Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich. (photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star)
29 May 16
ith
the Democratic primaries grinding to a bitter end, I have suggestions
for both Clinton and Sanders supporters that neither will like.
First, my advice to Clinton supporters: Don’t try to
drum Bernie Sanders out of the race before Hillary Clinton officially
gets the nomination (if she in fact does get it).
Some of you say Bernie should bow out because he has
no chance of getting the nomination, and his continuing candidacy is
harming Hillary Clinton’s chances.
It’s true that Bernie’s chances are slim, but it’s
inaccurate to say he has no chance. If you consider only pledged
delegates, who have been selected in caucuses and primaries, he’s not
all that far behind Hillary Clinton. And the upcoming primary in
California – the nation’s most populous state – could possibly alter
Sanders’s and Clinton’s relative tallies.
My calculation doesn’t include so-called
“superdelegates” – Democratic office holders and other insiders who
haven’t been selected through primaries and caucuses. But in this year
of anti-establishment fury, it would be unwise for Hillary Clinton to
relay on superdelegates to get her over the finish line.
Sanders should stay in the race also because he has
attracted a large number of young people and independents. Their
passion, excitement, and enthusiasm are critically important to Hillary
Clinton’s success, if she’s the nominee, as well the success of other
Democrats this year, and, more fundamentally, to the future of American
politics.
Finally and not the least, Sanders has been telling a
basic truth about the American political economic system – that growing
inequality of income and wealth has led inexorably to the increasing
political power of those at the top, including big corporations and Wall
Street banks. And that political power has stacked the deck in their
favor, leading to still wider inequality.
Nothing important can be accomplished – reversing
climate change, creating true equal opportunity, overcoming racism,
rebuilding the middle class, having a sane and sensible foreign policy –
until we reclaim our democracy from the moneyed interests. The longer
Bernie Sanders is on stage to deliver this message, the better.
Next, my advice for Sanders supporters: Be prepared to work hard for Hillary Clinton if she gets the nomination.
Some of you say that refusing to fight for or even
vote for Hillary will show the Democratic political establishment why it
must change its ways.
But the “Democratic political establishment” is
nothing but a bunch of people, many of them big donors and fundraisers
occupying comfortable and privileged positions, who won’t even be aware
that you’ve decided to sit it out – unless Hillary loses to Donald
Trump.
Which brings me to those of you who say there’s no real difference between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
That’s just plain wrong. Trump has revealed himself to
be a narcissistic, xenophobic, hatemonger who, if elected, would
legitimize bigotry, appoint Supreme Court justices with terrible values,
and have direct access to the button that could set off a nuclear war.
Hillary may not possess Bernie Sanders’s indignation
about the rigging of our economy and democracy, or be willing to go as
far in remedying it, but she’s shown herself a capable and responsible
leader.
Some of you agree a Trump presidency would be a
disaster but claim it would galvanize a forceful progressive movement in
response.
That’s unlikely. Rarely if ever in history has a sharp
swing to the right moved the political pendulum further back in the
opposite direction. Instead, it tends to move the “center” rightward, as
did Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Besides, Trump could do huge and unalterable damage to America and the world in the meantime.
Finally, some of you say even if Hillary is better
than Trump, you’re tired of choosing the “lesser of two evils,” and
you’re going to vote your conscience by either writing Bernie’s name in,
or voting for the Green Party candidate, or not voting at all.
I can’t criticize anyone for voting their conscience,
of course. But your conscience should know that a decision not to vote
for Hillary, should she become the Democratic nominee, is a de facto
decision to help Donald Trump.
Both of my morsels of advice may be hard to swallow.
Many Hillary supporters don’t want Bernie to keep campaigning, and many
Bernie supporters don’t want to root for Hillary if she gets the
nomination.
But swallow it you must – not just for the good of the Democratic Party, but for the good of the nation.
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