Archives for August 2016

The 2016 presidential election is unprecedented for a number of reasons. Republicans have a candidate who single-handedly, and without bloodshed or violence, hijacked the Party of Lincoln. A self-absorbed, self-described billionaire and political novice is carrying the GOP’s hope of regaining the White House.

For Democrats, we have a political candidate who has been around so long, and accumulated so much baggage, that her standard mode of transportation is not a limo but a semi. And oh, the Democratic presidential nominee is trying to become the nation’s first female Commander in Chief.

As unusual as this pair of presidential candidates may be, there is one singular fact that is truly unparalleled – with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, we have two of the most disliked presidential candidates in U.S. history competing against one another!

While it not unusual for a candidate to be disliked by members of the opposing party, both Trump and Clinton are hated by a significant number of voters from within their own party!

According to RealClearPolitics averages, Trump has an unfavorable rating of 65 percent. Clinton has 55 percent.

It seems with each passing day, Republicans are running away from Trump like rats on the sinking Titanic. Not only are some refusing to endorse their party’s nominee or give him their vote, an ever-increasing number are publically stating they will vote for Clinton.

On the Democratic side, for many disappointed voters who supported the Bernie Sanders revolution, the game plan is to sit out the election or vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. Some diehard Bernie or Bust enthusiasts have even vowed to vote for Donald Trump.

With such a bizarre election cycle, the White House may go to the candidate with the least number of defections from within their own party!

The election of 2016 is shaping up as a field day for presidential historians.

Photo | abcnews.go.com

Speaking at last week’s Democratic National Convention, Sarah Silverman was roundly booed by Bernie or Bust supporters when she called for party unity.

The booing only increased when Silverman, a Bernie Sanders supporter, said, “Hillary is our Democratic nominee and I will proudly vote for her.” She concluded her speech by saying,” “As I continue to be inspired and moved to action by the ideals set for by Bernie, who will never stop fighting for us, I am proud to be a part of Bernie’s movement, and a vital part of that movement is making absolutely sure that Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States.”

As the booing became mixed with chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!,” comedian Sarah Silverman had had enough.

“Can I just say to the Bernie or Bust people,” scolded Silverman, “you’re being ridiculous!”

Suffice it to say Sarah’s admonition to Bernie supporters did not go over well. She was labeled a traitor to the cause and an out of touch elite.

What Sarah failed to realize is that you do not change hearts and minds by belittling people. You do not get people to come around to your point of view by implying they are stubborn or stupid.

But perhaps Silverman’s attempt to talk sense to Bernie enthusiasts was an exercise in futility in the first place. It appears some Bernie supporters will never change their minds, no matter the reasoning. They will never vote for “Crooked Hillary” who they see as the embodiment of all that is wrong with our politics. Hillary to them is just another corrupt, untrustworthy establishment hack out to line her pockets and those of her Wall Street buddies. Regardless of what Bill may call her, Hillary, to them, is no “change-maker.”

The argument often used to get Bernie supporters to see the light – that their actions or inactions could lead to a President Trump – holds no sway. To them, if electing Trump hastens their political revolution, then bring it on!

Bernie or Bust supporters do not think they are being “ridiculous.” They see themselves as true, principled patriots – left wing Teabaggers, if you will. They believe they are involved in something bigger than any one person, even Bernie Sanders. That many of these revolutionaries are labeling Bernie a sell-out and fraud for endorsing Hillary tells you how passionate these people are about their movement.

The only good news for Democrats is that for every diehard Bernie or Bust voter who vows to sit out the election, vote for the opposing candidate or third party, there is an equal number (perhaps more) of Republicans threatening to do the same.

Photo | thegodlessliberal.blogspot.com

No matter how crazy, or dangerous, voting for Donald Trump may be, there are still millions of Americans who will cast their votes for the racist, narcissistic self-described billionaire. And there are millions of Bernie Sanders supporters who vow never to vote for Hillary Clinton, whether or not this makes a Trump presidency more likely.

Here is a reprint of an article by a passionate, diehard Bernie supporter, Amanda MacDonald,  on why she is voting for Hillary:

I want to talk about our candidate Bernie. He’s a man who has been loyal to his causes and political beliefs for his entire life. He has integrity, boundless determination, and seemingly endless hope for the overall good in human nature. He’s been in the right side of history, almost without fail, for his entire political career. He’s been right about how the tides of our country are changing for decades. He’s never strayed from his message, he’s never said he was anything he wasn’t, and that is why we all rallied behind him, isn’t it?

Bernie woke us all up to how gritty and oftentimes nasty the world of politics is, and refused to run his campaign the same way as his running mates, so that his campaign could remain honest and focused on the issues he champions. Bernie told us who he is, and never wavered in his honesty about it once. He walks the walk. That is why the people of Vermont voted for him time and time again, and why we all voted for him in the primary.

It felt like finally, just maybe we could all have a Presidential candidate that was honest. A candidate who when we filled out our ballots, we didn’t have to cringe. But he lost. He won’t be the candidate. There are factors in that loss that irk me: stories of voter suppression, the DNC emails, super delegates declaring for Hillary Clinton before she even announced her candidacy. The loss doesn’t feel clean. Hillary’s win doesn’t feel clean to me.

And I am angry. I feel like the wool has been taken away from my eyes and the Clinton campaign is asking me to close them once more. I know a lot of you are angry. I don’t blame you for it one bit. I won’t ask you to get over it, and I won’t ask you to forget how you feel right now. But I also want to talk about this election, because it may just be the most important election of our lifetime. 

I desperately want to be Bernie or Bust. I want to stand up to corrupt politics and say “No more”. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t think I can. There is too much at stake. Mike Pence swore yesterday that if Donald Trump is elected “We’ll see Roe vs. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs.” And it could happen. There is one Supreme Court Justice position open. There are probably going to be more openings during the next presidency. The Court is split evenly right now. If a conservative Justice is appointed, it is highly likely that Mike Pence’s vow will come to fruition; just look at what he’s done in his own state. I don’t want women to lose their right to their own bodies. So I can’t be Bernie or Bust.

The RNC platform this year is incredibly unfriendly to the LGBTQ community. The platform states that adopted children should be raised in a “traditional household” and that parents can force their LGBTQ children into conversion therapy. The platform also states that marriages should be between one man and one woman only. The RNC had its first openly gay person on its platform committee this year, and she begged them to include people like her in the platform. They voted against her 112-30. So I cannot bring myself to be Bernie or Bust, because I can’t risk losing equal marriage rights. How am I supposed to look my friends in the eye and tell them I failed to fight for them, if their marriage rights disappear?

There are many, many more reasons why that as much as I want to, I cannot be Bernie or Bust. But this next one is the one I most want to stress: Bernie Sanders told us exactly how to continue his political revolution. He wants all of us to get involved, to run for local government, and work our way up. Because that is how you get a legitimate third party. That is how you change the game. Bernie Sanders knows that real change doesn’t happen overnight, and he’s been playing the long game for his entire career. He’s asked us to play the long game too. He told us from the beginning that he would support the Democratic Nominee, even if it wasn’t him, and we screamed out against it when he followed through on that promise. But wasn’t his integrity why we followed him in the first place?

Bernie Sanders is a brilliant politician, and he’s been running as an outsider for his entire career. He’s very good at it and even he has come out and warned against voting for a third party in this election. I ask again for all of my Bernie Sanders supporter friends to look back at his record of being on the right side of history and of speaking out in warning before gigantic political mistakes were made. He has endorsed Hillary Clinton, and spoken of his own volition that he believes “…that, at this moment, our country, our values, and our common vision for a transformed America, are best served by the defeat of Donald Trump and the election of Hillary Clinton.” Historically when a candidate like Donald Trump is elected, in the next election people don’t swing wildly in the opposite direction. They move center. Center is a step away from his movement. So if Bernie Sanders believes that electing Hillary Clinton is the best way to achieve his vision, shouldn’t we give him the benefit of the doubt? Or do we abandon his revolution at the very moment it needs us the most?

Hillary Clinton is not my candidate. I know for a lot of you she isn’t yours either. But I trust Bernie. He hasn’t stopped fighting for his revolution. He hasn’t given up. So I won’t give up on him. I’m going to trust that he knows what he’s doing, and I implore you all think about whether or not you do too.

Let’s get involved, let’s run for local office, and let’s start building the party we want from the ground up. We’ve got the organization, and the motivation, and if we bite the bullet this time, we might have a real shot at making it the next time around.

So I am #StillSanders, even if it means #ImWithHer.

I know this might make me a target, and some of you might be upset, (Bernie, this next gray hair is for you buddy) but if you think I might be on to something, please share this around. It’s all I can ask.

– Amanda MacDonald, July 31, 2016, ReverbPress

Photo | thelibertarianrepublic.com