Authenticity? Feel the Bern

Re “What the Democrats should learn from 2016,” Opinion, Feb. 11

Reading Jonah Goldberg’s column trying to figure out why the Democrats can’t win was ironically hilarious. Sitting around pulling your hair out trying to figure out who you should be to get yourself elected is exactly why the Democrats can’t win.

If pure desire, intelligence and cunning could produce victory, Hillary Clinton would be on her third term. The answer is exactly the opposite: authenticity. The only Democratic candidate who has been true to himself and his ideas for his entire career is Sen. Bernie Sanders. William David Stone

Beverly Hills ::

While I agree with much of what Goldberg says about the 2016 election and that Democrats need a candidate to appeal to moderates and Trumpexhausted Republicans, he overstates his conclusion that Democrats can’t see it.

Sanders Democrats cannot see this, but moderate Democrats certainly can. That is why Michael Bloomberg continues to gain momentum even though moderate Democrats just like “Bernie bros” are not comfortable with billionaires having undue influence on elections. Barry Bernstein

Los Angeles ::

When claiming one of the main reasons for Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992 was that the previous two nominees seemed too beholden to special interests, Goldberg failed to mention that 1992 was a three-person race in which Ross Perot garnered almost 19% of the vote.

When listing the excuses given for Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016, Goldberg failed to mention the biggest reason for her loss: thenFBI Director James B. Comey’s announcement of new information regarding Clinton’s emails just 11 days before the election.

Finally, Goldberg states that Trump won despite most polls predicting a Clinton victory. In fact, most polls showed a close race with Clinton winning by a 2%-3% margin. Clinton won the popular vote by 2.1 percentage points. Fred Gober

Playa Vista