Hillary Must Tap Into the Bern
Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana and the suspension of the campaigns of Cruz and Kasich in the last day and half have overshadowed the news that Bernie Sanders won the Democratic primary in Indiana. Even as some pundits worry about Bernie being unsupportive or possibly critical of Clinton during and after the convention and even with the knowledge of most of the voters that Clinton has sewn up that nomination, Sanders still manages to compete and surprisingly win some primaries. Clinton needs to speak to these Sanders voters and persuade them that she understands their concerns rather than ignoring the implications of this kind of loss and “moving into the general election” as she has done. Many of her policies overlap with Sanders and the differences are only of a degree – minimum wage, education, climate change, income inequality, jobs, Citizens United, etc. She needs to take the remaining days before the primary season ends to pound this message home to Sanders’ supporters – their issues are her issues. Yes, her coziness with Wall Street is a liability but she can show she understands that the financial sector needs to be scrutinized and well regulated. With the Republican coalition seemingly breaking apart and an apparently weak general election opponent in Trump (but don’t underestimate his appeal), Hillary has a chance to galvanize and unite the Democratic party and lead it to a big win in November, retaking the Senate and possibly making significant inroads in the House. But those two results will be harder to achieve without having a great portion of Sanders’ supporters on board. There will be plenty of time to focus on Trump – now is the time to bring the Sanders’ supporters fully into the fold.