I know. To admit it is the worst kind of conservative blasphemy, but I like Bernie Sanders. He has the courage to make us ask whether he is completely off his rocker. I challenge anyone to not feel some grudging admiration for a candidate who speaks his mind because he knows he is right.
Sanders doesn’t just parrot what he thinks crowds want to hear. The man seems invested in his vision. We don’t get that from Donald Trump. He persuades us to believe in showmanship, not conviction. We don’t see it in the woman who stood next to Sanders during last Sunday night’s Democratic debate. There is no sincerity in the image Hillary Clinton projects, only over rehearsed remarks and canned gestures. Bernie Sanders’ prickly countenance positively oozes sincerity. That’s one of the reasons I can’t think of a better ticket for 2016 than Trump and Sanders.
Our two most outrageously outspoken political figures would be running mates from hell. They would put on a show we will never forget and steamroll over anyone who gets in their way. Better yet, a Trump and Sanders ticket would solve a problem the country doesn’t have an answer for: How can Congress and our executive branch get anything done except talk about meeting in the middle?
Trump and Sanders in 2016: balancing realism with appeasement
We all know what Bernie Sanders would do to this country if he was president and found a sufficient number of enablers on Capitol Hill. There would be nothing left.
If Donald Trump wins, what is he going to do when the masses beg for appeasement and his options swirl down the drain? He can’t offer a conservative vice president to deflect some of the negativity. Obama had Biden when things got rough, but the left won’t listen to the right. That’s where Sanders would come in handy. Think of him as a walking, talking straw man.
Democrats in charge must be absolutely horrified not only at what comes out of Sanders’ mouth, but that his words are causing their best hope for 2016 to risk a massive embarrassment in New Hampshire and Iowa at the hands of an avowed socialist whose rhetorical lunacy hasn’t done him nearly as much damage as it should.
We can use that to our advantage.
Two political monsters, one thing in common
Barack Obama’s presidency created two monsters and brought them to prominence for opposite reasons. Sanders gained a following because Obama didn’t do enough. Trump’s popularity swelled because the president did too much. Hillary? She’s stuck in the middle, but being a bit of a political monster herself she should know how this works. Sanders and Trump are rabble-rousers par excellence and both can beat her at her own sagging game.
Trump needs Sanders’ people, not Congress
Depending on your point of view and the issue at hand, Obama either did future presidents a favor or laid at curse at the White House doorstep.
The courts and our executive branch have been doing Congress’s legislating. Given the recalcitrance on Capitol Hill we have no reason to suspect that this will change. Gridlock is working just fine for our lawmakers.
Trump and Sanders are the perfect weapon to make sure the tradition of executive overreach continues. Besides, does anyone out there believe that Donald J. Trump is capable of making peace between our warring parties?
Just think of the possibilities. Trump passes an executive order. Bernie gives it some mass appeal for the left. He can do that. His supporters either aren’t backing him because of what he says or they are too crazy to care. No one in their right mind would vote for him because of anything he is suggesting, but so far the craziness quotient has been an asset Trump can benefit from.
A Trump and Sanders ticket could be a big win for conservatives. It takes some of the heat off of the man who will be their candidate. It puts Bernie in a safe place where he can’t do a lot of damage and saves Trump the stress of picking a vice presidential running mate who won’t cause him trouble. Trump could do a lot worse. Consider:
Thomas Eagleton
Spiro Agnew
Dan Quayle
Sarah Palin (that’s right, more conservative blasphemy)
… and a host of other less than optimal choices from our history. Trump looks hale and hearty enough. As long as he can keep the Secret Service in line we should feel safe taking a chance.
Bipartisan support doesn’t exist, but we won’t need it
Every controversial proposal from the Oval Office seems to have “bipartisan support” until the moment of truth arrives and the scheme implodes. Take gun control. Speaking for the White House, Josh Earnest insisted that both sides favor clamping down:
There are a number of commonsense measures that have strong bipartisan support that could be taken to reduce gun violence without infringing on Second Amendment rights that the President is committed to defending.1
The joke is on anyone who believes him. The only bipartisan agreement on any gun control measures Obama suggests will be to fight to the death and make sure that nothing happens.
At least Speaker Paul Ryan is realistic, albeit publicly deluded about partisanship. Anticipating another pointless vote next week to dump Obamacare and Planned Parenthood, his office released this statement:
This vote was made possible for the first time by using the reconciliation process to bypass a filibuster and put this bill on President Obama’s desk. “It’s taking it all the way through the end of the constitutional process and declaring our position versus his,” Speaker Ryan said last week.2
Obama’s desk is where that bill will sit. That’s why Trump and Sanders are such perfect running mates. Donald can do the work and Bernie can smooth things over with the left, which seems to accept a good deal of what he says without much thought. Besides, if the country really paid attention to what Sanders wants to do who but Donald Trump would be crazy enough to have anything to do with the guy?
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