We've heard a lot recently about Donald Trump possibly running for president as an Independent if he "isn't treated fairly" by Republicans. That thought has Republican leaders scared to death. Trump couldn't win, but he could drag away enough teabagger support to give the Democratic nominee an easy path to the White House.Democrats have had a similar nightmare scenario. It is the thought that Bernie Sanders might run as an Independent if he doesn't win the Democratic nomination. Although he trails Hillary Clinton by a significant margin, he does have a lot of hardcore supporters -- and it's not unimaginable that they would abandon the Democratic Party to support him as an Independent.
Fortunately (for Democrats), that's not going to happen. Speaking in Washington last Thursday, Sanders said he would not run as an Independent if he doesn't win the Democratic nomination. Here is what he said:
“I would not want to be responsible for electing some right-wing Republican president.”
“As I was contemplating what I’d do, one decision I had to make was, there were a lot of people telling me to run as an Independent. They said the Republican Party is an extreme right-wing party, and the Democratic Party is too conservative, too cozied-up to big money … and that I should run outside of the two party system.”
“I thought about it. But I reached the decision … that the only way at this particular moment in history that we could run an effective campaign was within the Democratic primary and caucus system.”
Although I support Hillary Clinton for the nomination, regular readers of this blog will know that I have an immense amount of respect for Bernie Sanders. I think the senator from Vermont is one of the two best senators we have in Washington -- and this decision of his has just heightened my respect for him (something I didn't think was possible).
Bernie Sanders will support the nominee of the Democratic Party, even if it is not him. He knows how important it is to keep an extremist Republican out of the White House in 2016. I hope his supporters (especially the die-hard "Hillary-haters" among them) have the same love for this country that Sanders does. I hope they understand that he is right, and we must unify behind the winner of the nomination to defeat the Republican candidate. It's just too important to stay home (or vote third-party) this time.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not asking any supporter of Bernie Sanders to abandon his candidacy. I think all Democrats and progressives should vote their conscience and support the candidate of their choice -- and if you support Sanders, that is fine. But once the nomination is settled, it won't be a time for sour grapes. This election is just too important.
(The image of Bernie Sanders above is by DonkeyHotey.)
