Republican Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio defied a state Supreme Court decision and cancelled his state’s primary election on March 17, citing “health concerns.” Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, whom I greatly respect, said he’s been working with DeWine, knows him well, and is confident that his decision was based on the right reason: the desire to protect the health and safety of the people of his state.
So although there’s plenty of political shenanigans around, the Ohio primary cancellation doesn’t seem to have been one of them. That’s the good part.
The bad part is that DeWine’s decision sets a dangerous precedent—as historian Michael Beschloss confirmed on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show. When we get into the business of cancelling elections, we’re entering new territory fraught with negative implications for our democracy, which has been suffering mightily in the past several years.
The coronavirus has demonstrated that we are all interconnected and interdependent: We’ll have to work together to get through this pandemic that is threatening us now—and to deal with the unprecedented dilemmas it is posing.
Based on nearly all sources, who now include a recalcitrant President Trump (!), the pandemic will surely worsen over the next several months. Louisiana and Georgia have already postponed their primaries. It seems to be time to consider how important the remaining primaries are to our democratic process.
There is only one person who should make that decision: Bernie Sanders.
As of March 18, he faces a nearly insurmountable delegate deficit. Former Vice President Joe Biden has won 1165 delegates; Sanders’ tally is 880. The odds of his success are slim to none. After losing the primaries in Illinois, Florida, and Arizona by large percentages, Bernie is now “reassessing his campaign,” according to current reports.
If he decides that it is irresponsible to continue seeking delegates through the primaries because people’s lives will be at risk going to vote in primaries that won’t change the outcome—and suspends his campaign—he will be demonstrating a degree of reality-based unselfishness that will earn him a solid place in history.
In contrast, if he continues to campaign in whatever way he can, he will divert Biden from focusing his sole attention on President Trump’s massive failures, delay whatever reconciliation is possible between his supporters and Biden, and increase the chances that the most inept and harmful president ever may somehow win another four years.
Bernie’s place in history may then be as the spoiler who increased the possibilities of our democracy failing. I’m sure that is not the legacy he wishes. He has committed to voting for and campaigning for Biden, stating that defeating President Trump is the most important issue.
He can still play an active role in pursuing his ideas and ideals; he has already moved Biden to the left on education. But I hope he realizes that the primaries—and Biden’s increasingly large victories—have demonstrated that this is a center-left country.
Based on all the votes cast in the primaries to date, it’s now time for the battle of ideas among Democrats to cease in order to form a cohesive strategy to defeat Trump, hold the House, and retake the Senate.
Biden recognizes where he must be to forge what has so far been a winning coalition. If Bernie pushes too far, he risks validating those among his supporters who will refuse to vote for Biden because they view him as too much a part of the “corrupt establishment.”
I hope, therefore, that Bernie will soon announce the suspension of his campaign and devote his energies to ensuring that the Senate passes substantive legislation that will provide immediate and ongoing assistance to Americans in need due to the impact of the coronavirus.
And I hope that along the way, he will be able to convince many (most?) of his supporters that their vote for the man he calls “my friend Joe” is right and necessary.
We have Republicans in the Senate today sounding like Socialists (shhhhhh!), saying they’re ready to send dollars to the public.
We have a public that, after decades of accepting the Republicans’ fraying of the safety net, finally realizes due to the absence of good management and wise decision-making how very important the federal government is.
(With regard to the above point, I urge you to read this extremely important article in the Washington Post by Stuart Stevens, a now contrite Republican consultant, on the damage his party has wreaked on this nation, leading inevitably to our current crisis.)
In the midst of the horror we’re experiencing, if Bernie now declares he’ll no longer participate in the primaries, he can take pride in the role he’s played in changing people’s views. He just hasn’t succeeded to the point that they’re ready for his revolution.
Annie
annieasksyou... 
Amen!
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Thank you for commenting, though your pithiness makes me want more!
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Really good.
Sent from my iPad
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Thank you, Susie!
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I agree totally! It’s time for Bernie to suspend his campaign (it sounds from, reports, that he’s thinking about that, at least). If/when he does, he needs to endorse Joe Biden in the strongest terms possible, and even campaign for him, if he’s honest about the importance of defeating Donald Trump. Thanks again, Annie!
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Thank you for your comment! Always good to hear from you.
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Like (clicked “Liked” but it didn’t take)
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The WP gremlins at work again. If I tell the folks there tomorrow, I’m not sure anything will happen. Would you mind trying again in a few hours. At any rate, thank you!
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It worked this time (but I’m not optimistic of continued success, as this has been a continuing problem for me on some blogs, but not on others).
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Well, thank you for your perseverance. We’ll hope for the best— in matters small, like this one, and large—like our multiple unknowns.
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Bernie, to me, is the Trump of the left. Okay, he’s not as bad as Trump, but he seems to have a Trump-like ego and I’m worried that his ego will get in the way of his being a “statesman.” I hope I’m wrong and that he recognizes the good he can do by suspending his campaign and the harm he can do by continuing it. Let’s hope he does what is best for the country instead of what is best for Bernie.
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I have previously written two posts designed to prevent buyer’s remorse about Bernie. (The links are just below this post.) Though they focused on his background primarily, I do have concerns about his unwillingness to compromise and his belief that he has leverage against Biden that, if employed, would be—well, unhelpful. But I feel in these dark times that we must be hopeful.
Thanks for commenting. I know you’re very busy, but I’ve missed your presence!
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I’ve tried to keep up as best I can, but I don’t always have the time to comment. 😕
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I realize that, and I understand. My intention wasn’t to put you on the spot.
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I know, but I do feel bad about missing so many posts and not commenting on many of the posts I do read.
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Life is too complicated to worry about such things now. You’ll find a workable solution in time.
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I love the idea of transitioning personal ego to a collective good. A statesman is exactly the term. Will Bernie rise to the occasion? Not seeing it likely . . . but in these wild times, I don’t believe I know what’s likely anymore. Thanks for the write-up, Annie. It’s nice to have something to focus upon despite the virus!
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Yeah, well, there’s reason to be skeptical, but who knows? Thanks, as always, for sharing your thoughts. Hope you and family stay well too.
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Bernie Sanders and statesman – two things I never thought I would ever read in the same sentence. 🙂 I will leave Democratic party strategy to you and your other readers, and will only add that Bernie has never, ever been a team player.
I think if we look around, an awful lot of what is happening is happening on the State and local level. The Federal government has its role, but the heavy lifting is being done in the States, Counties, Cities and Towns. Individuals and businesses have stepped up to do quite a lot. My own office has gone to great expense (financial and in productivity) to set up each employee to work from home. Not as part of any mandate but because it seems like the right thing to do. There are lots and lots of other employers like that.
I did read the Stuart Stevens piece – I don’t understand him. He makes a lot of drive-by potshots at people he made a lot of money off of. This kind of “manipulation by half-truth” makes it sound like he learned the real lesson of politics all too well (whip up the rabble), and is still practicing it. Oh well, I have bigger things to worry about than Stuart Stevens.
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I was appealing to Bernie’s “better angels,” as the saying goes.
As to your comments about all the good being done, I emphatically disagree. This situation would be akin to every state being expected to make its own tanks in wartime. I think this president’s denial of the pandemic borders on criminal negligence. People will needlessly die because he doesn’t know how to manage or lead. I’ll stop there/-gotta be kind to my immune system.
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Excellent, Annie, and right on the mark! I hope you don’t mind that I posted it on Facebook.
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Not at all. Thank you—and thank you again for introducing me to Pluto, who makes me laugh every time I watch him.
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