Making Peace: A Means to an End
By this stage of the primary campaign, pretty much all active DUers have decided who they support for the Democratic nomination for President. That's not surprising, really. We all are politically aware and have strong feelings about political issues. What remains now is for the caucuses and primaries to proceed and give us an answer as to who will win the nomination. We can campaign locally, of course, donate to our choice of candidates, etc., but it won't be DUers who determine the results. If it were, Bernie Sanders would win in all 50 primary states, and it's clear that's not going to be the outcome.
Only two candidates have any chance of becoming the nominee. It will be either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders who goes on to appear on the general election ballot. From my point of view, either one would serve well as President and either one is so far superior to any of the Republican candidates that I will be enthusiastically supporting and campaigning for either one following the Democratic Nominating Convention. That's really a no-brainer for any lifelong Democrat, I think.
Here on DU, the battle is pitched at a high level of conflict, though. I suppose that isn't surprising, but I'm not sure it's all that productive at this stage of the election year, really. Our influence on voters, nationally, is minuscule really. Individually, we might have some influence in the local area where we live, but even there, not so much. The caucuses and primaries will occur, and the votes will be counted. Delegates to the convention will be selected proportionally as each state and congressional district votes.
I'd like to sue for peace here on DU. Possibly as early as March 2, the eventual nominee will probably be known, based on delegate counts and projections based on polling in states that will vote later. Perhaps we could begin planning for how we will support the nominee once the convention happens, whoever it is. Perhaps we could begin to find ways to help win the White House, win a majority in the Senate, pick up some seats in the House and flip a few state legislatures in November. That seems to me to be a worthy goal.
The two viable candidates for the nomination are both well known. I'll be pleased to support either of them. They differ in details of policy and plans, but both will help move the country in a progressive direction. How far they can move it will depend on other factors, particularly on the makeup of Congress. Either would do the very best job they could, and there's much that needs to be done. Neither, however, can do anything unless one is actually elected and how much they can do depends on Congress.
Let's make peace toward cooperating with the general election in mind. Let's vote in the primaries or caucuses as we prefer, but let's also begin looking toward the general election, starting now. Let's discover how we can help with GOTV efforts where we live. Lets find ways to help Democratic legislative candidates prevail. Let's find ways to defeat as many Republicans as possible. We will get the nominee who manages to win enough delegates. Whoever that is will be a fine choice as President, especially compared to the alternative.
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