No, Bernie Sanders supporters won"t flock to Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders Endorses Hillary Clinton

To no one"s surprise aside from some deluded Trumpkins Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., delivered a robust endorsement of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire Tuesday:

"I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton...This campaign is not really about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders ... This campaign is about the needs of the American people and addressing the very serious crises that we face. And there is no doubt in my mind that, as we head into November, Hillary Clinton is far and away the best candidate to do that."

That message was deftly crafted make the race about bigger issues and remind Democrats they may not love Clinton but she is "far and away" the best choice for his former followers. He preserves his principles by slyly reminding voters that it"s virtually inconceivable liberals would prefer Trump to Clinton.

The amateurish Trump camp then exploded with a series of news releases (they hired a rapid response staffer, so I suppose he needs to show he"s working) to remind voters Sanders said mean things about Clinton in the race. Shocking, I know. Whom is this aimed at? Surely the Sanders people are not going to be wooed by Trump"s nasty accusation that Sanders" endorsement is now "Exhibit A in our rigged system the Democrat Party is disenfranchising its voters to benefit the select and privileged few." Calling Sanders a hypocrite is no way to make friends, but then, Trump cannot manage to solidify his GOP support as Clinton has now accomplished. Moreover, the Trump adviser"s description of Clinton bizarrely accusing her of launching a war in Iraq (!?!) should suffice to remind us that if conservative, internationalist, pro-free-trade Republicans are looking for a candidate, they"d do better with Clinton than Trump.

It was ludicrous from the get-go to think Sanders" followers pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-immigration, pro-environmentalist, pro-nationalized health care supporters, pro-Black Lives Matter would rush to the candidate who has insulted women, minorities and the disabled, wants to build a wall and deport millions (while keeping all Muslims out) and has suggested women should be punished for abortions. Indeed, as The Washington Post"s Greg Sargent details, the pro-Clinton super PAC has a series of ads highlighting many of those stark differences (e.g., on minimum wage, education, immigration).

"Bernie voters will choose Trump" is another morsel of self-delusion the Trumpkins have been munching on as they head toward electoral defeat. Other lies they tell themselves Trump will rewrite the map; Hispanics love him; he"ll self-fund; he hires the best peoplehave likewise evaporated. You wonder how they imagine he"s going to win the election. More important, you wonder if the Republican National Committee delegates seeing Trump"s electoral "plan" (if he ever had more than "go on TV") fizzle will start wondering just how big a loss the GOP would suffer with Trump at the head of the ticket. Could they lose both houses of Congress? Would he drag down GOP gubernatorial candidates as well?

In short, Sanders" endorsement should remind onlookers that for all her faults, Clinton is running a comparatively competent campaign and successfully unifying her party. That"s more than Trump can say. Sad!

Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-bernie-sanders-supporters-20160713-story.html

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Why Bernie Sanders is backing a $1.5 trillion military boondoggle

Bernie Sanders: Election must bring people together

A closer look, however, suggests that the senator has just been doing what he was elected to do: seeing to it that his state enjoys a steady flow of jobs and dollars. He"s also bolstering Vermont"s reputation as a good place for the aerospace sector to do business, even if that"s not the first thing that comes to mind.

"People don"t think of Vermont as an aerospace state; they think we"re all cheese, maple syrup and skiing," said Patricia Moulton, secretary of Vermont"s Agency of Commerce and Community Development. "We have a very robust aerospace sector, and we have a number of advanced tech firms that find Vermont a great place to do business."

She said that the two largest aerospace companies in Vermont are GE Aviation and UTC Aerospace Systems, and she also noted the presence of another 30 small to mid-sized companies. Altogether, she estimated that this accounts for more than 2,000 jobs, which the F-35 program is positioned to complement.

"The F-35 accounts for over 1,400 direct and indirect jobs, with an economic impact of over $124 million in Vermont," said Eric Schnaible, F-35 International Communications Manager for Lockheed Martin. This figure accounts not only for 1,100 jobs with the Vermont Air National Guard, but with jobs within the aerospace sector and other local businesses. While 45 states and Puerto Rico are involved in the production of the aircraft, Vermont specifically is home to three supplier locations, and according to Business Insider, the plane"s bay doors and GAU-22/A gun system are both produced there.

The 1,400 jobs may not sound like a lot, but Chittenden County, where Burlington is located, has a population of only 161,382 people. It would have an enormous negative impact on the local economy if 1,400 of those people all simultaneously become unemployed.

The jets will also play a role in the state"s economy in 2019, when 18 are scheduled to be stationed at Burlington International Airport as part of the Vermont National Guard program to grow its active-duty maintenance force. Gene Richards, the airport"s director of aviation, said that those F-35s represent the future of the Guard"s relationship with Vermont. The program extends the financial contribution of the Guard well into the future by picking up where the widely used and soon to be replaced F-16 will soon leave off.

Richards said that it"s not only Sanders who supports keeping the hardware in Burlington. He said that Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch have all done their part to keep the program where it is, and he characterized their attitudes as "very supportive." A look at the numbers makes it easy to see why.

"There"s at least 1,100 Air National Guard jobs involved with F-35," said Moulton of Vermont"s Agency of Commerce and Community Development. "We estimate there"s about $50 million in direct payroll, and the program will involve some pretty decent upgrades to the Vermont airport."

She added that her agency expects the program to stimulate growth in the aerospace sector by creating business for local suppliers. So what would happen if the program didn"t have a home in the state?

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/12/why-bernie-sanders-is-backing-a-15-trillion-military-boondoggle.html

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