Jonathan Chait Is Wrong About Everything, Including Bernie’s Electability
Jonathan Chait says “running Bernie Sanders against Trump would be an act of insanity.” But sticking with the Democratic establishment’s orientation to affluent moderates will spell disaster in 2020, just like it did in 2016 when 4.4 million Obama voters stayed home.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders waves goodbye at the conclusion of a campaign event at La Poste January 26, 2020 in Perry, Iowa. Chip Somodevilla / Getty
It’s usually best to ignore Jonathan Chait, a man whose trouble predicting electoral outcomes is surpassed only by his contempt for the Left and his condescension toward working-class Americans.
These qualities come out in Chait’s latest polemic, “Running Bernie Sanders Against Trump Would Be an Act of Insanity.” Despite poll after poll showing Bernie Sanders beating Donald Trump by wide margins nationally and in must-win battleground states, Chait insists that “Sanders is an extremely, perhaps uniquely, risky nominee.”
And although the Vermont senator has a proven record of defeating Republicans, receives the highest polling numbers among independents, and has already won twelve electoral races, Chait nevertheless would have us believe that Sanders is somehow virtually unelectable in 2020.
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