Is it even possible? Hell yeah it is. Sanders can decide, if he doesn’t make it into the Primary cut, to declare himself an independent “Democratic Socialist” candidate. There is at this time a solid point to be made for him to do so, and I would argue he should. See if he gets through the democratic primaries with a plurality, see if he passes the coronation as presidential candidate .. but if he isn’t, let him pull a rabbit from the hat and the very day declare himself independent candidate.
The furor and hysterical screaming of betrayal from the DNC should be deafening, no doubt But who cares at this stage.
- Sanders was now several times in a row, betrayed seriously by the DNC, and all competing democratic candidates. And not just a little, in 2016 there was outright fraud involved, and no one was held accountable. This time, the DNC was visibly involved in to serious voter fraud in Ohio, and arguably several other states. Every single democratic drop-out loser went to support a visible senile man, Joe Biden. This should be categorically unacceptable. It’s “spitting in your face” betrayal. The whole world was watching, and everybody knows.
- The alternative? Joe Biden. This is an unelectable, very sick old man. That means he will most likely fail, and if he doesn’t fail it is implicitly a vote for a VP replacing Joe in a matter of months. Who will be that VP? Hillary Clinton? This is a realistic idea since this cabal has already selected that corporatist psychopath Bloomberg for President of the World Bank, and Jamey Dimon as head of the goddamn treasury. This makes Joe the most offensive candidate thinkable, and Trump will be screaming “drain the swamp” against a man who can barely finish sentences without bleeding from his eyes.
- The argument that will be leveraged against Sanders running independent will be he will steal away votes from the DNC, but that can easily be refuted. At a recent Fox townhall people cheered sanders and booed the Fox hosts. It is likely Sanders will take away a significant number of votes from the Democratic contender, but even more likely he will pilfer the vote from Trump. In a contest Sanders will stand onstage debating two men (Trump and Biden) who are both in catastrophic, visible mental decline. Sanders only needs to finish first by now a typical stand-up comedian like Jimmy Dore could wipe the floor with these two elite geriatrics.
- Maybe people would argue this to be “unfair”, but look at the stakes involved. Biden said “when I am president nobodies standard of living will change”. That’s unacceptable. The US needs radically different policies, or tens of thousands will literally die because of underinsurance, economic marginalization, oil wars. If there is ever a case to be made Sanders should not take this laying down and do anything he can to offer an alternative over Golfing Trump or “You know that thing” Creepy Joe is moral and ethical. Not doing so is essentially unethical betrayal. And Sanders will be able to count on a grass roots enthusiasm you won’t have seen for decades in the US. People will ROAR with laughter if he does this. Biggest middle finger to the establishment ever.
So my sincere advice is to weigh this option. There is no rule outlawing it, as clearly there is apparently neither a rule for the DNC apparatchniks to brazenly, shamelessly screw over their own contenders, against the will of the people, televised all over the world.
Every option should be on the table to defeat Trump, and to defeat the oligarchy. This is no doubt the best remaining option. And what are they gonna do, bar him from the democratic elections of 2024? Well boohoo, by then it’s time for AOC to run.
I say, fuck em. Do consider :