While the Republicans’ voters have decided to nominate a bigoted, xenophobic and self-centered human being, the Democrats are ready to continue moving forward on President Obama’s progressive legacy. With the prospect of a President Trump becoming more and more real, the Democratic party needs to unite more than ever, and fast.
There is perhaps no one in this race who has more experience in uniting her party than former first lady, U.S. senator from New York and Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Despite a close battle in 2008 against then-Sen. Obama, after falling historically short, then-Sen. Clinton dropped out of the race, immediately nominated Sen. Obama and worked endlessly to help elect him. She recognized that the prospect of a Republican keeping the White House after President George W. Bush was too dangerous, and she made the best move for the country she loves. This time around, the script has been flipped.
According to CNN’s estimates, as of May 5, Secretary Clinton has 93 percent of the delegates needed to clinch the party’s nomination. The math says it all; this is her year. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has run an effective campaign based on the issues, and his message has resonated throughout the nation; however, as the math is not in his favor, it is now time to unite the party behind its eventual nominee, Hillary Clinton. If Sen. Sanders continues to attack her, both personally and on her qualifications, it will only weaken her general election bid against Mr. Trump.
Despite the differences between Sen. Sanders and Secretary Clinton, both sides know that, just as in 2008, unity will be the only path forward. There is perhaps no better way to unite the Democrats than to simply gaze across the aisle.
If nothing else, the prospects of a Trump presidency will drive the Democrats together. All in all, the differences between Sen. Sanders’ supporters and Secretary Clinton’s are miniscule compared to the stark differences between the Democrats and the Republicans.
The battle in 2008 was even more contentious than the race between Secretary Hillary and Sen. Sanders has been this year. Despite their differences, when then-Sen. Clinton knew she had no path forward, she knew the only option was to drop out and endorse then-Sen. Obama in the spirit of unity.
In that same spirit of unity, she stood on the floor in Denver at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and called for the immediate nomination of Sen. Obama. In the months leading up to that convention in 2008, it seemed almost impossible to unite the party, but it was done.
In the end, this year more than ever, the state of our nation and of our futures are at stake. Now, it is more clear than ever that Sen. Sanders and his supporters need to begin the challenging transition from Hillary’s competitor to Hillary’s ally.
We must do everything in our power to make sure that Mr. Donald J. Trump never takes the oath for President of the U.S. Sixteen other Republican candidates failed to stop him. There is one person left who is capable of halting Donald Trump.
Jacob Best is the president of Gators for Hillary.
