Tomorrow, we vote here in the Democratic Primary for Missouri. Joe Biden is currently leading the race, and the polls are swinging his way, largely thanks to fear and uncertainty that Bernie will be able to do as well against Trump and that he might hurt down-ballot races. But if there is the slightest doubt in your mind about that, please, vote for Bernie. On March 15th, there is one last debate between Joe and Bernie. It will be just those two, and we'll be able to see for ourselves, with the clearest possible contrast, which of those two candidates will best be able to take on the barrage of negative attacks, outright lies and blatant hypocrisy Trump and Republicans will sling at the eventual nominee. Bernie's campaign just has to stay alive until that debate. Keep that campaign alive, and trust the Democrats that get to vote in the last slate of contests to make the right decision.
I don't think Joe is the best candidate to take on Trump. I don't think he can win Missouri or that it will even be close. And I don't think he will help win any down-ballot races. What it will take to beat Trump is enormous grassroots energy, and tens of thousands of volunteers across the state willing to make phone calls, hang literature on doorknobs and knock on doors, pass out flyers, and talk to their fellow voters, listen to their concerns, and be engaged and involved enough to answer those concerns. Volunteers that will happily spread their efforts in support of down-ballot candidates in their districts as they work to get their nominee elected. Does anybody really believe that Joe will inspire that sort of support? And when he doesn't, all those down-ballot races will be left on their own to drum up their own support, if they can manage it, with meager budgets and a complacent, uninspired electorate.
The simple fact is that most Americans don't care about Trump's incompetence, his blatant corruption and criminality, and the hollowing out of federal agencies on which we all depend. Republicans don't care, and the nearly 40% of Americans who regularly don't vote, because they don't trust either party to represent their interests or do the right thing, don't care. As long as it doesn't affect them personally, as long as they have a decent job and can afford the necessities of life, it's all so much hot air and meaningless, divisive nonsense. These are not people who are going to turn out just to vote against Trump, even if they are turned off by his rhetoric. And voting against Trump is all Joe Biden has going for him.
With Bernie Sanders, you get thousands of people willing to volunteer and do the work it will take to win. You get a candidate that has been an outsider to both parties, though an unabashed ally to the Democratic Party and the principles we all believe it should stand for, who can reach out to some of those 40% who don't often vote and give them a glimmer of hope that someone will finally listen to their needs and represent their interests. And you even get some now-disillusioned anti-establishment Trump supporters who want someone to actually drain the swamp, and root out the big-money special interests like the big banks, credit card companies and insurance companies Joe Biden has supported for his entire career.
There's only one candidate in this race that has a real chance to lose to Trump, because he doesn't inspire anybody that's not already motivated to vote Trump out. And that candidate's not Bernie Sanders.
