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Is Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign for President a problem for Democrats?
Are her foreign policy positions the only problem for the party?
About three years ago, a friend of mine from college announced on Facebook that he had decided to support Bernie Sanders for President. He believed that Sanders’ campaign was a moral cause that he had to support.
In response, I wrote words dripping with sarcasm: “Oh good, maybe the Republicans can win this year.” My comment led to a long back and forth where he defended his choice and I pointed to examples of where purist candidates hurt the eventual Democratic nominee.
The problem is that primaries inevitably become bitter and personal. When you have candidates running against each other with deep roots in the party, as occurred when Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in 2008, the candidates and their supporters work hard to reunite the party in preparation for the general election campaign. Such is not the case when the candidate and his supporters do not have a similar commitment to the long-term good of the party.
Enter Bernie Sanders. Remember that in the House and Senate, he was proudly independent. Even though he caucused with the Democrats and supported most of their candidates for leadership, he refused to join the party. In fact, he…
