The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The back and forth continues, with @Lis_Smith saying, “If Senator Sanders wants to explain to all the Democratic House members in swing districts who will lose their seats if we run on this plan, we'd welcome that discussion.” https://t.co/ypgelRzapc pic.twitter.com/Nb8P6e8Ds0

— Dan Merica (@merica) February 22, 2020

That "lead in delegates" explains Bernie's remark at the last debate (or the one prior?  I can't keep up) that the person with the most votes should win.  Yeah, it doesn't work that way in the general election nor in the Democratic primaries.  Bernie may wind up with 3 more votes, but with fewer delegates, and though he hates the "super-delegates" because they are part of the "establishment" he's "coming for," dese are de conditions dat prevail.  And he knew what the rules were when he decided to try this again.

Aside from the question of how many Democrats lose if Bernie insists its his way or the highway.  I was thinking about LBJ again.  He grew up in Central Texas and saw dirt-poor poverty and the effects of the New Deal.  Many of his programs directly benefited those poor rural areas where he grew up.  But LBJ didn't run on grabbing the levers of power and redirecting government to be what he wanted to see.  He used governmental power to help people.  Trump ran largely to avenge himself on Obama after the White House Correspondents Dinner where he was roasted.  It's not coincidence Trump hasn't attended one yet in his Presidency.  Now, in his third year, he's decided the power of the presidency is his to use to benefit, well:  Trump.  Sanders wants to do the same thing:  he's going to turn America into Denmark (he mentioned it again as the model for America in a recent debate), whether we want to be Denmark or not (do we all have to be melancholy?).  That won't directly benefit Bernie, but he think it is his mission to impose his vision on the nation.  That's the debate in Nevada right now with the Culinary Workers Union:  will they have to give up their health insurance if Bernie gets his way?  Must everything be Bernie's way or the highway?  (Same question with "free college."  Most of those colleges that aren't private are state supported.  Does Bernie propose a takeover of state colleges and universities to put them on a federal tuition plan?)  That sounds more like Trump than any officeholder I know.

And I really don't want a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" election in November.