Despite insiders’ reaction, primaries far from over

Bill Knight column for 3-16, 17 or 18, 2020 

Voting AGAINST someone – even someone with obvious flaws – can be less effective than voting FOR ideas and energy.

Illinois votes Tuesday, but millions of voters have yet to be heard. The delegate count between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders is close (881-725 as of Friday), and the contest requires 1,991 pledged delegates.

After a slow start, Biden took more states than Sanders on Super Tuesday, but most were in places Donald Trump won in 2016; only three (Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia) went for Clinton.

There’s danger in bandwagon enthusiasm, a desperate desire to align with a “winner” that can cloud judgment. Also risky is sacrificing passion and preference for an illusion of certainty. Some are seeking shelter in a “safe” choice.

Biden seems like a likeable guy, even if he’s as prone to gaffes as Sanders is to gruffness. But exaggerations and errors will be disastrous in debates. More important, his actual platform is vague, unlike either Sanders or Elizabeth Warren (both of whom echo Franklin D. Roosevelt and what the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone called “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party”).

Sanders’ (and Warren’s) platforms have reflected what most Americans want: addressing the climate emergency and fighting for social reforms: a minimum-wage increase, guaranteed health care, and tuition-free public colleges. In fact, exit polls at 10 Super Tuesday states that offered them showed most Democratic voters support eliminating private health insurance, as Sanders’ Medicare For All advocates, from 50% support in Massachusetts to 63% in Texas. Also, Bernie being a democratic socialist seems moot since more than 5 million Americans voted for him last month.

Meanwhile, Biden in June told rich donors in New York that “nothing would fundamentally change” in a Biden administration, and, indeed, Axios on HBO this month reported that the Biden campaign is making plans for victory by considering either Jamie Dimon (CEO of JPMorgan Chase) or Anne Finucane (vice chair of Bank of America) as Treasury Secretary.

Now, anything critical about Biden's weaknesses often is received with scorn, like facts help Trump. But differences between Sanders and Biden are relevant, especially their records.

Biden voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Iraq War, Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, bankruptcy reform, the Patriot Act, welfare reform, deregulating financial institutions, the Wall Street bailout, and a harsh Crime Bill.

Sanders voted against them all.

Biden’s positions exemplify how the Democratic Party for too long has taken U.S. workers in general and organized labor in particular for granted – except for donations, phone-banking and Get Out The Vote help. That strained relationship matters. People not inspired by candidates have less enthusiasm, which could mean fewer votes.

Further, no candidates have complete control over supporters, whether campaign contributors, online trolls or overzealous demonstrators. Still, it’s disturbing to see Biden’s support from employees at union-busting law firms, GOP donors and multi-millionaires.

Some Biden backers and Democratic insiders say liberal George McGovern’s 1972 defeat proved a lack of interest in progressive change. But that was 48 years ago, decades that have shown that moderate Democrats aren’t Sure Things. (See: Mondale, Carter’s second term, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry and Hillary Clinton.) and moderates could again alienate progressives (who campaigned for Clinton, Kerry, et. al.) Some 6 million voters who cast ballots for Obama in 2012 switched to Trump in 2016, and an American University study shows 4.4 million 2012 Obama voters didn’t even vote in 2016, and another 2.3 million voted for third-party candidates.

The Republicans are sure to sow division; already, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina has said an investigation is ahead on Biden’s son Hunter and Burisma in Ukraine.

Finally, party insiders have repeated concerns about “electability,” ignoring public opinion like a Monmouth University poll found showing Sanders’ 71% favorability rating – higher than any Democrat from the original field).

“It’s not real voters but the establishment political class and pundits who worry they’ll lose their privileges and influence,” says New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Today’s voters care about who will help them afford health care or take on climate change. Let’s listen to the people.”

Indeed, “electability” is a canard to confuse us, implying Trump can only be defeated by some “Goldilocks” candidate – not too hot, not too cold.

Such a president may not be enough, so if a moderate’s inaugurated, Americans will have to organize and lobby with a renewed purpose and vigor.

Unity will be key for Democrats, and both Biden and Sanders pledged to campaign for whomever is nominated. But for now, competition continues, and voters should examine records and qualifications in order to make informed choices.