Following is my commentary, from yesterday, about Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presumptive presidential nominee, offering to step aside so Bernie Sanders could jump the Democrat ship and take her place:
Hmmmmmm. Would Bernie do it?
I’m betting he would respectfully decline.
Bernie Sanders is nobody’s fool. He knows the enormous leverage that Jill Stein is handing him on a silver platter.
Now he can make demands, both personally (cabinet position?) and legislatively, while holding the prospect of a Green candidacy that would unquestionably take votes – lots of them – from Hillary Clinton as a cudgel over Democrats’ heads. How could they possibly refuse, if doing so would send him to the Green ticket?
On the other hand, Mr. Sanders is also a life-long hardline ideologue; a left wing purist. The idea of running on a Green Party ticket, instead of very publicly selling his soul to Mr. Clinton, has got to be appealing.
And it’s not like he would be breaking any long-term ties to do so: two years ago at this time, Bernie Sanders wasn’t even a Democrat.
With the convention less than three weeks away, it seems self-evident that Mr. Sanders will make a decision relatively quickly.
Stay tuned. You can’t say it won’t be interesting.
Especially to a fellow named Trump….
Well, now we have our answer.
From M. J. Lee, Dan Merica and Jeff Zeleny’s article at cnn.com:
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders formally declared an end to their political rivalry Tuesday, joining forces to take on a shared enemy: Donald Trump.
Wow. All the warmth of a mongoose teaming up with a snake.
This has the aroma – the heavy, unmistakable aroma – of a deal. A big deal, probably involving both major legislative concessions and a plum job for Mr. Sanders in a Clinton administration.
In other words, he sold out principle to get while the getting was good.
Do I blame him?
If I look at Bernie Sanders as a typical politician, not at all.
If I look at Bernie Sanders as a serious purist with an unwavering, non-negotiable agenda? You bet I do.
Well, anyway, barring indictments (she’d have to turn on Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren and #blacklivesmatter for that to happen) or physical issues (a far more plausible likelihood), the Democrat race is now officially undisputed. And the wounds opened between Ms. Clinton and Mr. Sanders during the primary battle have a chance at starting to heal.
Let’s see if the wounds can be healed with his followers. That, folks, could be a lot more difficult.
