Five New Reasons To Vote For Bernie Sanders [Report]

Bernie Sanders has some of the most loyal and devoted supporters in politics. In fact, Bernie supporters are so passionate his camp are a little worried that some of them defend Sanders too vehemently on social media, according to Jezebel.

if you support @berniesanders, please follow the senator's lead and be respectful when people disagree with you.

— mike casca (@cascamike) January 26, 2016

Sanders’ supporters probably don’t need any extra reasons to get out and vote for the Democratic candidate, who is expected to attract unprecedented numbers of people to the polling booth if he becomes the nominee.

In the words of one Sanders fan, “If Bernie becomes the nominee, his supporters will not stay home — they will go out and vote. They will turn out in droves.”

For those on the fence, though, here is a discussion of a few of the less well-known reasons to vote for Bernie Sanders, recently offered by the Huffington Post.

1. A vote for Bernie Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire is not a vote for Sanders to win the presidency.

This one is a bit unusual, but important. Basically, the Huff Post is saying that New Hampshire and Iowa are not going to be the states that decide if Bernie wins the nomination, but these votes are critical in deciding if Sanders’ race can continue.

“If he wins both Iowa and New Hampshire, he will be permitted by the nation’s political winds to continue his campaign.”

If Bernie Sanders gets a chance to continue in the race, he will continue to make Hillary a better candidate. Bernie’s presence in the race has thus far had the effect of pushing Hillary to the left and forcing her to refine her platform. Anyone who wants to see the best possible candidate should be trying to keep Bernie in the race.

If Bernie were to lose in Iowa and New Hampshire, it would mean Hillary Clinton would have the nomination secured. The Democratic race would be over very early indeed.

“A vote for Bernie Sanders is therefore merely a vote for the Democratic primary season to continue rather than ending abruptly in the first week of February with (in effect) a Clinton coronation.”

2. A vote for Bernie Sanders is a vote for Hillary Clinton.

Once again, Bernie Sanders’ presence is helpful to Hillary, who the Huff Post calls a “thoroughly unlikable candidate.” Bernie’s presence forces Hillary to emphasize the progressive aspects of her platform, as she attempts to compete with the beloved Vermont senator — this humanizes Clinton and works to her advantage somewhat.

“The more Clinton is forced to articulate her progressive values, the more human she seems — including to independent voters scared of a Trump or Cruz presidency — and she requires the continued presence of Bernie Sanders in the race to realize this type of critical but easily overlooked political gain.”

3. Now that Michael Bloomberg has announced that he will enter the presidential race if Sanders is the nominee, it is even more important to get Bernie in as the nominee

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg will enter the race if he hears that Bernie Sanders is the nominee, according to Reuters.

Seeing as Bloomberg is likely to steal a lot of Trump’s votes — and likely to steal very few votes from the Democrats — this would actually weaken Trump and the Republicans

The result? A vote for Bernie is the best way to keep Trump out of the White House — something that most on the Left, including Clinton supporters, would probably agree is a good idea.

“Without Bloomberg in the race, Clinton might well lose head-to-head to the equally disliked Trump…If Bernie wins the nomination, that means it’s a three-way race that is substantially more likely to end in a Democratic victory due to Bloomberg siphoning (primarily) Trump votes.”

4. Sanders is a better negotiator than Clinton

Clinton is “demanding” a relatively modest $12/hour minimum wage, Sanders would ask for a $15/hour wage.

A fundamental tenet of negotiation is that you start high, on the understanding that the other guy is probably going to want to talk you down. Thus, Sanders is the one who has the right idea.

5. A vote for Bernie Sanders ensures the Democrats will have a voter-backed candidate for the fall election

The word coming out of the FBI is that there is a solid chance Clinton could be indicted over her notorious emails. That means the already-distrusted candidate could take a blow just as her campaign is beginning. Is that the sort of nominee Democrats want?

No such charges stand to be laid against Bernie, meaning he is the stronger option going into the race.

With Bernie there will be no nasty surprises, and Sanders is therefore the strongest chance the Democrats have to win the White House.

Will Bernie Sanders be president?

We are losing $100 billion every single year because corporations are stashing their profits offshore tax havens. https://t.co/aGxVTnuI6Y

— #RandyResistING Authoritarianism (@RandyResist) January 30, 2016

[Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Image]