‘Do the Right Thing’ — An open letter to Bernie Sanders

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To the editor:

Dear Bernie: I begin by making it clear that I am a lifelong Democrat, following in the footsteps of my father and his father. I am also an “Anybody But Trumper.” For that reason, I feel compelled to appeal to your conscience and better judgment. You were not able to win the nomination four years ago, and you are not electable now. I personally believe, without specific numerical evidence, that you may be THE reason, or at least a major contributing reason, why we now have Donald Trump sleeping in the White House. You have spent the past four years promising that which you can never deliver to a public hungry for change. In so doing, I believe that you have disillusioned many, particularly young and energetic, voters, who, upon your failure to be nominated, decided to sit out the 2016 election, leaving us with losses in key Electoral College states.

My fear is that you are, once again, jeopardizing our chance to unseat Trump, and possibly undermining our ability to win back the Senate. Our country needs to eradicate the Trump stigma in Washington. Upon that fact we all agree. To do so, we MUST nominate a Democratic candidate who is electable. Your avowed policies of healthcare for all, elimination of student debt, etc., are utopian pipe dreams which will not, in our lifetimes, be politically achievable, even if philosophically desirable. We must be pragmatic, so that we can achieve our number one goal of beating Trump in November. You, I believe, are not the candidate who can attract sufficient number of independent and moderate Republican voters, who will be needed to win in November.

Please, DO THE RIGHT THING. Put country before your own political ambitions, and drop out of the race before it is too late. Use your influence, and considerable experience, to select an electable moderate candidate, and throw your support to that candidate, before it is too late, before you disaffect more impressionable voters, and before you become the cause of four more years of Trump.