Berniecrat Nation: We’ve Got to Help Tulsicrats Boost Their Champion HootHootBerns Follow Apr 7, 2019 · Unlisted

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: “Why would you suggest boosting a candidate running against Bernie!?”

After all, I’m all in for Bernie to be the guy who gets the nomination. No ands, ifs, or buts about it. Good luck trying to change my mind on that.

But allow me to lay out some of the reasons why I believe a viable, even competitive Tulsi Gabbard candidacy, in particular, helps Bernie far more than harms him.

Reason 1: Delegate Pooling

I’ve actually gone into this one before. Put simply: Tulsi is someone I believe would release her delegates to Bernie ahead of the convention if he got more votes than she did. This would ensure that he receives enough delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot.

And it’s absolutely critical that we do so. If we fail to secure the majority needed on the first ballot at the convention, superdelegates come back into play, and we’re pretty much locked into a second Trump term. Those corporate bastards would rather have two scoops of Donnie at the expense of a habitable planet than win, after all.

Because money, of course.

And I thought I was near-sighted…

Reason 2: She Can Speak To Things Bernie May Not Be Able To, Pushing Him To Do Even Better

Whereas Bernie calling out the travesty of 2016 would be seen as “sour grapes,” Tulsi would be well-placed on the debate stage and in interviews to draw critical attention to the past in distinctly non-sour grapes ways.

This would serve to pressure the DNC to stay honest, and remind them good and well that we remember what they did. Oh, do we remember.

And while we’re willing to look forward, we also understand that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

This accountability for the past doesn’t only apply to her rhetoric, either: case in point, her Securing America’s Elections Act.

And what a coincidence that bill is, when you consider the study that found Bernie did better in the 2016 primary in states with paper trails.

But accountability for 2016 is not the only thing she can potentially address more forcefully. In certain matters of foreign policy and other thornier-to-the-establishment matters, such as protecting whistleblowers, Tulsi can call out what some of us suspect, but cannot necessarily prove, Bernie also to some extent agrees with.

You could argue she, whether intentionally or not, serves as Bernie’s “scout” in these matters.

More importantly, this more vocal force could and I suspect will push Bernie to a better place, sharpening him and making him more vocal in some of those thornier regards. As she shoves this Overton Window to a further left and less establishment place, it gives Bernie the space he needs to spread out and more vocally express his own beliefs, if not follow Tulsi left outright. This would no doubt draw Bernie even more support as time goes on.

And unlike Hillary in 2016, any shifts we see in Bernie we could comfortably presume are from a place of sincerity, rather than one of rhetorical expediency.

Reason 3: Tulsi, Like Bernie, Has Crossover Appeal

For many of us, Bernie was the guy to bring us into the fold of the progressive agenda from myriad elsewhere on the political spectrum. And to this day, he is still doing exactly that — uniting people around an agenda most agree with.

He is, after all, quite gifted at speaking in the “language” of the “other side” and speaking plainly while changing none of his own views, nor pandering. And unlike far too many who run for office, he has the God-given sense to understand the art of courting votes, rather than looking down on the voters and expecting them to fall in line.

Still, much as we like Bernie, there are those who he may not necessarily pull in for various reasons.

That’s where Tulsi fits in. She, like Bernie, is bringing in support from all over the political spectrum, persuading even former Trump supporters and nonvoters not only to her cause, but to ours as well. And she’s the only other 2020 candidate I’ve seen consistently pull this off.

After all, it’s not only about one man or woman, but about how we best grow the overall movement to make the agenda we seek reality. “Not Me, Us.”

And it is that shared ability to draw in people from all walks of life and all over the political spectrum that brings me to my next point:

Reason 4: A Bernie/Tulsi Contest Could Shut Out The Outrageously Crowded Field

As Bernie and Tulsi court new voters to the shared progressive movement, you may well see something like a 1% percentage drop on Bernie, but that will be more than overshadowed by masses of new voters who come in from the political cold to support Tulsi.

This groundswell behind not only one, but two candidates would not only better cement control of the majority of delegates required to clinch the nomination on the first ballot, but could well totally dominate the primary field as far as delegate allotment goes.

Think about that. We could well deny the corporatists delegates by sticking together, helping each other, and building each other up, even if we may disagree and continue to debate on who the better president would be.

And it would all be in the name of rallying more voters, overall, to our shared cause — behind a friend not only to Bernie, but to the movement as a whole. Can you imagine a race where a true friend to our cause were our strongest rival, as opposed to the likes of Uncle Joe?

When we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.

Reason 5: Tulsi Is Our Friend

We know who the enemies are in this race. Tulsi is not one of them.

From what I’ve observed, Tulsi has been more hesitant about hitting Bernie (and the current strawman, “socialism,” put up in his place) than anyone running.

This isn’t a coincidence. At the very least, Tulsi has been quite openly attempting to market to Bernie supporters (“Hey, remember what I did for you in 2016?”). And that’s the most pessimistic way of looking at things like this continuing to occur in her materials:

At the very least, though, it’s pretty clear Tulsi is not our enemy. I somehow doubt she would have been a Sanders Institute fellow and openly interviewing with Jane Sanders on foreign policy awhile back if she were.

After all, this was the same Tulsi Gabbard who was a Democratic party “rising star” up until the day she pissed off her donors to support Bernie.

The media now have blacked her out, in case you haven’t noticed. Getting her name out there depends on us. She helped us, so now I also think it’s our turn to help her.

So, how do we do it?

Simple. Push her name out there when and where you can, in addition to Bernie’s, and where you aren’t able to sell someone on Bernie any other way.

Here’s one Very Online approach:

If a jaded troll babbles to you about what a “sellout” Bernie is, ask them their thoughts on Tulsi. You might be surprised how often I get responses back of respect, at which point I encourage them to get into the primary to back her up.

If a troll rattles off to you how Bernie is bad because “we need a woman,” ask them about Tulsi.

“We need new blood!” Tulsi?

“Bernie’s not even a Democrat!” No one cares…but Tulsi is.

You see, while the trolls are likely to ignore you or hurl attacks back about “something something Assad apologist” (not true, by the way), more lurkers will be introduced to her name, and might look her up and find out what she’s about.

It’s best not to engage trolls in the first place…but if you feel you must, consider the above.

This will be in addition to pushing independent media to cover her more often, and boosting them as needed. As I said earlier, we’ve all got to work together for the sake of the strongest possible movement. Let’s do what we can to make the revolution the strongest it can be.

PS. We’re gonna need memes. A lot more memes.