Democrats are taking Bernie Sanders seriously. When will Republicans catch on?

Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: Bernie Sanders will be the Democratic nominee for President. The Republicans have gone after Hillary Clinton so hard and her scandals are so deep that she is falling faster than she did in 2008 to Barack Obama.

If all you watch is Fox News and GOP Debates, you may not have even heard of Bernie Sanders. That’s because Clinton has been the presumptive nominee in the minds of most Republicans since before she even announced she was running. It’s “us versus her” in the minds of my fellow Republicans. This has been a mistake and it’s proving to be even worse than we thought.

The most important thing to remember about Clinton is that prominent members of her own party don’t even like her. President Obama has never been able to stand her. He was pressured to offer her Secretary of State in exchange for her dropping out of the 2008 campaign before she could do too much damage. Party power brokers are split on her. Voters often lukewarm towards her, mostly because they weren’t sure if Sanders could mount a serious resistance.

He did. He is. Now, the Republicans have a bigger problem than they anticipated. You see, conservatives have the wrong thinking about socialism. We find it so obtuse that we couldn’t imagine the American people supporting it. What we don’t realize is that the younger generation, the one that helped to put and keep President Obama in office, is growing increasingly liberal and more willing to get out and vote. The old notion that they’ll simply be loud in discussions but not actually get out there is gone. They’re going to vote and they will learn to like socialism.

More importantly, Sanders comes with much less baggage than Clinton. Where she was weak with independents against Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, Sanders has an opportunity to thrive. He will be a much more formidable opponent.

From a strategic perspective, the Republicans should be hoping for a Clinton nomination. Granted, it’s important to keep both candidates in for as long as possible so they can fight each other rather than consolidating against the Republicans, but the attacks on Clinton have been overkill. We’re now risking losing the best chance of getting in the White House: a Clinton nomination.

If you’re like many conservatives who are posting to their blogs, YouTube channel, and social media about the evils of Hillary Clinton, it’s time to turn at least a little of the energy towards fighting Sanders. As his nomination moves from being a possibility to being a likelihood, it’s essential for Republicans to point some of their criticism his way.