Why Bernie Sanders Is Our Best Chance to Beat Donald Trump

[Uncle Joe]

Krystal Ball
Fmr. MSNBC host and Democratic congressional candidate

(snip)

As Hillary Clinton joylessly stumbles her way to the Democratic nomination, calls have increased for Bernie Sanders to either drop out of the race altogether or, at least, to stop fighting so darn hard. We’re told that Bernie should drop out for the good of the party. Bernie should drop out so that Hillary can make her general election “pivot” (which presumably means she can be free of the burden of pretending to be a liberal). Bernie should drop out so that Hillary can focus on Trump. According to this logic, Bernie and his band of loyalists need to get pragmatic, face the music, have a reality check. Hogwash. Doesn’t anyone see what I see? Bernie Sanders is our best chance to beat Donald Trump and to prove to the young voters backing him that the Democratic party actually stands for something.

Error in thinking #1: Sanders supporters care about the existing system.

Not all Sanders voters are young but many are, so let’s consider the world as it appears to a 24-year-old. Perhaps you are deeply in debt from a college degree that still left you with few job prospects. Perhaps you were told in many ways large and small that you are not clever or connected enough to make it into the vaunted ranks of the “creative class” so you are doomed to a life of poorly paid service sector hell in which you will never be able to properly afford a family, a house or a vacation. Perhaps you were one of the lucky few who are ascending that creative class, new economy ladder, but find it deeply disturbing that the kids you went to high school with have been so casually cast aside and relegated to a life of gut-clenching instability. And again, you’re 24-years-old so you’ve got a long time to live and struggle with this corrupt, fickle, Gilded Age, bubble prone system — unless, that is, you are one of the many who will suffer a shortened lifespan like so many others who don’t make it in this system. Now from this vantage point, how much might you care about Harry Reid or Debbie Wasserman Schultz or some other Democratic partisan pearl clutcher’s pleas for party unity? These young voters are expected to back down for the sake of a party they tell pollsters they don’t identify with, in the service of nominating a presidential candidate who promises to maintain a system that has conspired to screw them at every turn.

Error in thinking #2: Uniting around Clinton is the best shot to beat Trump.

The very same people who condescendingly exhort Sanders followers to “do the math” on the nomination process seem to have left their own calculators at home when it comes to figuring out who can actually win this fall. So for the math-obsessed, here are some numbers for you. According to RealClearPolitics, Sanders beats Trump in polls by an average of 13 points while Clinton’s average lead over Trump has dwindled to five points with one outlier poll from CNN doing a lot of the heavy lifting to give her even that much of a lead. The two most recent polls, NBC and Gravis, give her a lead of only three points and two points respectively. This in a week that was supposedly terrible for Trump with embarrassing stories about his butler’s racist rants, his penchant for pretending to be his own publicist, and his lecherous ways with women.

(snip)

Error in thinking #3: Winning is the only goal that matters.

Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m completely wrong about Hillary being a dreadful choice for November and that the moment voters discover Sanders is a socialist they will run into the loving arms of Donald Trump. Let’s pretend Hillary Clinton is a winner. Is this really what the Democratic party has been reduced to? Not fighting for the poor? Not standing up for the working people of this country? Not fighting with every breath to push the money and corruption out of a system that only works for a glossy few?

Of course, we know that for much of the party establishment the answer is yes. Bill Clinton provided a master class in how to sacrifice your principles to the gods of electoral success. A tactic, by the way, that may have found some success at the presidential level, but which has led the Democratic party to historic, crushing defeats in most of the country. For reference, just examine the largest number of state legislatures in our nation’s history in Republican hands or the way inequality has soared unchecked as Democrats decided that winning national elections mattered more than fighting for the middle class or the working class or the poor.

Make no mistake, the values that we say we stand for will be compromised by a Clinton nomination. After all, who will really believe we’re the party of the people when we unite behind the queen of the global glitterati? Who will buy that we’ll fight to get money out of politics when we back the most prolific political fundraiser in history? Who will take seriously that we’ll get tough on Wall Street when our nominee got paid big bucks to stroke their fragile egos?

So to the Bern-baby-Bern crowd I say, keep fighting. Your fight is worthy. Your cause is just. Your passionate existence irritates the Democratic powers that be because you remind them of all that they are supposed to stand for.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krystal-ball/why-bernie-sanders-is-our_b_10064830.html

[calguy]

1. Give it up

Bernie is NOT going to be the nominee.
Repeat.... Bernie is NOT going to be the nominee.
The writing has been on the wall for months now.
Bernie is NOT going to be the nominee.

The best chance to beat Trump is to face reality and unite this party.

[JudyM]

12. She can't beat tRump, she's already slipping in the polls and the FBI referral hasn't even come out

yet.

[pdsimdars]

30. You are wrong and that is not going to happen. If the party is to unite it is up to Hillary

and her actions and rhetoric have shown that she is not at all interested in uniting the party.
She is a loser.

[JDPriestly]

2. Great article. Thanks, Uncle Joe and Krystal Ball.

By the way, the writing is great. Just great. I loved it.

[Uncle Joe]

3. It was my pleasure, JDPriestly.

Thanks and peace to you.

[YouDig]

4. "She currently writes for Glamour Magazine’s political coverage."

[asuhornets]

5. ...

[Progressive dog]

6. Yup, negate the primaries because of "polls",

with the choice of polls up to the loser. I think you must be confused about how elections work.

[Vincardog]

8. Are the primaries over? Has anybody got 2383 pledged delegates now?

[Progressive dog]

10. Hillary has won

so yes the primaries are effectively over. There is no path to the nomination for Sanders.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Hillary has not reached the required amount of pledged delegates

and the super-delegates don't vote until the Convention, thus your statement is false.

Hillary hasn't won the nomination.

[Progressive dog]

19. She has won in all but final vote

Presidents are chosen by the electoral college, but no one waits to declare a winner. Winners are called in other races sometimes days before all the votes are in.

[Uncle Joe]

20. And mistakes are made when they do that.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-50222f13/turbine/chi-histdewey_truman20080104104817/500/500x281

[Progressive dog]

21. Seldom and maybe never when the lead is this large

[Uncle Joe]

23. The race and the rise

[Progressive dog]

24. So Bernie has some delegates, if something happened to Hillary

he would be considered.

[Uncle Joe]

25. I believe millions of Americans have yet to vote.

[Progressive dog]

26. Not nearly enough

[Uncle Joe]

27. More than enough, it can happen, the fight is definitely uphill but it can happen. n/t

[Vincardog]

7. Great post. How does anybody think "no we can't" is a winning catch phrase?

[Uncle Joe]

13. It ranks right up there with "Thank you sir, may I have another!?"

[highprincipleswork]

9. Good points.

[seabeyond]

11. Nope. Clinton all the way.

[amborin]

15. K&R

[AtomicKitten]

16. He has less DOJ/FBI agents investigating him for corruption, so that's a plus.

K&R

[Uncle Joe]

17. There is that as well and to deny it is to deny reality.

It's good to see you, AtomicKitten.

[MineralMan]

18. But, see, Bernie Sanders won't be on the GE ballot,

so he'll have no chance at all to beat Trump. Hillary, on the other hand, will. I'll be voting for her in November. How 'bout you?

[Uncle Joe]

22. I believe it's sound policy to live in the present.

[jamese777]

28. The Polls Showed...

that John Kasich had the best chance to beat Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton but Kasich didn't beat Trump in the primaries.
Now that Hillary Clinton is less than 100 delegates from the nomination, its a little too late to change the outcome.
Thirty-seven out of 41 California Democratic members of Congress have already endorsed Hillary Clinton. The other four members haven't endorsed anyone. That's 37 more Superdelegates.

[Uncle Joe]

32. You're counting super-delegates and they don't count until the convention, until then

it's just a glorified poll which can change.

Kasich never came close to matching Bernie's performance in regards to winning primaries and caucuses.

[840high]

29. Good read. Thank you Uncle Joe.

[Uncle Joe]

33. I thought so as well.

Peace to you, 840high.

[cwydro]

31. Bernie would be absolutely CLOBBERED by Trump.

Hillary has never gone for the jugular with him, but you can be damn certain Trump will.

[Uncle Joe]

34. Bernie never went for Hillary's jugular even when given the golden opportunity during a

nationally televised debate and at other times as well.

Bernie would kick Trump's ass.