An Open Letter to the Divided Left

Democrats split as moderate becomes the certain nominee… again

Courtesy of Jonathan Rogers, photographer in NSPA 2020 photo exchange

Kyle Hawley, Opinions Editor
April 8, 2020

Dear members of the Democratic Party,

You are blowing it.

Ever since January 2017, when Donald Trump was sworn-in to the presidency on that cold Friday afternoon, the Democratic Party seemed united. As the Republicans dominated Congress and now the White House, the then-powerless Democrats were focused on a universally-accepted platform: to beat Trump in the election of 2020.

As the Democrats fought for and received a federal investigation into the possible Trump-Russia election collusion, the unity seemed unbreakable. They had public support and were gaining popularity. They were determined to restrain or remove President Trump from power and showed no sign of slowing down.

Well, they did not slow down. In 2018, when the Democrats won a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, it had Republicans worried. If the Democrats managed to stir up this much support and patriotism for a simple midterm election, who knows what they could do in the race for the presidency?

Shortly after the midterms, the Democratic presidential race was unique in both size and diversity. All these candidates shared the common interests of defeating the incumbent president, were passionate about gun safety and climate change, while also wanting to make healthcare more accessible for all Americans. It was a miracle!

However, this was when the left-winged party began to split, dramatically.

Democratic moderates like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris broke away from the radical progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. A little more than a year later, that nice field of diversity narrowed down to two old white men who do not share common interests.

As of April 8, Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race, clearing the way for Biden to clutch the Democratic nomination this summer. As Biden is poised to take on Trump this November, he does not have the complete support of the Democratic Party.

After the late-morning announcement to suspend his campaign, Sander’s supporters went to Twitter to share their grief. They had “Green Party,” “#DemExit,” and #NeverBidenNeverTrump” trending by mid-afternoon.

Before I proceed, I feel inclined to explain what the trends mean. The Green Party, which prioritizes the conservation of the environment, is known to be progressive. The Sanders supporters who do not align with Biden’s ideology are turning towards the Green Party as they want to elect a candidate that is like the Vermont senator. The “DemExit” and “NeverBidenNeverTrump” hashtag was used by these same supporters announcing their departure from the donkey party.

They do not want to stand behind a man like Biden so they are choosing to stand against him.

They want to dismantle the DNC establishment in hopes of rebuilding a new, progressive organization. Their hopes relied on Sanders’ victory, however, after today— they see no route to do this and feel cheated.

Seemingly, the unity that brought the Democrats together has broke and the party is split into factions. Well actually, I guess not really factions as they are just out-right leaving the party. Personally, I am a conservative and even I’m embarrassed for all of you. Sanders will need to urge his supporters to vote for Biden come this Election Day if they hope to retrieve the White House from the Republicans.

Nonetheless, the Democrats continue to push on to defeat President Trump this November. While their chances have narrowed after the fall out between Biden, Sanders and their supporters, Biden still has a solid chance to defeat the president.

My analysis may be wrong in all of this but the exact same thing happened in 2016 and we all know who won that match.

Sincerely,
A concerned Republican