2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Washington Post: Bernie Sanders is hijacking the Democratic Party to be elected as an independent [View all]Onlooker
(5,636 posts)Sanders is energizing a lot of independent voters towards the Democrats. They may not all become Democrats, but most of them will likely lean Democratic in the future. He's bringing a lot liberal and progressive people into the party and into the election. Let's face it, whether it's Hillary or Bernie who wins the nomination, it should be a net gain for the Democrats. Even if many of the Bernie supporters don't back Hillary, there will also be many new voters who would not have voted at all if it wasn't for Bernie.
My only concern is why did Bernie admit that he only became a Democrat for opportunistic reasons? That basically plays right into the hands of the superdelegates who are supposed be Democratic Party stalwarts. Now if the finally results are very close, Bernie will probably not be able to make a serious play for the superdelegates.