New York, a very liberal state, has a little known law, the Wilson-Pakula Act of 1947, which might be used to keep avowed socialist and Independent Bernie Sanders off the Democratic presidential primary ballot for 2016. It should be remembered that Senator Sanders, although an Independent in his home state of Vermont, caucuses with Democrats in the Senate. Sanders is a radical socialist.
This arcane Wilson-Pakula law prohibits anyone from running for the nomination of a political party, which they are not officially affiliated with. There is an exception, however. If the candidate gets permission from the political party apparatus, usually a state party central committee of prominent party members, the individual may find themselves on the party's nomination ballot.
Lest we forget, however, Hillary Clinton is the prohibitive favorite daughter of Democrats in New York and Bernie Sanders is just an interloper from next door neighbor Vermont, although Sanders is as liberal as they come and is to the political left of Hillary.
Bernie Sanders, to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, must find his way on all the important state presidential primary ballots as a Democrat and not as an Independent. That would be a kiss of death for Sanders. New York is one of those very important states that Sanders needs to be on the Democratic presidential primary ballot in order to go forward and to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate.
Recent polling has seen Sanders drawing closer to Hillary, with the latest polling having Sanders at 31% to Hillary's 41%. Sanders is on the up side of this trending in the polls, while Hillary has seen an unsettling decline. Every other Democratic hopeful or possible Democratic candidate has been polling in single digits, not exactly heartening for anyone serious about capturing the Democratic nomination.
Will New York Democrats allow Sanders to enter the Democratic presidential primary, even though he is not officially aligned with the New York Democrat Party? Will Hillary's tumbling polling numbers erode resistance to Sanders from the state Democratic Party apparatus, thus allowing Sanders to enter the New York presidential party on the Democratic ballot?
Governor Andrew Cuomo is a staunch Hillary supporter and he wields tremendous power in the state Democratic central committee. Will he roll over on Hillary to allow Sanders on the ballot? That's the real question. It's too early to tell what will result, but if Sanders does not find his way on to the Democratic presidential primary ballot in New York, he will most likely be in serious trouble in other state primaries. Financial supporters will be reticent to contribute to a Sanders campaign that becomes moribund in a state of limbo over a failure to get on the Democrat primary ballot in New York.
There will be a lot of politicking going on in New York Democratic circles and Hillary, if history is any guide, will be in the thick of any movement seeking to bar Sanders from the Democratic primary ballot. Of course, Hillary will not publicly denigrate Sanders, since that might tarnish her manufactured persona of being a champion of the people. It wouldn't look good if Hillary was viewed as just another back room politician seeking to sink a political dagger in the back of a party rival.
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