I must be a unicorn, since I've donated to Senator's Harris, Sanders and Warren as well as Unknown Candidate Andrew Yang.
I have donated $200 to Senator Harris.
I have donated $50 recurring monthly to Elizabeth Warren.
I have donated $500 to Bernie over the years, but nothing yet this go round. That will change next payday.
I will donate to all three of them again in the next few months and years.
I also gave Andrew Yang $25 last week when we found out the rules for getting on the debate stage because I want him to discuss Universal Basic Income and force the other candidates to take it seriously as an issue.
I will have some friends from other states do the same for Yang, to try to help his chances.
So who and what am I? In 2016 I was called a Bernie Bro and almost lost my ability to post and rate on DailyKos. I mean it was REALLY close. I was timed out and non rated and had to make a plea to the courts of the Help Desk to get my mojo back. It took a month. I am certain I only got it back because of longevity and a well written mea culpa. Hundreds of us did not make that effort and this place is lesser because of it. But that is not my reason for writing this diary.
The broader point I want to make is this. I am not someone that this site allows to exist. I am assumed to be a Bernie or Bust fanatic.
However, there are millions of Democrats who voted for Bernie but are prepared to vote for other candidates and are giving money to other candidates and while I am not seeing a lot of carryover “hatred” in diaries that are not Bernie specific, I am seeing a LOT of completely unacceptable hatred in Bernie diaries.
Already!!!
Already!!
I said Already!!!
How can we already be doing this again? I cannot believe it. It is making me sadder than I have been in 2 years. We have a dozen excellent candidates so far. Some we can’t even get their name on the Front page. Some, I bet you can’t even tell me their age or where they live. This is an amazing event we are witnessing. The fact that Bernie Sanders decided he still had the leverage to make a run is a fascinating political reality in my view. He must have touched nerves and political constituencies that we really did not see in 2016 and believe it or not we are still surprised by today.
There is a blind spot in our party’s conventional wisdom. Someone out there who is not a typical dem is ready to vote for Bernie.
Someone out there who is not a typical dem is ready to vote for Warren.
Someone out there who has never voted is ready to donate to and vote for Senator Harris. Kamala Harris has the opportunity to get millions voting who wouldn’t otherwise, much like Obama.
But here I am, a “Bernie Bro” from 2016 ready to vote for the candidate we choose and making positive comments on candidates that are NOT Bernie.
If you look at my diary history you will see I supported Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. I made the rec list as “lefty progressive bernie bro” for Pelosi. That was a diary I hoped would help stave off the tide of hatred we are now seeing as the primaries approach. I am making every effort to bridge divides. Please, can we try to meet half way?
That diary was popular, but since then I continue to be told that I cannot exist. That we are somehow polarized as a party when there are not even only two points to polarize. You can’t be polarized when there are a dozen extreme points. We simply can’t do this again. It doesn’t make any mathematical sense. There is not a status quo and an insurgent this time. It is not that simple.
I guess I am a Unicorn and always will be. Despite my willingness to tow the party line, I will never get credit for it because I like Bernie Sanders.
Perhaps you can allow me that absurdity. Maybe that will do.
Or better yet, become one with me. Maybe we need to all become Unicorns. Willing to support every candidate who comes down the pipe, because damnit, we may end having no choice but to vote for them.
65 Million Unicorns = The Presidency.
Simple as that.
