The Democrats now have a Bernie Sanders problem on their hands

For as long as I've been writing about him, I've maintained one constant opinion regarding Bernie Sanders. He's a misguided Marxist who's wrong on virtually every issue, but he genuinely believes in his cause. I don't doubt for a second that, when he spouts his class warfare dogma, he's a true believer. That should worry the Democrat party. After his defeat in New York it's become clear that Bernie simply can't win. He has no path to the nomination under normal circumstances. However, he hasn't quit. So the media has started to wonder what his game is. As the WaPo puts it, "What does Bernie want?"

His bold agenda has pushed Clinton to the left, a testament to the strength of the party’s grass-roots progressive wing, which has made him its hero. But as Clinton extends her lead in pledged delegates, Sanders must now confront the reality that he has almost no chance of becoming the Democratic nominee. Instead he must decide what he will do with what he has built — starting with how he conducts his campaign over the next two months, how he navigates the party’s national convention in July, what role he plays in the general election and, perhaps most important, what happens after the November results have been tallied. At the heart of many of these questions is another one: Will the self-described democratic socialist, who has run all his past campaigns as an independent, continue calling himself a Democrat after his presidential bid ends?

It's a good question. Despite the fact that no one seems to be able to tell us the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist, all parties involved steadfastly maintain that there is one. Hillary lies and claims she's not a socialist, while Bernie swears he's "running as a Democrat" but holding onto his core socialist principles. ...And that's the rub for Dems. Bernie, whatever he is, is not one of them.

So, when you ask "what does Bernie want" you have to consider the very real possibility that he doesn't want anything. Sanders vowed, on multiple occasions, to stay in the race until the convention. Normally he'd be given a speaking slot, or some piece of pet legislation, and he'd wander off into the sunset. But what if Bernie's something the Democrats have never faced: a losing candidate they can't buy off? Maybe Bernie thinks Hillary will be indicted, or maybe he thinks he can duke it out in a brokered convention. Perhaps Bernie just genuinely believes that he'd be better for the country than Hillary and he isn't interested in going away. Whatever his reasons, he's still promising to stay in. If he fights until the bitter end, he becomes a big problem for Democrats. Just look at what these Sanders fans think of Hillary: I've argued in the past that most Bernie supporters will, like good little sheep, line up behind Hillary once they're faced with an actual opponent to rally against. I still believe that. But the longer Bernie is in, the more aggrieved his fans will be when he fails to get the nod. The angrier they are, the less likely they'll be to turn out for Clinton. If it's a close election, that could spell big trouble for the DNC. So, please. Hang in there, Bernie. You can do it.

Robert Laurie——Bio and Archives

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