Letters to the Editor: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, try not to tear each other down

To the editor: We now have effectively two candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination. I beg both of these men not to tear each other down.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden should concentrate on themselves and President Trump. Tearing each other down just gives fuel for the Republicans to use in the general election.

We know the differences between the two candidates. The party must now come together; the pick of a vice presidential running mate who balances the ticket with either progressive or moderate beliefs can help accomplish that.

Please, save the vitriol for Trump and his fellow Republicans — there is plenty to complain about there.

Rita Skinner, Riverside

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To the editor: Has it occurred to anyone in the Democratic Party leadership that this rush to thrust Biden into the spotlight might backfire?

Scores of working-class voters — once the backbone of the Democratic Party — defected to Trump in 2016 precisely because they felt abandoned by the Obama administration. Hillary Clinton was the standard bearer of that administration, but Biden is the standard bearer in spades.

What makes the Democratic Party establishment believe working-class voters or even moderate Republicans want a return to the Obama era? They don’t, and they’ll make this known at the ballot box.

Only Sanders has the true populist message that will bring back working-class voters who, combined with the greater Democratic cohort, will deliver the votes to defeat Trump.

Nan Carter, Los Angeles

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To the editor: If Sanders’ advisors are serious about building a big coalition, they should tell him to stop dividing the Democrats.

Rep. James Clyburn and the voters he inspired in South Carolina by endorsing Biden are not the establishment that needs to be overthrown, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Amy Klobuchar do not represent the billionaire class.

While Sanders has built a grass-roots movement that can bypass big donations, most candidates cannot do that. Until we have campaign finance reform, Democrats facing Republicans with huge bankrolls from corporations expecting favors can’t afford to unilaterally disarm.

Sanders must stop demonizing Democratic candidates as corporate pawns unless he can prove money is compromising their votes. If he wins the nomination, he should take all the money he needs from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to defeat Trump.

Ken Jacobs, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Your editorial states that “whichever candidate is ultimately nominated, Democrats must rally behind that person without hesitation.” Well, good luck with that.

Recently, a young woman told me that Sanders supporters not voting for someone else was a myth. Really? In 2016 two of my acquaintances sat out the election, a friend disliked Hillary Clinton so much that she voted for Trump, and another opted for someone who could not even remotely be considered to win.

Multiply such behavior by many thousands, and we face another four years of the abomination that currently sits in the White House.

Anneke Mendiola, Santa Ana

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To the editor: Whether the 2020 presidential election is Biden versus Trump or Sanders versus Trump, it’s still going to be “That ‘70s Show.”

Joe Kevany, Mount Washington