With 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.
ROBERT B. REICH is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton
administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective
cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books,
including the best sellers “Aftershock, “The Work of Nations," and "Beyond
Outrage," and, his most recent, "Saving Capitalism." He is also
a founding editor of the American Prospect
magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, INEQUALITY FOR
ALL.