Advice for Divided Democrats

Editor's note: Robert is off this week. The following column is by Clarence Page

With the Democratic primaries grinding to a bitter end, I have suggestions for both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters that neither will like.

First, my advice to Clinton supporters: Don't try to drum Sanders out of the race before Clinton officially gets the nomination (if she in fact does get it).

Some of you say Sanders' should bow out because he has no chance of getting the nomination, and his continuing candidacy is harming Clinton's chances.

It's true that Sanders' chances are slim, but it's inaccurate to say he has no chance. If you consider only pledged delegates, who have been selected in caucuses and primaries, he's not all that far behind Clinton. And the upcoming primary in California -- the nation's most populous state -- could possibly alter Sanders's and Clinton's relative tallies.

My calculation doesn't include so-called superdelegates -- Democratic officeholders and other insiders who haven't been selected through primaries and caucuses. But in this year of anti-establishment fury, it would be unwise for Clinton to relay on superdelegates to get her over the finish line.

Sanders should stay in the race also because he has attracted a large number of young people and independents. Their passion, excitement and enthusiasm are critically important to Clinton's success, if she's the nominee, as well as to the success of other Democrats this year and, more fundamentally, to the future of American politics.

Finally and not the least, Sanders has been telling a basic truth about the American political economic system -- that growing inequality of income and wealth has led inexorably to the increasing political power of those at the top, including big corporations and Wall Street banks. And that political power has stacked the deck in their favor, leading to still wider inequality.

Nothing important can be accomplished -- reversing climate change, creating true equal opportunity, overcoming racism, rebuilding the middle class, having a sane and sensible foreign policy -- until we reclaim our democracy from the moneyed interests. The longer Sanders is on stage to deliver this message, the better.

Next, my advice for Sanders supporters: Be prepared to work hard for Clinton if she gets the nomination.

Some of you say that refusing to fight for, or even vote for, Clinton will show the Democratic political establishment why it must change its ways.

But the "Democratic political establishment" is nothing but a bunch of people, many of them big donors and fundraisers occupying comfortable and privileged positions, who won't even be aware that you've decided to sit it out -- unless Clinton loses to Donald Trump.

Which brings me to those of you who say there's no real difference between Clinton and Donald Trump.

That's just plain wrong. Trump has revealed himself to be a narcissistic, xenophobic hatemonger who, if elected, would legitimize bigotry, appoint Supreme Court justices with terrible values, and have direct access to the button that could set off a nuclear war.

Clinton may not possess Sanders' indignation about the rigging of our economy and democracy, or be willing to go as far in remedying it, but she's shown herself to be a capable and responsible leader.

Some of you agree a Trump presidency would be a disaster but claim it would galvanize a forceful progressive movement in response.

That's unlikely. Rarely if ever in history has a sharp swing to the right moved the political pendulum further back in the opposite direction. Instead, it tends to move the center rightward, as did Ronald Reagan's presidency.

Besides, Trump could do huge and unalterable damage to America and the world in the meantime.

Finally, some of you say even if Clinton is better than Trump, you're tired of choosing the "lesser of two evils," and you're going to vote your conscience by either writing Sanders' name in, or voting for the Green Party candidate, or not voting at all.

I can't criticize anyone for voting their conscience, of course. But your conscience should know that a decision not to vote for Clinton, should she become the Democratic nominee, is a de facto decision to help Trump.

Both of my morsels of advice may be hard to swallow. Many Clinton supporters don't want Sanders to keep campaigning, and many Sanders supporters don't want to root for Clinton if she gets the nomination.

But swallow it you must -- not just for the good of the Democratic Party, but for the good of the nation.

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(Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. His new book, "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few," is now in bookstores. His film "Inequality for All" is now available on iTunes and Amazon streaming.)