Well I just mailed in my ballot for the Democratic Presidential primary, the Bernie Sanders slot filled in good and solid as required by California. So now that I've voted the only time I will be able to vote for Bernie whats next.
Well I know for me what it means, it means come November I will have to vote for Hillary, there is no choice for me as Trump simply must not be allowed. Its not my first preference but it wont be the first time I've voted against someone more than for someone. In all honesty I think Barack Obama was the first time my vote was for someone more than it was against another.
Dont get me wrong, Hillary by no means is a bad choice for President certainly not in the way the Trump is a bad choice. But I’ll be honest, I dont have a good feeling about this election, I dont put any stock in polls showing Trump slightly edging over Hillary, polls this far out arent shown to be very reliable.
If I'm to be honest though, the sword swings both ways, if polls this far out are not to be considered very reliable then I cant rely on polls that show Hillary leading Trump either.
So why dont I have a good feeling about this election?
Both Trump and Hillary have abysmal approval numbers:
Hillary's are as good as only -1 unfavorable (which arent abysmal at all) but as bad as -24 (in the same time period) depending on who you look at and can be considered to be trending upwards, this is good news.
Trumps are far worse of course and thats heartening. But an election between two candidates who are largely unliked just doesnt bode well for an election based on policies but rather an election based entirely on name calling, hyperbole and rancor. Nothing good comes from such an election because when emotions get whipped up, facts and reality, (as much as they enter into politics in the first place), fall to the wayside.
Hillary’s Baggage:
Hillary carries all that baggage that the right wing has been hyperventilating over since the Clintons first occupied the White House. Yes I'll acknowledge that the vast majority of it is fabricated, even the entirety of it, the problem is truthfulness and accuracy has little to do with optics, appearance and opinion. People inclined to think ill of Hillary wont give a fuck how fabricated the accusations are, espcially if they conform with their opinion of Hillary in the first place. Its called confirmation bias and it afflicts most of us on some level.
The GOP and republican voters despise Hillary with the same kind of venom that we despise Trump. Trey Gowdy could go on Fox news and say "We fabricated the whole Bengazi thing to torpedo Hillary, in fact I'm going to vote for her" and it wouldnt make a damned bit of difference to your typical republican voter.
In my opinion, Its completely irrelevant if the accusations are true, at least to significant portion of the electorate. Much in the same way we are not likely to find anything redeemable about Trump (should someone be able to find something redeemable) Tribalism runs strong in both parties.
The Media;
Yes even the media seems, to be broadly anti-clinton and as skilled and polished a politician Hillary is (skilled politician is a derogatory phrase to many voters in todays day and age) she hasn't shown the ability to manipulate the press/media the way Trump can, and he isnt going to stop getting scads of free airtime on every media outlet in America simply because the primary has ended.
Hillary could lose this election, its hers to lose, if she does, no doubt the left will accuse Bernie of that, its never the fault of the candidate. I dont think she will lose, but I think this is going to be a very close election, closer than anyone is predicting and its going to be ugly on such a level that it will leave a bad taste in everyones mouth, which never bodes well for re-elections, mid-terms etc....
On the other hand what do I know, my dearest hope is that I am wrong, right now only time will tell.
To my fellow Bernie supporters. I know you are dissappointed, so am I, but that doesnt change the metrics of the situation. Bernie cannot win the election if he's not the candidate. He is not going to be the candidate.
We have a choice now, we can give the entire nation the middle finger and sit out the presidential election, write Bernie in, vote for Trump, vote for mickey mouse (he got 11 votes last time around, thats more than jesus christ) anyone other than Hillary, or we can do what we have most likely done many times before and vote against a candidate. Maybe its more important to some of you to vote against Hillary my hope is you find it more important to vote against Trump.
