Will Hillary Clinton Appease Bernie Sanders Supporters by Choosing Elizabeth Warren As Vice President?

Hillary Clinton will probably become the Democratic nominee at the Convention in July. Is it possible that Hillary will become our next president? Not if Sanders supporters have a say in the matter.

The Bernie Sanders camp is devastated with the prospect of yet another neoliberal president who accepts money from wealthy donors and corporations. Not only that, Sanders supporters feel they have been treated poorly by the Democratic party. Hundreds of thousands of them allegedly experienced voter suppression after their records were inexplicably purged from the system, an issue weighed by Truth Out. Others protested unfairness at the Nevada State Convention, as reported by Politifact.

Hillary Clinton is the ultimate Democratic Party insider. Clinton is also a neoliberal, a political ideology immersed in free market capitalism, and far from Sander’s populism. Neoliberalism is the ideology Bernie Sanders supporters and many economists believe was behind the economic collapse in this century. Similar policies are said to have caused the great depression as well.

Bernie Sanders supporters are still very disgruntled. A fair percentage of them are planning to vote for Green Party Candidate Jill Stein, while others may vote for Donald Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson or refuse to vote at all. At this point, the majority of disenchanted supporters are undecided according to a straw poll conducted by International Business Times. The poll also showed less than 10 percent of young supporters plan to vote for Clinton.

Hillary Clinton won her nomination on the backs of mature women and the elderly from a demographic point of view. Clinton had little or no support from voters under 30 years old. Women under 30 voted for Bernie overwhelmingly.

Bernie Sanders supporters remain alienated from the Democratic party and their chosen candidate. The feeling of those under thirty is the establishment, and the baby boomers have ignored the facts and bent the rules to get Hillary as their candidate. Young liberals and populists have no intention of voting for her.

Elizabeth Warren is Hillary’s only chance to regain that large block of disgruntled Bernie Sanders supporters, but even that may not work. While Warren has long aligned herself as a progressive and a populist, concerned with the well-being of average and poor Americans, her recent endorsement of Hillary just seems less than congruent, and a compromise of her integrity, at least in the estimation of Bernie supporters. Warren has been a long time ally of Bernie’s and a good friend of his campaign, but her recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton has been interpreted as a betrayal.

International Business Times quotes Jamie Guerin, a Sanders volunteer.

“We feel that this is completely not in alignment with everything that she has been preaching her entire career. We’re never going to have a government for the people as long as corporate interests continue to govern our politics.”

Bernie Sanders fan Gail Brown echoes Guerin’s feelings.

“For so long Elizabeth Warren has maintained positions that align with Bernie, and now she just seems to have abandoned that in favor of supporting the establishment’s candidate,”

Hillary Clinton’s email investigation, allegations involving voter suppression, and suspected election fraud have crippled her as a candidate. While Mrs. Clinton may be up in the polls against Donald Trump, polls also show that the public does not trust her. A fairly large segment of the population strongly dislikes Clinton.

Choosing Elizabeth Warren as a running mate could give Clinton the edge she needs, but only if Bernie voters can be convinced Elizabeth isn’t a turncoat, but rather trying to advance the populist platform by any means possible. CNBC hypothesizes that only Warren can unify the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders supporters are considering their options, but few are seriously considering a vote for Hillary Clinton. The Democratic party will suffer for their treatment of Sanders supporters but will it be enough to give the presidency to Donald Trump? Could a third party candidate win the presidency?

There is one other way. The party could run Elizabeth Warren instead of Hillary.

Hillary Clinton could lose the general election without the support of nearly half of the Democratic primary voters. More significantly her potential for indictment hangs over her head like a sword of Damocles. Should she be forced to resign, it would be far better for her to do it sooner rather than later. If she were to be arraigned on criminal charges or some other situation that would make it clear she could not run, Bernie Sanders could become the nominee, but the Democratic party obviously does not want that.

If Elizabeth Warren becomes Hillary Clinton’s VP choice at the convention, though, then Warren would become the nominee if Hillary resigned. That might actually be acceptable to the Democratic Party, even though she is a populist. It would be a concession for them and for Sanders supporters, but it might be the only way to promote a populist agenda within the Democratic party, or have a truly populist candidate during this election cycle.

Bernie Sanders will not be the Democratic nominee. It may not be fair at all, but the party has gone to great lengths to prevent a Sanders’ victory. If Elizabeth Warren is the same woman she has always been, then she may be acting on knowledge the public does not have. Warren is very electable. Does she have her eye on being the Democratic nominee and perhaps giving Sanders a cabinet position?

Hillary Clinton could resign and make Bernie Sander’s longtime friend and supporter Elizabeth Warren the Democratic candidate.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]