What will the future hold for the Democratic Party after the primary results Tuesday that secured the nomination for Hillary Clinton? Colgate University Political Science Professor Tim Byrnes says in the coming weeks Bernie Sanders will face facts that he’s not going to be the party’s nominee.
“He’s now going through the process that all serious candidates for the presidency go through, in coming to terms both personally and politically and in his organization, with losing. That’s always a difficult process.”
Byrnes says he thinks one of the problems for the Clinton campaign is that Sanders’ supporters don’t have a history with - or loyalty to - the party. He predicts those in the Sander’s camp will eventually support Hillary Clinton.
“Many of them are not democrats. He has mobilized a large group of many, oftentimes younger, independent voters who have come into his campaign, hoped to make him the democratic nominee. He’s not going to be the democratic nominee.”
Speaking of Clinton's primary victory, Byrnes says he thinks that men are happy to see American’s first woman presidential candidate. He adds that this change is a positive development for American history.
“I think there’s a large element of men in the United States who respect their wives, their sisters and their mothers, and particularly their daughters, who are pleased to see that the country has come to the point where the nomination for a major political party can be given to a woman.”
In terms of influence of the presumptive nominee, Byrnes feels it could have an impact on Congressional races in Upstate New York. But he doesn’t think Clinton will benefit from her New York residency.
