Jeff Merkley, senator from Oregon, explains why he's endorsing colleague @BernieSanders in an op-ed for the NYT: https://t.co/kpHywwVWbz
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) April 13, 2016
NO decision we make as Americans more dramatically affects the direction of our country than our choice for president. He or she is more than the manager of the executive branch, commander in chief or appointer of judges. The president reflects, but also helps define, our national values, priorities and direction. After considering the biggest challenges facing our nation and the future I want for my children and our country, I have decided to become the first member of the Senate to support my colleague Bernie Sanders for president.
I don’t often pay attention to political endorsements; they rarely have any discernible impact on how I vote. I’m quite capable of making my own decisions. Every now and again, though, I run across a public figure who manages to eloquently capture my own feelings, beliefs, and priorities. I find Sen. Merkley’s thoughtful and considered endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders for President to be impressive because it speaks to my own background and aspirations for our country.
One sentence stands out for me: “On a single income, my parents could buy a home, take a vacation and help pay for college.” That mirrors my own experience- my father worked, my mother kept things together at home, and somehow a single income fed all six of us (I was the oldest of four boys) and kept a roof over our heads. It’s difficult to imagine doing that today. One income is in most cases no longer close to being sufficient to the task of maintaining a family’s financial solvency. Even with a second income, making ends meet can prove to be a significant challenge.
From where I sit, this election cycle presents a stark choice: do we elect a President who, if they believe in change at all, argues that it must be incremental…or do we choose a leader capable and eager to reassess our priorities and put people first while doing so? (I’m not about to address the Republican candidates- my feelings regarding them are no secret.) I believe Hillary Clinton is in many respects ready, willing, and eminently qualified to be President…but I don’t believe that she’s the best choice for what America needs today.
For the America we live in today, I believe without a doubt the best choice to be Sen. Bernie Sanders. We cannot move this country to a better, fairer, and more equitable place through incremental change. We must put the welfare and well-being of the American middle class first, something that seems unlikely to happen if Sec. Clinton becomes President.
I'm supporting Bernie Sanders. He's the natural progression of President Obama, who whisked control of the #DNC, away from Repub Clintons.
— Ron (@Ronc99) April 13, 2016
Many middle-class Americans are working longer for less income than decades ago, even while big-ticket expenses like housing, health care and college have relentlessly pushed higher.
It is not that America is less wealthy than 40 years ago — quite the contrary. The problem is that our economy, both by accident and design, has become rigged to make a fortunate few very well off while leaving most Americans struggling to keep up.
And as economic power has become more concentrated, so too has political power. Special interests, aided by their political and judicial allies, have exercised an ever-tighter grip on our political system, from the rise of unlimited, secret campaign spending to a voter suppression movement.
Americans don’t begrudge those who earn financial success through hard work and diligence. What we have a problem with is a system increasingly rigged to benefit the already wealthy, a system designed to exclude the middle class while at the same time greasing the skids for those at the top of the economic food chain to accrue ever more material wealth.
We don’t want a hand out…but it shouldn’t be too much to expect a level playing field that makes opportunity equally available to all who are willing to chase after it.
Under President Obama’s leadership, our country is fairer and more prosperous for all than it was seven years ago. But as we look toward the next administration, there is far more work to do. We need urgency. We need big ideas. We need to rethink the status quo.
President Obama, despite entrenched and furious Republican intransigence and obstructionism, has managed to move America in the right direction…but much work remains to be done. Sen. Sanders has made it clear his priorities lie not with the 1%, but with everyday Americans who deserve better and more equitable treatment from government. He proceeds from the assumption that government exists to serve the people; too often today it seems politicians and bureaucrats assume just the opposite. It’s Sen. Sanders’ commitment to the ideas represented by “We the People” that makes his candidacy so refreshing and timely.
It is time to recommit ourselves to that vision of a country that measures our nation’s success not at the boardroom table, but at kitchen tables across America. Bernie Sanders stands for that America, and so I stand with Bernie Sanders for president.
It comes down to vision. What kind of America do we want- one in which leaders tinker around the margins but leave power and resources largely in the hands of the 1%? Or do we want an America in which opportunity is made available to all, not just the children of wealth and privilege?
I have little doubt but that both Democrats are eminently- if differently- qualified to be President. Both Democrats would be capable and effective leaders in their own fashion. It’s my belief that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the candidate best equipped to address the issues our country faces right here, right now.
