I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter. I want Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee for president.
HOWEVER...
Unless something dramatically changes in the next couple of months, Bernie Sanders isn't going to win the Democratic nomination for President. At this juncture, far more Democratic voters (note, I didn't say delegates) have chosen Hillary than Bernie. I admit I have far less skin in the game than I had in 2008, when I was an unabashed Obama supporter, but I'm finding myself more annoyed by my fellow Sanders supporters threatening to not support Hillary than I was by PUMAs threatening to not support Obama, particularly given the fact Donald Trump is the likely Republican nominee, as opposed to Mitt Romney.
I will continue to ask this until someone like Bernie Sanders wins, and I say this as someone who never voted for Bill Clinton (Fullani and Nader since you asked):
Q: Who are my fellow Democrats and liberals so spoiled by that they have such a pure view of what a president should be? What president in history has met the benchmark you demand? Why the hardline on who you can vote for and maintain your moral standing in the world?
This isn't a Minnesota or Oregon (my state!) Senate race, this is a race for the President of the United States of a pretty damned bigoted and easily manipulated America. As much as I love Bernie Sanders, even I am completely freaked out by the idea of him being our nominee. It's utterly shocking to me how little my fellow liberals underestimate the power of right-wing propaganda in this country. No one has demagogued Bernie Sanders to this point. No one has asked about his past. His friends. His family. Has everyone forgotten Bill Ayers? Let alone the Swift boaters... The neverending "47%" insanity? As much as Hillary has skeletons in her closet, at least everyone knows about them and has already drawn sides.
I'm simply not convinced that my fellow Sanders supporters are ready for the barrage of right-wing insanity that will ensue if he is the nominee. I know I'm not. And the Democratic party is absolutely not equipped to defend a Democratic Socialist candidate for president. And when I say "socialist" , I mean that Republicans will intentionally compare him to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Marx, Che', Madonna, Sean Penn, Obama's daughters... whatever tyrant or right wing punching bag who has used the word "socialist" to defend his or her position . You understand that we have down tickets in this race as well, right? And if we are not in position to defend that, we are not going to win.
As I said, I didn't intend to post this as a blog (it was intended to be a reply but got out of hand), so apologies for the parts I didn't draw out to their logical conclusions.
As I review this, I almost get the sense that I'm being a pro Hillary troll. I cannot express to you how much that is not true. We just really need to win this election. And the Senate. I don't know that Bernie gets us there, so if he doesn't win the nomination...
PLEASE SUPPORT THE DEMOCRAT WHO WINS.
That's all I'm trying to say.