The Democrats Really want Bernie's Supporters to Vote for Trump

By Leon H. Wolf | 6:34 PM on May 16, 2016

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*Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. acknowledges his supporters on arrival at a campaign rally, Tuesday, March 8, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)*

The Trump Democrats are a real thing, and if their own word is to be believed, they prefer Bernie but would take Trump as a clear second place over Hillary. Establishment Democrats are doing nothing to change their mind; in fact, their message seems to be: “Good. Get out.”

After a chaotic weekend in Nevada in which accusations of vote theft, rigged rules and cheating escalated to actual physical violence, Harry Reid decided to weigh in on the controversy. Dripping with disdain, Reid blamed the whole situation on “those people” who are supporting Bernie.

Washington (CNN)

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sharply criticized Bernie Sanders’ supporters for turning the Nevada Democratic Convention into chaosover the weekend, saying the Vermont senator should not “accept” how his backers behaved.

“I’ve been dealing with Nevada state conventions for 50 years: To say I was disappointed was an understatement,” Reid told CNN in the Capitol on Monday.

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On Monday, Reid would not call on Sanders to leave the race after June 7 — even if he is still trailing Clinton in pledged delegates. Sanders has vowed to take the race to the convention, prompting concerns that such a scene could be replicated in Philadelphia.

I’m mostly a disinterested observer in the Presidential election at this point, but it’s fairly obvious to me that Bernie Sanders would be a much stronger general election candidate than Hillary Clinton, an observation that is borne out by pretty much every poll ever taken. Sure, Hillary is clobbering Bernie in overall vote total, but his supporters are every bit as fervent in their worship of him as Trump’s, and they are just as numerous.

I don’t really know that either Clinton or anyone else in the Democratic party is doing much to help mend the fences that are clearly damaged at this point. I think they are assuming that the specter of Trump will unify the party after the convention no matter what; and they are likely right. But in the craziest election in recent history, who knows? The might be wrong.