I initially supported Bernie Sanders. Still angry over H. Clinton's support of the Iraq war, I wanted another viable Democrat in the race. Hoping that Sanders would enter the races, I researched his positions carefully. I liked what I saw. Senator Sanders, while definitely uncharismatic, was nevertheless an unapologetic Progressive, an unashamed Socialist, and on the correct side of almost every issue. Sanders sees income inequality in the US as the primary motivator of instability in the country. Sanders is also strong on the environmental issues. To be fair, however, so is Hillary Clinton, and Sanders has only managed to get bills passed when he collaborates with Clinton.



In 2007, (Sanders) cowrote with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) the Green Jobs Act, which allocated funding for clean energy and energy efficiency research and job training. This did pass, as part of a big 2007 energy bill.

In 2010, Sanders authored a bill to spread distributed solar throughout the country, the very literally named "10 Million Solar Roofs & 10 Million Gallons of Solar Hot Water Act." As Grist's David Roberts explained, it would "provide rebates that cover up to half the cost of new systems, along the lines of incentive programs in California and New Jersey." The bill didn't pass.

On his own, Sanders has been far less productive. Oh, he's been creating a great deal of legislation, but whether it has been opposition to the TPP or other billsGood intentions won't save this country. Effective legislation will. Hillary Clinton knows how to pass good legislation. Her views are not much different than Senator Sanders , and unlike Sanders Clinton knows how to get legislation to see the light of day.

Still, it would be bad to blame Sanders for not passing legislation in one of the most hostile Congresses in history. I was still on the fence on whether to support Sanders or Clinton when I heard Sanders' interview on NPR. I was surprised at how badly he spoke. Many of his comments were less about discussions on policy than a bad parody on polical speech.



To see where the Democratic Party is, I think, it's important to understand where America is. And where America is, is that today we are seeing the collapse, the continued collapse, of the American middle class. You have working-class families who have given up the dream of sending their kids to college. My family never had any money. My father came ... from Poland without a nickel in his pocket. He was able to send two of his kids to college. That dream is now not a reality for a whole lot of folks in this country.

"My family never had any money. My father came from Poland without a nickel in his pocket." Any cliches missing there? No? When Clinton mentioned her supposed money troubles after leaving the White House, she was justifiably castigated. Sanders, however, can play the farcically familiar tune of "my family ate dirt and walked to school every day uphill both ways" and get a free pass. Sanders needs better turns of phrase if he's going to beat the Republican candidate for president.

More disturbing, however, was Sanders' interpretation of President Obama's appeal to black voters.



Well, here's what you got. What you got is an African-American president, and the African-American community is very, very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. And that's kind of natural.

There's nothing exactly offensive about this quote, but there are some disturbing undercurrents to the attitude behind Sanders' message here. The idea that "African-Americans," not "us," not who we are, but "those guys," voted for Obama because of race is a bad attitude for a Presidential candidate to have. If it really was all about race and nothing more, then black voters would also be supporting politicians such as former Florida Representative Allen West, Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice and others. No such support for these candidates and politicians exists among black voters, however.

President Obama is OUR President. OUR President, not the "African-American President." This is something that Hillary Clinton understands... more so, I think, than Senator Sanders.

A more clear example of how Hillary Clinton "gets it" more than Bernie Sanders when it comes to race in America is their reactions to several high-profile cases of police murder of unarmed young black men. When asked about Baltimore, Bernie Sanders made all the right noises about having police officers held accountable and improving employment among poor communities in the US. Nevertheless punishing the right people is only a very small part of the problem. The overall problem of racism among police departments and institutionalized prosecution of black populations is completely ignored by Bernie Sanders... but not by Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton has been much more detailed about addressing the wider issues of institutionalized racism, mass incarceration, and how economic strength is unacceptably sluggish in positively affecting black communities. The fact that Clinton is on the right track in addressing race in America can be seen in how many people she is pissing off on Fox News. When you irritate the Faux News talking heads, you're doing the right thing. Needless to say, Sanders' comments on police brutality have not even attracted the smallest comment from Fox.

In summary, here is why I will vote for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders any day of the week.

1) Hillary Clinton is far more aware of the problem of institutionalized racism in the US than Bernie Sanders is. Sanders is zeroed-in on economic inequality to the point of tunnel vision. That's a huge part of the problem, yes, but it's not the only part that needs to be solved. It doesn't matter if a black man is making 12,000 dollars or 120,000 dollars a year... he will still be overwhelmingly targeted by police when encountered randomly on the street.

2) Hillary Clinton is far more polished and diplomatic when it comes to the necessary political skills of forming alliances. Bernie Sanders can't even get through an interview without stumbling verbally, responding in a nervous, unpolished manner and resorting to political leftwing cliche. Bernie Sanders does not have good political skills, period. He would wilt in a head-to-head with even a buffoon like Ted Cruz. Hillary Clinton would eat Cruz, even Bush, for lunch in any political debate and have enough time to dab her lips afterwards.

3) Oh, and did I mention that Hillary Clinton has rather close ties to a guy named Bill Clinton? Bill Clinton has some experience being a good president. If ever the country needed eight more years of the Clintons, it's now. We need the nineties economy that we had under Bill Clinton... and we can get it again if we get Hillary Clinton in the White House. If you think Bill Clinton is going to spend his time washing dishes while Hillary Clinton forms policy, you're wrong. The Clintons are a devastatingly effective team and we need them together for 2016.

Bernie Sanders would not give us any of that. Sorry Sanders, you do not get my vote.