Democratic Party old guard may rig the election to derail Sanders’s campaign: Analyst

The old guard of the Democratic Party that includes Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and some others will do all they can to manipulate the upcoming presidential election to derail Bernie Sanders’s campaign, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Tuesday while commenting on a statement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has called for unity among Democrats and their candidates in the election in order to ensure President Donald Trump would not get elected for a second term.

"We have to have our own vision for the future, but everybody knows that we must be unified in making sure that he doesn't have a second term," Pelosi said in an exclusive interview with CNN from the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

Pelosi also told the American TV news channel that she "can't even envision a situation" where Trump would be re-elected, but added, "We don't take anything for granted."

Pelosi urges Democratic unity to prevent Trump from getting re-elected

US House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for further unity in the Democratic Party for the upcoming presidential election in order to ensure President Donald Trump would not be re-elected for a second term.

Premature to call for unity with so many still in the race: Hoenig

Hoenig said that Pelosi is “implying that that includes Sanders, yet he is the last person that she and the Democratic Party leadership would want to see as their nominee. Along with the old guard that includes Clinton, Obama, Biden, and quite a few others, they will likely continue to do all they can to rig the upcoming elections to derail his campaign.”

“If Sanders were to remain in first place, as projected, it is likely that Pelosi and the leadership will put enormous pressure on some of the candidates to drop out so that the moderates and conservatives could coalesce behind a single candidate. Nevada would be a telling sign as to who would be targeted but it is probably going to be [Mayor Pete] Buttigieg and/or [Senator Amy] Klobuchar, neither of whom have any real following with constituents of color. They both may have performed well, and perhaps even beyond expectations, but for many reasons their momentum will be halted after Nevada and South Carolina. Race is a major factor in both of those states and neither has a strong hold on that population,” he said.

“Joe Biden will be the beneficiary if either or both of those two drop out. Even though his record on race and supporting the poor is dismal, African-American voters, ironically the most progressive in the Democratic Party, will gravitate towards Biden. Yet Sanders is giving Biden a run for his money as he has shown support among a growing base of Latinos, blacks, labor and others who are often the majority of Democratic voters in the primaries,” he stated.

“Pelosi is also calling for unity as the dark horse, Mike Bloomberg, is waiting in the wings to overcome the other moderate to conservative candidates when they fail to gather any steam. Biden might gain some momentum in Nevada by coming in second, which overshadows his humiliating history thus far in elections, and could overcome Bloomberg, when more and more people start to learn just how Republican he really is,” he noted.

“Pelosi’s call for unity in order to defeat Trump in November is far too premature, as in all nominating elections, early voting usually identifies the lead candidates and are given the early exposure and heat, preparing for the general election. It’s only in the Spring when the nomination is closer to realization and usually all but two remain to fight it out. By then, all those who fell by the wayside will have messaged their egos enough to wait to see who is the victor and then, unity prevails. What is different today is the number 1 question, ‘How far will the leadership go in promoting such unity if Sanders prevails?’” he asked.

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