The Democratic Party is forcing Sanders voters to look at its real face and choose. Not the best move with November just months away (source; click to enlarge).

Reuters tracking poll filtered for likely general election voters, independents only. Yellow is Sanders (58%). Red is Clinton (14%). Orange is Won't Vote (28%). Won't Vote has double the support that Clinton has. Source; click to enlarge.

“We kicked [Sanders'] ass tonight,” a senior Clinton aide told me Tuesday night. “I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down. If not, f--- him.”

Short and simple. It looks like the Democratic Party is on the verge of creating the disaster it's trying to avoid — its own destruction. Unless Sanders is nominated — in which case, the Party will be reborn as what it no longer is — the Party in November will offer to the people its true self and ask for the people's support.That true self is expressed in the graphic above. That expression is, "I am the Party of lobbyists. I am the Party of Clinton. You are not the Party." The existence of the graphic also tells a second tale. Notice that it's handmade. Graphics like these say that many Sanders voters are learning this season to understand the Democratic Party the way writers like Thomas Frank understand it , and then to hate it.That's especially true of independent (non-party-affiliated) Sanders supporters, of which there are many.Recall that independents now make up over 40% of the electorate (43% to be exact), and that neither party can win in November without winning independents Again.The progress of this election, the growing popular resistance to the current version of the Democratic Party, and the Party's resistance to any attempt to alter the money-soaked way it does business, is putting on full and public display what the Democratic Party now stands for. People see it, and they don't like it. What an educational moment we're experiencing.Look again at that graphic at the top. Can you not see the anger in the making of it? Can you not see the reason for anger in the content of it? Can you not see disaster approaching because of that anger? I'm one of those who won't like a President Trump. I don't know how to convince the Democratic Party not to give him to us.It's all so self-inflicted. Stimulus — here's what Sanders wants to dothe Democratic Party andits entrenched Establishment:He wants to give the Party a gift, to recapture it in the name of the people it claims to support.The response? Here's just one taste of the Party's public reaction , via remarks from a "senior Clinton aide" after her New York victory:"If not, f--- him." There's a lot more like that, a ton of it in fact, including what looks to me like obvious election fraud , which is also getting noticed. The battle over control of the Convention brings all of this into focus as well. In the struggle for power between the Party and the people, the Party is making what it stands for way too obvious.How will Sanders' supporters respond if the Party establishment succeeds? Look again at the graphic at the top and then at the one in the middle. For the last time —. What could possibly go wrong?It may not be that Clinton brings just herself down. She may bring down the Party as well — with the Party's eager collusion. We'll look at what that could look like, the possible self-destruction of the Democratic Party, in our Look Ahead series. It won't be pretty, if it occurs, no matter how it occurs. The Party could lose by losing to Trump. The Party could lose by winning against Trump. The Party can only win by losing to Sanders.If you're a Sanders supporter, it's still not too late. Care to help him defeat the Ed Rendells and Wasserman Schultzes of the world? Click here , and thanks!GP

Labels: 2016 presidential race, Bernie Sanders, Culture of Corruption, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic Convention, Ed Rendell, Gaius Publius, Hillary Clinton