Editorials

So, the California primary is less than two weeks away, and yes, Virginia, the national race for the Democratic nomination is over. You don’t believe me? You must be reading the same Bernie Sanders press releases they’ve been flooding my email with. It seems that no one’s told those guys that it’s time to stop pedaling so furiously—you’ve passed the finish line, and she got there ahead of you.

Suspension of disbelief is the only possible diagnosis for Sanders’ otherwise inexplicable decision to push Donald Trump into debating him on national TV. Why on earth would he want to give the most dangerous threat to the U.S. A. now appearing on the tiny screen near you yet another crack at the bully pulpit to promote his toxic ideas? Trump is already the darling of the media, and Sanders wants to help him out, get him a little more air time? Excuuuse me! 

And I’m not alone in thinking that Bernie’s lost his marbles on this one. See, for example, John Cassidy on the New Yorker blog: What Game is Bernie Sanders Playing with Donald Trump? 

He says: “Some Democrats fear that a Trump-Sanders encounter would turn into the sort of media circus that Trump revels in, and that it would only heighten the divisions in the Democratic Party at a time when it needs to unite against Trump. If a debate did take place, it would certainly get good ratings, and Trump would surely use the occasion to bait Clinton, appeal to the ‘Bernie or Bust’ contingent, and generally try to sow more dissension in the Democratic Party.” 

Josh Marshall, who runs the excellent TPM (Talking Points Memo) site is even more annoyed by this latest ploy. His reaction is the same as mine: Really? 

His comments are even more pointed than Cassidy’s: 

“It is only a spectacle by which both candidates, Trump and Sanders, can indulge their tacitly-agreed common interest in sidelining and diminishing Hillary Clinton, who of course will be the nominee. I don't want to speculate about Sanders' motives, other than that it is probably a good way to elevate himself into the appearance of an ersatz Democratic standard-bearer and to get media attention which has slackened as most of the attention has moved toward the general election. That would be perfectly understandable if we didn't know for a certainty that he is not going to be the nominee and that this would be bad for the person who is. Remember: President Trump.” 

But perhaps Sanders subscribes to the theory, much bruited about in my youth (as it was in everyone’s youth) that the best way to bring on the Revolution is to heighten the contradictions. One invitation to a Berkeley for Bernie fundraiser I received from a somewhat older friend (yes, there are some) invoked in loving memory the campaigns of Henry Wallace, Ralph Nader and George McGovern. (Now there’s a debate I’d like to see.) Winners all, just not yet. 

Debating Trump was Bernie’s very own idea, it seems. As I was contemplating how to discuss this without incurring the wrath of thousands or at least dozens in my usual haunts in Berkeley, word came over the wires that Trump had declined the invitation. Another press release from the Bernie Billet came right away: 

“In recent days, Donald Trump has said he wants to debate, he doesn’t want to debate, he wants to debate and, now, he doesn’t want to debate.

“Given that there are several television networks prepared to carry this debate and donate funds to charity, I hope that he changes his mind once again and comes on board.

“There is a reason why in virtually every national and statewide poll I am defeating Donald Trump, sometimes by very large margins and almost always by far larger margins than Secretary Clinton. There is a reason for that reality and the American people should be able to see it up front in a good debate and a clash of ideas.” 

I haven’t bothered to check all his stats online, but based on what I’ve found so far I strongly suspect the final claim in the penultimate sentence is a grayish lie, or at best a cleverly phrased half-truth. 

“Far larger margins” ? Uh-huh, sure. Well, “almost always”. 

He reminds me of the Captain of the Pinafore who was Never Ever Sick at Sea: “What, never? Well, hardly ever.” 

In any event, it doesn’t make a dime’s worth of difference at this point. Unless the Democratic convention in its infinite wisdom decides to second-guess all those people who voted in caucuses and primaries around the country, Clinton is the candidate. It doesn’t matter in the slightest whether Sanders could rack up a few more percentage points than she could in a national election, because all it takes is more than half. 

The best comment I’ve seen so far was on the TPM blog, from someone pseudonymed “pluckyinky”. 

"Six hours ago, here's what I said Trump would say: 

'I really wanted to do the debate with Bernie, he's very popular, you know, very popular, and the Democrats have been so unfair to him, so unfair. I was thinking I might give him a chance to debate me since he agrees with me on many things, like China and the bad trade deals. Unlike cheating, corrupt Hillary, he knows we're getting a very, very bad deal. So, I said sure, why not. Especially because he would've won if DWS hadn't cheated the whole thing for Hillary. I mean, it's criminal, criminal what they did to him. Somebody should look into it, I've heard what they did is illegal, very illegal. But they cooked the whole thing up for Hillary so she could win, and I thought I would like to give him a chance because I like to give people chances. That's the kind of guy I am, as a businessman I try to help people. That's why I'm gonna make America great again. So, I thought we should also do something for women, I like to take care of women. Women love me, I'm very good for women. And I wanted to raise tens of millions and millions for these women, but Hillary and Debbie said no. They are scared Bernie was going to expose them, so they said no. They wouldn't let him, wouldn't let him because they don't really care about women like I do. Hillary has been very, very bad for women, very bad. And she would rather hide Bernie than let him debate me and raise millions for women. But it's not all their fault, truthfully, truthfully, Bernie was probably a little scared he'd lose again. I've never lost a debate and he didn't want to lose to me either,' " 

So what did Trump himself actually say? Well, PluckyInky hit it right on the nose: 

"Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher. Likewise the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case women's health issues…therefore, as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders–and it would be an easy pay day–I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be." 

Will Bad Bernie persuade Devious Donald to change his mind? Will the big boys eventually get to shoot it out at the OK Corral, while little Miss H. watches from the sidelines? Stay tuned. 

Meanwhile, the low-information voters, many of them youngsters just barely old enough to vote, are getting Too Much Information from gossipy social media on the internet. A recent graduate I met, an earnest tattoed girl from a small town in Georgia, told me with an arm-pump that she’s supporting Bernie, Yes! Never Clinton, she said, since Hillary’s about to be indicted, she’d heard that from Bernie himself online. Well, not exactly, but it’s not impossible to understand why two loudmouth Old White Guys who have it in for Ms. Clinton are confused in her mind. 

An old white guy of my acquaintance calls Sanders an egotist. Yes, probably—he’s having a hard time letting go of the photo-ops. An old lady I know says he’s been acting like a jerk, but maybe it’s just the excitement of the campaign. 

Or maybe he actually is a jerk. We’ll see what he does between now and the Democratic Convention.