Today’s Endorsement — Where Do We Go From Here?

A few thoughts:

1. The fact that Bernie Sanders today chose to endorse Hillary Clinton is a pragmatic move. If he wants to continue pulling the party leftward from the inside, and he’s going to pursue an “inside” strategy, he needs a seat at the table. I can’t fault him for that (although I really don’t want to look at my Twitter feed right about now, which is full of some of the more….shall we say….evangelical among us).

2. The fact that he stayed in as long as he did served a valuable purpose — to pull the party and the platform in a more progressive direction….or at least to prevent a preemptive lurch rightward as the general election approaches. On this front, he was relatively successful, although of course I would have wanted to see a lot more (on Palestine, TPP, a stronger stance on the $15 minimum wage, etc. But then again, this is the Democratic Party, not exactly a hotbed of left-wing politics.).

3. That Bernie has endorsed Hillary makes complete sense, but it doesn’t have that much of a bearing on my voting decision. I don’t feel particularly strongly about party unity for party unity’s sake. I’m not for it, or against it, really, as I’m a progressive before I am a member of any party. I may well vote for Clinton out of a fear of Donald Trump and his style of creeping (more accurately described as galloping) fascism. I may be one of those people. My Democrat friends will likely roll their eyes and say “of course,” or “finally,” or whatever. My revolutionary-minded friends will likely be disappointed if I do this (some of them even thought Bernie was a liberal and a sellout from jump — y’all know who you are :)). Again, my choice in November will be a mix of my ideals and tactical considerations. I’m sure Sen. Sanders was thinking this way when he decided to endorse Sec. Clinton.

4. Most importantly: Regardless of who any of us vote for in November — Hillary, Jill or anyone else — what’s more important than party unity through identical votes is unity between those of us who identify as progressives but make different decisions in the voting both (again because of these tactical and other concerns). The Berners who voted for Hillary for one reason or another; the ones who decamped to Jill Stein; even you maniacs pulling the lever for Gloria La Riva. And yes, even some of you Gary Johnson supporters (even though I really don’t have much patience for libertarianism). We need to be working together toward progressive goals, with or without the Democratic Party, going forward, after November. Even if we vote for Hillary Clinton, if she is elected we will be pressuring her from the outside, getting social democrats and others elected to local as well as federal office, protesting when needed, and fighting to ensure our concerns are addressed. Racial justice, economic justice, wars abroad, policing, the prison-industrial complex, gender equality, liberation of LGBT people, and so much more. Even if we vote for Hillary Clinton in November, a Democrat in the White House is not a win in and of itself. We don’t stop fighting on November 9.

5. Hillary Clinton is not the worst person in the world. Or some kind of monster. I don’t hate her. She’s just a politician that I happen to disagree with on a list of issues and stances, and whose role as standard-bearer of an ostensibly center-left party is problematic in my opinion. In fact, it’s less even about her than it is about the role of the Democratic Party as essentially another agent of a particular strain of global capitalism and American hegemony. I think the role of those of us further to the left (and I’m not even that far left — as I’m sure the communists and others reading this will attest — I still believe in the electoral process and this nation’s potential to be a country where justice and liberation for all people can be the reality!) is to pressure those in office, regardless of their partisan label, with critiques both external and internal, and to push the Overton Window as much as possible.

In short, whatever each of us does in November — let that not be the moment that divides us and our movement. The fight is long. But it’s worth it. I still don’t want to see the mess that is likely my Twitter feed.