I won’t be voting for Bernie Sanders in the presidential primaries, but if he wins I will donate to his campaign and work so hard to get him elected it will be as if my life depended on it.
You?
As we go through the primary season, I will not be attacking other Democratic candidates running to ultimately unseat the most corrupt, bigoted, anti-America Republicans in the history of this semi-great nation.
You?
My mantra is 100 percent: #VoteBlueNoMatterWho
You?
Much as I didn’t want to walk down this prickly path, you know what I am getting at here.
Some background: I voted for Sanders in the 2016 Wisconsin primaries. A whole helluva lot of us did and he won convincingly. When he ultimately lost the nomination, I proudly got behind Hillary Clinton.
What I didn’t do is work as hard as I needed to help Hillary get elected. After the smoke cleared from that awful November day in 2016, I vowed to never let that happen again. You know who else didn’t work as hard as they should have for her? Almost everybody.
Where I live in Wisconsin you can’t go 11 feet and not trip over a Democrat. Wanna know how many Hillary yard signs I saw? ZERO. Wanna know how many Hillary canvassers knocked on my door? ZERO. Wanna know how many calls I got to support Hillary? ZERO. Wanna know how many doors I knocked on and calls I made? ZERO. Wanna know how many times Clinton came to Wisconsin? ZERO. Wanna know who won Wisconsin? Never mind …
Also in 2016, if you stepped a few miles in either direction of my town, you couldn’t go 11 feet without seeing a pathetic Trump/Pence sign. They were fucking everywhere. But, no worries, because they could never win after all …
Democrats were completely asleep at the wheel in 2016 and we have come within an inch of paying for it with our lives — as we have seen these past two-plus years in vivid, gory detail.
You wanna know what I won’t be doing? Ever? Blaming Bernie Sanders for Hillary Clinton’s loss. That’s pathetically weak, and besides, it’s on Russia, the heinous Busters, Jim Comey, a campaign that just didn’t catch fire and US — you and me … And before you beat me over the head on that second-to-last part, understand her own campaign staff said exactly this.
The night of that election burned me two inches deep and laid scars down that will never fully heal. You might hurt over that election as much as I do, but nobody hurts more. It is why I am typing to you today and most likely pissing off so many of you. It is why in the lead-up to the glorious midterms, I did work my ass off. I did knock on doors. I did donate. I did make calls. I did march. I did create websites. I did attend campaign rallies. I did make myself a general nuisance to the people who still somehow couldn’t be bothered to give a shit or vote.
Look, I wish Sanders didn’t decide to run this year. I knew he would, though. Aside from some nagging issues I have with the guy, the fact he is an old, white man, would make him about the most tone-deaf candidate I can ever remember. (And I do hope this is something you are working into your calculations to run, Joe Biden.)
No, it’s time we elected a woman, and I will be supporting one of the female Democratic candidates going forward. But that’s a write for another time. And if none of our women rise to the top, I will work my ass off for the man who does. I will make a deal with the devil himself if it keeps another GOP’er from winning anything … ever again.
And before I go I want to say this, I know people who are full-throated Bernie supporters and will be working hard to get him elected. Know what else? They are mostly younger, plenty smart, and many are women. Understand, when you attack them and their candidate with some of the ugliness I have seen mostly in social media, you make them sick. Worse, you alienate them. You are not fostering a united front. You are acting like what you hate: a Buster. Frankly, you are being politically stupid and playing right into the Republicans’ hands. Please, knock it off. Work hard for your candidate and may the best one win.
And when the best one does win? Unite and work hard for her or him.
I mean, if you really believe in #VoteBlueNoMatterWho that is …
