most liberal socially with a score of 98.  At least based on 20 focused questions and his stances on them as opposed to his votes on whatever the Senate considers, he is the most liberal candidate both economically and socially.

I created a new graphic for July's On The Issues shows most of the Democratic candidates have moved left during the campaign, too.

I begin with the farthest left candidate accoring to On The Issues.  No surprise, it's still Bernie Sanders.  However, he has actually moved slightly to his right, as his economic score increased from 3 to 5 over the past three weeks, while his social score remained constant at 98.  I guess Bernie could only move in one direction, to the center, given that he was all the way out to the left.  However that change was enough for On the Issues to change his position on the Nolan Grid the site uses, as 5 rounds up to 10, so Bernie moves out of the far left corner.

I resumed using the first infographic in Democratic candidates continue to drift leftwards according to On The Issues.

Bernie Sanders has returned to the point on the Nolan Grid he occupied in June, an economic score of 3 and a social score of 98.  Either way, Sanders retains his position as the most liberal according to On The Issues, especially now that Mike Gravel, who tied him for most socially liberal, dropped out.

I recycled it most recently in Democratic candidates from left to center for the 2020 primaries.

Bernie Sanders has remained at the point on the Nolan Grid he occupied in August, an economic score of 3 and a social score of 98.  That means that Sanders retains his position as the most liberal according to On The Issues.

Sanders ended his campaign where he started, with an economic score of 3 and a social score of 98.

I also made two graphics featuring Sanders from Voteview.  The first was Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has drifted steadily leftward since April, when his score was -0.521.  By the end of May, Bernie's ideology score was -0.524, making him more liberal than 96% of the 116th Senate.  He has continued his leftward drift since, as he now has an ideology score of -0.526.

I continued monitoring Sander's score in An update on Democratic candidates' Voteview scores before Congress returns from August recess, reporting "Bernie Sanders remained at -0.526 as the fourth most liberal member of the current Senate."

While I didn't make a new graphic for Sanders alone in Democratic candidates from left to center for the 2020 primaries, I did make one for all the members of Congress still running at the time.


I also updated his postion.

According to Voteview, Sanders has become ever so slightly more liberal, moving from -0.526 to -0.527 over the past six months.  Because both Booker and Harris have dropped out, while he is still the fourth most liberal member of the current Senate, but now the second most liberal candidate running according to Voteview.

He left the contest as the most liberal candidate running with his score unchanged at -0.527.

I'm not done with this series, as I missed Bill Weld dropping out on March 18, 2020.  My excuse was that I was busy with Vox explains how its viewers and readers can fight the coronavirus.  I'll get around to it on Saturday after I post retrospectives for Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday.  In the meantime, on to the conventions (no matter how they will be held) and the general election!