What Bernie Sanders is doing right now is exactly what he has always done: bash the Democratic Party for not being “progressive” enough. Just like he did when he wanted a primary challenge against President Obama in 2012. The difference is that while Bernie has had the privilege of representing the small state of Vermont, Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton had an obligation to get things done for the American people. And they both had to do so with an obstructionist GOP Congress.
This unprecedented obstructionism is exactly why the original “hope and change” candidate, Barack Obama, now endorses the Clintons pragmatic philosophy over Bernie’s “revolution.” Obama learned the hard way what the Clintons warned him about: the GOP will stop at nothing to halt all progress and destroy your Presidency. I guess Bernie doesn’t remember when Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the #1 goal of the Republican Party was to make Obama a one-term President.
Bernie’s vitriol towards the Democratic Party is misplaced. He should be blaming the obstructionist GOP Congress, yet instead he spends his time blaming Democratic Administrations for getting done what they could given the circumstances.
If Bernie were to become President, he would either lead us to constant gridlock due to his “progressive purity,” or he would quickly become the “sell-out” he accuses the Democratic Party of being. It’s easy to criticize from the nose bleed section of Congress, but it’s even harder to get things done for the American people as President. Bernie is simply out of his league and doesn’t even realize it.
Let’s also imagine if the Clinton campaign was in a general election battle with Bernie and Hillary didn’t have to worry about alienating Bernie’s supporters. Imagine if Hillary didn’t have to save her resources and energy for Donald Trump. Her campaign would have already dismantled Bernie’s campaign and reduced it to Santa Claus on steroids.
Making promises you can’t keep [universal healthcare, free college] will only further erode trust in government, the very last thing we need at this moment in time. Don’t believe these are unfeasible dreams? Just look how hard the GOP has fought to destroy Obama, something the Clintons remember very well having been survivors of the 1990s.
Obama barely passed the Affordable Care Act with a Democratic super-majority because he decided to work with Republicans. The Clintons, on the other hand, never would have squandered our Democratic super-majority by trusting the Republicans. Point is — the Clintons don’t require on-the-job training. They harbor no illusions about what they are up against, and they know how to get things done.
The perfect embodiment of this is Hillary supporting the $12 dollar minimum wage legislation in Congress, while also supporting individual states going up to $15. Bernie comes back with “if you aren’t $15 or bust, you aren’t a progressive!” This proves, yet again, Bernie has no idea how to get things done. Hillary is supporting the current $12 dollar legislation in Congress, while Bernie is willing to forfeit all progress for the sake of “progressive purity.”
The same goes for healthcare. Bernie supporters say Hillary “flip-flopped” on universal healthcare, when in reality she supports reaching universal healthcare by building on the Affordable Care Act. It’s not that she “flip-flopped,” it’s that things have changed. We now have the Affordable Care Act. And look how hard it was to achieve that! Bernie proves over and over again that he is simply out of his league.
Both Hillary [Hillarycare] and Obama [Obamacare] have the scars from fighting for universal healthcare. Maybe because Bernie doesn’t have the same scars, he doesn’t t understand the political realities of a GOP obstructionist Congress — a Congress progressives created by not helping down-ticket Democrats get elected, and by writing off places such as the South as “too conservative to matter.” Luckily, the Clintons hail from Arkansas and know how instrumental the South is to creating the coalitions needed for the success of a progressive agenda in Congress.
There’s a reason Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton. They know she is building the coalition needed to actually pass a progressive agenda, something Bernie has yet to do during his entire time in Congress. Bernie has simply been a “changetalker” rather than a “changemaker.”
You pass a progressive agenda by having Democrats win up and down the ticket, including in places such as the South. Not only is Bernie’s socialist platform a disaster for down-ticket Democrats looking to win in red and purple states, but he has yet to raise hardly any money for down-ticket Democrats. As President Clinton said the other day, a real “revolution” is 60 votes in Congress. Sadly, Bernie demonizes the very people and party he would need to pass his progressive agenda. Hillary, meanwhile, is working to strengthen and build the very coalition to get the job done.
Bernie has a choice. He can finally grow up and stop being a protest candidate, or he can continue to be used by Karl Rove to sew discord and unrest amongst the left to hurt Hillary in the general election. Does Bernie really want his legacy to be that of Ralph Nader?
Unfortunately, Karl Rove’s plan is working out brilliantly! He’s turning the very people Hillary needs to win against her. He’s hurting her from the inside which is politics 101. Just ask Al Gore about this strategy. Instead of building on the 23 million new jobs, balanced budget and surplus, progressives felt comfortable enough voting Nader. They thought there was no way George Bush would win.
Well, if only a fraction of Nader voters had voted Gore, Florida wouldn’t have been a toss-up and Gore would have won the election. Just think how much further along we would be on so many issues if Al Gore had won, especially his signature cause: global warming.
Instead of turning your back on the Democratic Party —just as Bernie did when he wanted a primary challenge against Obama— y’all should be working with the Democratic Party to achieve the majorities necessary to actually pass a progressive agenda. Bernie’s anger is misplaced. He should try blaming GOP obstructionism and the Bush Administration rather than bash Democratic Presidents for achieving what they could under less than ideal circumstances.
President Clinton left us with 23 million new jobs, a balanced budget and a surplus, incomes rising at all levels, and more Americans lifted out of poverty than at any time in U.S. history. Then Nader gave us Bush. NEVER FORGET.
By saying both parties are equally corrupt ignores history and common sense. I’d take a Barack Obama or Bill Clinton Presidency over George Bush any day of the week. Unfortunately, Bernie is propelling this “both parties are equally corrupt” myth. But instead of promoting this myth, Bernie should try to help us take back Congress and create the coalition we need to finally pass a progressive agenda.
At the end of the day, Hilary and Bernie share many of the same goals. But in order to achieve these goals, we need to push legislation through Congress; a real revolution is 60 votes in Congress. Sadly, Bernie is spending his time demonizing the very party and people we need to actually pass a progressive agenda.
Bernie can choose to become another Ralph Nader in the history books. Or he can put on his big boy panties, unify the Democratic Party, and start blaming the real enemy: GOP obstructionism.
Never forget George W. Bush or unprecedented GOP obstructionism.
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