Berned Once, Twice Shy
The day Bernie Sanders announced, I donated a thousand dollars to his campaign. It was a spontaneous gesture of support for a man I’ve long viewed as an incorruptible voice for social justice. I’ve never sent a dime to Hillary Clinton, yet, when the time comes, I’ll cast my ballot for her.
I’ve spent the last decade supporting progressive causes and candidates with a focus on bringing transparency to the role of money in politics. I love that Bernie Sanders has put a spotlight on how donors buy influence through campaign contributions. I love that my son has been inspired by his campaign and enthusiastically supports his positions. I love that he’s not afraid to challenge the entrenched powers of Wall Street and K Street. But I’ve fallen in love before and that’s why I won’t give Bernie my vote as well as my affection.
In 2008, I went for Barack instead of Hillary and felt the country was on the verge of radical change when he was inaugurated. I believe Obama will be remembered as a president who overcame unreasonable obstructionism to achieve amazing things. But here’s the bottom line: even Obama could only accomplish incremental improvements in Washington’s political octagon. I don’t think Bernie Sanders would be able to do even that much, let alone bring about a radical revision of our political system. I want to believe all of America’s problems can be solved by the right person in the Oval Office, but I’m not a political neophyte anymore. This country, founded by a revolution, has outgrown radical change led by one determined individual. The electorate is too entrenched in partisanship, too quick to become discouraged by failure, too distracted to use it’s populist voice to effect real transformation.
If Sanders does win, who will be his allies in overthrowing the status quo? His hectoring from the campaign sounds sweet to his supporters, but Congress clearly hates being admonished by the executive branch about how to do its job or set its priorities. And if a hundred days pass with no action, Bernie’s fan base will not rise up and throw the rascals out; they’ll sit home and wallow in disappointment that their dreams have been dashed. This will have a devastating effect on progressive politics for a generation as disaffected young voters stay home and sulk about how they tried, but nothing came of it, so participation is a waste of time. That’s how midterms turn into routs.
I sat down with President Obama at a fundraiser last week and was taken by the breadth and subtlety of his knowledge about everything from internal politics in Turkey to the history of public school funding. He offered thoughtful explanations of the political realities that made it difficult to push as hard on a progressive agenda as we donors wanted. I suspect Bernie Sanders would have agreed with us violently, then thrown himself against the brick wall of opposing forces in a fruitless gesture. That would have satisfied us in the moment, but ultimately left us disillusioned that nothing had been accomplished.
Electing a president should be a considered decision, not an impulsive one. Bernie is hard-wired into the dopamine center of the progressive brain and keeps triggering the knee-jerk responses of voters sickened by our corrupt political system. It’s hard for a liberal not to love what he says. But the solutions he offers are unrealistic and unaffordable and, much as I would love to buy what he’s selling, I’ve seen what’s left when the shiny wrapper promising radical change comes off. To those who haven’t, caveat emptor.
