It’s time to think about who can beat Trump

It’s hard to read daily news headlines and not feel like America has lost her way.  President Trump marched political dissidents right out of their offices. Descriptions of Trump rallies manifest images of intolerance and hate. A hastily concluded impeachment trial leaves stark predictions for future limits on presidential power.  Not to mention the thousands of families separated at the border, the millions of Americans without health insurance, rising student debt, voter disenfranchisement, a broken criminal justice system, and an impending global climate change crisis. The 2020 Presidential Election must be a referendum on the ways in which President Trump has led America astray.

While the Democratic field has narrowed considerably, there still remains a serious choice: who to run against President Trump.  The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board has argued that Senator Bernie Sanders is the man to beat Trump.  While it’s easy to applaud the power of Sen. Sanders’ grassroots campaign and its ability to energize the young people of our generation, Democrat voters should be hesitant to support a Sanders challenge to President Trump.  Irrespective of his policy initiatives, Sen. Sanders’ inability to compromise and cross party lines suggests that not only is he unelectable in a general election, but he would also be unable to push his agendas through Congress at a time when it is imperative we change the current political course.

According to GovTrack.us, Sen. Sanders is the most left ideologically compared to any other senator in the U.S. senate.  As a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, the ideological split compared to other senators is expected.  But the DP Editorial Board writes that “Sanders is… the only candidate with a coherent vision for how to enact his policy proposals once in office… He plans to engage directly with the American people to implement his progressive platform by putting pressure on Congress through strikes, protests, and other forms of direct action.”  This may seem counterintuitive given his polarizing ideology.  And it is. 

Out of senators serving 10 years or more, he ranks last in terms of bipartisan bill support. Given the current state of partisanship under President Trump, it is worrisome to see a candidate who seems similarly unable to reach across the aisle. The divisiveness of his politics becomes especially problematic given the “Bernie or Bust” attitude in which he is unwilling to consider perspectives outside of his own even within his own party. With confirmed Republican and Democratic voters equally split at 41%, it is the final 18% of swing voters that will become integral to winning an election against Trump. Those voters must be welcomed into the party, not condemned for having previously conservative ideals or slightly conflicting policy beliefs.  However, the Sanders campaign seems to embody almost the antithesis.

At a New Hampshire rally, Cynthia Nixon, a prominent supporter of Sander, had to shut down boos of Hillary Clinton. In an age where “Lock her up” is a mainstay at a Trump rally, booing by supporters of candidates within the same party is unacceptable. We cannot expect to take the moral high ground in the upcoming election if we find ourselves reverting to tactics reminiscent of those we wish to expunge.

The divisiveness of his platform as well as that of his supporters stands in direct opposition of a candidate “with a coherent vision for how to enact his policy proposals.”  The tendency for Sanders’ policy to incite such discordant passions suggests that pressuring Congress would be especially challenging. Throughout Trump’s presidency, we have seen the American people attempting to pressure Congress through strikes, protests, and polls. Congress simply refuses to be pressured. Two-thirds of Americans said that the U.S. Senate should have called witnesses to stand during Trump’s impeachment trial.  Following that logic, two-thirds of American senators should have answered the call of the people and supported witnesses in the impeachment trial. This is not what occurred.  The disconnect between what the people want and what Congress wants has never been more on display than during Trump’s presidency. That disconnect must be addressed by the next President, and given the current nature of the Sanders platform, it is unclear whether that will become a reality. 

Finally, Sanders’ winning primary results from the New Hampshire primary result seem to support his electability.