How I Really Feel About Bernie Sanders and His Supporters

When this process started out, my stance on the Hillary vs. Bernie fight was that I liked both, and would vote for her in the primaries. I've been familiar with Bernie Sanders for a very long time, going back to my days as an undergrad at Moravian, where several of my professors were huge fans of Bernie's as a Congressman (at that time). Sanders was presented as a pure-liberal, the kind one can support and sleep peacefully at night, and I liked that. Those were the days of George W. Bush and Denny Hastert's Washington, a time when Democrats in Congress routinely disappointed their supporters, and a time when Howard Dean was energizing the American left. Barack Obama was a nobody State Senator in Illinois and Elizabeth Warren was basically a professional wonk.

I got into politics at that time, a time when most of my friends and compatriots were shunning the whole business. I got into it because I was mad about the miscarriage of justice in the 2000 Election, I was mad about the rush to war in Iraq after 9/11 (and for that matter, even Afghanistan at the time wasn't something I was for), I was mad about Bush's social-conservatism, I was mad about Bush's tax cuts, and I was mad about the fall of industrial America, something I grew up watching as Bethlehem Steel left the Lehigh Valley. That's who I was in 2002, 2003, 2004, and even 2005, and it's actually someone I'm proud of. While I realize how unrealistic my puritanical positions were at the time, idealism is a great place to start if you want to involve yourself in politics. It's not a great place to finish though.

This brings me back to Bernie and 2016. Something really amazing has happened with him, something we all should acknowledge- a lot of younger people who didn't want to be involved in politics before are getting involved now. I have friends and relatives who I did not even know what their political beliefs were that are coming out and saying they support Bernie's campaign. They were willing to sign his petitions, willing to go see his rallies, willing to volunteer for him, and even willing to vote for him. It's been a beautiful thing. I think even for someone almost 15 years removed from their most-idealist state of mind like me, this is something you want in American democracy. I'm glad he introduced many people to the process, but i'm not sure his message is one that is ultimately good for them.

The idealism that started has faded in some Bernie supporters, and possibly the candidate himself. Puritan politics might make you feel better at night, but the reality is that it's actually like handcuffing yourself and going into a fist-fight. Attacking Hillary Clinton for raising money, for the DNC no less, is not productive. Slamming "the establishment" of the Democratic Party, and saying the process is "rigged" every time you lose, is not productive. Promising that as President you will make college free, expand Medicare to everybody, end fracking, and break up the banks, without giving details to anything, and only explaining the "how" with "by a political revolution," is not only not productive, but is dangerous in that it sets up a whole generation of young voters to see politics as a failure when it does not happen. The tone, the sanctimonious nature the campaign has taken, the unwillingness to accept the results as legitimate when they aren't favorable, and the near freak outs at every critique of Bernie leaves me wondering if this was ever really a good thing at all. The behavior of Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver makes me really question if I like the guy anymore.

Ultimately, I come back down from the ledge. Bernie Sanders has moved the conversation left on a great number of issues during this campaign, and I think he's made Hillary Clinton a much better candidate for the general election. I agree with some of his ideas, and agree in theory with his world view on the whole. Beyond that, we have a local Sanders campaign here, one that I have interacted with. I like his volunteer leaders locally, they are solid progressives who work hard. I will even vote for some of his delegates (because it makes strategic sense to, and because I like them) in the 17th Congressional District. It's important to not let "Bernie Bots" on Twitter end up dragging your opinion of an overall positive movement into the gutter.

So what do I really think of Bernie Sanders? I like him, a lot, as a United States Senator. I hope he goes back there and passes some of the good ideas from his campaign into actual laws. I hope he paves the way for future progressives to carry on his movement, and I hope his young supporters stay involved moving forward. I just hope he doesn't destroy our party along the way.