I saw a lot of posts yesterday from angry Bernie Sanders supporters, most of whom made a quick leap from thinking Bernie could do no wrong and was the one guy in the world who'd never sell out…to wailing that Bernie had sold them out. Ah, but for what? For getting a large portion of his agenda into the Democratic platform and for wanting Republicans to not keep the Senate and also win the presidency? There's a sleazy bribe if I ever heard one.
I dunno what else they expected him to do. Consider two of Bernie's main objectives: Universal health care and free college. Which of these two possible presidents — President H. Clinton or President D. Trump — is likelier to get us close to those? Which one's likelier to get tough with financiers, cracking down on unscrupulous business practices like, say, Donald Trump's? (If you think Hillary would be just as bad there…well, maybe. Or maybe Bernie, with an insider's perspective, thinks otherwise.)
Really though, it comes down to alternatives. I don't see where Senator Sanders had any. Some of those who'd backed him are saying, "There should be a third party," which is one of those things people say and then nothing ever happens. It's like when something transpires in government that you don't like and you vow to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn that. Nothing ever happens. You say it, you feel good and then you forget about it because it's too much work and it'll never happen anyway.
Any time you hear someone say "We'll start a third party" or "We'll pass a Constitutional Amendment," just imagine they're saying "We'll cover the entire planet in cream cheese!" Because the chances of the cream cheese happening are really about the same as the odds of the third party or the Constitutional Amendment.
The folks calling for a "third party" are also forgetting that we already have a third party…and a fourth party and a fifth and so on. Their impact on national elections is basically to act as "None of the Above." You and I will win as many states as Gary Johnson. It would be great if any of those were viable but it just doesn't work that way. You know why it's Johnson running on the Libertarian ticket and not Rand Paul? Because Rand Paul wants to stay in politics.
So does Bernie Sanders and I hope he does for as long as he can.