SocraticGadfly: What's next for #FeelTheBern?

April 20, 2016

What's next for #FeelTheBern?

Just as advance polling missed his upset win over Hillary Clinton in Michigan, it noted her relative thumping of him in New York.

Things don't get easier from here on out, which is why a month ago, I said he had an uphill slog, and his run of wins out west didn't make me change my mind. As noted there, most remaining Dem primaries are closed — as in "no independents voting" — and many of those are in states that by demography, state political machines or both, favor Clinton.

Pennsylvania and Maryland, next? Ed Rendell and others are very much behind Clinton in Pennsylvania. The demographics otherwise I don't think look good for him. Large black populations in Philly and Pittsburgh. White population is mainly older. Maryland? Barbara Mikulski and others are in her camp, and I don't see an O'Malley endorsement for Sanders in the stars.

And, other than possibly Wisconsin, things don't generally get better from there. Per a Facebook friend who said, what about California? Well, what about it?

Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are all strong for Clinton. I suspect Jerry Brown, if not rabid for her, is not a Bernie fan.

But, I agree with this piece that:
A. He shouldn't drop out; and
B. It's (not primarily) his responsibility to make peace inside the Democratic party.

But, at some point, he will. He's already said so.

So, the next question is, what's next for Sandernistas? Per that link to my previous blog post, it should be to "Plan B" — voting Green. The question is, Will it be? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, some Sandernistas are calling for him to create a movement. Will he? Well, first of all, he's 74. He doesn't likely have an incredible amount of time left to lead a movement.

The second issue is, would he keep any such movement more or less inside the Democratic Party box, or would he color outside the lines?

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