David Michael Miller
It’s deep-breath time for all you Democrats out there.
Hillary Clinton supporters are becoming increasingly agitated that Bernie Sanders will not drop out and that he continues to criticize his rival...just exactly as Hillary Clinton did in 2008. The angst of May and June did not matter in the end then, and it won’t this time if the rest of the story also plays out the same way.
I was at the Democratic Convention in Denver that year, when Hillary strode to the microphone in the New York delegation and personally reported the votes that put Barack Obama over the top for the nomination. If Sanders does that same sort of thing for Clinton, all will be forgiven and forgotten.
But for now there’s no reason for Sanders to quit, just as Clinton didn’t eight years ago. His passionate supporters should get the chance to cast their votes for him in the states remaining to hold primaries. He should continue to push the party left and to articulate a vision for what’s possible, even if it’s not currently practical. He should get influence over the party platform (for what that’s worth, which is not much) and a prime-time speaking slot at the convention (which is worth more).
Sanders should use that speech to make his closing argument for the liberal policies he wants for the country and to make the case to his supporters that Hillary Clinton, for whatever differences they might have had, will do far more good than Donald Trump. Check that. Clinton will do good. Trump will do evil.
Because for Sanders and those who support him, the choice comes down to that. Its either a mainstream, hawkish, establishment liberal politician who will run the country sensibly and lock in a liberal majority on the Supreme Court for a generation, or an egomaniac fascist. Life may be cruel, but those are the choices we get this time, and once you get over your disappointment, you can’t possibly think that sitting this election out is an option.
As of now, only two-thirds of Sanders’ supporters say they will vote for Clinton. In order for her to win, that has to get up above 80%. My guess is that it will as the stark choice in November grows closer. But Bernie Sanders can help that along — and do nothing less than help save his country — by embracing Clinton at the convention in Philadelphia.
The alternative is to become the Ralph Nader of 2016. Nader was responsible for the election of George W. Bush and thus for the lack of action on the greatest threat to the planet in our time — climate change — and for the Iraq War and so much that followed. Imagine for a moment the horrors of a Trump presidency, which might cast even the Bush years in warm, sepia tones. Bernie Sanders and those who support him (and I count myself among them) should not want to do anything that makes it more likely that Trump gets into the White House.
Sanders has accomplished a lot. He has finally said out loud what timid Democratic insiders and consultants have refused to say. He’s taken the muzzle off of proud liberalism. And that won’t go away. The party has been transformed. From here on out Democratic primary voters will demand a more full-throated liberal vision.
Mission accomplished, Bernie. Now it’s time to land the plane, not crash it.
