Sen. Bernie Sanders’ dismal defeat Saturday night at South Carolina’s Democratic primary left the Clinton camp optimistic for Super Tuesday and the rest of the primary season.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn’t just defeat Sanders on Saturday, she took a mallet and smashed Sanders’ hopes of ever living in the White House and turning America into a Denmark-style paradise with universal health care and tuition-free college. After this weekend, South Carolina all but sealed the Democratic Party’s fate.
In other words, the Democrats might lose the White House. They won’t retake the Senate, and they surely won’t make many gains in the House of Representatives.
I’m not being pessimistic. As Clinton bots often like to throw at Sanders supporters, “I’m being pragmatic.”
In a Quinnipiac poll released Feb. 18, Clinton barely beats Donald Trump at 44-43 percent. She loses to Sen. Ted Cruz 46-43, and Sen. Marco Rubio decimates Clinton 48-41. If Gov. John Kasich happens to defy conventional wisdom, he would crush Clinton 50-32.
But Sanders is a crazy, Jewish socialist from Vermont. Surely he wouldn’t do much better than Clinton.
You see where this is going.
In that same poll, Sanders “Berns” all the Republicans. He beats Trump 48-42. He demolishes Cruz 49-39, and he crushes rising-star Rubio 47-41. The only Republican candidate who comes close to defeating Sanders is Kasich, but Sanders still wins 45-41.
The pragmatic choice is pretty obvious.
True, the GOP hasn’t really attacked Sanders at the same degree or length as they’ve attacked Clinton. She has battle scars from more than 20 years of fighting against Republicans, whereas Sanders really hasn’t been in the spotlight until last year. If he gets the nomination, Republicans will launch endless attacks, calling him a socialist or a communist.
However, do you really think the GOP has attacked Clinton as hard as they could?
They’d be idiots if they did.
The GOP is most definitely holding back some of its attacks until closer to the general election. They want Hillary damaged closer to the voting dates, so they’re not going to waste attacks during the primary season.
Also, in an anti-establishment election, having one of the highest-profile Democrats running for the highest office reeks disaster.
Imagine the former Secretary of State debating Donald Trump.
“She wasn’t attacking me when I funded her. She wasn’t saying this when she came to my wedding.”
I know what you’re thinking. “But, Bernie couldn’t get anything through a Republican- controlled Congress!”
Maybe. But what makes you think Hillary would be able to pass progressive legislation?
We’ve already seen what a centrist — I’m sorry, a “progressive who gets stuff done” — Democrat can do in the White House. The Republican-controlled Senate won’t hold a hearing for a Supreme Court justice. Even if Pres. Barack Obama nominated a right-leaning justice, they still wouldn’t do it.
The Republicans don’t want to compromise. They want to obstruct. Even if compromise was an option, I would still prefer Sanders in the White House. The point of compromising is for both parties to meet in the center and give-and-take. Clinton’s policies are already in the center, meaning the GOP would push her more to the right and make this country more conservative.
I don’t expect most of Sanders’ policies to become reality, but he can at least push the political spectrum leftward so that we can end this country’s conservative march.
Cody Sibley is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Opelousas, Louisiana.