Jerry Kremer

Democrats take Trump lightly at their peril

Posted

There’s no question that if I were a Republican Party official in Washington, I would be tearing out what little hair I have left, because it looks like Donald Trump will be the party’s presidential candidate. However, any Democratic big shot who is gloating over the Trump candidacy should have some serious second thoughts about how the campaign for the White House should be run.

Hillary Clinton’s competition from Bernie Sanders is just about over, but the movement that he created isn’t going away so soon. Sanders succeeded in attracting the support of millions of young people — and quite a few older voters — and amassed an impressive war chest to carry out his quest to be the Democratic nominee. Keeping the support of these very involved citizens is going to be an enormous effort, and the party leadership should take this challenge seriously.

Historically, the national party moves at a slow, incremental pace, rarely taking on big promises for fear of being attacked as big spenders and being too liberal. But the newcomers to the Sanders movement will be waiting impatiently for further instructions from Bernie on what he wants in return for supporting Clinton, and what he asks for could be too big to swallow.

The hearts and minds of many young, first-time voters were captured with promises of free public college tuition and universal health care for all. The promise to topple Wall Street and break up the big banks, which sounds like something Trotsky or Stalin believed in, attracted many unhappy voters who truly believe that Wall Street is evil. Free health care would be a dream come true, and it resonated with Sanders supporters. We all know that these promises are pie-in-the-sky, but that’s what some voters really want.

The Democratic Party platform, which will be voted on at the national convention, isn’t like the Ten Commandments, but it reflects what the party stands for. To get health care for all, Congress would have to first shut down Obamacare, and the chances of anything new passing are unrealistic. However, team Sanders will be making serious demands that all of his campaign promises be a part of the Democratic program.

Page 1 / 2