A group of Bernie Sanders staffers and volunteers is circulating a draft proposal calling on the senator to get out of the presidential race after the final burst of Democratic primaries on June 7, and concentrate on building a national progressive organization to stop Donald Trump.
Operating under the assumption that Sanders will win the California primary but still fall far short of amassing enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination, the document calls for the Vermont senator to exit the race and launch an independent political group far larger than any other recent post-campaign political operations, such as those started by Howard Dean or Barack Obama.
The working title for the roughly 1,600-word document: “After Winning on June 7th Bernie Sanders Should Suspend his Campaign and Launch an Independent Organization to Defeat Donald Trump."
Nice to see some of Sanders' supporters recognizing the obvious.
This information coincides with Sanders admission that Hillary Clinton can beat Donald Trump in the general.
Yes she can, and most likely will beat Trump in the general, but knowing that just how exactly is Sanders continuing his campaign helping Democrats win this election?Minutes ago to press, @BernieSanders: "I'm not here to say Hillary Clinton can't defeat Donald Trump, I absolutely believe that she can."— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) May 12, 2016
It's not:
If he wants to do it—if Sanders wants to build a lasting movement to fight money’s outsize influence—he has to close one door to open another. The transition from contender to gracious supporter of the nominee isn’t easy for any presidential candidate, but he needs to make it, and soon.
We already know Sanders isn’t going to win the Democratic Party’s nomination; Hillary Clinton has amassed more than 92 percent of the delegates needed to secure the nomination, and she’ll easily pick up the rest. So right now, Sanders’ campaign is the walking dead: a zombie. And having worked for John Kerry during the slugfest of the 2004 primaries, I’ve seen up close how much damage this sort of prolonged "zombie" candidacy can inflict on the eventual nominee—and what’s ultimately at stake for the country.
In fact there is evidence that Sanders has already had a negative effect on Hillary's chances moving forward.
Courtesy of You Gov:
In this week’s Economist/YouGov Poll, one in three Democratic primary voters have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, and that figure has been rising all year. But it only jumped above 30% a few weeks ago. As Clinton pivots to a general election campaign, and frequently ignores Sanders, he continues to win primaries – with his political television advertising unanswered by Clinton ads in some states.
The growth in negative views about Clinton comes from Sanders supporters. In this week’s poll, 61% of Democratic primary voters who support Sanders have an unfavorable view of Clinton. Clinton’s voters are more positive about the Vermont Senator: 58% of them have a favorable view of Sanders, and just 39% are unfavorable. But that lower negative assessment of Sanders by Clinton supporters has also grown. It has jumped 20 points since early March, and 12 points since early April.
So if Sanders stubbornly continues the campaign that many of his own staffers and supporters recognize is doomed to fail, and it continues to damage the eventual nominee's approval ratings (Which plays right into the hands of the Republican nominee in the general), then just what is the point again?
Source http://ift.tt/1ZNsV7A
