Why Bernie Is Helping, Not Hurting the Democrats

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/36992-focus-why-bernie-is-helping-not-hurting-the-democrats

Election day is still 6 months away. There is plenty time for the Democratic Party to make the Sanders supporters welcome. If Bernie suspended his campaign tomorrow and just went back to work in the Senate it would be like bursting a bubble. The movement he has launched would be devastated. That movement needs to continue, and if the Democrats embrace it they will grow. If they continue to ask for surrender, they will lose an opportunity to build the party.

Of course letting the movement in will change the party. That is what the “new” Democrats fear. The end of the third way is near, and the Democratic Party will soon be representing working people again.

It’s not about Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton; it is about representing the people or representing the corporate elite. Show us in Philadelphia that we are welcome by accepting real reform in the party. If the convention in Philadelphia is organized to be an infomercial for Hillary Clinton and the Sanders delegates are silenced, that will hurt the party. If we are welcomed and the process is fair, allowing us to put our stamp on the party’s future, we will help grow the party. If we are ignored the Democratic Party will continue to shrink, and many Sanders supporters will go back to being Green or Independent.

It is those voters who allow Sanders to poll better against Trump than Hillary. Bernie can help bring Independents into the fold, if the party is ready for change. Bernie’s supporters are not ready now to jump to Hillary. Bernie holds them together, so he needs to keep the movement alive. If he doesn’t, the Democratic Party will squander a golden opportunity to expand.

While the benefit to the party is clear, it would also be a mistake for Sanders to drop out before every vote is cast. You have to remember that Hillary Clinton thought she could convince the superdelegates in 2008.

[highprincipleswork]

1. This lifelong Democrat, over 47 years, is planning to go Independent if the Party does not indicate

in a very real way that it is clearly the party representing the people versus the corporate elite.

Thank you for your post.

[mak3cats]

5. Same here... (eom)

[hopemountain]

2. "Show us in Philadelphia that we are welcome.."

and respectfully greet us and bernie by immediately ending the violence memes & by not surrounding the convention with militarized swat teams & armed police. this would be anti democratic and assuredly loose the election for hillary. trump voters are anti government and will not vote for a candidate who displays this type of government response.

[nxylas]

3. K&R

This needs to be in the fever swamp of GD or Good Reads, where pro-establishment Dems will see it. They may not want to hear its message, but they need to hear it. Of course, bursting a bubble is exactly what they want. They fear change, and want dissent crushed.

[SmittynMo]

4. If we are ignored the Democratic Party will

continue to shrink, and many Sanders supporters will go back to being Green or Independent.

You nailed it there. Both parties have serious problems. The GOP has all but destroyed themselves, but the Dems are about to follow down the same path. That is, unless something changes. We the people finally have an opportunity to actually change the party.

And now, because we have ignored the situation and the potential ramifications, we the people will ultimately pay the price. Trump has a good chance of winning. Unbelievable!!!!

The answer is clear. The message is right. The time is NOW.