The primary is over. Hillary Clinton will be the nominee in 2016. The GOP look like they will either nominate Trump on a first ballot (if he can string some wins together) or Cruz on a second ballot (due to his delegate wooing), which means Hillary Clinton will almost certainly be the next President of the United States.
I know many are eager for Bernie Sanders to suspend his campaign and accept defeat. I am not so eager. I support Sen. Sanders, and when my state votes next month, I will vote for him. The last month/two weeks have been brutal. The normal stupid campaign season where everyone has to apologize for something stupid someone said/did etc… came into full force. Attacking the system was always the better option rather than attacking Hillary Clinton directly, but when you have a shot at winning, you take that shot. He missed, but I still believe in the core of his campaign.
The math is the math. Sanders trails in the next few contests and has no path to the nomination outside of superdelegates switching sides, which will not happen. Moreover, it should not happen, if someone gets the majority of delegates (and votes) that person should be the nominee.
I live in a red state, so maybe your experience differs, but I am bone tired of the Democratic Party. We are gearing up for another senate contest here in the Commonwealth against Rand Paul, and I predict that we will get a candidate that is weak on coal, who will have no ideas for Kentucky (or at least will be afraid to present those front and center in their campaign), and will point and laugh at Rand Paul and his supporters. It’s fun to point and laugh at how dumb the GOP can be. It’s all well and good to show their hypocrisy and regressive thinking. The case has been proven and the verdict rendered: tax cuts don’t spur growth, spending cuts generally hurt growth, and their stance on civil rights for pretty much any group other than older white males is abysmal. If our burden of proof stopped at showing how much of a clowning clusterfuck the GOP is then Democrats would be in control of damned near every lever of government.
So back to the point, if there is one. What do Democrats want to do when they are in power? Sen. Sanders had/has a clear message on that front: change the balance of power. Reduce the power of banks, make free trade fair, and allow the middle class to grow again by shifting the burdens of education and healthcare. I want Sen. Sanders to keep fighting for issues until the very end. However, attacking Sec. Clinton and her supporters serves no purpose. Let’ move this party to the left, let’s make good and damned sure that people know there is a sizable base of support for changing how things are done.
We are a mess on economic issues. Free trade and protecting a diminishing manufacturing base are diametrically opposed. Our workers cannot compete against nations that do not even attempt to respect the environment or their workers. I’m all for free trade with trading partners that share our values and operate on a somewhat even playing field.
We all want everyone to have healthcare but we greatly differ on how we want to accomplish that goal. The ACA greatly reduced the number of uninsured, but high deductible, somewhat high premium plans, do not necessarily correlate with access to actual healthcare. People get sick, get hurt, and those misfortunes should not result in crushing debt and bankruptcies. The ACA can be improved, but a Medicare for all or other single payer approach could work as well. Let’s keep the goal a simple goal in mind: if someone needs healthcare, they can get it and worry more about recovery than the bill.
Education costs continue to rise and our student loan system places an enormous burden on young people. The effect of stagnate wages, high debt, and overall uncertainty could be catastrophic. We will have a replacement rate issue if future generations are unable to start and support families.
So now’s the time to regroup and turn this revolution into something more long-lasting. Fight for the future direction of the party and hold our likely president accountable. It’s time to stand for something rather than define ourselves by what we aren’t.
