Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday that he plans on working together with Hillary Clinton to defeat Donald Trump, but many of his supporters aren’t enticed by this plan as 70,000 have signed a petition for him to run third party.
The petition, “Movement 4 Bernie,” was started on April 17 by openly socialist Seattle city councilwoman Kshama Sawant and supporters of the group Socialist Alternative.
“Dear Bernie, You are fighting to win, and we support you. If billionaire interests block you from winning the Democratic nomination we urge you to continue the political revolution by running independently of the Democratic Party rather than endorse Hillary Clinton,” the petition says.
It continues: “Your grassroots campaign that we have all worked so hard to build is too important to let its fate be decided by a rigged primary which involves only a small minority of voters. Running in the general election will reach tens of millions more people and can be the start of building a new political party for the 99%.”
When Sanders spoke to reporters outside the White House Thursday he made it rather clear that he intends to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump and that we would be seeking changes to the Democratic platform. Sawant in a note attached to the petition addresses fears that a third-party run by Sanders would get Trump elected.
“If electing a Republican is really Bernie’s main concern, there is no reason he could not at least run in the 40+ states where it’s absolutely clear the Democratic or Republican candidate will win, while not putting his name on the 5-10 closely contested “swing states,” Sawant writes.
She adds, “There is another danger if Bernie drops out to back Hillary. It would leave Trump, Cruz, or other right-wing Republicans a free hand to monopolize the growing anti-establishment anger, while most of the left is trapped behind Clinton, the crowning symbol of establishment, dynastic, Wall Street politics.”
Ballot access laws would make it difficult for Sanders to mount a third-party candidacy. The filing date for running in Texas has already passed.
