Bernie And The Democrats

It’s a good thing that Bernie Sanders is in his late 70s and it’s doubtful – should he lose the nomination again – that he would make another run in four years. Imagine if Bernie were in his 50s. He could make several runs at the Democratic nomination. Every four years, Bernie would embark on his quest only to have the DNC thwart him through behind the scene machinations. His supporters would be furious and threatening to stay home. Democrat operatives fretting on election night over whether the Bernie Bros made good on their threats. It would be a quadrennial Groundhog Day.

However, the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. I can see why they allowed Bernie to run for their nomination in 2016. At the time, the DNC was desperately trying to create the impression that Hillary Clinton had some opposition and that the primary was not a coronation. Moreover, there was no way for the DNC  – or anyone – to anticipate Bernie having such a broad appeal among Democrat primary voters.

There is no excuse for the DNC allowing Bernie to run for the nomination again in 2020 – especially after he decided not to stay in the party after his presidential run. The Democratic Party is under no obligation to allow outsiders to seek their presidential nomination and, by default, become the party’s leader. All the DNC had to say is something to the effect, ‘Bernie, we allowed you to run as a Democrat in 2016 because we were hoping you would choose to stay in the party. But you have made it clear that you see yourself as an independent. That is fine, but we want our nomination to be given to someone who is a Democrat.’ – problem solved.  

Instead, the Democrats chose to allow a replay of 2016. Perhaps, they feared a third party run by Bernie or maybe they are hoping to covert Bernie Bros into Democrats. Whatever the reason, it was a mistake. Once again, the Democrats are scrambling to stop him, the Bernie Bros are furious and the party is caught in a no win situation. Either give Bernie a fair shot at the nomination or risk his supporters staying home in November.  

Thus far, the effort to stop Bernie has been rather ham-handed. Trotting out Hillary – of all people – to make the case that Bernie is unlikable. Bungling of the Iowa caucuses just to keep him from gathering any momentum going into New Hampshire. More recently, portraying Bernie as Putin’s puppet – another laughable attempt.

But maybe, just maybe, the Democrats got lucky. A possible savior is on the horizon: Mike Bloomberg. As I have said in my previous article, even though Bloomberg had a bad overall performance, he was the only candidate who landed a blow against Bernie:

Moreover, unlike the other candidates who attacked Bernie during the debate and then basically went silent, the Bloomberg campaign has kept up its attacks on him since the debate. Bloomberg is hitting Bernie over his changing stance on guns, his failure to support the Brady bill and, no doubt, there is more to come. Sanders has changed his tune on several issues.

If the Democrats are serious about taking out Bernie, Bloomberg has shown the way. Hit him where it hurts: his moral purity. There is no point in wasting more time arguing over how Bernie is going to pay for his plans. His supporters don’t care about details such as “paying for it”. They see him as pure as the driven snow – a champion of the poor. Pierce through that image and Bernie’s revolution will come to an abrupt end. As Bloomberg said, a millionaire socialist with three houses.