Recently, I heard from a liberal friend who says that she cannot in good conscience vote for any Democratic candidate for President except Bernie Sanders. Afterwards, I was informed by a liberal on social media that he can’t, under any circumstances, vote for Michael Bloomberg.
So, imagine this scenario: Bloomberg wins the nomination. A significant portion of Sanders and Warren people sit out because they refuse to support a billionaire. A significant portion of Joe Biden supporters sit out because of Bloomberg’s previous embrace of stop and frisk. Some of Amy Klobuchar supporters sit out because they would only vote for a woman (which Bloomberg, as far as we know, is not). Some of Pete Butigieg’s supporters stay home simply because they’re not inspired. Who do you think wins the election?
Or, imagine this scenario: Sanders wins the nomination. A significant portion of Bloomberg, Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg supporters sit out because Sanders is a socialist. A portion of Warren supporters sit out because they would only vote for a woman (which Sanders, as far as we know, is not). Who do you think wins the election?
Or, imagine this scenario: Klobuchar wins the nomination. A significant portion of Sanders and Warren supporters sit out because they refuse to vote for a Washington insider. A portion of Bloomberg, Biden and Buttigeg supporters sit out because Klobuchar’s last name does not begin with a “B.” Who do you think wins the election?
Or, imagine this scenario: Butigieg wins the nomination. A significant portion of Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg, Biden and Klobuchar supporters sit out because they refuse to pull the lever for a candidate who hasn’t yet governed a city with as many people as a New York City apartment building. Who do you think wins the election?
Or, imagine this scenario: Biden wins the nomination. A significant portion of Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar supporters sit out because they refuse to forgive Biden for his vote in favor of the war in Iraq and for giving Anita Hill such a hard time. Who do you think wins the election?
Or, imagine this scenario: Warren wins the nomination. A significant portion of Sanders supporters sit out because they are furious to have lost to “Bernie light.” A significant portion of Bloomberg, Biden, Klobuchar and Buttigieg supporters sit out because, although she claims to be a capitalist, Warren is actually a socialist. Who do you think wins the election?
This is how Democrats lose, by adopting the kind of purity test that Barack Obama warned against in 2019. Republicans know that they are voting and know who they are voting for. As a liberal or left-leaning moderate, you either get the existential threat that the current noxious occupant of the White House poses, or you don’t. If you get it, you push for your favorite candidate as best you can and vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination, even if they get it playing dirty. New flash: Politics is a dirty game, which is why most people don’t want to be politicians. If you don’t get the existential threat Trump poses, then you sit out the election if your favorite candidate doesn’t get the nomination or your least favorite candidate does. You stay at home under the illusion that you have claimed some kind of moral high ground when all you have done is failed to take a stand against a dangerous and vile autocrat.
When liberals announce that names of the Democratic candidates they can’t bring themselves to vote for, or the only one they can, they play directly into Trump’s hands. If Trump, with all his racism, misogyny, environmental terrorism, criminality, revenge firings, non-stop lies, toxic narcissism and pervasive ugliness doesn’t motivate liberals to vote for his opponent, whoever it is, then they are part of the problem. There is no perfect candidate; there never is.
Some liberals, like myself, just want Trump defeated. Personally, I think Sanders would lose, but that doesn’t mean that he would lose. Hey, I picked Perot as the winner in 1992. Any of the current Democratic candidates could win — or lose. There is no sure bet. Except this: Trump will excoriate and viciously smear his opponent. It will be an ugly, mean-spirited, no holds-barred shit-show, because Trump brings everyone who would hold him accountable down to his level. He’s the political equivalent of the Joker. He will stop at nothing to cause mayhem and a victorious opponent will have to cause some mayhem too.
I think Bloomberg has a better shot than the other near-80-year old geezers. Biden seems past his prime. Sanders never looks good to me and, besides, Americans fear communists more than fascists. Bloomberg gets under Trump’s skin and throws him off his game. Buttigieg? My God, he’s 19, but at least he presents a striking contrast by being everything that Trump is not: young, gay, a military veteran and devoted husband. Klobuchar has appeal for me because she too would present a sharp contrast to Trump and perhaps win much needed votes in the central states. Warren? I don’t know what happened to her campaign, but if she really wants a progressive at the top of the ticket, she should drop out and tell her supporters to support Sanders. All of this said, if that wacko new-age author, what’s her name, jumps back in the race and wins the nomination, she’s got my vote.
Liberals need to stop playing the moral equivalency game. Remember what Colin Kapernick said about candidates Trump and Clinton: “It almost seems like they’re trying to debate who’s less racist” and that it “really didn’t matter to him” who won. Great job, Colin. You think Hillary would have crowed that “there are very good people on both sides” after Charlottesville? You think Hillary would have tweeted on Martin Luther King Day that revered civil right leader John Lewis was “all talk, no action”? You think that Hillary would have called for NFL players who chose to kneel during the National Anthem to be thrown out of the country?
The left’s embrace of cancel culture threatens to bring us four more years of President Sociopath and the only thing that will be canceled then is our democracy, or what’s left of it. This far into the election cycle, it’s as disturbing as it is revealing that so many progressives are actually “regressives" by failing to understand what’s at stake.