The BERNIE OR BUST Theory

(That, and other Bernie news)

The Guardian (March 29) Why are there suddenly millions of socialists in America? (by Harold Meyerson) Bernie Sanders didn’t push the young toward socialism. They were already there. (Led by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the bestseller status of Thomas Piketty’s "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" and the "Fight for $15" movement.)

teleSUR (March 23) After the Election: Can Support for Bernie Spur Social Change? (By Arun Gupta) The Democratic Party cannot be a vehicle for the kind of social change that is attracting people to Bernie Sanders today ... Since Clinton will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee, many people are pushing Sanders to run as an independent in the general election. Except no one believes that. Sanders has ruled out an independent bid, “No matter what I do, I will not be a spoiler”. When Sanders tells his supporters they need to vote for Clinton, many will feel betrayed. Bernie endorsing Hillary Clinton is a sure-fire way to destroy the massive mobilization he has built up behind his campaign.

The BERNIE OR BUST Theory

If Bernie Sander ends up winning more State delegates and/or more popular votes than Hillary Clinton after every State has voted, but then he still loses the Democratic nomination (because the superdelegates voted in favor of Hillary, putting her ahead in total delegates), then what? What is another viable plan? What is "Plan B" if Bernie gets screwed by superdelegates?

Maybe if Bernie Sanders can catch up to Hillary Clinton in the popular vote by June 24 (when the last vote is counted), we can assume he will also have more votes than the Donald Trump by that time. That would mean that, by the time of the Democratic and Republican conventions in July, Bernie wouldn't need a single superdelegate, because he wouldn't need to be nominated by (have the blessing of) the Democratic Party machine; and instead he could run as a third party Independent candidate at that time.

He wouldn't need to depend the Democratic Party machine for financial backing to fund his campaign for a general election either, because he will still have plenty of campaign donors. And he wouldn't need to worry about splitting the Democratic vote either, because most Republicans who don't like Trump or Clinton will either vote for Sanders or they won't vote at all (especially women); whereas turnout for Bernie would be YUGE, because Independents and young people who weren't registered as Democrats or Republicans to vote in closed primaries could vote for Bernie in November.

Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders' supporters are ignorant and naive morons — and don't do their own research — but yet, she wants their vote. She thinks that if we were "smarter" and more educated and weren't so lazy, we'd take the time to go online and read everything her surrogates post online, believe everything they say, and then vote for her instead.

[Editor's note: I can't say for sure, but I must read 99% of everything that is posted online about Bernie Sanders every day, and I also read the reader's comments as well (not all of them obviously, because there are so many of them!). And the same goes for the LIVE rallies aired on YouTube. But overall, IMHO, most of the people commenting seem much more informed when compared to what I see from Clinton's supporters — and that's being objective. If I were being critical, I'd say Clinton's young supporters were the ones who were being lazy in their research, and are the ones who are naive — and I feel pity for them.]

Other Bernie News

At a recent Bernie Sanders campaign rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin (April 1, 2016), at the very beginning of his speech Sanders was interrupted by a man shouting and raising his hand at him. What appeared to be two of Sanders' Secret Service staff were standing nearby, but apparently did nothing until Jane Sanders approached the man. Then the Secret Service moved in, followed by what looked like local police or security, who then apprehended the man. At first I thought his jacket read "Sons of God" — but all I found online was "Sons of God: New Jerusalem", which is a Christian biker club. But the man's patches didn't look at all like the "colors" of the motorcycle club; so I looked again, and then realized the patch said "Sons of SOG" — and his jacket also appeared to also have military patches and a confederate flag — but I can't find any reference to any "Sons of SOG" online. Does anybody know?

ABC's George Stephanopoulos asks Bernie Sanders if he's comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.

This letter to the editor at the New York Daily News is factually true thus far, but this election year might be the exception, judging by what the superdelegates are currently saying (e.g. Howard Dean, etc.):

"Your coverage of superdelegates’ role in the Democratic primary is factually incorrect and misleading. The superdelegates do not get to vote until the convention and even then not on the first ballot. At this point, they are non-binding endorsements, not votes. The superdelegates have never voted contrary to the pledged delegates and it’s unlikely that they will in this election. Hillary Clinton is currently leading by about 240 pledged delegates. The primary process is ongoing and will continue until one of the candidates has at least 2,383 actual delegate votes, not superdelegate endorsements."

New York Debate: The last I heard, Bernie Sanders last proposed April 18th, the night before New York votes; and Hillary Clinton last proposed April 14 — "so more people have time to digest what they've heard".

As an aside on Healthcare

Here is an interesting post at Fact Check contrasting the historical differences between Sanders and Clinton on their approach to healthcare. That article at Fact Check was re-posted at Popular Resistance, but prefaced with an interesting note by the editor, and concluded: “All this confusion — on healthcare reform and countless other issues — brought to you by Clintons I, II, and III — Bill, Barack, and Hillary.”