Clinton, Sanders and ‘visionary gradualism’

With the help of millions of voters, especially the young, he has broadened a political debate long hemmed in by the dominance of conservative assumptions and the stifling of progressive aspirations.

Sanders has put a progressive alternative to Obamacare (a single-payer system) back on the political agenda.

After hearing an endless stream of preposterous attacks on President Obama as a socialist, we now know what the real thing looks like.

[...] many more Americans now realize that the words “democratic socialism” refer to popular movements in rather attractive places (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) and not to the old Soviet Union.

Add in the preferences of “Super Delegates,” officeholders and party officials who get seats at the National Convention, and Clinton had 2,240 delegates, 143 short of the 2,383 she requires.

The Democrats’ system of rewarding delegates proportionally means that — as a matter of pure math and because there are so few contests left — Sanders cannot prevail.

[...] it is time for Sanders and his supporters to recognize that they share with Clinton and her backers the imperative of preventing Donald Trump from becoming the next president of the United States.

[...] a certain bitterness is setting in on the Democratic side that really could be damaging, exemplified by the angry fracas at the Nevada state Democratic Convention on Saturday.

The over-the-top reaction of Sanders’ supporters over a couple of delegates who won’t affect the outcome speaks to the urgency of peacemaking.

Both favor universal access to health insurance, both want to make higher education far more affordable, and both want a big increase in the minimum wage.