The old saying, “politics makes strange bedfellows,” refers to alliances that come about when people of differing views find areas of commonality in which to work together. For instance, when Ted Cruz (sort of) talked John Kasich into “working together.” But the two of them were different, not opposites. Now, we hear that Bernie Sanders’ people think they can attract supporters of Ted Cruz. Seriously.
Vocativ reports that the recruiting is already underway.
Bernie Sanders fans are attempting to recruit Ted Cruz supporters in their latest effort to prevent Hillary Clinton from securing the Democratic presidential nomination. After Cruz announced he’s suspending his campaign following his Tuesday loss in Indiana, many Sanders supporters posted messages on Cruz’s Facebook page urging his followers to instead join their fight against both Clinton and Donald Trump, who appears set to become the GOP nominee for president.
“I realize how heavy your hearts must be that Senator Cruz has dropped out of the race,” Sanders supporter Linda Humason wrote in a 1,150-word letter addressed to Cruz’s fans on his Facebook page. “Furthermore, I understand the fear some of you must have for the future with Donald Trump being the Republican nominee… I warmly welcome you to join us if you don’t want Trump in the White House. I truly believe that Bernie is the best chance we have to keep Trump out.”
Another Sanders supporter, Mark Roe, offered a list of reasons why Cruz fans should back Sanders. . .
“Dear Ted Cruz Supporters,
“I am deeply sorry to hear that your chosen candidate has suspended his campaign. I was truly hoping he could break the Trump reign.
“I know this may be a stretch, but I am inviting you all to please consider supporting Bernie Sanders.
1) He is independent
2) He has a very good congressional history
3) Between him and Trump, he beats Trump in the national polls, whereas Hillary barely can
4) He isn’t Hillary Clinton (in my opinion, the BEST thing about him)
5) Those of you in California can still switch your party affiliation by May 23, 2016”
The last point may be the most telling. Nobody really believes that fans of the devoutly-evangelical, corporate-attorney Washington-insider (aka, “Lucifer in the flesh”) would like to see the secular-Jewish, Democratic-caucusing socialist be in the White House. BUT, it can give them a chance to have an impact on the Dem race, since their votes will no longer count in the remaining GOP primaries.
HuffPost gives five reasons why Cruz supporters could give Hillary fits.
Here are five immediate repercussions to Ted Cruz dropping out of the Republican primary:
1. News coverage for the Democratic primary, and thus Bernie Sanders, will increase exponentially — immediately. . .
2. Sanders will pick up a huge number of what would otherwise be Trump votes in states where voters are still able to register for upcoming Democratic primaries, or are able to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary due to being a registered independent. . .
3. Clinton will have to start spending a great deal of money to fight a two-front war against Donald Trump, who’ll begin his ultra-negative primary campaign against Clinton immediately, and Bernie Sanders, who will avoid attacking Clinton directly but has nevertheless vowed to take the Democratic primary to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. . .
4. Sanders now has a greatly increased chance of winning all of the remaining Democratic primaries and caucuses. . .
5. The Democrats will have a contested convention, and the Republicans won’t.
As far as that goes, why not have all Republican voters jump into the Democratic primaries. It would look odd to have zero votes for Trump et al in the upcoming primaries, but imagine the impact and spectacle of Bernie beating Hillary with all his supporters PLUS every possible Republican voter.
No wonder Hillary opposes open primaries.
Primary elections are volatile precisely because only 10 to 30 percent of the party faithful participate. What if an even larger percentage of the “party unfaithful” came to the voting booths? It is entirely possible that Bernie could get the—average—65% in the remaining states to take the nomination on the first ballot!
Donate Now to Support Election Central
- Help defend independent journalism
- Directly support this website and our efforts