Bernie Sanders Needs a New Reason to Stay in the Race. Here’s One.

"As long as Sanders is in the race, though, Clinton can’t take her left flank for granted and shift rightward in anticipation of the general election; doing so would risk embarrassing losses to Sanders. And the more delegates Sanders has, the bigger voice he will have in crafting the party’s platform at this summer’s Democratic convention. But there’s another reason for Sanders to stay in the campaign: Trump. Even if Sanders doesn’t win the nomination, he can still use his campaign platform to influence how the Democrats respond to Trump.

Based on their words and actions so far, Clinton and Sanders have very different views on how best to defeat Trump in November. With her rhetoric of “make America whole,” Clinton seems set on defeating the divisive real estate mogul with a centrist message that might appeal to disaffected Republicans, particularly college-educated suburban voters who are likely to be put off by Trump’s extremism. Clinton’s effusive and controversial praise of Nancy Reagan seems part of this strategy. Doing so, however, would be to write off the white working class voters in Trump’s camp"

more in the article by Jeet Heer
Bernie Sanders Needs a New Reason to Stay in the Race. Here’s One. | New Republic: