Let’s get this out of the way: I’m a Bernie supporter, and yes, I admit he’s a long shot to win the nomination. Not just because of the math — if this was a nearly tied race, delegate wise, in June, I think he’d still be a considered unlikely to prevail, since the super delegates could claim that Hillary ‘won’ the popular vote due to Bernie’s victories in the more sparsely attended caucuses, and throw things to her. The establishment has always wanted to prevent Bernie, or someone like him, from winning. I was very surprised and disappointed to see an about face on this site regarding Hillary, considering Daily Kos is the only news source I trust, but it is what it is and that’s not what this post is about.
Assuming there is no miracle, what is to be done with us Bernie supporters? Currently, we’re being hectored to support Hillary because she’s better than Trump, or because of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance, or because we’re “privileged” people who would survive the worst of a GOP presidency if we don’t support her. Any psychologist can tell you that positive motivation trumps negative motivation, though it’s not surprising to me that so many Hillary supporters cannot find anything positive to say to motivate us to support their candidate.
Still, I freely admit most of us (especially those who live in swing states) will pull the lever for her. But that’s just a small amount of what’s important, right? Just voting isn’t enough. We’re activists. We are supposed to canvass, phonebank, donate, convince our friends, write and share articles on social media, attend rallies, ect. We are told to this regardless of if we really and truly believe in the candidate.
For better or worse, we’re human beings. And activism cannot simply be activated through threats. Many of us will still vote Democrat, but there is a coming great quieting in store for this site and for activists, particularly young people. There isn’t much alternative here — you can’t tell us to get involved in down ballot races, because nearly everywhere, our down ballot Democratic candidate endorsed Hillary or stayed neutral. Many of us are going to check out aside from election day, to reorient our lives towards things that don’t make us feel feel cynical and depressed all the time.
The great quieting is coming because we Bernie supporters feel like we’ve missed out on a once in a generation opportunity. Many young people, who have voted for Bernie in record numbers, feel their hopes and dreams for a better America are with him, and with him alone. I take no pleasure in saying all this. It’s not my goal to hurt the Democratic party or to dampen enthusiasm. But it is my goal to try to keep the spirit of hope alive and to prevent the great quieting. And I want your help in doing it.
If you support Bernie, please leave a comment sharing an idea for some positive place for us to channel our energy — pitch the few down ballot candidates that did support Bernie, or ballot initiatives that you know of that might help, or non-electoral things, like any progressive activism or charity-related cause that’s looking to hire folks or is asking for volunteers. Give us something to care about, something to believe in instead of just going quiet.
If you’re a Hillary supporter, try to say something that might encourage Bernie people to enthusiastically support your candidate in a general election that doesn’t have anything to do with preventing GOP badness. We’re fully aware that the GOP is bad, that doesn’t make us more likely to be excited about anything.