News Notes: An Independent’s letter to the “Blue no matter who” crew

By Maya Shaffer

After the New Hampshire primary it’s time to reflect. If the point of “Blue no matter who” is to defeat Trump in the general at all costs then the only criteria you should use to vote in the primary is “who is the most electable candidate”. That means it’s time to embrace Bernie Sanders and get excited that he brings enthusiasm and support from independents with him. 

Polling post NH found that 53% of Sanders voters are not committed to voting for the Democratic nominee if it’s not Bernie. This is vastly more than the other major candidates. While this has been played up as being a negative about Sanders and his supporters (they lack party unity etc) in actuality it is exactly why “Blue no matter who” folks should be excited. Sanders uniquely appeals to independent voters and will add more votes than just the Democrats have otherwise. Since “Blue no matter who” will vote for any candidate the Democrats nominate their goal should be to find the candidate that will add the most extra votes from outside their group. Statistically that is Sanders.

Sanders has won the popular vote in both Iowa and New Hampshire. More importantly he out-polls Trump head to head by the widest margin of any Democrat and has been ahead of Trump consistently for five years running. He’s moved into the top spot in DEM primary national polls as well. The group Sanders doesn’t seem to do well with are the corporate news outlets who consistently bash him and call him unelectable (with no reason given) over and over. Those same outlets were almost as relentless about calling Biden the most electable and thus far he looks like he’ll be done around Super Tuesday.

Sanders is currently winning, is currently polling to win the primary, and is currently the best looking candidate to line up against Trump. His base is excited- they reportedly knocked on 150,000 doors in New Hampshire on the Saturday before the primary alone. If you’ve been on social media talking politics then you probably have come across his base loudly championing their candidate (and often criticising the rest of the field and the process). If you want to beat Trump in the general then you’ll want that energy on your side. The only way that’ll happen is if Sanders is nominated.

I’m an independent. If Sanders isn’t the nominee then I am likely to vote for a third party candidate. Looking at the field Pete Buttigieg’s “All live’s matter” speech and support for police in South Bend mocking Eric Gardner’s killing by an NYPD officer are unpalatable. Bloomberg’s “Stop and Frisk” policy and his brag about sending “all the cops” to minority neighborhoods are unconscionable, Klobuchar’s conduct as a prosecutor has led to the NAACP and Back Lives Matter in her home state to call on her to end her campaign. Biden was against desegregation. Bernie, on the other hand, was part of the civil rights movement. This is just one major issue. Bernie stands out from the pack on healthcare, money in politics, income disparity, social justice, etc. I’m on the fence about Warren. 

For me there is a huge difference between Bernie and the rest of the field. I would vote for Bernie and that isn’t true of the rest. And I am not alone. Look, Bernie might not be the number 1 choice you’d make, but if you are truly “Blue no matter who” because you want to beat Trump, then it’s time for you to throw in behind Bernie and who knows maybe you’ll accidentally get healthcare access by accident.