Letter to the editor

Bernie Sanders, a disappointment

I am disappointed. The one candidate who has, until recently, been able to take the high ground has finally crawled into the gutter. I’m talking to you Bernie Sanders. I thought you were better than this. I was wrong.

When you started your campaign, you assured us you wouldn’t go negative. When the media latched onto the fiction created by the Republican controlled House committee investigating Benghazi about Hillary’s emails, you had the courage to tell the world “enough.” In sum, you assured us you’d stick to the issues. I thought you were better than this. I was wrong.

Quite frankly, your behavior reminds me of the antics we’ve seen over an over again from the Republican front-runner. No, you haven’t incited riot and physical violence. No, you haven’t said racist, misogynistic things. But you have been campaigning mostly by boasting about your poll numbers, your previous wins and the money you’ve raised.

You’ve been traipsing around the country, telling us what’s wrong about our government, but have said little, if anything about how you’ll address those problems. And when you’ve been pressed on the details, you’ve been unable to articulate a coherent response.

And, most recently, you accused your Democratic challenger of saying something she never said. You then followed that up by telling the world that the person with the most experience of any competitor, Democrat or Republican, lacks the qualifications to be president. You’re doing exactly what the Republican front runner has been doing for months. I thought you were better than this. I was wrong.

It’s going to be a stretch for you to get the nomination. If you don’t get it, which the odds at this point suggest, the Democratic Party will need to be consolidated. You have said that you would support whoever wins the nomination. How exactly do you plan on getting your supporters to back Hillary Clinton if you are maligning her character? I heard what she said with my own ears. She took care to not disparage you. I cannot believe you failed to take the same care.

I thought you were better than this. I was wrong.

MARK COEL

South Burlington