The inspirational New England senator with the mane of silver hair had won the support of a rising generation of the American left. He came to his party’s convention that year having won nearly a dozen big states, millions of votes and more than 1,000 delegates. He had railed passionately against his opponent, a divisive establishment candidate who never quite won the trust or adoration of the party faithful.
This wasn’t Bernie Sanders, but Ted Kennedy. And Jimmy Carter, the man who defeated Kennedy in the 1980 Democratic primaries, never quite healed the Democratic Party’s divisions that year. He went on to defeat that November, against a Republican candidate who had been trailing by double digits and who most pundits had dismissed as a washed-up TV star and an ill-informed joke.
Indeed, for all the talk about the upcoming civil war among Republican delegates at this summer’s convention in Cleveland, there is another epic battle that may come to a head at the convention at the other end of the Pennsylvania turnpike. As the primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders goes on, with even Clinton’s home state of New York in play after a string of Sanders victories, the division between them is becoming dangerously bitter, and potentially just as long-lasting as the Kennedy-Carter divide that doomed the Democratic Party that year. In fact, recent attacks on the other over their qualifications to be president — Sanders bluntly said Clinton was “not” qualified to hold the office — make a bitter conflagration in Philadelphia increasingly likely.
There is one piece of compelling news for the Democratic front-runner: The laws of delegate math. On July 28, 2016, barring a calamity of unforeseeable dimensions, Hillary Rodham Clinton will walk onto the stage of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to accept the nomination of her party for president, a nomination that famously eluded her eight years earlier. The challenging fact, however, is that Clinton will do so looking out at more than 1,000 delegates who passionately campaigned against her and need to be brought back inside the tent for November.
This, of course, is the lot of many nominees in hotly contested primaries. Sometimes, as in the case of Senator Obama in 2008, the nominee is able to heal wounds and move forward to victory. But in other cases, such as Gerald Ford’s fight against Ronald Reagan in 1976 and Carter’s against Kennedy in 1980, the nominee never quite emerged from the shadow of his more popular and inspiring primary foe.
For Hillary Clinton, there already are troubling signs that she might lapse into the latter category unless she acts decisively now. A recent poll reported by the Huffington Post found that nearly one-third of all Democratic voters would not support her in the fall.
So how does Hillary Clinton avoid the enduring divisions that doomed the Fords and Carters of yesteryear? As I see it, there are three key considerations:
Respect
From candidate on down, Clinton and her people must demonstrate sincere appreciation for Senator Sanders and the message he’s successfully brought forward. With Sanders attacking her repeatedly, this admittedly is hard to do. But there are lines she should avoid crossing. She should stop questioning his credentials as a Democrat. And she should minimize attacks on the senator or his record.
As the convention approaches, the senator should be asked to nominate her — as she did for Senator Obama in 2008. According Senator Sanders and his supporters the respect they have earned in the campaign they have passionately conducted, and including them as equals in the party is critical and must begin now, continue through the convention and accelerate into November.
Rhetoric and record
Bobby Kennedy used to advise that in politics you should “Hang a lantern on your problems.” In other words, a candidate should gracefully acknowledge flaws and mistakes, talk about lessons learned and wisdom gained, and move on. Like all others, she is not a perfect candidate. She has made errors in judgment, most notably her vote for the war in Iraq and her coziness with Wall Street, both of which are positions that are especially anathema to Sanders’ supporters. She needs to convince them that she has learned lessons from the past and has changed — not evolved, as she and others euphemistically claim on gay marriage, but rather actively and actually changed her mind about bad decisions.
Running Mate
A Clinton-Sanders ticket is certainly unlikely if only for the simple reason that both candidates would be in their seventies by the end of their first year in office. But there are a number of candidates Mrs. Clinton could select who would offer great appeal to Sanders supporters. On issues ranging from health care to trade to Wall Street, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown are both recognized progressives and both speak the language of Sanders supporters.
Senator Warren offers the intriguing opportunity to double down on the historic opportunity to elect our first woman president, although second fiddle is not her preferred instrument. Senator Brown brings great strength in the critical state of Ohio, although his election would ironically give Governor Kasich the right to appoint a Republican successor in a Senate that Democrats hope to recapture.
Senator Sanders (who recently issued a laundry list of conditions Clinton must meet to win his support) may be a difficult opponent to convert to the Clinton team. Ultimately, the success of her efforts will depend on the personal decision of a very proud and sometimes remote man who is not even a member of the Democratic Party. But these steps by Secretary Clinton would help satisfy many Sanders supporters, which is the predicate to convincing candidate Sanders himself. If he acts in 2016 as she did in 2008, then we are likely to see another President Clinton. If not, then it could be a bitter cold November for Democrats.
Mark L. Alderman served on the Kerry for President and Obama for America National Finance Committees; the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team; was a member of the 57th Electoral College in 2012; and most recently co-chaired the finance effort of the O’Malley for President campaign. He is currently Chairman of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
