Bernie's Choice: Ride or Die

[George II]

Does he want to make his followers feel righteous, or beat Donald Trump?

by RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON MARCH 17, 2020 5:21 AM

Donald Trump must be defeated,” Bernie Sanders insists, “and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.”

But will he?

After Tuesday’s primaries, Sanders will confront a defining choice: continue his doomed campaign—further attempting to damage Biden in the minds of both swing voters and his most fervent supporters—or seek an accommodation which preserves his influence and maximizes Biden’s chances.

His course remains worrisome. As Paul Krugman puts it, “Sanders and those around him have a bad habit of suggesting that anyone who questions their political strategy is a corrupt tool of the oligarchy.”

In the narrative too often embraced by Bernie’s base, Sanders never actually loses—he gets screwed. His designated antagonists are “the Democratic establishment” and the “venomous” and “corrupt” “corporate media.” From this perspective, the media slights his agenda. As for the party: “One of the things I was kind not surprised by was the power of the establishment to force Amy Klobuchar [and] Pete Buttigieg… out of the race.”

Four paragraphs doesn't do this justice. More:

https://thebulwark.com/bernies-choice-ride-or-die/