Sanders' campaign, by exposing both Clinton's corrupt record of corporate shilling and warmongering, and by also exposing the manipulative and controlled nature of the party's primary process, has helped to thoroughly disgust millions of, and perhaps the majority of Democrats with a party that has long since moved away from being a party that addresses the needs and concerns of ordinary people. There is also considerable disgust among Republicans and independents with the corrupt US political system and the venal candidates it puts forward for them to chose between.
There is now a unique historical political moment, in which a candidate like Sanders, with a demonstrated mass base of support, and a clear ability to present his case without the help of the corporate media, thanks for financial support from that mass base, can actually stand and challenge the two corrupt main parties. That is to say, if Sanders were able to gain the presidential nomination of the Green Party, which has a ballot line already in states with 310 electoral votes, and with the potential to add lines in more states, to actually compete and even to win the presidency. With the funding he would certainly continue to get from his millions of backers, and the use of heretofore unavailable social media communications, Sanders, whom polls show to be more popular and better liked nationally than either Trump or Clinton, could astound the conventional thinkers, pollsters and odds-makers and spark a groundswell of support among ordinary Americans of all races, classes and political leanings that could sweep him into the White House, and a lot of like-minded candidates into Congress.
That may be hard for many battle-scarred progressives to believe, but it is worth the effort. The worst that could happen is that either Trump or Clinton would win regardless of what Sanders does. But the truth is, as recent Reuters poll indicates, it will be either Trump or Clinton if Sanders does nothing, and quite possibly it could be Trump. Viewed another way, a Sanders endorsement of Clinton at the end of the convention, wouldn't make any difference either. Those backers of Sanders who see Clinton as a shameless corporate puppet will not take his advice and vote for her if he tells them too. They'll just dismiss his endorsement as "politics as usual," and will make other decisions on their own.
The real tragedy would be that if Sanders just gives up in the end, a historical opportunity to try and jumpstart the creation, finally, of a genuine alternative to the two-party duopoly that has kept American politics in a pro-corporate straight-jacket for almost a century.
Personally, I'm all in being on the streets of Philadelphia in late July to push Sanders to take the next step and run on in the general election! No to a Hillary endorsement! Yes to an independent Sanders run for the presidency!
Meanwhile, for those who want to come and join the protest movement, here are some useful contacts:
Lodging: BernieBNB.com
Updated information and discussion: MarchOnTheDNC
Discussion: #SeeYouInPhilly
DAVE LINDORFF is a member of ThisCantBeHappening!, the uncompromised, collectively run, five-time Project Censored Award-winning online alternative news site. His work, and that of colleagues JOHN GRANT, JESS GUH, GARY LINDORFF, ALFREDO LOPEZ, LINN WASHINGTON, JR. and the late CHARLES M. YOUNG, can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net
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