Last night Rachel Maddow had a long interview with Bernie Sanders. I thought this was Bernie at his best. Speaking with his usual conviction, I got the impression there was an inner calm I hadn’t noticed before. Even though he talked about the tough fight for him to actually win the nomination, and said he wasn’t giving up, he did so without as much oomph as I’ve seen in the past. Perhaps he’s worked, or is working, his way through the five stages of grief over not winning the nomination and come to acceptance, intellectually, but most important emotionally.
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With that acceptance he seems to have done, or is in the process of doing, the healthiest thing from a psychological point of view. What comes to mind, as someone who grieved intensely myself, and talked to lots of people who have had their own spouses die, is that he has discovered a mission his late spouse would have wholeheartedly endorsed.
Think of his having experienced the death of his own dream to lead the revolution he and his avid supporters envisioned. Let's characterize this dream as a person, a stretch I realize, but bear with me.
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This is the poll from my previous diary.
So the “person" has died. It wouldn’t be productive, in fact it would be pathological, to think of the dream-person as having been killed by Hillary. If he devoted energy to seeking revenge, it would be like the spouse whose mate was murdered going after the killer, arguably a healthy reaction. Nobody killed his dream. He knows that. There’s no killer to hunt down. Those of his Democratic supporters, thankfully only a few (21% if poll from my last diary is to be believed) who give voice to vehement anti-Hillary opinions and feelings should realize this.
If the GOP candidate was Susan Collins or Olympia Snow he might not be able to refocus his grief on defeating the opposition nominee with full force. No historic example comes to mind without resorting to Godwin’s Law, but think of two allied countries who had been mostly friendly competitors easily coming together in a war with a country that threatens to destroy both of them.
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If we believe some of the prognosticators that Trump may have a good chance of winning by successfully selling his new “presidential self," or that a horrendous October surprise like a terror attack, could sway more angry, fearful people to vote for him, then those Bernie supporters refusing to vote for Hillary should rethink this decision.
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Hearing Bernie telling Rachel what advice he’d give to Hillary in order to win over his supporters I thought “way to go, Bernie.”
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When the Democratic dust finally settles, assuming Hillary in the nominee, I suggest that the most committed and ardent Bernie supporters take their cue from Bernie himself when, as I fully expect, he will urge all of his supporters to work for Hillary.
