Bernie: Hey, voting third-party isn't the worst idea

“I don’t want to go there, because I have run as a third-party candidate myself in the state of Vermont,” Sanders told The Detroit News. “Historically, third parties have played a very important role in bringing out ideas that were ahead of their times, (that) the mainstream politicians adopt 20 years later. I don’t want to go that route.” Instead, Sanders listed the government programs and progressive agenda Clinton would pursue if elected the nation’s 45th president: free tuition for middle-class students attending public universities and colleges; a hike in the minimum wage; pay equity for women; and an ambitious effort to rein in money in politics. “I talked to her last week. She promised me that within the first 100 days of her administration, if she’s president, she’ll bring forth a constitutional amendment to overturn this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision,” Sanders said. “That’s a big deal.”

Now just to be accurate in how we present this, Sanders only commented on the question of voting third-party because he was asked by a reporter. And you can understand why a guy who ran and won as a third-party candidate himself wouldn't want to trash the idea entirely. His tact, instead, was to make the case that Hillary is so committed to massive growth in the government that anyone giving a third-party candidate any consideration should recognize she is more than left-wing enough to satisfy their needs.

I can understand, given Sanders's history, why he doesn't want to issue a blanket indictment of all third-party voting. But he didn't have to in this case. He was only asked if a third-party vote would be a wasted vote in the context of this particular election. There's no reason he couldn't have said, "Often it's the right thing to do, but in this election it would be a wasted vote because the only candidate who can defeat Trump is Hillary, and it's so important to defeat Trump." To be sure, switch the names of the candidates and you've essentially got the same argument we've been making here about why it makes no sense for conservative #NeverTrumpers to vote third-party. Because we have to defeat Hillary and Trump is the only one who can do it. I have a feeling that's the answer the Hillary campaign would have preferred to see him give, but I don't know how much control they're able to exercise over him. I'd say they need his help more than he needs anything from them, so if they try to control his messaging too tightly they might run the risk of him bolting - which becomes a much bigger story than an isolate quote he gives to one newspaper reporter on one stop.

But we think Sanders is correct: It is absolutely not a wasted vote for you liberals to go third-party, and we want to encourage you to vote for Jill Stein or anyone else you might like as an alternative to Hillary. After all, if you don't vote your conscience, how can you live with yourselves? And Bernie just told you how important it is to do it. As for you conservatives, however, don't waste your votes on unserious third-party pretenders. Vote Trump, regardless of your problems with him! Wait. Did I just argue two totally conflicting sets of principles depending on who I was talking to? Not exactly. The only principle that matters to me in this election is Hillary losing. Whatever makes that happen is fine with me.