Despite all the handwringing by centrists, attack ads by super PACs and the anti-Semitic smears by the mainstream media, Bernie Sanders is coming out on top and all the “vetting” done by other Democrats is turning up nothing. No matter how much Hillary Clinton wants to insist that “no one likes him,” he just might become the Democratic nominee.
Mainstream Democrats are not shy to speak out against Senator Sanders. Clinton suggested that he sabotaged her campaign against Donald Trump, despite the fact that in 2016 she happily accepted his endorsement and all the campaigning he did on her behalf. Obama suggested that if it looked like Bernie Sanders would get the nomination he would “speak up” to stop it, but that hasn’t stopped his campaign, or even slowed it down for that matter. Sanders’ outsider attitude may not work for the war criminals that used to run our country, but it certainly appeals to the average voter that hasn’t committed extrajudicial executions.
Senator Sanders is leading in the polls in most of the early states for the Democratic primary, he is leading in polls when it comes to beating Trump in the general and he has a shockingly high level of support from independent voters. Everything the moderate liberals have said Sanders cannot do, he is proving again and again that he can. However, it is possible he still might lose because of the way that delegates work in the Democratic primary.
In the Iowa caucuses, Democratic primary elections award delegates to candidates based on the amount of support they get (as long as they get at least 15 percent of the vote), and when a candidate who has already won delegates drops out, they can endorse another, essentially giving them their delegates. Here is Sanders’ greatest danger. If the other viable candidates start dropping and lean moderate, someone like Biden or Buttigieg might appeal to them and get their delegates. If the other Democrats reach the conclusion that Sanders is the wrong candidate to take on Trump (something that very few polls suggest), they can put all their support behind someone like Biden. If this happens, the Democratic party will essentially be handing Trump the general, but it is still a real possibility. If there’s one thing Democrats do a lot, it’s losing to beatable Republicans because they can’t stop fighting among themselves.
Senator Sanders is looking good going into the primaries but his supporters can’t get too comfortable and start thinking about his nomination as a certain thing. He appeals to the working class, to marginalized peoples and to young people, but they have to turn out to vote if they still want him to win.
Sanders appeals to a massive section of the population, but he doesn’t appeal to his political rivals. If they want to sabotage him, they can, but they will have to answer for it when their moderate choice ends up giving the election to Donald Trump on a silver platter. The moderates have to admit that their strategy doesn’t work anymore. You can’t beat Trump with weak-willed centrism. You beat him with hope, compassion, kindness and vision. You don’t beat him with the same neoliberal consensus that has ruled both parties since the Reagan administration. You beat him with the relentless optimism that only Bernie Sanders delivers.
Robert Kinnaird is a junior majoring in global studies and journalism.
