A note to Hillary Clinton and her supporters

I’d like to finish my series of posts endorsing Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary with a few words to Hillary Clinton and her supporters.

Clinton could fix many of my difficulties with her candidacy today. How hard would be it be for her and her supporters to simply acknowledge that Sanders is right – that the wealthy do have too much power over our political system? This is a widely shared view among the American people from every ideological stripe.

Clinton could embrace this and attempt to steal Sanders’ thunder. But she chooses not to. In fact, she goes on the attack against cherished liberal goals. I see this as similar to when Pres. Obama’s press secretary’s attacked liberal activists. Democrats, if they want to be taken seriously, should stop running down their base. That is no way to whip up enthusiasm for your candidacy and and bring people on board.

One final thought – and this is perhaps aimed more at Sanders supporters – if he loses the primary, I encourage disappointed Sanders supporters to vote for Clinton. There’s a lot at stake in this presidential election. Again, the make-up of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance. And I’m willing to bow to the arithmetic of our political duopoly. I will not encourage voting for a third party candidate until such time as we can craft a political system that breaks up the two-party system.