Feeling the Burn

I know this is the time of the presidential primary season when supporters of a candidate behind in the delegate count say they will NEVER vote for the presumptive nominee. And, yes, 99% of these same voters will come back into the fold and vote for that nominee when November rolls around.  I understand the passion of the Sanders’ supporters – in fact I agree with him on the majority of the issues. But I must say I am dismayed and a little bit shocked by the “Bernie or Bust” and #neverhillary movement, especially coming from those people who, if I may say so, are old enough to know better.  Perhaps I can forgive his younger supporters who may not have been focused on relatively recent history; but I can’t forgive those older voters who vow to not participate or, worse, support Trump over Hillary because, like Sanders, Trump has shown disdain for our trade deals and doesn’t play politics as usual.  I have only two words for these people: Ralph Nader.

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.  Like Sanders, Nader believed the whole system was corrupt and he had a similar “pox on both their houses” when it came to distinguishing between the Republican and Democratic parties. And, because of those 2.74% of people who voted for him and countless others who did not bother to vote at all, we got one of the worst presidents in generations in George W. Bush – a president so bad even his own party has largely disowned him.  We got a disastrous war in Iraq that has spawned a generation of terrorists, has destabilized not only Iraq but Syria, and creates enormous pressure on neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. We got Guantanamo and waterboarding. We got Katrina. We got John Roberts and Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court. We went from an over $200 million annual surplus to doubling our national debt, increasing income equality, and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression that we are still trying to dig ourselves out of. And I could go on…

Listen, Bernie has run a great campaign, an honorable campaign.  He has focused like a laser on the critical issues – money in politics, the power of Wall Street and the corporatocracy, free college education, single-payer health plan, and the way the game is currently rigged.  He has steered clear of criticizing Clinton over all the faux-scandals like emailgate and Benghazi! and focused on substantive areas where she is weak – the close ties to Wall Street, the interventionist foreign policy, and her general incrementalism. He has moved Hillary to the left on the minimum wage, TPP, and the Keystone pipeline; and has moved the Overton window to the left accordingly. And this is probably just the beginning of the debate within the Democratic party between the incrementalism represented by Clinton and more revolutionary change represented by Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

The stakes in this election are incredibly high and to ponder sitting the election out is, frankly, unthinkable.  The Supreme Court potentially hangs in the balance with repercussions for women, labor, voting rights, immigration, and restraining the power of the corporatocracy. I may prefer a single-payer plan, but I’m not willing to put the millions of people who finally could get affordable health insurance at risk by letting a Republican Congress and President repeal Obamacare through the budget reconciliation process – I doubt they would do it, but do I want to find out?

With Sanders and Warren, progressives have a strong voice in the current Democratic party.  It is possible that Democrats will take over the Senate this year. So, rather than taking the ball and going home because our preferred candidate is not getting the nomination, we should all be focused on winning more congressional seats in off-year elections and retaking so many of the state houses that we have lost.  The demographics are with us and the opportunity to break the gerrymandered grip that Republicans have on the House could be within our grasp with the 2020 Census, as is a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It would be nice to take these opportunities because then there would be the chance for the revolutionary change that Sanders’ supporters seek.

Now this whole post may be moot in another 36 hours if Bernie wins New York. But if he doesn’t, or the next time Hillary waffles or obfuscates, and you find yourself thinking you just can’t vote for her, put that thought out of your mind and repeat after me: Ralph Nader, Ralph Nader, Ralph Nader.