The Bernie Sanders subreddit, the Internet’s dark cave of quixotic delusion and bitter sore-loserness, is finally shutting its doors—but not until after the Democratic National convention.
Like the patchouli-scented Sanders delegates that think Bernie still has a shot at winning this thing, the users at the subreddit don’t want to quit.
Reddit’s r/SandersForPresident mods attempted to shutter the sub overnight and the users revolted. But what’s worse, optics-wise, is the mods appeared to get the idea from the rival sub, r/EnoughSandersSpam, the virulently anti-Sanders community.
The mod Vermonty_Python above responded to a post in EnoughSandersSpam calling for the closure of SandersForPresident with “Stay tuned.”
Soon after that, the same mod posted to SandersForPresident that the sub would shut down, effective immediately, with no input from the community. Vermonty_Python made it very clear that he is not a Hillary supporter and said the decision had nothing to do with EnoughSandersSpam.
After claiming to receive threats and harassment from the community, Vermonty_Python backtracked and said the sub will remain open until after the convention.
Many users of the site believe the fight must continue, posting things like this, demonstrating how they plan to lose gracefully.
What’s also strange from the saga is that EnoughSandersSpam appears to have been hacked or changed hands. The sub now links to r/EnoughKissingerSpam, a very small community dedicated to hating on Henry Kissinger.
SandersForPresident was an invaluable tool for the Sanders campaign. Not only did it raise almost $3 million, it was essential to Bernie dominating social media over other candidates.
Can’t say it will be missed after spamming the front page of Reddit with Bernie propaganda, but it stands as a breakout tool for online political campaigning.