Let’s take a short break from the endless predictions from Democrats and the national media about the “reckoning” Republicans will eventually face over President Trump.
Let’s instead talk about the reckoning Democrats are headed for by nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.
The New York Times on Thursday reported that longtime Democrats, including dozens of the party’s superdelegates, are on their hands and knees praying that Sanders fails to make it to the convention with a majority of delegates so that they can deny him the nomination.
“If he doesn’t have a majority,” the report quotes Jay Jacobs, who is a superdelegate, “it stands to reason that he may not become the nominee.”
The New York Times said that of the 93 superdelegates that the paper interviewed, not even 10 said that they believed Sanders should be the nominee if he gets to the convention with a plurality of delegates but not a majority.
Of course, there are 771 superdelegates in all, so maybe the New York Times just happened to interview the ones who mostly hate the idea of Sanders rebranding their party as the Social Justice Party of America when he becomes the nominee.
But nah, I don’t think so.
“Dozens of interviews with Democratic establishment leaders this week show that they are not just worried about Mr. Sanders’s candidacy,” the paper said, “but are also willing to risk intraparty damage to stop his nomination at the national convention in July if they get the chance.”
“Intraparty damage?” More like “self-immolation.”
Old-guard Democrats are beside themselves right now about the sophomoric behavior of Sanders’s supporters online. Imagine what they’ll do offline when their candidate has the nomination snatched from him by unelected party leaders.
Superdelegates, of course, have every right to vote how they want if no candidate arrives at the convention with a majority of regular delegates. That’s the way the Democratic Party set up its nominating process.
But what’s the cost of denying Sanders the nomination when he shows up with the most delegates and instead hands it to Joe Biden? Does the left wing of the party (which is most of the party) break off? Does it run through the exact same scenario in 2024, but with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? (She will turn 35 less than a month before that year’s election.)
What’s the point of panicking? Let it go, Democrats. This is your reckoning.
