New York Times columnist Paul Krugman urged the Democratic establishment to drop its hostility toward Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and help make the avowed socialist more electable if he wins the party’s nomination.
Krugman said Democrats should be more concerned about Sanders’s electability than his policy proposals, arguing that it is the “job” of the party to make sure he appeals to general election voters.
“I’m more concerned about (a) the electability of someone who says he’s a socialist even though he isn’t and (b) if he does win, whether he’ll squander political capital on unwinnable fights like abolishing private health insurance. But if he’s the nominee, it’s the job of Dems to make him electable if at all possible,” he wrote Sunday.
Krugman’s piece marks a shift for some Democrats, who are adjusting to the prospect of a Sanders nomination after he won the New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucuses, putting him in a strong position heading into Super Tuesday when more than a third of delegates will be up for grabs.
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday he was “not at all” worried about Sanders, who is not officially a member of the party, winning the nomination.
“He is certainly a polarizing candidate, but we have an incredibly polarizing person on the other side,” Dean said of Sanders on CNN’s State of the Union, adding that the Vermont senator could could help the party turn out swing voters. “As I said before, he showed last night that he can energize our core base.”
“I’ve got news for the Republican establishment. I’ve got news for the Democratic establishment. They can’t stop us,” Sanders tweeted ahead of his Nevada victory.
I’ve got news for the Republican establishment. I’ve got news for the Democratic establishment. They can’t stop us.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 22, 2020
