Bye, Bye, Bernie
Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont, suspends his presidential campaign.
The unapologetic and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders has suspended his presidential campaign. “The path toward victory is virtually impossible,” Sanders explained. “I have concluded that this battle for the Democrat nomination will not be successful. … I do not make this decision lightly.”
For Sanders, who trails Joe Biden by over 300 delegates, the only realistic path toward nomination was through a brokered convention. However, moves by the Democrat Party leadership to coalesce support behind Biden made it clear that would not happen. The Democratic National Committee is undoubtedly relieved to have Sanders end his campaign.
Clearly hoping to appeal to as many Sanders supporters as possible, Biden offered glowing words of praise for his rival. “More than any one issue or set of issues, I want to commend Bernie for being a powerful voice for a fairer and more just America,” Biden gushed. “It’s voices like Bernie’s that refuse to allow us to just accept what is — that refuse to accept we can’t change what’s wrong in our nation — that refuse to accept the health and well-being of our fellow citizens and our planet isn’t our responsibility too. Bernie gets a lot of credit for his passionate advocacy for the issues he cares about. But he doesn’t get enough credit for being a voice that forces us all to take a hard look in the mirror and ask if we’ve done enough.”
Biden added, “To Bernie and Jane, as friends, from Jill and me: You haven’t just run a political campaign; you’ve created a movement. And make no mistake about it, we believe it’s a movement that is as powerful today as it was yesterday. That’s a good thing for our nation and our future.” Talk about pandering.
While Sanders conceded, he did so with remarks that sounded more like a victory speech. “Few would deny that over the course of the past five years our movement has won the ideological struggle,” boasted Sanders. “During the primary elections, exit polls showed in state after state a strong majority of Democratic primary voters supported a single government health-insurance program to replace private insurance. That was true even in states where our campaign did not prevail.” He then declared, “The future of this country is with our ideas.” May it never be so.
Sanders is certainly passionate about what he believes in, though his call for socialism is far from a movement that holds any possible good for our nation or our future. In fact, the policies Sanders advocates represent a growing existential threat to that which makes America the unique envy of the world — freedom expressed in the ideals of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness that our nation was founded upon as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Sanders’s call to socialism stands as the antithesis our Founders’ vision. Good riddance to him.
(Updated.)