Murray State University historian Brian Clardy warns that Democratic disunity could hand Donald Trump a second term.
The president, set to be acquitted by Senate Republicans on Wednesday, is likely to win again “unless Democrats stop fighting among themselves and start concentrating on beating Trump.”
A member of the Calloway County Democratic Executive Committee, Clardy was a Hillary Clinton delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
He’s had it with the lingering animus between the Clinton and Sanders camps. Of late, Clinton has claimed Sanders is unlovable and unelectable. She still insists he and his supporters didn’t do enough to help her after she beat him for the nomination.
When Clinton’s name came up at a recent Sanders event, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Sanders surrogate, booed. Tlaib has since expressed regret.
Clardy isn’t surprised that the Clinton-Sanders feuding hasn’t stopped. He said that as soon as the 2016 convention started, “the divide between the Sanders Democrats and the Clinton Democrats was obvious. I knew that the party was going to be divided, and that some disaffected Sanders Democrats would vote for Jill Stein or Trump or not vote at all. That actually came true.”
Added Clardy: “My big fear is that history is going to repeat itself.”
He said party chair Tom Perez “has to nip this in the bud today. Otherwise, it’s going to be Philadelphia 2.0 in Milwaukee.”
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Speaking of the Clinton-Sanders feud: ‘(Dem party chair) Tom Perez has to nip this in the bud today. Otherwise, it’s going to be Philadelphia 2.0 in Milwaukee.’ – Professor Brian Clardy” quote=”Speaking of the Clinton-Sanders feud: ‘(Dem party chair) Tom Perez has to nip this in the bud today. Otherwise, it’s going to be Philadelphia 2.0 in Milwaukee.’ – Professor Brian Clardy”]
Clardy said that had Sanders won the nomination, he “would have worked my heart out for Bernie.”
This time, he’s leaning toward former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. But he promises to work hard for any Democrat who ends up on the ballot against Trump.
Clardy characterizes Trump’s Senate impeachment trial as “a gross miscarriage of justice the likes of which I have never seen on the Washington political scene. Who has a trial without witnesses and documents?”
He said Republicans blocked John Bolton from testifying because they were scared that the former national security adviser would make a compelling case for Trump’s removal. “The Republicans just cut out the middle man. So no witnesses and no documents – this trial for all intents and purposes was a sham, a total sham. It was a massive cover up much worse than Watergate.”
[click_to_tweet tweet=”No witnesses and no documents – this trial for all intents and purposes was a sham, a total sham. It was a massive cover up much worse than Watergate. – Professor Brian Clardy” quote=”No witnesses and no documents – this trial for all intents and purposes was a sham, a total sham. It was a massive cover up much worse than Watergate. – Professor Brian Clardy”]
Clardy said that while he and his fellow Democrats in Calloway County, statewide, and across the country are understandably angry over Trump’s certain acquittal, he’s fearful that their ire won’t be enough to heal presidential primary wounds.
“The worst case scenario is that the party will be divided again – that it’s going to be Pennsylvania 2.0, and Donald Trump will get another term.”
At the same time, he holds out some hope that “after this travesty” of Trump’s trial and acquittal, Democrats will ultimately close ranks behind the candidate that wins the primaries. “But I’m afraid my first scenario is what is going to happen. That will be tragic.”
–30–