Self-avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has put the powers that be in the Democrat Party at ease by saying that if he doesn’t beat Hillary Clinton and win the Democrat nomination in the upcoming primaries, he won’t try a third party run for 2016.
Sanders made his promise at an appearance in Washington D.C. on Thursday, saying that he would want to avoid a third party run to prevent a Republican victory. “I would not want to be responsible for electing some right-wing Republican president,” he said.
Sanders admitted that he was being urged to run a third party candidacy because the GOP is too far right, but, according to his far left supporters, so is the Democrat Party.
“I thought about it,” the Senator from Vermont said. “But I reached the decision… that the only way at this particular moment in history that we could run an effective campaign was within the Democratic primary and caucus system.”
It is noteworthy that Sanders imagines that a third party run from the left would split the liberal vote and give a Republican candidate a leg up. One wonders if Donald Trump understands this point from the other side. Trump has toyed with a third party run but has yet to say for sure if he would try a third party run if he doesn’t win the GOP nomination in the primaries.
In fact, only a few days ago, Trump hinted that he could run third party if he can’t take the GOP nomination.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.