Talking about disunity within the Republican Party, the media has grossly overstated problems in the GOP heading into this fall general election, promising to pit 68-year-old Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton against 69-year-old presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Hillary continues to duke it out with self-avowed Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), heading into Tuesday’s Oregon and Kentucky primaries. Hillary’s won 24-of-44 Democratic primaries and caucuses, totaling 1,716 pledged delegates won from actual voting. When you add Hillary’s 540 super-delegates, delegates committed by loyalty from party insiders, she leads Bernie 2,240 to 1,403 delegates, mathematically eliminating Bernie from winning the Democratic nomination. Winning in Oregon and Kentucky on Tuesday, May 17 all but seals-the-deal for Hillary.
Like the Democrats, Republicans have seen Party divisions, with a small numbers of former or current elected officials resisting Trump’s nomination. Reports daily by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), not yet ready to endorse Trump, have exaggerated divisions within the Republican Party. Winning 31 primaries and caucuses for a total of 1,135 delegates, Trump’s won 31-of-the-45 or 64.5% of the contests with his nearest rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who dropped out May 3, winning only 10-of-45 or 22.2% of the contests. When you consider Bernie winning 20-of-44 Democratic contests or 44.4% to Hillary’s 54.5% of the contests, the Democrats look far more divided than Republicans. Whatever happens with the 6 remaining contests, Democrats, not Republicans, come away far more divided heading into the general election, disputing prevailing wisdom in mainstream media.
Democratic Party officials and the mainstream media, network, cable and print, portray the Republican Party as more divided because certain disgruntled former candidates like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Lindsey Graham and 2012 GOP nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney all refuse to endorse Trump. Whatever opposition to Trump remains, it’s pales in comparison to opposition in the Democratic Party. Losing 20-of-44 primaries to Bernie shows that the Democrats remain far more divided than Republicans. If you listen to Hillary’s campaign, you’d believe the Democratic Party waits with bated breath for Hillary to put Bernie away and unify the Democratic Party. With stark differences between Hillary and Bernie on the use of Super PACs, campaign finance reform, Wall Street regulation, and, most importantly, intervention in foreign wars, there’s no unity in insight.
Mainstream media narratives have Hillary leading Democrats to defeat Trump in the Fall. Yet without naming Bernie as her VP, it’s doubtful Hillary will convince Bernie’s loyal followers to back Hillary. When you consider that both Bernie and Trump are essentially insurgent candidates, promising to blow-up the old system, Bernie’s backers have far more affinity to Trump. Hillary assumes that she’ll get the lion’s share of Bernie’s supporters, something not confirmed by interviews with Bernie’s followers. However many primaries Hillary wins, Bernie proved, if nothing else, that there are deep reservations about Hillary inside the Democratic Party. Unlike Trump, who’s new to politics, Hillary been around a long time, creating hardened opinions about her politics. While she’s got the minority vote locked up, she does poorly with white blue-ollar and college-educated voters.
Heading into Kentucky May 17, Hillary could easily lose another contest to Bernie, despite her insurmountable super-delegate lead of 524 to Bernie’s piddling 40. Bernie’s called the primary process rigged for good reason. With Hillary whopping lead in super-delegates, Bernie never had any real chance. Gladly accepting her Party’s super-delegates, Hillary shows why it’s going to be difficult to convince Bernie supporters to back her campaign. Bernie plans to continue campaigning until California’s June 7 primary, officially ending primary season. “You see a Democrat support for Bernie Sanders that is potential support, when it’s indicated that they will never voter for Hillary Clinton, and when you analyze who those people are that are saying it, they’re the very demographic that Trump is appealing to in independents and crossover Democats,” said Trump strategist Paul Manafort.
Whether Manfort’s comments are self-serving, they do underscore problems for Hillary in the general election. Without naming Bernie as her VP, Hillary risks alienating a substantial portion of Bernie’s supporters. If Hillary ignores Bernie for VP, she’s going to make more difficult for Bernie supporters to back her campaign. Losing Tuesday in Kentucky would undermine Hillary’s narrative that she’s the consensus candidate. More primary victories for Bernie make the strong case to Hillary’s campaign that she has only one viable choice for VP: Bernie. Complaining through the campaign about Bernie’s attacks, Hillary painted herself into a corner, ignoring Bernie on her VP shortlist. Winning 20-of-44 primaries, Bernie exposed deep cracks within the Democratic Party. Healing those cracks won’t be easy for Hillary without mending fences and putting Bernie on the ticket.
