Since mid-March, short of something occurring akin to an event out of an Allen Drury novel, there was no way Bernie Sanders was going to capture the Democratic presidential nomination. The math was not going to allow it to happen. Sadly, the only things more numerically challenged than Sanders’ policy proposals were the overly optimistic but severely misguided followers of the Vermont senator who failed to correctly add delegates so to show where the race was heading. Crying ‘media blackout’ or damming super delegates (a term many of his younger enthusiasts had never even heard of a year ago) seemed a lot easier than understanding political reality. Perhaps no one should be surprised at this outcome since many of those same people thought college tuition was soon to be free and free-trade was about to be abolished.
Real Democrats are tired of our party being hijacked by someone who was not a member until roughly a year ago. We are tired of the in-your-face rhetoric from Sanders who has only ratcheted up the political attacks since it became clear months ago there was no way for him to win. He is a spiteful man with nothing of substance to show for his many years in congress. What he is selling does not make for passable legislation. History proves that to be true as he has no claim to any significant legislation authored by his office. His rhetoric excites a slice of the electorate, who in my judgement, are not as enthused with the idea of governing as much they are about a cult personality.
I have repeatedly called for Sanders to end his one-note campaign about the ills of the rich and allow for the Democratic Party to engage with the Republican contender for the fall election. If the Socialist Party does not take Sanders seriously as a candidate why should we allow him to attempt a hostile takeover of our party?
Why this matters in real terms is due to the way elections are waged–especially in these months leading up to the conventions. Most voters have no idea of the ways–come the fall–that what is said and done now in late May and into June will have an impact in November. Sanders knows these weeks matter and seems intent on harming the Democratic nominee all he can.
I read the words of Dante Chinni and it spells out the political reality that Sanders and his misguided supporters will not yet admit. The moment Sanders exits the race Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers against Trump will increase.
To get a better look at where the Clinton-Trump race might stand after the nominating dust has settled, we recalculated the latest NBC/WSJ poll with Clinton capturing 70 percent of the Sanders-only vote. The result: those Sanders-only voters are worth an extra five points to Clinton. In the NBC/WSJ poll, Clinton’s advantage over Trump goes from three points to eight points and she leads 51 percent to 43 percent.
Governor Jerry Brown was most correct when he placed himself on the side of Clinton in the upcoming California primary, stating that the proposed ideas from Donald Trump are seriously flawed and high troubling. Trump is the reason Democrats should unite.
Sanders would understand that if he were a Democrat. Or a candidate with an ethical center about this election cycle. No candidate in good conscience would seek to undermine the eventual nominee of the party unless there was a dark side at play wishing for that nominee to fail.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 