Less than a month ago, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was the delegate leader in the Democratic primary. Just a fortnight ago, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was the unquestioned nominee, a socialist steamroller leading a movement Democrats would be wise to get behind or get out of the way of.
With that kind of lability, I’m hesitant to call the Democratic primary race over until the fat-acceptance female-identifying individual sings.
This said, given the truncated nature of the process as more and more states jostle toward the front of the primary line in order to be more important, it’s difficult to see former Vice President Joe Biden not winning the nomination. While Bernie’s young base has made itself known through other means, usually digital, they’re apparently allergic to voting.
After what the media termed “Super Tuesday II” earlier this week (can we just call for a blanket two-week paid airtime suspension for the primary originators of that phrase? I think that’s more than magnanimous), Biden holds a commanding lead in delegates and the next set of states to go to the polls — Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio — are far from Bernie-friendly.
So naturally, the Bernie Bros and Bro-ettes handled this in typical fashion: They started a hashtag on Twitter, #BidenLosesToTrump.
Before we begin looking at the tantrum, let’s note that there’s no hard evidence of this.
In potential match-ups against Trump, Biden and Sanders are as good as even in the RealClearPolitics polling average nationally, with Biden up by 6 and Sanders up by 5; however, Sanders’ equivocal comments about the salutary nature of Fidel Castro’s rule make it much more difficult to imagine him making Florida competitive, given the state’s large Cuban exile community.
There’s also no a priori evidence of this, either. At best, you have six of one, half dozen of the other: Biden’s diminishing returns versus the fact Bernie Sanders would be the furthest-left candidate the Democrats had ever nominated by a wide margin.
When it comes to the s-word, however, I think you have an easier time selling senescence than you do socialism. Just make Biden’s speeches shorter (as his people already have), give him some talking points, wind up the key in his back and hope for the best.
This wasn’t the opinion of the Bernie Bros, who loudly declared that Trump and Biden were essentially the same. This was the kind of thought that was par for the course for users of the hashtag:
I suppose if this is what young people are voting on — putting themselves in more debt, making it harder for them to get jobs and making energy more expensive — sure, I suppose it would behoove them to stay at home on Election Day. Go ahead. Do your worst.
The Bernie crowd also cemented their reputation for cultivated online discourse by (among other things) wishing coronavirus on older voters and loudly declaring that they would vote for third-party candidates over Biden if the former vice president were to get the nomination.
Coronavirus better be the boomer remover for the Ohio primary next week! #BernieOrBust2020 #ByeByeBiden #BidenLosesToTrump #BoomerRemover
See Loiras's other Tweets
Just because you said it’s rigged doesn’t mean it’s rigged. No proof. Instead of uniting to take out Donald Trump you’d rather spread conspiracy theories instead of getting Trump out. That’s a great plan, 4 more years of corrupt moron Trump.
#DementiaJoe is creepy, corrupt and mentally losing it. #BidenLosesToTrump
Biden is worse than Hillary and she couldn’t even beat him. Not voting blue this time if Bernie is not the nominee. I will #WriteinBernie or vote Green.
See SlemPike 
's other Tweets
's other Tweets@progressvoice is right. Democrats are dumbos. #DemExit #BernieOrBust2020 #HidinBiden #BidenLosesToTrump #BidensCognitiveDecline #everyonesproblem #ruined
See Erica's other Tweets
I believe in Bernie’s cause. He is the only person I have faith in to help our generation. I’ll vote third party before I ever hand my vote to Biden #ByeByeBiden #BidenLosesToTrump #BernieWarriors #DemExit2020
See freaking isa ⁷'s other Tweets
To those of you who are behind this hashtag, let me give you some honest advice — or rather, take you back to a time roughly three-and-a-half years ago:
Democrats are digging their grave a second time. It's like they actually want Trump to win again. #BidenLosesToTrump twitter.com/InRegardstoAli…
See Vegas Vagary's other Tweets
These weren’t just the people in Hillary’s camp, either. At liberal-arts campuses and fair-trade coffeehouses nationwide, individuals bawled out their frustrations that their nightmare scenario, previously viewed only as a hypothetical, had very much reified.
The Bernie battalion identified a real problem in nominating Joe Biden, inasmuch as his mental state is very much in question. That said, if you’re a Bernie Sanders supporter and you can’t tell which candidate is ideologically closer to you on the spectrum, you should probably reconsider a lot about your political life.
Then again, why should Biden’s people be concerned about you? It’s not like you’ve shown up to vote so far, anyway.
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