Why Sanders Endorsement of Hillary is Smart, maybe even brilliant
July 18, 2016

 
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Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders “finally” endorsed Hillary Clinton, much to the dismay of millions of Sanders supporters, but it was the smart… possibly even brilliant… thing to do, and my advice to him (as a Sanders supporter) is to do more of it. If I were Bernie, I’d be out there every day in support of Hillary as her biggest cheerleader. What he gets in return is FAR greater than anything he could hope to achieve by continuing to challenge her for the nomination.

This is NOT a prescription for Bernie being selected as Hillary’s running mate. I don’t want that. HE doesn’t want that. This is not about trying to get in Clinton’s good graces.

First, a cold splash of reality: the “Super Delegates” are not going to suddenly come to their senses and nominate Bernie over Hillary in a Contested Convention. The DNC didn’t lie, cheat & steal for 15 months to make sure the candidate who polled worse against Trump would be the Party nominee, just to throw her under the bus at the Convention. I think nothing short of Hillary being down by 20 points could make the Super Delegates suddenly worry more about winning than making sure Hillary is the nominee, and presently, even in her worst polls, the two candidates (Clinton & Trump) are tied just two weeks out. Short of an indictment (with nothing on the horizon) or catastrophic injury, Hillary will be the Democratic nominee (much to my dismay.) Personally, I’m more focused now on ensuring strong Progressives retake Congress, pushing for Progressive legislation and even keeping Hillary in check.

But coming out in support of Hillary has already aided Bernie in achieving a few major victories. The big wake-up call two weeks ago was when Democratic members of the Senate (ALL Super Delegates and 90% for Hillary) openly “booed” Bernie upon entering Congress for having not yet endorsed Hillary. This told us a couple of things: 1) If Bernie is to become a leader in the Senate, he needs the support of the very people that booed him, and 2) There is no way those Clinton supporters were going to cast their vote for Bernie in a Contested Convention if they are already booing him.

By endorsing Hillary, he makes those members of Congress happy. If for some reason Hillary did not have a lock on the nomination come the Convention, you don’t want 400 angry Democrats in the House & Senate voting against you out of spite. This way, they could vote for a candidate they have good feelings towards. And THAT is why, if I were Sanders, I’d be praising Hillary 24/7 between now and the end of the Convention (even if I had to paint a smile on my face to do it.)

Endorsing Hillary has already earned his campaign some historic concessions from the Clinton Campaign. Some of Bernie’s signature policy goals were adopted as part of the official Democratic Party Platform… something no other losing candidate has accomplished in the last 100 years (if ever.) First, where Bernie proposed “every public college & university be tuition free” and Hillary only went so far as to call for making college “affordable” (asking, “Do you want to pay for Donald Trump’s kids to go to college?”), the two sides brokered a compromise, promising a goal of tuition-free public college to “any family earning less than $125,000/year.” That’s a huge victory.

The second Sanders policy integrated into the Party Platform was a call to move towards a “$15/hr Minimum Wage”. Hillary was only willing to go as far as $12 nationally during the campaign… a position that proved both inconvenient and embarrassing when she was repeatedly caught embracing the idea of a $15 Minimum Wage (once when the SEIU was caught distributing fliers claiming she supported it, and again when she was invited to appear with the governors of New York & California to praise the passing of $15 MinWage legislation in those states despite being on the record as supporting only $12 “Nationally”. Clinton danced madly to deflect criticism, saying she “ALWAYS supported a $15 Minimum Wage… just not ‘nationally’.” But now, a promise to move towards “$15 Nationally” was made a part of the Party platform (basically a “gimme” for Bernie since the country would have to move towards $15 nationally “eventually”… but with no specific timeline AFAIK.)

The Clinton campaign did agree to investigate “the fossil fuel industry for misleading the public about the causes & dangers of climate change” and a call for “a massive investment in renewable energy” that sets the ambitious goal of “obtaining all U.S. energy from renewable fuels by 2050.” BUT they refused to call for a ban on “fracking” or for a “carbon tax”. Because, after all, this neo-Democratic Party is Nixon’s GOP of 50 years ago.
 

Nixon/Clinton

 

With the Hillary supporters in Congress now on his side, Bernie will become a leader in the Senate. And as a high-profile leader with the voters on his side, he can push for the very legislation he has already called for, making sure it ends up on Clinton’s desk to sign (like the “college tuition” bill, a “$15 minimum wage” bill, or “climate change” legislation)… possibly even rallying enough support to override a Clinton veto should it ever come to that (highly unlikely.)

“The Powers That Be” want Hillary to be the Democratic nominee. That’s not going to change. And we can complain about it being “a rigged system”, but it’s of little use complaining to the people who did the rigging. “The Pied Piper” didn’t have to “like” rats to get them to follow him out of Hamelin (Germany), he just needed to convince them to follow him. Like I said, “If I were Bernie, I’d be out there like Elizabeth Warren defending Hillary from the likes of Trump & Pence. The more Good Will he earns among her supporters, the more it helps him achieve his goals… and that is what we want after all, right?
 

NOTE: This week is the Republican Convention. Don’t bother looking for a Party coup to reject Trump and nominate someone else. They have already resigned themselves to the idea Trump will be their nominee this election and are praying Congress would keep a “President Trump” in check. Ditto for the Democratic Convention next week. Short of a catastrophe, Hillary’s supporters are every bit as married to the idea of her being “the first woman president” that not even the threat of being behind by “double-digits” would convince them to abandon her at this late stage. And while most pundits are doubting it, I do think Hillary is likely to pick Elizabeth Warren as her running mate. And while I think that would be a huge mistake (opening up a secure Democratic Senate seat and turning a Senate leader into someone who attends State funerals for a living), if Warren were to leave, that would make Bernie’s new role as THE Progressive Leader in the Senate all the more powerful.)
 

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July 18, 2016 · Admin Mugsy · No Comments - Add
Posted in: Election, Politics

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