Op-ed: The truth about beating Donald Trump

Throughout this campaign, Bernie Sanders has broken record after record. He has received the greatest number of individual contributions by any presidential candidate in United States history, and he is the first candidate in U.S. history to win the popular vote in all three first primary states. In Nevada he won across almost every demographic — white, hispanic, female, male, union members and non-union voters who identify as liberal, somewhat liberal and moderate. It is clear that Bernie Sanders is the front runner going into March 3 with 29.6% support in an average of the most recent polls from RealClearPolitics. There is no doubt that we are running an unprecedented campaign. Yet, despite these milestones, the narrative that Bernie Sanders doesn’t stand a chance against Trump has continued to prevail.

Some argue that the policies Bernie has proposed are too radical for the American people to support, thus hurting his chances against Trump. But in reality, most of Bernie’s policies are popular with a majority of Democratic voters. A Data For Progress poll of Iowa caucusgoers showed 82% supported Medicare for All and 92% supported a Green New Deal. And this shouldn’t come as a surprise. We are living in unprecedented times of inequality in America. Two and half million student loan borrowers have student loan debt greater than $100,000. An estimated 530,000 families go bankrupt every year due to medical bills. Seventy-eight million Americans are either uninsured or underinsured. Forty-two thousand people per day are held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers at the border. Sixty-six thousand people are locked behind bars for drug possession. One hundred forty-three million people globally are going to face displacement due to climate change by 2050. Bernie understands that these unprecedented times call for unprecedented policies. Bernie is committed to cancelling all medical debt and student debt, passing Medicare for All, providing meaningful immigration and criminal justice reform and passing a comprehensive Green New Deal. Voting for Bernie isn’t just about his presidency, it’s about proving to the Democratic party that we are ready for a national progressive agenda. It’s about proving that the success of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the squad’s campaigns are not just flukes but signals of a new era. It’s about proving that we are not willing to allow corporations to flourish while leaving millions of Americans behind.

Some have expressed concerns that Bernie’s identification as a democratic socialist will give Trump fuel to use against him in the general election. However, this would not be the first attempt to paint Democrats with this broad socialist brush. In a number of presidential elections, from those of John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama, there have been attempts from Republicans to portray the democratic nominee as a “socialist.” Republican’s banking on this age old argument is both miscalculated because of its past failures and an insult to the ability of voters to see past blatant propaganda. It isn’t hard to understand that there is a distinction between every single country in Europe and the Soviet Union. Bernie has made it clear that he has the ability to fend off attacks against socialism, as many of his democratic challengers have tried this approach on the debate stage.He believes that we must call these Republican attacks on socialism for what they really are — attacks on social security, medicare, veteran’s health care, roads, bridges, national parks, clean water and clean air. He also claims that the United States alreadypractices socialism for the rich, as he says Wall Street recieved the “largest federal bailout in American history” in 2008. We save the one percent billions of dollars with tax cuts and subsidize their workers’ health care and food so thatemployers can pay workers less than a living wage. If the term socialism is placed on every politician who believes health care and education are human rights, then a majority of Americans are in favor of socialism.

The idea that Bernie can’t beat Trump is exactly what the fossil fuel executives, insurance executives, Wall Street executives, establishment politicians and billionaires want us to believe. They understand that a Bernie presidency poses a serious threat to their endless profits. Trump understands this, too, and his supporters would rather put a candidate against Trump who is guaranteed to lose than face the consequences of real reform, because, in reality, they have been thriving for the past four years. Most people understand, however, that valuing human life over profit isn’t a radical or socialist idea. Thus, we cannot fall prey to the illusion that a progressive candidate cannot beat Trump and give billionaires exactly what they want.

While we are facing a lot of opposition, we have history on our side. The United States has a history of standing up to those in power to achieve labor rights, women’s rights and civil rights. These bold changes were only achievable because of the mass movements of working class peoplethat stood up to those in power. Bernie’s campaign is inspired by these movement making strategies, which is why we’ve been able to break so many records in United States history.

If we can secure the Democratic nomination, poll after poll has shown that we will beat Trump in the popular vote. Our path to victory is by giving voters a candidate to believe in. We have the chance to engage millions of Americans who have become disillusioned with status quo politics, and reasonably so. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez often discusses, the key to winning an election is expanding the electorate by increasing voter turnout among those under 40, as she experienced in her 2018 campaign. Ocasio-Cortez showed that, along with the rise of progressive candidates running on policies like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, we will see a massive rise in voter participation for underrepresented groups, including college students. If we are given the chance to vote for a progressive candidate, we will show up to the polls. Some may claim that they believe more people would sit out in a Bernie versus Trump election than any other matchup, but the numbers say different. According to a Quinnipiac poll, the vast majority of Democrats, 93%, would vote for Bernie when paired against Trump. Any other moderate candidate stands a real chance of losing the support of all of the young voters and voters of color that Bernie has created excitement among. Of eight polls taken, Bernie beats Trump in every single one, and by the largest margin. Furthermore, Bernie reports he is the only candidate with more individual donors than Trump.

Bernie also stands the best chance against Trump in the electoral college. Bernie’s message is not only resonating with urban coastal voters, but he consistently fares best against Trump with midwestern and rural voters, likely because of his opposition to bad trade policies and determination to prove that he cannot be bought out by billionaires. In 2016, Clinton lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan to Trump, but in all three states, Bernie is beating Trump by the largest margins 47–45, 46–44 and 48–41. There is no question that Bernie’s extensive record will pose a stark contrast to Trump’s record. In a USA TODAY/Ipsos poll, a clear majority of Democratic voters admire Bernie’s character more than any Democratic candidate over Trump.

I am not advocating that you vote for a candidate just because you believe they can beat Trump. But if beating Trump is important to you, just like the majority of Democratic voters including myself, don’t write Bernie off. Vote for whichever candidate shares your vision of this country. I am voting for a country in which everyone has access to quality health care, a living wage, clean air and water, freedom from deportation, workplace democracy, reproductive rights, higher education and affordable housing.