I am a Bernie supporter who happens to have the deepest respect for Hillary Clinton, but do not make any apologies for her many flaws. I do not agree with your sentiment and I’ll deconstruct your arguments to show why I think you are wrong.
You wouldn’t spend so much of your social media time sticking up for Hilary among fellow progressives if you recognize what Bernie supporters know: Hilary is not a progressive. The only progressive candidate in the race is Bernie Sanders.
In my world an inevitable coronation is not sexism. A result is that you very rarely hear Hilary supporters say they will support Bernie if he wins. The party, DNC, and the media have done everything in their power to convince people Hilary will win.
We are not are full of hot air or think we can win the nomination for Bernie by screaming louder against Hillary. We don’t think what is abundantly clear is that Hillary’s most remarkable fault among progressives is apparently not being Bernie. We believe in the political revolution that will change the government into a more progressive (fair and just) one.
Voting is a game, you say, about picking the next best player, then the next best after that, and so forth. Without doubt, Bernie is the best candidate for our time. Hilary is part of the entitlement machine — rich politicians making secret deals to advance their interests (TPP, NAFTA, Clinton Foundation); lying to get ahead (Hilary supports and works for children but voted to send back the brown children seeking assylum in the country), and hypocritically gaining votes (“I will fight for you [black people]” while supporting the Welfare Reform Act that sent millions into deep poverty.)
We are tired of being lied to. We are tired of working like slaves for meager salaries. We are tired of the status quo that brings us no relief. We are tired of being used as pawns in a game that shuts us out. But most importantly, we are afraid of the future because we will not have the means with which to face it. That’s why we are voting for the person on the ticket who best represents our ideals. That’s why we support the candidate who fights for fairness against a rigged economy and political system.
You’re not supposed to vote with your conscience. You’re supposed to vote with your brain: True! And that’s what we are doing. If we were voting with our conscience we’d be voting for Hilary as the first female president.
You are mistaken to think we have no real plan B other than whining or protesting: Yes, the two-party system is flawed. And the time to fix that is ALWAYS on an election day because that is the only time we can send the message. You are mistaken in thinking no one cares about the congressional approval rating. We will show how much we care on election day. BTW, election day means EVERY election day, not just the general. You will see a large turn out in Congress.
Progressive change is a beast of tiny victories; of two steps forward, one step back: Judging by how Bernie has pushed centrist Hilary to the left to the point of admitting first she was a moderate and then a progressive, we can deduct your premise is false.
Leadership and progress means endlessly adjusting your goal within the realm of plausibility, and knowing when to pick your battles: Historically, the time is right for the big progressive push.
Hilary is running to continue Obama’s policies. I voted for Obama twice, and I like the man, but not the politician. I give him all the credit for saving the country from an economic depression, and for passing the Affordable Healthcare Act. I give him an A+ on his first term for all he achieved working with Republican obstructionism.
However, what has he done in his second term that has helped the 99% in this country? TPP with Hilary’s help, will make corporations happy to reduce wages in this country even more. Big pharmaceutical companies are not only leaving the country to avoid paying taxes but are also setting unbelivable high prices for medications. The insurance companies have no right to exist when their only purpose is to make money off our health: The sicker you are the more they charge you for your premiums and the more money the pharma industry makes. Foreign policy, with the advice of Secretary Clinton as she always reminds us, is the worst in our country’s history. Not only other countries don’t like us (which is also a residue of the Bush administration) but they mock and provoke us. And let’s not forget the rise of ISIS stemming from the Iraq war which Hilary supported.
Raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour as Hilary proposes will do nothing for the majority of people in this country. It is not hard to understand that higher wages mean more money for people to spend to stimulate the economy, and more money to save and invest to lift up the middle class and take people out of poverty. The middle class is the engine of the economy — just like in a car, if you don’t take care of the engine, the car doesn’t run.
Bernie’s tuition free at state universities and colleges is better than Hilary’s low-interest student loans, because: A) A better educated population (doctors, engineers, teachers, etc.) gives you a better life, and B) If you are under the age of 40, the less debt you have the better your life will be, and most importantly, the better educated people are, the better their wages which you, yourself, will need to fund YOUR social security.
What is wrong with a fair and just system? Corporate taxes and loopholes would pay for most of Bernie’s proposals and higher taxes would affect a tiny fraction of the population. Now, who is the most pragmatic one?
In lieu of all this, the time is right for pushing and demanding not only a progressive candidate like Bernie Sanders, but a progressive agenda for Congress. Berners and Trump supporters are sending a strong message to the political establishment: No, we will not settle for someone who will do more of the same. No, we will not accept a leader than lies and looks out for her own interests. We have both, a consience and a brain, and we are not afraid to engage them at the polls. As a matter of fact, it is our RIGHT!
