I am a Democrat. I have been a Democrat 20 years. I think I am also a pretty progressive Democrat. I support single-payer health care, a wider safety net, higher taxes on the wealthy, a move to clean energy, free college education, and campaign finance reform. I should be the prototypical Bernie Sanders supporter. And I do support Bernie Sanders and his policy platforms. So why am I not a full-throated Sanders supporter?
It is actually quite simple. I am a Democrat. I am not a big fan of candidates who run on a platform of Democrats suck. I am even less of a fan of candidates who say that not only do Democrats suck who are not even registered Democrats.
I do not like being told that my vote for Hillary Clinton meant that I was some kind of sell-out participating in or approving of some massive voter fraud. I do not like being told that if the Democratic Party does not nominate Bernie Sanders that they will refuse to vote and then it will be MY fault when Trump is re-elected.
I do not like being told that my support of the Mueller investigation was only because I had sour grapes about Sanders not becoming the nominee, and that therefore the investigation was a useless endeavor meant to somehow undermine their idea that Sanders would have won.
I am a Democrat. I agree with the ideals of the Democratic Party and find them vastly superior to those of the Republican Party. If Bernie Sanders is the Democratic nominee in 2020, I will be voting for him. I will be donating to his campaign.
What I will not do is be held hostage. The Sanders supporters like to use the DNC as a boogeyman. Yes, the DNC has issues. But when they say DNC, whether they mean it or not, it comes off as me. When I hear, “the corrupt DNC wants their preferred candidate,” I think, but what if I, as a Democrat, support that candidate? Am I corrupt? Am I a blind idiot who cannot form my own opinion?
As of this writing, I have not decided which Democratic candidate I will support in the primary. I would like to see, you know, some debates. I would like to look at factors like, yes, electability. Electability has unfortunately become synonymous with “moderate.” That is just not necessarily the case. For example, I think Sanders is electable. Just because I think a moderate is more electable doesn’t necessarily mean I will choose that candidate. But will I consider that, of course!
Whatever Sanders supporters do is up to them. But I wanted to take a moment to say, what they are currently doing is turning me off. I am a Democrat. I am a voter. I will vote for the person I feel most represents my values and has the best chance of bringing those values to fruition. Bullying me is not going to work. It is going to be counterproductive if you want my vote.
UPDATE: This was intended to be a commentary on my experience with Sanders supporters, not to say that all Sanders supporters hold this view.
