Watch Out! The Bernie Man Will Get You!
By Patrick F. Cannon
Recent headlines have claimed that the Democratic Party “establishment” is quaking in terror over the possibility that Senator Bernie Sanders, the proud Socialist senator from Vermont – by way of Brooklyn – may end up winning their party’s nomination for President. In which case, so the theory goes, Trump would win again.
As I recall, they had the same fear four years ago, so made sure the party nominated Hillary Clinton instead. We all know how that ended up. The Democrats now face the same problem that the Republicans struggled with in 2016 – too many candidates. Here are the results of the somewhat tainted Iowa caucuses:
Buttigieg 26.2%
Sanders 26.1
Warren 18.0
Biden 15.8
Klobuchar 12.3
Yang 1.0
In the New Hampshire primary, close to home for Sanders, the results were:
Sanders 25.7%
Buttigieg 24.4
Klobuchar 19.8
Warren 9.2
Biden 8.4
Being the ace political analyst that I am, I noticed that so-called moderate Democratic candidates (not counting the minor ones) got 55.3% of the vote; and the far lefties, 44.1%. In New Hampshire, the numbers were 52.6% and 34.9%. This would lead one to believe that the majority of Democrats would prefer a candidate somewhat closer to the center, rather than the avowed socialist (and it must be said, Marxist) Sanders.
Despite his age, Sanders seems to have become the darling of our young voters. Because socialist thought has found a refuge in academia – where actual history and the real world are not permitted to intrude – they seem to think Marxism deserves another chance. Perhaps you recall that famous definition of madness?
In 2016, by the time the Republican field had dwindled, it was too late to stop Trump. Now, they’re stuck with him and don’t seem able to do anything but sit in his lap and hope for a belly rub or two. While it may not be too late to stop Sanders, it may reach that point. Did I just read that Republicans in South Carolina are planning to vote for Sanders in the Democratic primary? What’s to stop them from doing the same in other states?
All of this nonsense could be avoided by scrapping the primary system altogether and letting the party leaders decide who their best candidate would be. The current system isn’t enshrined in the Constitution, or in any Federal or state statute. It developed over the years in a mostly misguided effort to promote “a more democratic process.” It hasn’t worked. It’s given us Jimmie Carter, George W. Bush and (yikes!) Donald Trump. And it may give us (horrors!) Bernie Sanders, who can’t seem to stop yelling at us. Bring back the smoke-filled room, I say!
######
Copyright 2020, Patrick F. Cannon
cannonnadedotcom 
Much to be said in favor of the smoke-filled room. At least there was accountability! Pick a loser and you’d find yourself outside in the cold, unforgiving fresh air.
A Ouija board would be better than the current system of selecting candidates. Now the choice is made by television. This system allows a flamboyant character like Trump to steal the show.
And high public office has become just that, a show.
But the smoke-filled room had its limits. Before TV and its carnival of debates, a successful but flawed figure like Bloomberg could draw a party’s favor. Now such candidates are stripped bare under glaring lights and exposed to all, making it possible for someone to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on ads and end up looking like a pitted prune, to the party’s dismay.
In this entertainment age, smoking is hazardous to the health and political parties resemble rugby scrums. To be crowned American Idol you must sing louder and clearer than the others. The audience is fickle and easily bored.
On last night’s audition stage, Bloomberg played the joyless, repentant Scrooge; Warren, the scolding school marm ready to crack your knuckles with a ruler; Sanders, the fiery Bolshevik on the barricades, thin, white hair blowing in the wind; Biden, the coal-miners’ union boss, now pensioned; Buttigieg, the credentialed, fussy technocrat in search of another internship; and Klobuchar, the abrasive, testy condo president ready to raise your assessments.
The party is moribund, disconsolate. Will it drag Lady MacHillary out of retirement in desperation?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t there a Clinton daughter? Is old enough yet?
LikeLike
Michelle Obama??
Oprah???
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do I see a winning ticket here? Which one on top?
LikeLike
Biden-Obama would have a sort of poetic symmetry. Obama-Biden would be an anachronism. If she wants the top slot, 2024 might be a better bet (see Nikki Haley).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here’s the thing about Biden-Obama. Biden might put his foot in his mouth one time too many, and die in office from shame, giving us our first female prexy.
LikeLike