Bernie Sanders: Nominating Hillary
Clinton Would Be ‘Disaster’ For Party,
Nation
By
Ben Wolfgang
May 12, 2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "Washington
Times"
-
Fresh off a big win in the West Virginia
primary,
Sen. Bernard Sanders‘ campaign said
Wednesday the Democratic Party would be
courting “disaster” if it nominates
Hillary Clinton as its presidential
nominee.
In
a fundraising email to supporters,
Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver
cited recent polls showing the Vermont
senator performing better against
Republican
Donald Trump in general election
match-ups. Recent surveys have shown
Mrs. Clinton virtually tied with
Mr. Trump in the key battleground
states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Florida.
Citing those troubling figures, Mr.
Weaver said the Democratic Party — and
its superdelegates who are free to
support either candidate — must reject
Mrs. Clinton and embrace
Mr. Sanders, or face a crushing
defeat in November.
“For months, Bernie Sanders has
out-polled
Hillary Clinton against
Donald Trump, and often by
extraordinarily large margins. Because
we must do everything we can to defeat
Trump in November, our mission is to
win as many pledged delegates as we can
between now and June 14,” when the
primary season ends, Mr. Weaver said.
“Then we’re going to have a contested
convention where the Democratic Party
must decide if they want the candidate
with the momentum who is best positioned
to beat
Trump, or if they are willing to
roll the dice and court disaster simply
to protect the status quo for the
political and financial establishment of
this country.”
Mr. Weaver also dismissed the notion
that his candidate fares better against
Mr. Trump only because he hasn’t
been under the same white-hot spotlight
Mrs. Clinton has faced for years.
“Some people say we do better against
Trump because we haven’t faced the
Republican attack machine yet. But we’ve
been told our goals for the future are
utopian, and that our plans would raise
taxes on middle class families. We just
never thought those attacks would come
in a Democratic primary. Yet somehow we
keep winning,” he said. “We are the best
chance to defeat
Trump because people united can
never be defeated. That is why we must
keep fighting.”
For her part,
Mrs. Clinton still is trying to
ignore
Mr. Sanders and turn all of her
attention to the November battle with
Mr. Trump.
But even the Clinton campaign has been
forced to concede that it is neck and
neck with
Mr. Trump in key battleground
states, and actually trailing in Ohio,
according to recent polling.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook
on Wednesday morning sounded an almost
desperate tone in a fundraising email,
saying
Mrs. Clinton needs more money or she
risks falling even further behind
against
Mr. Trump.
“I
can’t say this enough times: These polls
don’t predict the future. We can change
them by making sure voters know about
Hillary’s vision for our country.
But we need to get started RIGHT NOW,”
he said before asking supporters to
donate to the campaign.
The fundraising pitch cited this week’s
Quinnipiac survey of battleground
states, which shows
Mrs. Clinton leading
Mr. Trump by just 1 percentage point
in Florida and Pennsylvania and down by
4 percentage points in Ohio.
While those poll numbers surely are
alarming for Democrats, it’s now all but
certain
Mrs. Clinton will be her party’s
nominee.
She leads
Mr. Sanders among pledged delegates
1,716 to 1,433, according to an
Associated Press tally. Among
superdelegates, she’s ahead 524 to 40.
It
takes 2,383 delegates to seal the
nomination.