The usually sensible Matthew Yglesias thinks realos are overreacting to the possibility of a Sanders nomination, because:
1. Bernie’s more outrageous legislative proposals will never happen, anyway;
2. Notwithstanding his rhetoric, he’s actually just a pragmatic left-wing Democrat who has always been willing to make deals and settle for half a loaf;
3. He’s a stronger candidate than you think, based on his record in Vermont; and
4. He has some interesting ideas about foreign policy that deserve to be tested.
To which I respond, as follows:
1. True enough, but the mere fact that he espouses them guarantees that the overriding general election issue will be socialism, not Trumpism, which means the Democrats lose. It doesn’t exactly bode well that Sanders changes the subject when he’s confronted with the socialism label; it suggests that even he knows it’s a loser;
2. We’ll never know, because he has no chance of beating Trump unless we have a recession or some sort of disaster between now and November;
3. The American Switzerland is not exactly a great proxy for the country as a whole; and
4. His great ideas essentially involve cutting the defense budget to shreds and letting Putin and Xi run wild, while weakening our economy with tariffs.
There is a very good reason why Democrats in swing districts are already making it clear that they can’t support him in November. If the party doesn’t decide on a single realo candidate very soon, the country is headed for disaster.