7. Despite being a "socialist", Sanders will reach across the red blue divide. When Bernie Sanders became the "socialist" mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981, one of his first acts was to enroll the business community through his Community and Economic Development Office, to spark the local economy and offer a "hand up, not a hand out" program to help the working poor. Six years later, the otherwise conservative U.S. News and World Report named Bernie one of the Top 20 Mayors in the country.
6. Bernie will shift the emphasis from identity issues to "identical" issues. For the past generation or so, the Democrats have used "identity" issues -- the rights of women, minorities and other hyphenated Americans -- in a similar way that the Republicans have used evangelicals to fan the flames of divisiveness and emphasize our differences. This mass "pandermonium" where each side panders to its base has kept us divided enough so that we don't together confront the corruption at the core of our system. Bernie has shifted the focus to the identical issue the vast majority of us have in common -- a healthy wealthy commonwealth -- and this portends well for a new political alignment around our shared desire for honest, transparent governance.
5. Bernie is the only candidate with the backbone to confront the party with way too much "front-bone". Bernie's opposition to wars of empire, and his insistence on accountability from the banking industry have been steady and unchanged. The same is true with his support for Single Payer Health Care, and repeal of Citizens United. Years ago, Swami characterized the difference between the two parties this way: "The Republicans have been playing hard ball, the Democrats have been playing hardly-have-balls." The proactive Bernie campaign is a welcome change, and maybe the Democrats will re-take the hot "red" label, and the Republicans will be left with the blues.
3. Bernie is REAL, period. The appeal of Donald Trump -- and Ben Carson, before the full depth of his shallowness was revealed -- is that of a "real" person, un-swayed by the opinions of others. As Trump's bluster gets further exposed for the bullyshit that it is, and as Hillary finds herself unable to untangle from her own twisted words, Bernie will become the people's choice, and not just the Democrat people. This is an equal-opportunity upwising and libertarian conservatives are awakening as well. Look for at least 10% to 20% of Evangelicals who recognize a true Christian when they see one, even if he is Jewish, to abandon the Republicans this time around if Bernie is the candidate. You don't believe it? Mock my words.
2. This campaign isn't about Bernie. While Hillary's campaign is about "me", Bernie's is about WE. One of the reasons he is getting so much grassroots support is because people recognize his campaign as a movement that goes further and deeper than his candidacy. While the insurgency Tea Party movement was very quickly co-opted by the Koch Brothers and kept alive through cash-flow infusion and Fox "News" impropaganda, the Bernie insurgency will grow and even grow past Bernie. It might even revitalize and reanimate the Democratic Party, so that we have a people's counterbalance to the other, Undemocratic Party.
And the # 1 reason to support Bernie ...
1. Because Bernie winning has been deemed "impossible". That's what conventional wisdom has been telling us all along, and the Hillary trolls on progressive blogs are still insisting. And yes, such an insurgency winning would have been impossible before now. However 2016, a leap year, may actually be a "quantum leap year" where the level of disgust with our corrupt system awakens enough Americans to say ENOUGH. Corbyn won in the U.K., Trudeau in Canada. There is an awakening world wide, and we even have a Pope riding this wave. Trump, and the entire heartless, selfish-righteous culture he and the Republicans represent are obsolete and obsolethal. And sadly, so is Hillary, representing the "other pork party". The sheer "impossibility" of this victory will energize the body politic like nothing before. And unlike 2008, we will have a candidate who, once elected, will stand up to the bullies, and enroll we the people to have his back.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
7
6
4
