OPINION:
What a terrible blow it must have been to Bernie Sanders’ supporters last week when their candidate sort of dropped out of the Democratic primary. They worked so hard for him, canvassing, filling arenas, even filling a park in New York for the largest presidential campaign rally any Democrat has had since 2016 — only to once again be let down by his suspending his campaign.
The Democratic Party takes these voters for granted, assuming that they will simply fall in line with Joe Biden, but this isn’t the case. In a poll conducted just a few weeks ago, 15 percent of Bernie supporters said that if the race were between Mr. Biden and President Trump, they would vote for President Trump — but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mr. Sanders’ supporters aren’t your typical Democrats. They are the equivalent of the “silent majority” that came out to vote for then-candidate Trump in 2016. They don’t like the establishment –- and Bernie has provided them the hope for something different in his almost 30 years in Congress. He is, in case you didn’t know, the longest-serving independent member of our nation’s legislative branch.
Mr. Sanders’ supporters are energetic, loud and represent everything to the left of the Democratic National Committee. They weren’t in this race to get behind another “mainstream candidate” if he didn’t go all the way — I’d even argue that they weren’t in this race to defeat Mr. Trump; they were in it to reform and revolutionize America.
They, like Mr. Trump’s supporters in 2016, wanted to fundamentally change the country and how we do politics. Mr. Sanders was the first person to push socialism as a base platform as a candidate. He was the only candidate with a platform based on universal health care, higher minimum wages and essentially the redistribution of wealth. Other Democrats, including the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, pretend to do this, but don’t even come close — so where do they all go?
First, it’s important to mention that Mr. Sanders didn’t drop out of the race — he merely suspended his campaign. He currently trails Mr. Biden by a mere 300 delegates, and he will not withdraw his name from any future primary ballots. In fact, his plan is to keep collecting delegates and show up to the Democratic National Convention alongside them — which is far from the riding off into the sunset concept that the party had hoped for.
Who knows what exactly Mr. Sanders’ plan is there, but unlike 2016, he’s going to hold some sort of court in the building — perhaps this is why the Biden campaign has already floated the concept of a virtual convention. Mr. Sanders’ far-left supporters are going to demand that their socialist platform — the one that most Americans reject — will be added to the mainstream of the party.
And if this happens live on television, it might be the most entertaining Democratic National Convention in history — as viewers will finally be treated to a live version of what many insiders in Washington, D.C., know has been going on for years: The Democratic Party’s civil war. And when Mr. Sanders is defeated again on live TV by the establishment party — which he will be — it will be the final nail in the coffin of his supporters’ enthusiasm.
Second, in order for the silent majority to show up in November, the candidate they support needs to be on the ballot, and Mr. Sanders won’t be there. Had Mr. Trump not won the nomination in 2016, and the Republican candidate for president was Sen. Ted Cruz, many working-class people who turned out to vote for Mr. Trump in flyover states would have stayed home.
Those hard-working Americans were tired of politics as usual in Washington, and as much as I personally like Mr. Cruz, he just didn’t have the appeal and edginess that Mr. Trump did. Do I really need to compare Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders? The first has trouble remembering basic things and represents the D.C. political establishment more than 99 percent of the D.C. political establishment and the latter is an angry, articulate and charismatic outsider.
Finally, Mr. Sanders’ candidacy excites young people, the same young people who rarely turn out to the polls. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of his biggest supporters — who has fought against and supported, albeit with a disputable amount of knowledge — her own party in Congress, trying, like Mr. Sanders, to force the party farther left. Younger voters, like Miss Ocasio-Cortez, are stubborn. They will not be told what to do and will not fall in line to vote for Mr. Biden or even show up to vote. After all, what does the former vice president have to offer them aside from bizarre backrubs, confused name-calling and hair sniffing?
Now that Mr. Sanders has dropped out of the presidential race, it seems clear that his supporters are left with nowhere to else to turn. I guess it’s lucky for them that many believe the end of the world is coming due to climate change in 10 years anyway.
• Tim Young is a political comedian and author of “I Hate Democrats/I Hate Republicans” (Post Hill Press).
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