Vote for Hillary, Dammit: How Bernie Supporters Can Change the World this November

Bernie Sanders’s unwillingness to compromise is attractive to those who think politics too often surrenders moral truths and common sense in the service of corporate interests. Adopting an uncompromising attitude in our voting habits can be equally alluring.

Recently, progressive icons like Fmr. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich have been entertaining the concept of “Bern or Bust” — the idea that Bernie is the only choice, and if the Democratic party fails to make him our nominee, then we should sit on the sidelines and let our country get what it deserves: a Republican presidency. Some Bernie supporters who view Hillary as the embodiment of establishment politics — who highlight her Iraq vote and unreleased Goldman Sachs transcripts — are alarmingly similar to the Tea Party, spouting a scorched-earth general election strategy that is supposed to spark some grand progressive reckoning out of the ashes in 2016.

Somehow, a Republican presidency is being contemplated as a just vindication for nominating an establishment Democratic candidate — as if voting can have the same cathartic effect as petty revenge. Will it be sweet to savor? Will it feel good? Should progressives reduce the power of a political revolution to a petty act of revenge?

This is not an argument about whether Bernie is the standard-bearer for progressives. We can all acknowledge that Bernie has moved the Democratic platform to the left in a way that benefits the environment, the economy, and the election process. We can all admire, albeit to different degrees, his unwavering commitment to his beliefs.

Bernie has done a service for those progressives who feel the core of their ideals is only half-heartedly acknowledged in today’s political dialogue. He’s invigorated millennials to raise their voices in a political process toward which they had previously felt apathetic. He’s revolutionized a campaign finance structure that rejects the wealthy-donor class. He’s shone a blinding spotlight on the issues of climate change and wealth inequality, igniting a national conversation that before had been a whisper. As a progressive, frankly, all of this gives me heart. How can the same people who empowered Bernie to do so much contemplate not voting in November?

Ultimately, this is an argument about what we all need to do in November. Will we have a president who denies climate change, or will we have a president who acknowledges it and crafts policy to combat it? Will we have a president who reinvigorates the failed policies of trickle-down economics, or will we have a president who recognizes the immorality of drastic wealth inequality? Will we have a president who alienates all Muslims, or will we have a president who fights terrorism without condemning all Muslims?

The choice has never been clearer: Either we elect a Democrat to the White House, or we imperil the progress of the past eight years and risk a disintegration of our nation’s values and the health of our planet for future generations.

We either side with hate, bigotry, and ignorance, or we stand by the side of somebody who is willing to fight, day in and day out, for a better world — a person who breaks down barriers, fights for equality, and works to safeguard our country and planet without alienating the very people we need by our side.

For the Bernie supporters who want to be uncompromising, I am pleading with you: If the bridge from Bernie to Hillary requires you to hold your nose to vote for Hillary, then hold your nose. Put aside the grievances you have for establishment politics and the rhetoric that tries to characterize Hillary as inhuman. A Republican presidency that results from a commitment to “Bern or Bust” is a weight that will rest heavily on your shoulders as our nation falls into disarray.

Don’t settle for the petty ideas that aim to punish the nation for failing to nominate Bernie. Lead with the bigger idea that change is within reach, and that that change starts with a vote for the Democratic nominee in November.