Preface: IF he’s the Presidential Nominee, I will vote for him.

Someone smarter than me once told me that politics is like a game of chess. That’s true, and sometimes your strongest piece is your honesty. So, I’m going being honest.

Image from The Independent

I think that Senator Bernie Sanders is a horrible candidate, and I have every right to hold that opinion and speak that opinion. But at times, it doesn’t appear that way.

I have a wide variety of people on my social media, especially Facebook. It’s not uncommon for me to see posts that support Bloomberg, all the way to posts by people that identify themselves as anarchists that dislike all the choices for Democratic Presidential nominee.

I won’t lie and say that I don’t spend a reasonable amount of time rolling my eyes as I scroll my feed. Because I do. I don’t agree with every nugget that is posted at any given time. That is especially true when it comes to this primary and our choice of contenders. However, I keep scrolling and mind my business (which is easy to do and free in fifty states).

For this discussion, I must clarify that I have no friends that support Trump. So, I find it easy to let people root for the candidate they wish to advocate on their own social media forums without having to comment. As long as they are not racist, homophobic, xenophobic, I am live and let live.

Do you, honey boo.

But, oh Lordy, don’t you dare post that you don’t like Senator Benard Sanders, because his fans will clutch their pearls and try to come for you. And by fans, I mean those of his supporters that will absolutely positively NOT vote for the candidate unless it is Bernie. And we all know a few.

But I don’t care. There is nothing to “come for.”

Not liking the man or thinking he isn’t a suitable candidate isn’t akin to kicking puppies, no matter how hard you may want that to be true.

I am not sure why the most ardent of his supporters have little to zero respect for boundaries. Perhaps it’s because their candidate doesn’t either. If you watch Senator Sanders, he is always in someone’s space, especially women, waving his hand or wagging his fingers.

Because of this, it’s difficult to have constructive discussions about Sen. Sanders. Many People have Sanders on the bottom of their primary lists and prefer to keep quiet about it rather than deal with the antics of his fans. Which includes but is not limited to spamming a social media post, sharing screenshots of conversations outside of personal social media spaces to invite harassment, and doxing. Often they won’t or can’t refute a statement so they will use laugh reacts only or respond with memes.

Far too many Sanders’ supporters are outraged that you don’t support their candidate, even though that’s the entire point of a primary. What’s even more entertaining is how those loyal to Bernie won’t support any other candidate but him.

Like, how you gonna even be mad?

There are plenty of Sanders stans that have scorn for Democrats, which of course, is their prerogative. But, they want those very same Democrats to embrace them and Senator Sanders, who also shares the same contempt for the party. During a recent rally in Seattle, Washington, Sanders called out Trump and the GOP to cheers, but the cheers were louder when he called out the “Democratic Establishment.”

I would love to know who the “Democratic Establishment” even is. Who, exactly, is Senator Sanders even talking about? When he uses vague, self-victimizing language like this, he reminds me of another populist. The one whose name rhymes with “hump.”

Like Trump, Sanders always needs a villain to his savior. Without a clear cut opponent in this primary, he uses repetition that conjures up some ghoulish shadowy Democratic cabal that wants poor people to drown in debt and die.

The reality is, most Democrats support universal healthcare and want to find ways to address the student loan crisis. There are just disagreements centered on how to achieve these goals best.

For many of us, our dislike of Sanders started in 2011 when he wanted to primary our first Black president, Barack Obama. Also, his unwillingness to step down during the 2016 primary when it was clear he had no road to victory. His coddling of Trump voters, while simultaneously attacking Secretary Clinton. The behavior of his supporters at the Nevada Caucuses that included the throwing of chairs. The action of his supporters at the Democratic Convention, which included booing Civil Rights hero Congressman John Lewis and their treatment of him on Twitter. His supporters were throwing dollar bills at Secretary Clinton when she attended a fundraiser that took place.

I could go on and on. But we only have so much time, and I only bring up the past to point out why so many are so turned off by Sanders and his ardent following. The pushback to him is pretty recent when given the history. After the primary in 2016, there were quite a few people that attempted to engage with Sanders’ supporters and encourage them to vote for Hillary. I know I tried to reason with many who flat out refused to vote for her in the general election. It caused many anxiety-driven weeks, as I would plead with them to think of my daughter, who is Black, and all the Black and Brown people they know. But they refused.

Secretary Clinton lost my state, Florida, by the same margin that people voted 3rd party. Talk about bitterness.

And they ain’t making it any easier in 2020

So here we are; The Democratic Presidential Primary, Part Deaux: The World Against Bernie. Bernie is starring in the role he was born to play, a man that is always looking for a foil to fight. He needs people to punch at to keep his fervently loyal base engaged and angry. All of this while he remains under vetted.

In 2016 the media couldn’t keep up between covering every breath Trump took and searching for Hillary Clinton’s thirty thousand emails. Bernie was a shiny object, but no one delved into his past. If this man wants to be the Democratic Presidential nominee, then he will have to pass muster, and he will be vetted. There will be no coronation, and frankly, this patronizing patriarchal point of view is as outdated as Bernie’s attitudes about race and gender.

And that leaves me to the biggest reason I don’t like Bernard. He expects to be crowned the nominee, without allowing us to critique him. And his staunch posse seems determined to squash any talks on social media, just as they did in 2016. But it won’t be going down like that in 2020. You’re not the only group of people that get to poke and pick at the candidates, and Sanders certainly isn’t a special snowflake that is immune from our opinions and critical discussion.

He’s skated by thus far in his life, but an election ain’t the Olympics, and there is no gold medal for skating in this competition. We aren’t impressed with Bernie, and we don’t feel bad about it. It’s exactaly what you get.

Now, stop interrupting our primary.