Why the Democratic Party should feel the Bern with Clinton as it’s nominee

Politics are divisive at the best of times, but in the 2016 US Presidential Election there is a dividing line, with a giant wall, electric fencing on either side with armed guards and land mines. It’s like the DMZ and we’re still in the primary season.

Democratic voters are much happier in 2016

The GOP nominating race has been unpredictable, unprecedented and uncivilized in comparison to the Democratic race. Who would have expected the two people the GOP establishment probably dislikes the least would be the top two (and final 2 of 3) contenders heading to the convention. I was one who wrote of Trump and Cruz insignificant when they first announced. The GOP race has been bitter, brutal and filled with a rush to outflank the other on extremist yet psuedo-populist views in an effort to vie for media attention.

Contrast that with the Democratic Party, not entirely without it’s own surprises, in a little known very left Vermont Senator daring to take on one of the most recognizable and formidable Democratic politicians of the last 30 years. Sen. Sanders was not supposed to do this well. He was there to try to keep the Democratic presidential campaign honest. Then something unexpected happened, his ideas found an audience. A large one.

Then something that hasn’t been fully present in politics for the last few years started happening, ideas were being discussed. After a weary 5years of an idealist president doing battle with a cynical and reactionary GOP congress, the Democrats needed to be reminded that the ideals are still there. Obama has been one of the most consequential and positive presidents in a generation, however, that was buried under sustained GOP bombardment and often flat out lies.

So when Sanders started getting people excited about politics again, the Democrats were a little surprised, yet happy.

The Democrats needed to feel the Bern

I supported Hillary from the beginning, despite the fact that I was fully behind Obama before many knew who he was. It was his convention speech as a Senator that made me get behind him the moment he ran.

I’m more of an idealist, which doesn’t always fully reconcile with Hillary’s ardent pragmatism. However, idealism is sometimes a long-game and isn’t always poetic. Hyperbole doesn’t give people access to healthcare or provide jobs.

As someone who lived in England for well over a decade I am fully behind universal healthcare, which on the surface should mean Bernie’s gravitational pull should bring me into his orbit. But I also remember sitting in the House of Representatives during a debate about Obamacare before it was passed. The GOP were vitriolic and cynical on idealogical, not practical grounds. It was a reminder that universal healthcare is still a dirty concept in many conversations throughout America.

But Bernie wasn’t ashamed to talk about it…a lot. And it was a reminder of another democratic politician who had the gaul to try to bring in universal healthcare. Hillary Rodham Clinton. There aren’t many people who suffered more for their championing of a policy. And that while she was burned for it, it was good that she started to feel the Bern of it.

Clinton and Obama have scares from trying to pass healthcare. Hillary Clinton loosened the lid and Obama opened it. Obama began the process of re-regulating banks, loosening that lid, and it will be for the next president to open it. Bernie has been forceful on talking about these and many other issues that could have easily drifted away with the political fatigue of the last several years. But Bernie has made many in the Democratic Party feel the burn of idealism again, because Feel the Bern has energized so many.

But Who?

Hillary Clinton is likely to get the nomination. I think she is the right person to continue what Obama started and do battle with a ideologically entrenched GOP that doesn’t fully have a sense of itself or it’s duty.

She has the grit, she has the intelligence, she has the support. She also has the math and that is unlikely to change. All she needs now is the Bern.

Bernie Sanders has inspired a fire, a Bern. He has engaged people in ideas that because of political exhaustion, have been long quieted. His ideas are ideals and for the progressive movement and I think for progress of the US, is essential. He’s not perfect and his policies have holes and would certainly would not be realized until the Democrats have control of both houses, and probably essentially, a super majority in the Senate. Bernie is wrong about things. But the essence of the America the he wants to realize is strong.

For those who feel the Bern, incrementalism is painful, it’s unworthy, it’s a cop out. That may be true. But progress is progress and HRC, I believe, has the approach to bring in the changes, despite opposition. She has the understanding of policy minutiae to pass through legislation. She has the experience and hard learned lessons accelerate the learning curve and get down to business. However, the Democratic Party needs Bernie. They need the voice to say, “Don’t back down, don’t be afraid.” They need someone to get in America’s face. The need someone to fire up the grassroots who will fight for every last vote in their local and state elections, for the House, for the Senate and for the Presidency. The need someone to say that it’s okay to fight for universal healthcare — I’ll get you the cause, you go fight for the policy.

Be poetic

It has been frequently said, that you campaign in poetry and govern in prose. What the Democrats need is Bernie Sanders to campaign in poetry and Clinton to govern in prose. They need someone to campaign beyond the election and someone to battle in Washington.

Imagine if we had two Obama’s — Obama the campaigner whose rousing speeches and ideals filled stadiums and Obama politician, whose reflective and intelligent politicking tried to navigate the halls of power. As President he’s had to do both but at times, when he did one, the other was muted. Nonetheless, he has been consequential. He has a legacy to be proud of. However, someone who kept the enthusiasm of the grassroots energized while another fought the Washington battles would have been a powerful duo.

In Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, there is the potential for that duo. Poetry and Prose.