This millennial supports Clinton: 7 reasons Bernie is not liberal (and 11 reasons Hillary is)

Achievements and results prove Hillary is the true progressive

Democrats should vote on successes, not slogans.

The choice facing Democratic primary voters is clear: Hillary’s history of tangible progressive results vs. Bernie’s dishonest promises and distortions of his record. If Bernie is a “democratic socialist” as he claims, then a look at his record shows socialism and liberalism are not the same thing:

1. Bernie voted for the 2000 commodities law deregulating Wall Street. Hillary did not. That law is faulted by liberal economists as contributing to the recent financial crisis. Bernie slams Hillary for giving speeches to banks, but her speeches did not help crash the economy. Bernie’s pro-Wall Street vote did.
2. Bernie has repeatedly claimed decades of consistent support for gay marriage— but in 2006 he was telling Vermont newspapers he opposed marriage equality. His vote against DOMA in the 90s was not because he supported gay marriage, but because he likely disagreed with federal interference with state law.
3. Bernie repeatedly promised not to raise taxes on the middle class, but he released a healthcare plan that breaks his pledge. In fact, Bernie’s healthcare plan is so untruthful about its negative impact on working people that liberal analysts including Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein are slamming it as vague, unrealistic, and deceitful. Bernie’s new claim that his plan would not disrupt Obamacare because he “helped write” the Affordable Care Act was just rated false by Politifact.
4. Bernie is completely out of his depth on foreign policy. Bernie’s claim that climate change causes terrorism was rebuked by fact-checkers, as were his repeated false statements about terrorism-related defense spending.
5. In 2007, Bernie voted against immigration reform — a longtime progressive priority.
6. Bernie is now flip-flopping and pretending to support gun control, but as Senator he voted five times against the Brady Bill, voted to allow guns in public transportation and parks, voted against funding gun violence prevention research, voted for the Charleston loophole that eliminated waiting periods and enabled the SC church massacre, and voted to shield the corporate gun lobby from lawsuits — a vote the NRA called the biggest pro-gun victory in generations.

Meanwhile, Hillary has an actual record of concrete progressive achievements that include:

• Negotiating the Israel-Hamas ceasefire that prevented a 2nd Gaza War
• Brokering sanctions by standing up to Iran, China, and Putin’s Russia, leading to the landmark Iranian nuclear deal that prevented war
• Making women’s and gay rights official US humanitarian policy
• Creating the initiatives to add energy independence and opposition to digital terrorism to America’s official national security portfolio
• As Senator, authoring new pediatric healthcare law, voting rights law, and two equal pay acts
• Securing financial assistance for 9/11 responders, a move now opposed by Republicans like Trump
• As First Lady, securing passage of the S-CHIP children’s health program, the biggest public healthcare expansion between Medicare and Obamacare
• Pushing into law landmark adoption statutes that have helped millions of neglected children
• Pioneering early childhood education as First Lady of Arkansas
• Successfully fighting Reagan’s attempts to cut legal aid to the poor while leading the Legal Services Corporation as its youngest and first female chief executive
• Chairing the American Bar Association group that instituted gender bias reforms in the profession

Hillary is the real deal. Imperfect, yes, but at least Hillary admits when she is wrong and demonstrates capacity to change when her supporters demand accountability. For example, Hillary has repeatedly apologized for her Iraq War vote, admitted poor judgment in trusting the Bush administration, and pledged never to start a ground war in the Middle East. In a speech last year to the Human Rights Campaign, she acknowledged her error in once opposing same-sex marriage by praising gay activists for changing her mind.

By contrast, Bernie never admits getting it wrong. He simply lies about his past positions — as he has done on gay marriage — or makes excuses for his right wing track record — as he continues to do on guns. So far, Bernie has gotten away with it due both to unquestioning loyalty from cult-like supporters and to an intellectually lazy, biased media that is only interested in vetting Hillary.

So Bernie will continue to run around like a candidate for student council promising no homework, pizza for lunch everyday, and revolution. But outside of Iowa and New Hampshire, real progressives are not buying Bernie’s snake oil. His pro-Wall Street, pro-gun, and anti-immigration voting history, his dishonest healthcare plan, and his disingenuous on gay rights speak for themselves.

Dude Kembro is a California-based singer, writer, actor, and model. Follow DK on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.