Q&A: Bernie Sanders on the Future of the Democratic Party
Sam Frizell @Sam_Frizell 6:30 AM ET
In a wide-ranging interview with TIME for this week’s cover story, Bernie Sanders opened up about his frustrations with Hillary Clinton and laid out a new vision for the Democratic Party.
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He denied that he is hurting Clinton’s bid against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, suggesting that she is a weak candidate in a general election. That a person like [Donald Trump] is actually beating or close to Hillary Clinton in national polls is pathetic,” Sanders told TIME. He also expressed deep bitterness about the campaign against the Clintons, who he said have repeatedly distorted his record. He had especially harsh words for David Brock, the operative leading the pro-Clinton super PAC Correct the Record.
“What the Clinton people do very well which is what modern politics is about is you spin,” Sanders said. “I don’t think you hire scum of the Earth to be on your team just because the other side does it.” “They play very dirty,” he added.
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How would you rewrite the Democratic Party’s rules for primaries?
There are some obvious no-brainers to me. Independents, people who classify themselves as independents, are the fastest growing part of American politics. More and more people, especially young people consider themselves independents. They are not enamored with either political party. So the idea that you could go to New York State and compete. And I competed in the New York primary there and 3 million independents were denied the right to vote in either the Democrat or Republican primary is totally absurd given the context of American politics today. We ended up breaking even in Kentucky, a closed primary. And I think we’re going to end up doing a lot better in California, because it’s going to be semi-open. But in general if you want to win national elections, general elections with the strongest candidate, how do you deny that group of Americans, who are the largest group, from participating? They are going to vote in the general election, right? They have a right to vote in the New York State primary the Kentucky primary and many other primaries. So opening up the primary process to all people seems to me to make a lot of sense.
One of the problems we’re dealing with, Secretary Clinton received the support of over 400 superdelegates before anybody else announced for the race. That’s called an anointment. Then you raise all kinds of money on top of that. You try to end the nominating process before the first ballot is cast. I think they have been shocked that as we sit here in late May we have a shot to win the California primary on June 7. That I think they never believed would happen. They wanted to end this thing before the first ballot was cast. That is totally absurd and it’s absurd for two reasons. It is clearly undemocratic. It is a way for the establishment to push their candidate forward. I am the strongest candidate to beat Donald Trump. That is objectively the truth. You may like me, you may not like me, but that is the fact. But not to take that into consideration and say, “I support Hillary Clinton,” back in April 2015, that’s a pretty dumb process. I think we have to absolutely rethink the role of superdelegates. I can’t give you a definitive answer, but we have to make that process far, far more democratic. The role of superdelegates, if any, should be discussed. I can’t give you a definitive answer.
http://time.com/4348664/bernie-sanders-time-interview-democratic-party-hillary-clinton/
There's LOTS more at the link
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