Why shouldn't Bernie contest the nomination? A Canadian's view

Being a Canadian, I shouldn’t be so emotionally invested in the American primaries. But the message of one particular candidate resonates with people around the world who long for America to be a leader in a New New Deal that would benefit so many who are outside its borders. I could write an essay about how Bernie Sanders is a hero to me and many others who’ve been victimized by the removal of so many of capitalism's safety nets. Bernie is just one more in a line of heroes, the most prominent yet, after Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn and Greece’s Yanis Varoufakis. New leaders who are truly fighting the Big Money Establishment that's sucking money out of the public's bank accounts, one sub-class at a time.

But here’s the thing that puzzles me about the Democratic primary. Sure, Bernie Sanders stands for ideas and principles not embraced by Hillary Clinton. They are candidates with stark differences. But what is it about his ideas that the Democratic establishment finds so offensive? Every one of his policy positions has been voiced by the left in one way or another. The rich are too rich. Corrupt Wall Street bankers should go to jail. There’s too much influence of money in politics. I've heard this from Democrats before the Sanders Surprise. Sure, maybe you say Bernie hasn’t fleshed out his ideas, his plans for breaking up the banks are impractical, he’s a dreamer. Hillary is more of a realist, she has better credentials, more leadership experience.

But how can anyone on the left not defend him just a little bit? As an objective observer who can’t vote in US elections, I would have thought that opposition to Bernie would be passive – “He’s an idealist. But yeah, it would be great if the real world were like that.”

Yet the anger, the vitriol! Okay, some of that comes from Bernie’s supporters too. But when I hear the calls for Bernie to drop out of the race, calls I hear from educated, intelligent Americans, I can’t help but think … isn't that un-American? Wasn’t the country founded on democratic principles, completely in opposition to the monarchist practice of coronations?

So here’s my own take, my own rebuttal to all the arguments Hillary’s supporters are using to pressure Bernie out of the race. I’m not saying there's unreasonableness within his support base, too. The point is – everyone should be entitled to cast their vote.

Bernie Sanders has lost. He should drop out of the race.

Yes, it looks unlikely that he can win enough delegates to clinch the nomination. But what’s the harm in letting everyone cast their vote and have it counted? Isn’t this just what we do in a democracy – let everyone vote?

But what he’s proposing is UN-democratic! He wants the Superdelegates to change their votes!

I’ve read his quotes on this. It seems to me that all he’s requesting is that the Superdelegates mirror their votes to match the popular public vote. If he doesn't win the popular vote, he has no argument with the Superdelegates.

But they’ve already declared for Hillary!

Wait a minute. Isn’t the concept of appointed Superdelegates undemocratic in the first place? Even worse, they declared their voting intentions far ahead of the convention. Doesn’t that give the impression of a rigged system? Even if Superdelegates are completely legitimate, Bernie has the right to ask them to vote for him. And they have the right to tell him to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut. And they will. It's a moot issue.

Bernie is ripping the party apart. All he is doing is fostering discord and personal distrust toward Hillary, who is surely going to be our candidate.

Well, that's politics, to a certain extent. Hillary said some pretty nasty things about Obama in 2008. In fact, she accused him of many of the same sins that Bernie’s supporters now accuse her of (taking money from oil companies, being influenced by donors). If Hillary could get away with slagging Obama without tearing the party apart (and they still won, didn't they?) they will survive this bout of political repartee. 

The two of them are having a vigorous debate, yes, and some wacky things are being said by supporters on both sides. But how is he tearing the party apart by appealing to new voters and bringing them into the Democratic Party?

Because his supporters won’t vote for Hillary in the general election! They say “Bernie or Bust.”

Any supporter of his who doesn’t vote for Hillary in the general election wouldn’t vote for her regardless of Bernie! Seriously, do you think he’s convinced any supporter of Hillary to vote for Trump, or to just not vote? The “Bernie of Bust” crowd is a minority. There is a net gain for Hillary in this.

Yeah, but what about celebrity supporters like Susan Sarandon?

You are ignoring the more influential Sanders supporters like Bill Maher, who is urging his viewers weekly to vote for Hillary if their preferred candidate doesn’t win. Susan Sarandon voted for Ralph Nader and other independents in the past. She was never a Hillary supporter. Bernie did nothing to “turn” her. Again, the Bernie supporters who won't vote for Hillary in the 2016 general election never would have voted for her in the first place.

But Bernie isn’t a real Democrat! He’s an Independent who has brought his hoard into the Democratic party to cause nothing but trouble and mayhem.

In the 2000 election, Ralph Nader was taken to task for siphoning liberal votes and allowing George W. Bush to defeat Al Gore. Nader’s followers were implored to vote Democrat, and they are speculatively blamed for helping Bush wedge his way into the White House. Bernie is bringing the Nader crowd into the Democratic party and he will ask them to vote Democrat even if he loses. He has already said he will support Hillary if (when) she wins. So what ... he’s not a real Democrat. Would you have been happier if he had run as an Independent and split the vote? Isn't he doing exactly what was implored of Ralph Nader in 2000, to work with the Democrats?

Speaking of 2000, I think about Florida. I think about how rightly incensed Democrats were because not all the votes were counted. A Republican-appointed court made certain that the vote-counting ceased because the votes had to be counted by hand (like in most functioning democracies). There are similarities here. Hillary’s supporters want to stop the rest of the votes from being cast, pointing to the DNC-appointed Superdelegates as the supreme arbiters of Hillary’s fate.

If you think that actual voting and letting the process play out to the final count is undemocratic, well, welcome to Florida. You have something in common with the Republicans. You are certain she is going to win the nomination. And if she gets it, there is no way Trump can beat her. This is the closest thing to a coronation that the Democrats have ever seen. And yet you still feel aggrieved.

The worst possible scenario Bernie Sanders presents is that he’s a cranky old man tilting at windmills. If you don’t like him, laugh at him. But let his supporters vote.