Should Democrats be Concerned About Sanders?
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has launched into frontrunner status after his landslide victory in the Nevada Caucuses on Saturday, winning just over 34% of the first round vote and 46% of county delegates, with former Vice President Joe Biden and Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg placing second and third, respectively. Sanders, at a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, spoke on his victory, saying that “[our campaign has] just put together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition, which is not only going to win in Nevada, it’s going to sweep the country.”
However, many Democrats, including his rivals for the nomination, worry that his campaign and base of supporters are not doing enough to unify the party, and at the very worst are actively trying to undermine the party itself, which could potentially hand President Trump a second term.
Former Mayor Buttigieg has been the most forceful against Senator Sanders on this issue. During his post-caucus rally in Las Vegas, Buttigieg explained that “Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans,” adding that “We can either prioritize either ideological purity or inclusive victory. We can either call people names online or we can call them into our movement.”
Buttigieg has bore the brunt of the vitriol and online harassment from self proclaimed Sanders supporters and affiliates, with replies to his twitter feed calling him a “rat”, a “cheater” (referencing the Iowa Caucus debacle that has still not been rectified), along with conspiracy theories ranging from involvement with the CIA to allegations of Mr. Buttigieg faking his “gayness” for votes. While it is safe to say that this harassment is from a very small minority of Mr. Sanders’ supporters, there is a sense among many Democrats that he and the campaign have not taken enough responsibility to discourage such acts of harassment.
Senator Sanders has also faced the challenge of explaining and popularizing his ideology to the general voting public, especially independents and suburban swing voters which gave Democrats a majority in the House in 2018 and are the keys to victory for Democrats in 2020. Sanders, a self described Democratic Socialist, has not made inroads with these groups, unlike his rivals for the nomination, such as Mayor Buttigieg and Vice President Biden. According to a recent NPR/Marist Poll, only 28% of American adults have a favorable view of Socialism, with 58% opposing, including 59% of independents, 61% of suburban voters, and even 46% of Democrats.
There is also the view in Democratic circles that a sizable portion of Sanders supporters will not vote for the eventual nominee if he were to lose the primary. In that same poll, it was found that 12% of those supporters plan to do just that. These voters may swing the election towards Trump, and once again Senator Sanders has not discussed at length on how he will rally and make sure his coalition supports the eventual nominee if it is not him.
Senator Sanders, for all his faults and for all his strengths, is still the frontrunner for the Democratic Nomination after the first three contests, but many questions still remain. Can he actually convince enough Democrats to give him the nomination outright, or will there be a fight with Biden or Buttigieg for the nomination at the National Convention in July? Will he finally respond to criticism of the harassment produced by self-proclaimed supporters? Can he finally convince independent and suburban voters that his ideology is actually better for society than the status quo? Can he beat Trump, and end our long national nightmare? With 47 state contests to go until the convention, time will tell us the answers.