As is typical during an election season with well-meaning but ultimately low information voters, decisions are not based on who is the best candidate. They are based on a meme successfully generated and carefully nurtured by one or the other side. The tragedy is the truth can be just the opposite.
A large number of Democratic primary voters are reluctantly voting for Clinton, although they agree more often with Sanders, because of the idea put forth early in the race by the Clinton campaign, experts in the dark arts, that Clinton is more electable than Sanders against Donald Trump. But polls show consistently otherwise, and if Hillary is nominated, and loses to Trump, unfortunately and tragically it will be the fault of these voters.
Consider an RCP average of multiple polls. Sanders tops Trump in head-to-head matches by double the margins Hillary does. Anyone who doubts Sanders' strength need only look at the margin of his wins in states as diverse as Kansas, MN, Maine, and Oklahoma. Sanders won Kansas by 35 points, OK by 10, MN by 22, and Maine by 35 points.
Kansas? The heart of the conservative heartland? A nominal "socialist?" Yup.
Trump has already chickened out of a one-on-one debate with Sanders, which Fox News attempted to put together. Trump keeps saying he thinks it will be Hillary. This backhanded boost to her candidacy betrays his true emotion: He wants it to be Hillary. Bernie was and is a streetfighter who has been dealing with bullies like Trump all his life.
Beyond the small world of Democrats who agree with each other on most things political, is a huge world of independents who could go either way, who would never pull the lever for Hillary in a million years. Among general election voters Hillary has the highest negative ratings of any presidential candidate in history, since such polls were taken.
So don't be fooled, by Hillary's vain ambition for her shot to be the first woman US president, to which all other considerations, including the good of the party, take a back seat. It's Sanders that Trump is afraid of, not Hillary, who is already indictable and Trump hasn't even started putting that into play. He will do so just the same as he devastated Jeb Bush by going after his brother and the Iraq War. Trump goes for the jugular. Bernie has no such dirty laundry, and so Trump will be grasping at straws, which means he will be forced to debate on the issues, which means Bernie wins.
Don't do it, reluctant Hillary voters. If Trump comes to power, it will be your fault, for being cynical, gullible, and low information. For voting against your own best conscience. For not trusting that the right thing to do, can also be the smart thing to do.
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(Article changed on March 22, 2016 at 13:30)
(Article changed on March 22, 2016 at 13:34)
(Article changed on March 22, 2016 at 15:14)