Jerry Brown: Time for Dems to Unite Behind Hillary Clinton

This is a very welcome and timely endorsement- a week before the Dem primary. True, you can argue that Brown dragged his feet in endorsing a candidate who with her husband has long been a bitter rival.

Who can forget the fireworks when Brown and Bill debated in 1992. Bill more or less warned Brown he'd take his head off if he went after his wife again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5kUITklALQ

Then too, there's no question as I've previously argued that Jerry Brown was in some ways a proto Bernie Sanders in 1992. Bernie's think is the '$27 dollar donations', Brown was about his 1-800 number and all those donations of no more than $100 dollars.

Was Brown holding on this long because it's hard to totally put old feelings behind him? Maybe. But you have to give him credit for seeing that the Trump threat is far more serious than these old battles.

And arguably, his endorsement is worth more now than it would have been if he had done it too readily.

"California Gov. Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary Clinton this morning in an "Open Letter to California Democrats and Independents" in which he says that a vote for Clinton "is the only path forward to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of Donald Trump."

"Brown's letter is highly complimentary toward Bernie Sanders and his campaign, and says he is "deeply impressed with how well Bernie Sanders has done." It also argues that, in a sense, Brown's own 1992 primary campaign offered a template for the sort of grassroots fundraising effort that Sanders has taken to a new level."

"But he says that Clinton "has convincingly made the case that she knows how to get things done and has the tenacity and skill to advance the Democratic agenda." And that currently her "lead is insurmountable and Democrats have shown — by millions of votes — that they want her as their nominee."

"Consequently, he thinks it's time for the party to come together:

"But there is more at stake than mere numbers. The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, has called climate change a "hoax" and said he will tear up the Paris Climate Agreement. He has promised to deport millions of immigrants and ominously suggested that other countries may need the nuclear bomb. He has also pledged to pack the Supreme Court with only those who please the extreme right."

"The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our country faces an existential threat from climate change and the spread of nuclear weapons. A new cold war is on the horizon. This is no time for Democrats to keep fighting each other. The general election has already begun. Hillary Clinton, with her long experience, especially as Secretary of State, has a firm grasp of the issues and will be prepared to lead our country on day one."

http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11818364/jerry-brown-endorse-clinton

I appreciate him acknowledging all of us Democrats who want her to be our nominee. Unlike Bernie who tries to erase us as 'Just the Establishment' or 'Just the South' or 'Just the wealthy.'

It's clear that a vote for Bernie Sanders next Tuesday is a vote for Donald Trump.

Although it's more than a little sarcastic, even Seth Abramson is sort of getting it.

"If you can trust one thing in this unpredictable election cycle, it’s that nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever, could possibly happen in the next two months that would keep Hillary Clinton from being the Democratic nominee. No indictment — of her or anyone close to her — would stop that from happening; no undisclosed medical condition; no cratering poll numbers against her prospective Republican opponent; no historically bad (and worsening) unfavorables; no polling showing that fully 50 percent of her primary opponent’s supporters won’t support her in the general; no sudden disclosure of all her Wall Street transcripts, revealing that much of her campaign platform with respect to Wall Street was a lie; no string of defeats on June 7th, producing a scenario in which Mrs. Clinton would have lost 18 of the final 25 state primaries and caucuses, the worst second-half performance of any major-party candidate in a primary election season in U.S. history; no surprise entry into the race by Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren as a unity ticket; no sudden and unexpected news event that changes dramatically the viability of one or many of Clinton’s campaign promises or policy positions; no — and take it from people who sit behind desks in D.C. and New York City — there is nothing anyone could possibly do or that could possibly happen over the next two months that would cause any change whatsoever in how the super-delegates will vote on July 25th."

http://linkis.com/huffingtonpost.com/w6jxq

By Jove Seth Abramson has finally got it. The denial is finally over and he's on to angry acceptance.

And if you think otherwise you — please don’t take this personally — are a delusional dead-ender.

"None of which should suggest to anyone that the super-delegate system is a sham intended to guarantee an Establishment candidate is selected no matter what. That’s a pathetic view of the facts and I strongly urge you not to have it at a dinner party."

"In other news, the Chicago Cubs have won the 2016 World Series."

That 2016 Cubs analogy is hardly apt. We're much further along in the primary than just a little over 25 percent in like in the baseball season. What Abramson is saying now has been true since March 15.