It’s no secret I’m a supporter of Democrat Bernie Sanders for president, but that being said I’ll vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if she’s the party’s nominee.
I recently read an article on Huffington Post regarding those Bernie Sanders supporters who’ve said they won’t support Clinton if she’s the Democratic presidential nominee, and I wanted to share a bit from the article because it sums up my feelings on the situation.
To my progressive and liberal friends who support Bernie Sanders: I’m starting to get a little worried. You see, I see some of you spending a lot of time talking about Hillary Clinton as though she is the enemy. And I get why you’re concerned about her in the primary. I really do.
I understand why you prefer Bernie to her as president. In a better world, I would too. His values line up with mine better than Hillary’s do when it comes to economic issues. It should be pretty clear that I’m every bit the Democratic Socialist. We only disagree in how effective someone of Bernie’s temperament and self-identification could be in the job.
What has me worried is that there’s so much on which Bernie and Hillary agree and which I think we agree is important: education, reproductive issues, the Voting Rights Act, immigration, campaign finance reform, gay rights, gun control, equal pay, minimum wage hikes, protecting Social Security and Medicare, strengthening/improving the ACA, Affirmative Action, pursuing hate crimes, medical marijuana, climate change, Keystone, subsidized child care, TPP, NAFTA (yes, they were BOTH against it, check the record), Citizens United, veterans’ issues, the list goes on.
These are all issues on which these two are in agreement, but the gulf between them and the Republicans is vast. Much as the gulf between what you want and what the Republicans say they will do on these issues is vast. And yet, what I am hearing is that Hillary Clinton is the enemy and that she must be stopped at all costs.
Really?
The idea that any Democrat would sit out a presidential election – given the stakes in 2016 – seems counterproductive. After all, keeping the presidency in Democratic hands in 2016 is going to be really damn important, given how unlikely it is that Democrats will regain control of either the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. We need a Democratic president in order to serve as a check against Republicans in Congress who’d love nothing more than the opportunity to undo the accomplishments of President Obama and Democrats.
I agree. I will say that there are SOME Hillary supporters who are darn right offensive and assholes in regards to Bernie supporters. I have seen SOME of the nastiest comments come from Hillary supporters and frankly, it’s infuriating and hurtful to the party. I think there better be some deep soul searching by SOME before they open their offensive mouth.
Well said, Elisa. I’ve personally received a lot of criticism (some of it constructive, a lot of it personally demeaning) from Hillary supporters because I’m willing to support Bernie and criticize Hillary on issues where I disagree with her (such as health care, immigration, and financial regulation).
Ultimately I think the Bernie Sanders campaign for field operations needs to be more involved in a new way of campaigning. The core supporters for Bernie Sanders are coming out to caucus or vote but his campaign is not focusing on the people most likely to support him the most because they are not in his Voter File from the DNC because they are going to be first time Voters. Lets say when campaigning for when the Caucus in Minnesota starts up that Bernie Sanders volunteers have a big sign that has “Democratic Socialism” on it either at a registered table or outside if its a public campus and they have Voter Registration Forms and add the people to their contact list, that is way better than having your volunteers try to find 2 people on a Voter File list for 4 hours of their time. Also his campaign needs to focus on renters who will also be first time voters. I will focus on General Election when the time comes.
Senator Sanders is the first to acknowledge the importance of keeping the presidency out of the hands of Republicans. If Secretary Clinton gets the nomination Sanders will encourage all of his supporters to shift their allegiance to Clinton. I’m confident that most will listen. Those who threaten to abandon the party are statistically insignificant and don’t have the numbers to throw the election. Similar to Zack, i too support Sanders and think sitting out an election would be counterproductive. After watching Clinton’s excellent town hall meeting performance the other night second guessed myself. She certainly is deserving. I will gladly put my time, energy, money and vote behind Secretary Clinton if she EARNS the nomination. However, for now the Bernie sign remains in my front yard. Oh and by the way… lets not forget every candidate has there wing nut supporters. It’s par for the course and true reflection of society.
Right now Hillary and Bernie are really going after each other – but for the most part keeping it substantive and issue-focused. At the end of the day they are still the only grownups in the room, and I expect Bernie will play a big part in Hillary’s campaign when all this shakes out.
I still love what Bernie’s done here, keeping serious progressive issues at the forefront. And Hillary is smart enough to understand that she has to respond to and even embrace what Bernie is fighting for. Dare I say they would make a good team?
Yes, Sue, Bernie and Hillary are heavily engaged in the art of politics, but it has been fair and respectful to date in my opinion. They each have an obligation to challenge and correct the other on the issues be it on guns, Wall Street, and anything in between..
The only problem we have is in choosing between two such experienced candidates. As I see it, Bernie has the edge in Congressional experience while Hillary gets the nod on the international scene and as a “First Lady.”
I believe either is electable over a Trump, Bush, or an anyone else with an “R” after his or her name. As I have said, I support Hillary, but will vote for whoever survives the primary.
“Ready, wrestle!” “Play Ball!” “Let the games, begin!”