Good evening. Sanders supporter here.
There seem to be quite a few diaries and comments with the following themes.
1) The math indicates that Senator Sanders has only a very remote chance of gaining the Democratic nomination.
2) Senator Sanders supporters are somehow being coerced to contribute to his campaign. A corollary to this theme is that the money going to Sanders would be instead going to other Democratic candidates down-ticket.
3) Because he has such a small chance of winning, Sanders is conducting a vanity campaign.
Although others have made the following points numerous times, I will attempt one more time to assist some of the supporters of Secretary Clinton in grasping the following concepts.
1) Many, if not most, of the Sanders supporters don't care about the math calculations as much as the HRC folks do. I taught math for nearly thirty years. I understand the math. I just don't care about the math in regards to these primary contests. Sure it will be great if Sanders wins, but the campaign is more than that.
This campaign is not just about Senator Sanders. Once more: This campaign is not just about Senator Bernie Sanders. It is about the ideas he espouses. We are more concerned about the issues than about the man. I support Senator Sanders because finally there is a major party candidate who advocates for the issues I support.
Got that? It's the issues. Should Sanders be mathematically eliminated, I will continue to support his campaign. Which brings me to point #2.
2) Those of us who contribute to the Sanders campaign are doing so under own free will. We are not naive or foolish. We know exactly what we are doing. We are contributing to a cause.
Clinton supporters are wasting their time if they truly expect that somehow their comments or diaries are going to cause us to suddenly stop donating.
2a) Some of them are assuming that we would be sending money to other Democrats if we weren’t contributing to Sanders. That is not necessarily true. The only Democrats who will get my donations are actual progressives, and they will receive my support regardless of the amount I donate to Sanders.
3) Senator Sanders is not conducting a vanity campaign. When I contribute to him, I am doing so with the expectation that he will continue to promote his issues through the last contest in the District of Columbia and then continue to promote them at the Democratic Convention this summer.
Each vote for Senator Sanders IMO is sending a message to the party hierarchy that there is a significant segment of the voting public that is interested in the ideas promoted by him. Now I realize that the possibility of the party centrists actually paying attention to us may seem to be less than the possibility of Sanders winning. If they choose to ignore us, however, that is their issue not ours.
So there you have it. Writing incessantly about the points above is again a waste of time and will not change the minds of Sanders supporters. Now if the intention is to simply stir the pot, then I guess that may be fulfilling some basic need.
In that case, carry on, but realize when one accuse Sanders of being a grifter or worse, they're not only engaging in a wasted effort but possibly alienating a group of people who they may wish to have on their side should Secretary Clinton prevail.