With less than 1/3rd of states having voted, there is growing clamor for Senator Bernie Sanders to end his bid for President of the United States. This clamor is reminiscent of calls during the 2008 presidential race for a candidate to drop out so that support could coalesce behind another candidate who was deemed more appropriate for the upcoming general election.
But for reasons of his own, Senator Barack Obama did not drop out of the race, and he went on to win the presidency and re-election.
Meanwhile, Senator John Edwards became embroiled in scandal and wisely decided to drop out of the 2008 race. Senator John Kerry had dropped out earlier, when the anticipated support failed to materialize.
On March 29, 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton announced that she had no intention of dropping out of the contest despite ferocious clamor for her to do so. She kept her campaign alive through June and participated vigorously in every state and territory. As she pointed out about Senator Obama that he could be assassinated and that would leave the party without a contender.
We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. — May 22, 2008
In that same interview, she also pointed out that “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?”
So for all those demanding that Senator Sanders drop out now or on March 15th or at some other date in the near future, I say “Hold on, there, pardner.”
The candidate is the person who gets to decide when or if they should drop out. They are the person literally risking their life, their personal assets, and all of their goodwill accrued over a lifetime of service. It is the height of hypocrisy and hubris for anyone else to demand the withdrawal of a presidential candidate, no matter who he or she is.
In this election season, Martin O’Malley dropped out after he saw no way forward past Iowa. He chose when it was right for him.
Election campaigns are self-correcting. When a candidate loses popular support, their funding dries up faster than snot on a doorknob. When a candidate loses momentum, people stop attending their rallies, stop arguing about them on the Internet, and stop contributing to their campaign. Once the candidate gets the message, they drop out.
As of right now, more than 2/3rds of the country has not yet had a say in who they want as their Democratic candidate for president. My own state of Arizona doesn’t vote until March 22nd, so hearing that my vote doesn’t count because it’s after March 15th is maddening as hell. If Senator Sanders can’t win, he’ll drop out. He’s not dumb. If Secretary of State Clinton can’t win, she’ll drop out. She’s not dumb.
It’s a democracy. Let the process run its course.