Hillary Clinton Needs Bernie Sanders To Stay In The Race As Long As Possible If She Wants To Defeat Donald Trump, Insiders Suggest


Bernie Sanders has vowed to remain in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination through until the last vote has been cast, and there is growing sentiment that his presence could be the only hope Hillary Clinton has to defeat Donald Trump in November.

As Sanders has fallen behind by a nearly insurmountable margin, there have been a growing number of voices calling on him to drop out of the race and allow Clinton to walk to the finish line alone. Sanders has little chance of winning the nomination by pledged delegates alone — barring blowout wins in all of the remaining races — but he has been amassing support and delegates to shape the Democratic National Convention this summer as much as possible.

It may end up being Sanders’ coalition of supporters who push Clinton over the top, noted Robert Reich, a former labor secretary under Bill Clinton’s administration, who this year has endorsed Bernie Sanders.

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Reich said (via Raw Story) that Clinton will desperately need the fervent supporters Bernie Sanders has amassed if she wants to defeat Donald Trump.

“Sanders should stay in the race also because he has attracted a large number of young people and independents. Their passion, excitement, and enthusiasm are critically important to Hillary Clinton’s success, if she’s the nominee, as well the success of other Democrats this year, and, more fundamentally, to the future of American politics.”

Reich added that Bernie Sanders is driving conversation on topics that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump seem keen to bring up, namely the troubles with the American economic system. Reich noted that “growing inequality of income and wealth has led inexorably to the increasing political power of those at the top, including big corporations and Wall Street banks. And that political power has stacked the deck in their favor, leading to still wider inequality.”

Reich also called on Sanders supporters to be prepared to support Hillary Clinton if she does get the nomination — something Reich said he was prepared to do even in his initial endorsement of Sanders — but there may be plenty of work for her to do to earn it. Clinton’s mounting scandals including a pending FBI investigation into her use of a private, unsecured email during her time as Secretary of State have turned off a growing number of Sanders supporters.

Reich is not alone in seeing Sanders as key to Clinton’s hopes of winning. Other experts noted that his endorsement and presence on the campaign trail will be a necessity for Clinton to tap into his enthusiastic supporters.

There is likely nothing Sanders can to do turn over all of his supporters. The so-called “Bernie or Bust” contingent of Sanders supporters have said they will not vote if Sanders is not the nominee, with some saying they would even prefer to cast their ballots for Trump rather than Clinton. Though it may be difficult for Clinton to win over this crowd, there is still more work she can do to earn support of the larger group of Sanders supporters.

As Bernie Sanders himself said this week, it’s not his responsibility to simply shift his voters over to Clinton — she has to earn their support.

The Huffington Post recounted Sanders’ stance on his voters, saying a candidate must be willing to take up the causes he has championed.

“But at the end of the day, whether it’s Secretary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, anybody else, the way you gain support is through the candidate himself or herself. So my job is to make sure that Trump does not become president. And I will do that. But if Secretary Clinton is the nominee, it is her job to reach out to millions of people and make the case as to why she is going to defend working families and the middle [class], provide health care for all people, take on Wall Street, deal aggressively with climate change. That is the candidate’s job to do.”

But there are other signs that supporters of Bernie Sanders could put Hillary Clinton over the top against Donald Trump, whether she does much to reach out to them or now. An analysis from NBC News found that she will likely climb five to seven points in polls when Sanders drops out, as she assumes his more moderate supporters, a boost that would put her over the 50-percent mark and have her on path to a comfortable victory in November.

[Image via Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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