Susan Sarandon says that she knows some Bernie voters who find themselves unable to contemplate voting for Hillary. Surprise! So do you, so do I, they’re all over the internet and in fact I’m married to one of them. Bernie’s brought a lot of disaffected people into this election. It’s his game plan, he’s good at it, that’s how he’s gotten as far as he has. We should expect many of them will go back to being disaffected if he leaves the scene.
To the apparent astonishment of Chris Hayes and the full-throated fury of many folks here at Kos, Sarandon also says she isn’t sure if she herself could vote for Hillary in a general election. “We’ll see,” she says.
I understand her feelings, without sharing them. I remember our helplessness under Bush as the strong anti-war feelings of at least half of this country were whittled away until finally the troops were ready to roll. I remember my fury at all the people in Congress, including Clinton, who surely knew better— they had to know better, for Christ’s sake, I knew better— but who fell into line anyway.
Politically scared or brainwashed? Who knows, who cares? They were the opposition, they had a job to do, and they didn’t do it. At the time I was almost sick with anger and contempt. It seemed an unforgivable lack of spine, or judgement, or ethics, or ability, and while time has dulled the pain of the moment, it has only reinforced the realization of how bad that decision was.
Plus there’s the whole New Democrat banking disaster, ruinous trade policy, destruction of the middle class. And so forth.
Cut Hillary some slack? OK, but best you cut us some too.
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I’ve been telling myself from the beginning that I will vote for Hillary if I have to. I’ll even work for her. But I can tell you, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain this mindset as the campaign progresses, even for me, and while I’m following it, and contributing to it, I am far from the hot heart of the Sanders campaign where Sarandon apparently resides.
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During the 2008 primary campaign, half of Hillary’s supporters said they were unlikely to support Obama in the general. Half. (Heard it on Kagro in the Morning yesterday, so it must be true.) So don’t get all “how dare you” on us, puh-leeze.
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Hillary and Obama are best pals now, apparently, but he had to give her pretty much whatever she wanted to get her on board. She wanted Secretary of State. He gave it to her. Kerry might have been better from the start— he certainly seems closer to Obama’s style of diplomacy, and he has had some notable successes— but she got what she wanted, for good or ill.
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Supposing Hillary gets the nomination, what will she give Bernie? I doubt he wants a position in her cabinet, but he’ll certainly look for something to help advance progressive ideas and ideals beyond what she would do on her own. Are we more likely to get something more substantial than symbolic if we come to the convention already on board, or if we stay in primary mode to the end?
“We’ll see” is a perfectly reasonable position to take, at this point in the game.