It’s widely acknowledged by many that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) did everything it could to rig the 2016 primary cycle in Hillary Clinton’s favor. While most normal people realized that Clinton was a horrendously polarizing candidate, and most Democrats would have preferred Bernie Sanders, the Democratic establishment had to have its candidate. After a huge upset, the establishment still hasn’t learned its lesson, and is still doing everything it can to upend Sanders’ candidacy and get a mainstream candidate on the ticket. But will the party succeed?
Bernie Sanders seems to be the only Democratic candidate with any real energy or enthusiasm behind him. Pete Buttigieg is the product of the DC think tank world, with all the charisma that brings. Joe Biden can’t keep putting his foot in his mouth. And Elizabeth Warren reminds everyone of a nagging wife.
Then there’s late entry Michael Bloomberg, who thinks that spending billions of dollars of his fortune can make people like him, vote for him, and forget that he’s just a nasty person. No one else in the field seems to have a shot at the nomination, which has the Democratic Party worried that it won’t be able to run a candidate who can unseat President Trump.
Democrats are scared to death that Bernie Sanders will get the nomination, seeing him as an extreme left-wing socialist whose message will alienate the swing voters they need to win the election. The Democrats would far rather see Biden, Bloomberg, or Buttigieg than Bernie. That’s why, despite Bernie’s growing popularity and momentum, the Democratic establishment is doing everything it can to stifle him.
Among recently interviewed Democratic superdelegates, fewer than 10% believed that Sanders coming to the Democratic convention with a plurality of delegates would be reason enough to make him the nominee. That’s why the Democrats are pushing every candidate they can to stay in, to bleed delegates from Sanders if possible and keep him from gaining a majority of the delegates. But even if he wins a majority, will that be enough to keep the Democrats from engaging in dirty tricks to pick someone else as the nominee?
Just look at what has happened in the days before Super Tuesday, as Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race. Why would a frontrunner and a surging candidate drop out before the biggest test of their campaigns? Because both of those candidates drew from the same pool of voters that would be likely to support Biden. Twenty bucks says the DNC made each of them an offer they couldn’t refuse, and they dropped out to endorse Biden in his attempt to stop Bernie.
There’s even talk of drafting new candidates, such as Sherrod Brown and Nancy Pelosi, and running Michelle Obama as a VP. This could erupt into an all-out civil war within the Democratic Party, pitting more moderate Democrats and liberal establishment Democrats against progressive Democrats. And the more infighting there is, the better it is for President Trump’s chances of reelection.
Image: Jackson Lanier