many people in social media are aggressively and impatiently calling for bernie sanders to resign and endorse joe biden so we can get on with the general election and the business of beating donald trump. this seems reasonable if you see this primary as a party primary where slightly different candidates debate how we accomplish our shared goals. but the truth is that this primary has more in common with a parliamentary election between warring parties than it does a traditional primary battle. this is a contest for the soul of the democratic electorate.
on the world stage bernie sanders and his supporters would be in a center left to leftwing party and joe biden and his supporters would be in a center right to rightwing party. it is a little difficult to compare because every developed nation but us regardless of current leadership has something like medicare for all and something like free public universities for all. generally only the insanely far rights would dare to question either of those things they are so popular.
in canada, for example, other aspects of bernie sanders platform, green new deal, worker’s rights, corporate responsibility and raise in minimum wage, would comfortably fit in what is called “the new democratic party.” while biden’s historic politics, particularly free trade and his global policies, would fit best in what is formally “the conservative party” but known as “the tory party”. this leaves a whole party between joe biden and bernie sanders in canada, “the liberal party,” which is the party currently in government with prime minister justin trudeau. donald trump’s politics would be most like the canadian nationalist party, which currently holds no seats in parliament.
so there is no question that if everyone who supports bernie sanders and joe biden voted for the same ticket, we would win the white house and a majority in congress. but in a parliamentary process, this split might result in a carefully negotiated coalition government whereby the rightwing party of biden would give specific concessions and cabinet positions to the center left party of sanders in order to beat the far right party of trump. it would not just be the center left party of sanders throwing all its support behind the rightwing party of biden.
in short, this is not a typical primary battle. there is a real schism in beliefs between these two factions of the democratic party. as the late great senator paul wellstone (d-minnesota) used to say, “i come from the democratic wing of the democratic party.”
if joe biden and his eager beavers want to get the support of sanders and his supporters, they need to negotiate what amounts to a coalition government so that we can be assured that these united states of america have a shot at being governed by the sovereign people instead of the sovereign corporations.
