Bret Stephens is well aware of Donald Trump’s weaknesses, thank you. He despises the man as much as I do. For all that, he won’t vote for Bernie Sanders if he is the Democratic nominee. Here are his reasons, and my responses:
1. IN SPITE OF HIS AUTHORITARIAN LEANINGS AND CORRUPTION, TRUMP HASN’T REALLY TRASHED THE CONSTITUTION YET: Do you really want to bet that he wouldn’t do it in a second term, particularly with the help of his trusty sidekick Barr? That’s not a risk I’m willing to run.
2. THE SANDERS PROGRAM WOULD DESTROY OUR ECONOMY: There is zero chance of President Sanders getting his program through the system in the absence of a massive recession that completely destroys America’s faith in the capitalist system between now and November. Don’t wager the ranch on that.
3. A SANDERS VICTORY WILL RESULT IN A RIGHT-WING BACKLASH THAT WILL MAKE THE TRUMP ERA LOOK MILD: Not necessarily, because a potential backlash would really focus on cultural issues, not socialism, and Bernie is a more reluctant culture warrior than Elizabeth Warren. He hasn’t moved to the right on values issues to the extent that I think he needs to, but he would save his energy for Wall Street, not religious fundamentalists.
The bottom line is that I think Sanders would make a terrible president, but I will vote for him if he is the nominee, because he can’t possibly do as much damage to our country as the incumbent.