2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: "Five to One, Baby ...." [View all]malthaussen
(17,194 posts)... some of our fellow DUers appear to have the patience and attention span of toddlers, which is quite discouraging. Even the vitriol poured out in dispute is more tolerable, as it can at least be a sign of honest passion, but when a close contest is "won" by a whisker and the partisans gloat, it wounds my spirit. Mind you, that's a personal quirk, I tend to be uncompetitive and don't like that conduct after a baseball game, much less a caucus.
The situation appears to be in balance, with the tides of enthusiasm lapping the shore, but not quite being enough to overcome inertia. This is both good and bad. Good, because as you say, the measure of an insurgency is different from the measure of the Establishment. But what happens to all the enthusiasm if Mr Sanders loses? Mature voters who are realists will vote for Mrs Clinton, but her appeal is one of damage control, and that inspires no poetry. The worry for me is that the voters will stay away in droves if Mrs Clinton is the candidate. Meanwhile, Mr Trump arouses terrific enthusiasm among the mean-spirited third of the population. They will assuredly vote, the more so as the GOP is well-disciplined and rarely shows inability to muster sufficient votes to elect their candidate. Mr Obama was able to defeat this capacity, but Mr Obama was also able to arouse great enthusiasm. I doubt many people voted for him solely because the alternative was unthinkable, they voted for him because they genuinely wanted him in the White House. Does Mrs Clinton have the same appeal?
Imagine if Mr Sanders were given the support and encouragement of the party apparatus. The Democrats would have a candidate whose appeal is great across all classes. But of course, an insurgent can never hope for such support. Mr Sanders can only win if the American people force the Democratic Party to accept him, and as yet there is no sign that the Party does so, regardless of the feelings of the people. And although Mr Sanders is melting away much of Mrs Clinton's support, as yet it is not sufficient to cause the Party to embrace Mr Sanders.
-- Mal