Why I Remain A Loyal Sanders Democrat

I was a lifelong Democrat who voted Democrat in every election since I was 18. In 2012, however, I voted for the Green Party. Being from New York, I had no doubt the Democrats would win my state and that was good because I obviously did not support Mitt Romney or any member of the GOP. My green party support did not cost the Dems anything, but I wanted the DNC to know they had pushed me from the party.

I was pushed by a foreign policy I did not support. (Remember the Romney/Obama debates on foreign policy? Hardly a difference). I was pushed from the party by the complete erosion of civil liberties in America. Obama signed NDAA which went further than the Patriot Act. We live in a country where you can be held w/o a lawyer “indefinitely” if you’re “suspected” of terrorism. I was pushed from the party by drone strikes on American Citizens without due process. I was pushed from the party by a system that failed to hold anyone on Wall St. accountable for the recession. I felt too rich to matter to Democrats and too poor for Republicans. Completely disenfranchised. And maybe the worst part is, the Democrats became too afraid even to pay lip service to what I valued like the free exercise of religion. At the first sign of push back, Obama shamefully retreated on the invented issue of the “ground zero mosque.” Harry Reid and the entire Democratic party caved to Republican bigotry. (I enjoy what Obama has been saying now in his final year, but far too little, too late). What was I left with: a pro-choice party. Yes, the Dems are still about that and I value that. And since 2013 at least, they realized gay citizens have the right to marry. Better late than never. That’s good too. But I want a party that offers me more.

For too long I felt the Democrats held those limited issues over my head as a threat. They could count on my vote because I’m pro choice and that’s all they had to do for me. And now that is all they do for me. Bernie Sanders brought me BACK to the Democrats. He has brought millions INTO the Democratic Party. He deserves a parade. He has done that by running against everything about the Democratic Party we do not approve of and want to change.

Back in 2008, Hillary Clinton (whom I voted for in the primary and as Senator) didn’t drop out to Obama until June, but I have to hear from HRC supporters that I’m a baby for supporting Bernie? That I should give up and grow up. Nonsensically, they spout with feigned maturity, that I owe my allegiance to a party and a candidate who has already driven me from their tent. It makes absolutely no sense. It is counter-productive and alienating.

And what’s the big reason they give? BECAUSE TRUMP!!! BOO! Of course, Trump is sub-human. Of course, he does not have my support and if she is the nominee, I believe Hillary will defeat him without my support just as Obama soundly beat a more impressive candidate like Romney, but that is a garbage argument. All polling indicates Bernie is stronger against Trump than Hillary is. He has the ability to strip votes from Trump of those angry with the status quo. He can defuse Trump’s anti establishment rhetoric because Bernie is not the establishment. If HRC fans truly only cared about stopping Trump, they’d vote Bernie. It’s a false argument. It is the not the mature reasoning of grownups no matter how many eye rolls it’s accompanied by. It is a petulant and scared retort.

The Sanders campaign welcomes you. It offers a devotion to pro choice politics as well as progressive goals on foreign policy, trade, criminal justice, and the economy. The final argument of the Hillary crowd is, yeah sure, Bernie stands for those ideals, but he can’t achieve them. A strange argument from people supporting a candidate guaranteed to fail by not even trying to achieve such things. HRC supporters have their candidate. They’re with her. Great! But the Dems already drove millions of us away with their far too centrist politics, perpetuating a status quo that’s slowly but surely destroying the middle class. We’re not coming back just because HRC supporters try to shame us with how mature and practical they are for being fine with all the things we’re protesting.