We rarely do this—only twice before in 150 years—but today we endorse Bernie Sanders for president: https://t.co/8jF2aK3HSN
— The Nation (@thenation) January 14, 2016Sanders’s clarion call for fundamental reform—single-payer healthcare, tuition-free college, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, the breaking up of the big banks, ensuring that the rich pay their fair share of taxes—have inspired working people across the country. His bold response to the climate crisis has attracted legions of young voters, and his foreign policy, which emphasizes diplomacy over regime change, speaks powerfully to war-weary citizens. Most important, Sanders has used his insurgent campaign to tell Americans the truth about the challenges that confront us. He has summoned the people to a “political revolution,” arguing that the changes our country so desperately needs can only happen when we wrest our democracy from the corrupt grip of Wall Street bankers and billionaires. We believe such a revolution is not only possible but necessary—and that’s why we’re endorsing Bernie Sanders for president.
For months now, the mainstream media has been reporting on Hillary Clinton from the perspective that she’s clearly the heir presumptive to Barack Obama. Her candidacy has been parsed, packaged, and presented as inevitable, the idea being that the Democratic primaries are a mere formality preceding her inevitable coronation…because there’s no real alternative.
Except that there is. I endorsed Bernie Sanders months ago, and I haven’t wavered in my conviction that he’s the person best suited to lead our country post-Barack Obama. Is he everything I’ve ever dreamed about in a candidate? Of course not, but he’s the only candidate in either party not joined at the hip with Wall Street. He’s the only candidate willing to re-examine our defaulting to military solutions first, last, and always. Hillary Clinton isn’t a bad candidate- I actually admire her career and accomplishments and hold her in very high esteem- I simply don’t believe that she’s the candidate best suited and situated to get the vast amounts of corporate money out of our political system. There are aspects of Bernie Sanders’ voting record I’m not about to do cartwheels over, but on the whole, I truly believe he’s the best candidate for America at this point in our history.
This week, The Nation, one of this country oldest Progressive magazines, took the unusual- for them- step of thrown their support behind a candidate, endorsing Sen. Sanders. I admire Sec. Clinton enough to state without reservation that I’d certainly vote for her if she is the Democratic nominee, but there’s little doubt in my mind that she’s too closely aligned with Wall Street and the 1% to be able to lead this country in the way Sen. Sanders can and will. The endorsement of The Nation supports my belief that Progressives can get behind Sanders knowing he has a realistic chance to win.
I’m not wild about some of Sen. Sanders’ rabid supporters- wild-eyed, inflexible, and burn-the-heretics intolerant of dissent in the same way Ron Paul devotees ran rampant in 2012. They detract from a man whose commitment to advancing the cause of sound, responsive government which actually represents the interests of the American people is unparalleled. Bernie Sanders hasn’t enriched himself from the contacts made during his public service in the way Hillary Clinton clearly has (don’t even get me started on the GOP clown car). Personal wealth is not a bad thing, mind you…but Sen. Sanders hasn’t traded on his public service to enrich himself. In my mind, there’s value in the commitment to doing the right thing even as opportunities for enrichment (and compromising of principles) present themselves.
Nor is Sen. Sanders stooping to have campaign surrogates launch attacks that while perhaps factually true lack critical context. He’s promised to campaign without resorting to cheap attacks…something the Clinton campaign at this juncture seems unable and/or unwilling to do.
As I’ve already said, I’ll vote for whomever the Democratic nominee turns out to be. You’d have to waterboard me to get me to even consider voting for a Republican. Job One- the most important goal in 2016- is to keep the White House in Democratic hands, not because Democrats are without their flaws, but because Republicans will strip the village for parts before burning it to the ground.
Bernie Sanders isn’t going away. Come the end of primary season, the media may find itself having to rewrite its dominant narrative to accommodate the first democratic socialist to run in a Presidential general election. If he succeeds at securing the nomination, there’s a very good chance he’ll be able to follow it up with a victory in November…and Republicans will be apoplectic.
I can hardly wait.
The United States has become a plutocracy—one in which, as Sanders puts it, “we not only have massive wealth and income inequality, but a power structure which protects that inequality.” America’s middle class has melted away, while the gap between rich and poor has reached Gilded Age extremes. The recovery that followed the 2008 economic collapse has not been shared. Indeed, in the United States it seems that nothing is shared these days—not prosperity, nor security, nor even responsibility. While millions of Americans grapple with the consequences of catastrophic climate change, fossil-fuel companies promote climate skeptics so that they can continue to profit from the planet’s destruction. While Americans have tired of endless war, the military-industrial complex and its cheerleaders continue to champion the reckless interventions that have drained our country, damaged our reputation abroad, and created a perfect storm of Pentagon waste, fraud, and abuse. While Americans of every ideological stripe recognize the need for criminal-justice reform, African-American men, women, and children continue to be gunned down by police officers on the streets, and mass incarceration continues largely unabated.
Issues like income inequality, LGBT rights, the fight for a livable minimum wage, police misconduct, unchecked corporate greed and avarice, and others may seem unrelated. In fact, they’re part of a new evolving reality that pits the vast majority of Americans against the 1%. This country is in the midst of a social and economic upheaval that threatens to create a de facto two-tier society- an oligarchy divided between the wealthy few and those whose existence revolves primarily around supporting and advancing the interests of billionaire captains of industry.
Our political system has been placed in the thrall of billionaires able to spend unlimited amounts on purchasing government favorable to their interests. CEOs make millions even as some of their frontline employees work for minimum wage without even being granted enough hours to qualify for health insurance. Those at the bottom of the economic pyramid are increasingly squeezed in the name of “maximizing operating efficiency,” or “lowering costs,” which are little more than ten-dollar words for directing more money into the pockets of senior management and shareholders.
Is the sort of America we have to look forward to? A nation in which the playing field has been tilted toward the already wealthy and designed to disenfranchise the poor and middle classes? Sen. Sanders may or may not be able to reverse this tide, but he’s clearly far more committed to doing so than anyone else running for President- in either party. Sec. Clinton is, as Vice President Joe Biden said recently, a relative newcomer to this fight; Sen. Sanders has been fighting it over his entire career.
Another Clinton presidency should be considered neither inevitable nor pre-ordained. Despite the media’s aggressive ignorance of the Sanders campaign, he’s polling surprisingly well in Iowa and New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders has a legitimate shot to win the Democratic nomination and to be the next President. America’s already had its first African-American President; why not our first democratic socialist??
