Both Clinton and Sanders are intelligent, thoughtful, experienced individuals who would make good Presidents of the United States. Not "better than the alternative nutjobs" or “hold my nose and vote for them" - both deserve, and have earned, more respect than that. So, at this stage, when it is very clear that Hillary Clinton will be our nominee, it is time to tone down the rhetoric, and stop with the endless bashing of Hillary.
Politics needs passion. It needs commitment. It needs engagement. But there is a point to politics, and that is to create a better society for everyone. If you’ve been a supporter of Bernie from the start, or you got caught up in the enthusiasm along the way, you should be very proud of everything that he’s achieved - he started at 3% in the polls and has now run a major league campaign that has raised many important issues and pulled Hillary over to the left. That’s a great achievement, and it will reverberate into the General election. However, now is the time to move forward. Bernie still has a campaign to run, and everyone can think and say what they like. But when I see people - progressive people - post right wing memes about “Shillary” who is a “Liar” and even a “Bitch” - well I don’t think that’s appropriate, and I believe you should think twice before using that kind of inflammatory rhetoric.
I was, and am, a strong Obama supporter. I donated to his campaigns, talked about him, voted for him, and was excited to see him elected in 2008 and 2012. I’d like nothing better than 8 more years of his wise, steady, careful leadership. But that’s not going to happen, and so it’s important to defend and solidify his legacy. I’m not as excited about Hillary as I was about Obama, or as people clearly are about Bernie. But this election isn’t about excitement, it’s about making sure we don’t lose all the progress we’ve made in the last 8 years, and Hillary is a safe pair of hands to make sure his legacy is secured.
Finally, as I said before, you can think and say, and do what you like. It’s always acceptable to try to constructively criticize a candidate to make that candidate better. But, as a Bernie supporter, if you continue to repeat right wing attacks, or attack Hillary personally, well you really aren’t a ‘free thinker’ or a ‘political revolutionary’ - you’re just someone who has swallowed the right wing attacks whole, and you’re doing their bidding instead of trying to help the people you claim to care about. The right wingers don’t have the capacity to think about the arguments and how they will affect ordinary people, but, as a Bernie supporter, you do, and that means you have a responsibility to think about those people and how you can help them. I’ll be ok, I’m an old, rich, privileged white guy. But there’s plenty of people who are young, or poor, people of color, people without the middle class protections that you and I take for granted, and they need our help. You can either choose to help President Trump into the White House as he starts to deport brown people in 2017, or you can work to make sure that we create a better society, together. Choose wisely.
