I saw yet another diary today about why Bernie Sanders should drop out of the Presidential race. The underlying logic for this argument is that he is hurting the Democrat’s chances of winning against Trump in November by criticizing Hillary Clinton on various matters of policy and her record whilst attempting to win a nomination that is presumably beyond his reach. I do not agree with that.
That said, let me make this very clear: I am not here to call out the author of that diary. I am not here to attack anyone or Secretary Clinton. However, I am here to respond to that diary because I, as a vehement Sanders supporter since the start of his campaign, find it to be misguided.
Sanders did not get into this race to shift Clinton’s rhetoric to the left. He did not start this campaign to make Clinton a little more palatable for the younger generation. He did not get into this race to be the liberal poster boy so that a Clinton coronation would be a little less obvious. And he certainly did not get into this race to destroy the Democratic Party.
He got into this race to raise issues. He got into this race to save capitalism from itself. He got into this race to put the ‘Democrat’ back into the Democratic Party. He got into this race to win.
Win what, exactly? you might ask. The nomination? That might seem like the obvious answer, but it is not necessarily so. One of the things Sanders repeats over, and over again, is this idea of a ‘political revolution’. Many of you are probably familiar with what this means. For those of you who don’t, a political revolution is about transforming the political landscape of this country. Right now, the political landscape is the center right (Democrats) and far, far, far right (Republicans) and a few folks like Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, Washington Rep. Jim McDermott, and others on the left or center left. I call mainstream Democrats, such as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, center right because they tend to be leftist on many social issues (and proudly so) but often tout neoliberal or Milton Friedman — esque ideas on the economy and trade. The Republicans, as was made painfully obvious by Sen. Ted Cruz’s concession speech last night, are largely off in some Bush/Cheney la — la land.
This is what the current political landscape looks like.
Sanders knows that is unacceptable. We hear just how unacceptable it is in almost every one of his talking points. Indeed, one could say that Sanders is not actually running against Hillary Clinton but the whole party machine which anointed her as the Democratic candidate before the race got started. One could say that he is running against the outrageously wealthy George Clooney class, which is turning this country into an oligarchy: by the wealthy and for the powerful. One could say that he is running to transform American democracy and American politics.
Because that is exactly why he is still in it.
Sanders’ win may not come with a nomination at the Democratic National Convention. In fact, it almost certainly will not since an absurd majority of superdelegates are backing Clinton (by about a 13 to 1 margin), and unless Sanders secures the 2,383 delegates (almost entirely) through the remaining pledged delegates and superdelegates (which is basically impossible for him to do) he will likely lose. But it will come the day that millions of people, as he frequently says, stand together and fight back against the Friedmanite tumor that has been rapidly privatizing, corporatizing, and devouring various institutions in this country for the past thirty years. People say that it is Sanders’ increasingly quixotic run for the nomination and the Presidency that is harming the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s chances… but in reality it is the neoliberal, “New Democrat” tumor that has turned it away from the unions and the working class and is eating the party from the inside out.
As Sanders frequently says, Democrats win when the turnout is high. That high turnout is usually when people feel some need to vote, either a great threat or some sort of inspiration. And right now, the message of “we’re not as bad as the other guys” is not a particularly inspiring let alone compelling message.
Sanders should stay in the race because what he has to say deserves to be heard in the political discourse and wants to be heard by millions of people, especially millenials (a.k.a the future of the Democratic Party). The second he drops out you will not hear one word about him in the major media (save for C — SPAN) and Clinton will pivot back to the center (or center right) faster than you can say ‘Quidditch’. In short, Sanders should stay in the race because middle class people, working people, poor people, and homeless people of all races, ages, colors, and backgrounds need a consistent and powerful voice for them. Not a voice for the special interests. Not a voice for the big money donors. Not a voice for the establishment that resists almost any attempt at significant change. A voice for the people who are hardly ever heard in this country. A voice for the millions and millions of people who do not have enormous quantities of cash to buy political favors. A voice for the 80% of lower income people who did not vote in the 2014 midterms. A voice that is going to inspire people to vote for people who really represent them instead of letting their anger Trump their common sense.
And we cannot let that voice become silenced for the sake of temporary political expediency.
This diary has been edited several times for grammatical issues and greater detail.