By
MARSHA MERCER
In
the rush to coronate Hillary Clinton, let us take a moment to consider the extraordinary
accomplishment of Bernie Sanders.
No,
he didn’t win, but he’s anything but a loser.
Barring
something unforeseen, Clinton will make history next month as the first woman
presidential nominee of a major political party. Hers is a major achievement
and she deserves the acclaim she is receiving. But almost since the day she
lost to Barack Obama in 2008, most Americans expected this outcome from the 2016
Democratic primary process. It was her turn.
Nobody
expected how hard she would have to fight to secure her prize. That an obscure,
elderly, Jewish, Democratic Socialist senator from Vermont could inspire a
generation of young Americans and millions of others, threaten the Democratic
Party establishment’s choice and raise enough money in small donations to
become a viable and formidable challenger is nothing short of remarkable.
Now,
everyone in the Democratic Party from President Barack Obama down is urging Sanders
and his supporters to get in line with Clinton and unite for the fall campaign.
As
they do, though, everyone should remember that Sanders was correct: Clinton doesn’t
have enough pledged, elected delegates to win.
She
has won 2,203 elected delegates through the primary and caucus season. The
District of Columbia primary Tuesday offers 45 more. That’s not enough for her
to reach the magic number of 2,383 to claim the nomination with elected
delegates alone at the convention in Philadelphia July 25.
Because
of Sanders, Clinton must rely on superdelegates. Those are the mayors,
governors, members of Congress and party leaders who are free to support any
candidate.
But
Clinton has 574 superdelegates in her corner, many more than she needs, according
to the Associated Press, which surveyed superdelegates and counted those who
said they are committed to Clinton. That’s why news outlets declared her the presumptive
nominee on Monday.
Superdelegates
make up about 15 percent of all Democratic delegates. Officially unpledged,
they conceivably could change their minds – and that has been Sanders’ forlorn
hope. He has won 1,828 elected delegates and has 48 superdelegates on his side.
There’s
nothing nefarious about Clinton’s using superdelegates to put her over the top.
She’s playing by the rules. Plus, she won 3 million more votes than Sanders in
the primaries and was victorious in 32 states and territories to his 23.
To
win at the convention what he could not win in the states, Sanders would have
to change the minds of more than 400 of Clinton’s superdelegates. That won’t happen
unless calamity befalls Clinton, such as an indictment for her use of a private
email server at the State Department.
In
a year in which the news media arguably engineered the success of the bombastic
billionaire Donald J. Trump through slavish coverage of his every offensive
comment, Sanders created a movement.
Trump,
ironically, will go to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland July 18
with 1,447 elected delegates – 210 more than he needs to be the nominee. Nobody
else is close.
Sanders’
claims that the system was rigged against him is true in the sense that the
Democratic Party establishment was backing Clinton long before the process
began.
More
than 400 superdelegates had endorsed Clinton 10 months before the first
caucuses and primaries. The party canceled some debates and scheduled those
that did occur at times when most people weren’t watching, which hurt
viewership and denied Sanders the chance to gain national attention.
Despite
obstacles the party put in his way, Sanders caught fire.
Here’s President Obama Wednesday on the Tonight Show with
Jimmy Fallon: “I thought that Bernie Sanders brought enormous energy and new
ideas, and he pushed the party and challenged them. I thought it made Hillary a
better candidate.”
It
would be wrong for the Democratic establishment now to deny the strength of
Sanders’ agenda or the weaknesses Clinton has going into the fall campaign. Voters
face a choice between two presidential candidates with startlingly high
negative ratings. Neither is seen as trustworthy.
Clinton
needs Sanders and a large share of his supporters if she is to beat Trump. They
could make the difference.
So,
don’t discount Sanders’ achievement. He won’t be the Democratic presidential
nominee but he has accomplished something almost as remarkable as Clinton has.
©
2016 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
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