Horseshoe Gets The Triangle

We must nominate a Democrat with strong coattails who can take on Trump and deliver legislative majorities at every level

5 min readFeb 24, 2020

One frustration with Bernie’s movement is its conviction that Democrats fear Sanders will win, not that he will lose.

The stakes of the 2020 election are far greater than defeating Trump. In addition to holding the House and taking back the Senate, it is critical that we gain and maintain majorities in the statehouses. In a census year, legislative control over redistricting is our most important consideration.

Choosing a nominee isn’t a question of who would be a better President than Trump. It’s hard to imagine anyone could be worse. But we have to win the election first. It’s critical we nominate someone who can not only win, but also elect Democrats at every level.

Even if you stipulate that Warren or Bernie could win the EC — they can’t, but let’s make believe — no one can plausibly argue that they have coattails. Only Democrats in deep blue districts would survive sharing a ticket with Bernie Sanders.

Only Democrats in deep blue districts would survive sharing a ticket with Bernie Sanders

Democrats in swing states and purple districts will have to declare who they plan to vote for. They won’t say Trump. They can’t decline to answer — Just ask Alison Lundergan Grimes how that worked out for her.

If they say they’re voting for Bernie, they’ll be saddled with his baggage. They’ll face a barrage of questions about eliminating the insurance industry, free college for the 1%, Latin American dictators. They will have to talk about raising taxes. They will have to talk about socialism.

They need a better answer, one that will reassure their voters and bring the subject back to kitchen table issues. We would need to advance a national Democratic figure so our down-ballot candidates can run against the ticket and try to save themselves.

Don’t get me wrong — a 3rd party Presidential candidate cannot win. It’s mathematically impossible with our current system. But winning not the point.

This is not a scenario like Evan McMullen and Mindy Finn‘s 2020 independent campaign for President. They were actually trying to win McMullin’s home state of Utah, hoping to prevent either side from reaching 270 Electoral Votes. Evan McMullin wasn’t trying to become President. He and Mindy stepped up to do their patriotic duty. They tried to take Donald Trump down.

Their effort was admirable, but sandbagging our candidate is not our goal. We would need to cut our losses and avoid turning a tragic miscalculation into a fatal error. We can’t sacrifice down-ballot Democrats on the altar of unity around a lost cause.

We cannot sacrifice down-ballot Democrats on the altar of unity around a lost cause

I know this doesn’t feel right.

It goes against everything we’ve been advocating.

It seems hypocritical after all our criticism of Bernie and his Bros. But this is not the same thing.

Four more years of Trump would suck. But let’s not pretend Bernie or Warren can beat him. Democrats must acknowledge how a Bernie Sanders candidacy would play out — catastrophic losses from coast to coast.

Republicans understand this.. That’s why there’s a huge campaign underway to elevate him and encourage crossover voting in Democratic primaries. GOP would kill or die to run against Crazy Bernie and “Tax and Spend Democrats” and Scarequote Socialism.

Yes, I know the label isn’t “fair” but that doesn’t matter. Republicans use “socialism” against us because it works. It works even when it isn’t true. Democrats lost the House in 2010 because GOP painted ACA as socialism. It wasn’t, but in this case Medicare for All is literally socialized medicine. Calling Obama a socialist was a baseless charge. With Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, they have receipts.

Calling Obama a socialist was a baseless charge. With Bernie and Elizabeth Warren, they have receipts.

This election has no margin for error. If Republicans win at the state level, they will control the redistricting process, implement Phase 3 of REDMAP, and increase gerrymandering, cementing an even more empowered GOP legislative majority for the next 10 years. The Democratic party as we know it would cease to exist. And Trump would still be president.

We have to pick our battles. Do we want to be the party that defends Bernie’s failures or Warren’s lies and constantly parses the difference between social democracy and socialism? The party running on raising taxes, eliminating one sixth of the economy, and taking people’s health insurance away? Or do we take a stand against the fringe left and live to fight another day.

We must nominate a Democrat with strong coattails who can take on Trump and deliver legislative majorities at every level

This is not a threat. This isn’t something I’ve personally cooked up to screw over Bernie. Instead, it is a dire warning. I’m explaining what will have to happen. Our down-ballot Democrats will demand it. It’s the only way.

A third-party effort is our worst case scenario. Best case scenario, we nominate a Democrat with strong coattails who can take on Trump and deliver legislative majorities at every level.

The time to talk about this is now.

We need to stop this “Vote Blue No Matter Who” nonsense.

We need to stand up to the fringe left.

We need to let the party know that there will be consequences if Bernie becomes the nominee.

#DemocratOrBust #RedistrictingMattersMore