As avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders wins primary after primary, the crooked rules of the Democrat Party have him falling further and further behind Hillary Clinton, who, we continue to be assured, is the inevitable nominee and the inevitable next President.  Last weekend I came across an article written by Seth Abramson, an English Professor at the University of New Hampshire, entitled The Democrats Are Flawlessly Executing A 10-Point Plan To Lose the 2016 Presidential Election.  A beautiful sentiment, if I have to say so.  The point of Professor Abramson’s thesis is that Bernie Sanders would be a vastly more electable candidate than Hillary.  After having studied the Professor’s arguments at length, I have concluded that the good Professor is half correct and half crazy.  That is to say, the Professor’s first five points make perfect sense, while points 6 through 10 are just nuts.  First, the five correct points.

1.  Democrats assume Trump will be the Republican nominee, though it’s now clear he won’t be.  The Professor argues that Trump will not go to the Convention in July with the required majority of delegates.  An accurate prediction, coming as it did before Trump’s trouncing by Ted Cruz in Wisconsin.
2.   The nomination of Hillary is the best way to unite the Republicans, who harbor a hatred of all things Clinton.  Well said.
3.   Hillary’s smears of Bernie are fracturing the Democrat Party.  Quite true, if largely unreported.  Hillary henchman Barney Frank (remember him?) has called Bernie a “McCarthyite” for daring to criticize the pristine Ms. Hillary.  As a result, 25% of Bernie supporters say they won’t vote for Hillary, and up to 1/3 of his supporters say they may vote for someone else.  Who that might be is unclear, as both Eugene Debs and Gus Hall are dead.
4.   Democrats fatally underestimate the electoral chances of Ted Cruz and John Kasich.  Polls show either Cruz or Kasich can beat Hillary.
5.   By nominating Hillary, the Dems will be passing over their most popular candidate – Bernie, who has much higher favorability ratings than Hillary.  That’s also true.  Says a lot about the Democrat Party in 2016.                                                                                             From this point on, Professor Abramson strays off into the wacky world of left-wing fantasy.
6.   Hillary will freeze Bernie out of the Dem Convention, not even permitting him to speak.  It’s too soon to tell on this one.
7.   The Dems reject Bernie’s call for a 50 State campaign.  The argument here is that a Kasich candidacy could put the entire mid-west in play for Republicans.  Alright so far.  According to the Professor, Bernie can win in States Hillary might lose, such as Missouri, Alaska, New Hampshire, Michigan and Utah.  Utah?  That’s what he says.  This is where the Professor goes seriously off the rails.  Hello?  Bernie is a Socialist.  And yes, I’ve seen the polling that has him beating the Republican candidates, but I simply do not, and cannot perceive a noticeable move in the electorate to the Left, in the direction of socialism.  In fact, the opposite is true.  If the nation truly was moving toward socialism, one might expect that change to manifest itself in the election of avowed Socialists, or at least the elections of increasing numbers of Democrats, which nowadays is essentially the same thing.  No such change is taking place.  In the early part of the 20th Century, there were more than 300 elected Socialists at the municipal level, including 56 mayors.  There was one Socialist member of Congress.  Today, I found one Socialist city councilman (in Seattle), and, of course, there’s still one avowed Socialist in Congress – Bernie Sanders.  Meanwhile, since the election of Il Duce Obama, Republicans have added 11 Governors, 13 U.S. Senators and 69 new House members.  At the State level, since 2009, the Democrats have lost 913 seats in State legislatures.  What about those States the Professor says Bernie can win?  Well, Michigan has lost 31% of its elected Democrat legislators, Missouri has lost 36%, New Hampshire 28%, Alaska 21%, and Utah?  Well, 47% of the elected Democrats in that State have been defeated.  It’s hard to see how Bernie Sanders, the patron saint of income redistribution, will change this trend.
8.   Hillary has done nothing to address concerns about her character and integrity.  It seems Hillary hasn’t distanced herself from her Foundation, and she blames everyone but herself.  Both are true enough, but Hillary’s fingerprints are all over the Foundation’s activities.  She’s currently the subject of a criminal investigation for her home server antics.  It’s hard to see how she could rehabilitate herself.  Wait, I’ve got it.  Hillary could confess, plead guilty, and serve as President while on Work Release.
9.   Hillary relies too much on the media, instead of expressing her vision, and she should have distanced herself from the Super-Delegates.  This one’s easy.  Hillary has no vision, and the Super-Delegates are the only thing holding her up.  If the fix wasn’t in, Hillary wouldn’t be in either.  The Professor complains that Hillary “allowed” the media to focus on Trump, and the lack of coverage of the Dems hurt Democrat turnout.  Two things, here.  First, I guess this is an admission that Hillary controls the media.  Secondly, Professor, it’s not a lack of coverage, but a lack of interest in Democrats that has suppressed Dem turnout.
10.   Hillary ignores the youth vote, and millenials have a more favorable opinion of socialism.  Hillary ignores the youth vote only because young voters want nothing to do with her.  Millenials may well have a more favorable opinion of socialism, but that’s only because it’s all they learned in school.  In addition, coming out of college with debt the size of a jumbo mortgage and no house, no job, and no prospects of getting a job, due to the Obama economy, they’ve never had the opportunity to experience capitalism.  In this regard, Bernie is perfect for the millenials, because his background mirrors theirs.  Bernie graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964, but didn’t have a real job till he was about 40 years old.  Bernie says “the whole quality of life in America is based on greed.”  Bottom line, Bernie is a bum who thinks you have too much money, and he wants a 90% tax rate so he can take it.  Not the best path to election if you ask me.