Still feeling that Bern?
I know I am. And it still hurts.
I have been waiting for a candidate that I could support and
vote for, not just as lesser of two evils, but as someone whose views and
dreams very closely mirrored my own.
Along came Bernie Sanders, and I knew that this was the man
I wanted to be president of my country. I was sure of that before he even
declared his candidacy.
Once he threw his hat into the ring, allowing his hair to
blow about freely in the breeze, I began my support. I donated to his campaign.
I made phone calls for him via the Bernie Dialer. I talked to friends and
relatives in hopes of convincing them to support him for president.
Bernie supporters were proud of our candidate and we worked
hard for him, and we were proud of our efforts on his behalf.
Alas, it is not going to happen. Bernie Sanders will not be
the Democratic candidate for President of the United States and he will not hold
that office.
Why will he not be our nominee?
He doesn’t have the electoral votes. Part of the reason he
does not have the electoral votes is that the Democratic Party uses a strange
little device called superdelegates. Most of these superdelegates were pledged
to Hillary Clinton and remained that way. Not a pretty thing in my book, but it
was within the rules of the party and within the law.
Another reason he was not nominated may have to do with some
collusion and skullduggery within the leadership of the Democratic Party. It
appears that DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz wanted Hillary to be the
nominee and was willing to put her thumb on the scale to get Hillary nominated.
Anyway, Wasserman Schultz has been relieved of duty as DNC
Chairperson, but the damage was done and the brandname has been tarnished.
Are superdelegates and skullduggery the reasons Hillary won
the nomination? Probably not. The vote might have been closer, but it looks
like she would have won anyway. And I still say, well that’s too bad. Bernie
could have done so much for this country, and has a better chance of beating
Donald Trump than Hillary does.
But, it is not to be. We Bernie Sanders supporters pick
ourselves up, dust ourselves off, staunch any heavy bleeding, and move on in a
new, slightly different direction. As long as we are moving away from that
out-of-control landfill-fire known as Trump, we are moving in a good direction.
So, there is a pledge to not support Hillary Clinton, under
any circumstances. It has been taken by Bernie supporters and by those who
support the GOP. For the Republicans to sign on makes sense, or as much sense
as Republicans usually make. For those who supported Bernie, I think this
"pledge" is a mistake – politically, ethically, morally,
pragmatically. Especially when Bernie himself has asked you to support her,
when he has in fact moved to make her the DNC nominee – even if he didn’t seem
to be enjoying the act of doing so. He did it because it was the right thing to
do.
Still thinking about sticking with #bernieorbust or
#neverhillary? Let me use an analogy. You
discover that you really like a kind of beer. We’ll call it Bernie Beer. It is
wonderful, the best IPA you have ever had. You go to your favorite supermarket to pick up
a twelvepack, only to find it out of stock. You demand to see the manager, who
informs you that he didn’t stock the Bernie Beer because it was no as popular
as this longtime favorite, Hillary Beer. He also admits, sheepishly, that there
may have been a bit of collusion and skullduggery between the distributor and
the store manager, but you didn’t hear it from him. Anyway, he tells you,
Hillary Beer is almost as good as Bernie Beer.
You tell that son of a bitch of a manager that you don’t
like Hillary Beer. It tastes like a light version of Bernie Beer. And, just to
prove your point, you run over to the Garden department and quickly drink a
gallon of Trump Concentrated Weed Killer!
(My apologies to any actual beer that may be Branded Hillary
or any actual Trump brand of herbicide. I understand there is an actual Bernie
Beer, and this little fable is in no way meant to cast aspersions on what I am
sure is a fine brand.)
Consider these facts. Your support and my support of Bernie
Sanders has not been in vain. Hillary will know that a lot of Democrats and
independents (and more than a few Republicans) felt the Bern, and she will have
to move to the left in order to keep us all reasonably happy. She knows this.
It has already happened. She has already slid into the
progressive track on several issues. And, once that happens, it is very hard
for a candidate to go back. We will be watching her.
The DNC Party Platform has definite Bern-marks on it,
including a $15.00 per hour minimum wage for all Americans. That is progress.
The only way to support Bernie and his ideals is to go out
and support every Democrat who makes it to the ballot. It would not matter
whether Bernie or Hillary made the nomination and became president if that
president did not have the down-ballot support of the Senate and the House. Don’t
forget your gubernatorial, legislative, city council, and mayorial (or their equivalent)
races.
Go back, now and then and take a look at this ad:
I think it is the greatest, most moving political ad I have
ever seen, and it brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it, and it
still does. You have your favorite ads, speeches, moments, and memories too. Go
back and savor them, every so often, and remember how it was when we dared to
dream that large.
And keep dreaming. Keep working.
Never stop feeling the Bern!