Feel the Bern: My Thoughts on Sanders 2016

Friday 26 June

Hey friends. Guess what it's early election season and I'm procrastinating my honors thesis, so you get whatever the hell this is hooray it's better than Thrones nerd rage.

Here's a quick disclaimer: I'm a staunch Democrat. I've been one since I was nine (the Iraq War really did a number on me), so it's pretty engrained in my psyche. The political climate I was brought up in doesn't help this—it's polarizing, and I'm sorry. This post will be biased. I get if you don't want to be friends with me or whatever, but just remember that I love politics more than cheese, and I'll always listen to what you have to say, even if we disagree. That's my favorite part of this stupid discipline I'm signing my life away to. I'd be excited to engage in a healthy debate with you—just don't spam my damn Facebook wall or follow me around saying, "Shame, shame, shame," and ringing a bell like that septa from Game of Thrones.

My Life In Politics

Okay. Disclaimer over.

So on Saturday evening, I had the absolute privilege to head down to Denver with one of my poli sci friends (because my main politics hoe is in Europe thanks Dani) and watch Bernie Sanders talk about his plan for America.

Now, when Bernie announced that he was running, I was a little skeptical (mostly because Hillary Clinton is bae and one of my favorite problematic people on this planet). I didn't give him much thought, especially because he is super against PACs which make up most of the campaign finance in this country and running a grassroots campaign is incredibly difficult in this day and age thanks to fucking Citizens United v. FEC (*throws self out window* Like guys I hate this decision almost as much as Plessey v. Ferguson or Civil Rights Cases (1886) it's the worst). I thought the nomination for Hillary was pretty uncontested.

Now, I'm not so sure.

Granted, campaign rallies are basically just propaganda and rhetoric with few actual policy proposals. They aren't a foolproof guarantee of how the candidate will perform in office because of a stagnant Congress and a problematic political climate in America. It's not supposed to be a sticking set of proposals—rallies exist to get you to funnel money at a candidate. There's nothing to lose. It's probably why I get so excited about them. Like, a candidate can just espouse ideology without fear of pushback because the policy doesn't exist yet. I love words and rhetoric and American ideals, so it's really fucking fun. Go to a campaign rally if you're ever sad about American politics and you'll leave with some merch and a spring in your step. 10/10 always recommend.

Precious Cinnamon Roll Too Good,
Too Pure for America

Anyway. There was a huge turnout for Bernie on Saturday. Over 5,000 people RSVP'd, and we filled up the entire DU gymnasium, down to standing room only. People were sitting outside on the lax field and watching him on a giant screen. It was impressive.

I left feeling predictably excited and briefly convinced that hey, maybe there are decent people left in this world after all.

Bernie Sanders is a candidate that runs on a cause. His campaign is never about Bernie, it's about the issues. His campaign is never about the fact that he's an Independent senator running in the Democratic party, it's never about his years in Congress, it's never about him. It's about you.

The Sanders campaign tackles the issues we face every day as Americans—it's about the income and wealth gap, it's about jobs and putting you back to work, it's about women getting access to contraception, it's about people getting to love who they love without legal pushbacks, it's about homeless youth, it's about getting you a living wage, it's about affordable healthcare for all, it's about ending mass incarceration of African Americans, it's about climate change, it's about campaign finance reform, and it's about America being great again, because everyone in this country deserves a fighting chance. It's about you. Individual Americans. And that's remarkable. The only thing I disagreed with him on was trade policies, because he's not super into the whole trade liberalization thing which is my fucking jam (which is my blessing and my curse as an international political economy nerd).

Bernie Sanders is basically everything I've ever wanted in a candidate. He talks about issues that aren't ever brought up, his whole campaign is grassroots funded, he has a solid platform that I really support, and he has kind of a plan for all the policy directives he wants to implement. Listening to him talk was very self-indulgent of me, because for a couple of minutes I got to really believe in something again. For a couple of minutes, I was like "Hey, maybe something good can work. Maybe this won't suck."

I'm not sure when I became so pessimistic about politics. I love America and its politics so much, and you'd think that I could get super optimistic about shit that I care about deeply. I think that's part of it—if something means a lot to me, I'm going to assume the worst. It's better to assume too little and be stoked that things don't totally suck than it is to have your hopes high and get them crushed. Which is why that while I love everything that Bernie Sanders is proposing, I don't know if it's actually going to work in this climate, and that breaks my crooked heart.

I want to believe in a candidate like Bernie Sanders. I want to jump on his campaign and donate some of my Kroger stock to him. I want him to be president, and I want his policies to get full approval (except I would like to try and convince him otherwise on the trade stuff tbh). I would excrete a sizable chunk of masonry if that happened. I really think it would make this country that I love more than anything else in this universe a better place. But I don't know if I can, because it seems too optimistic for someone like me. Ultimately, I don't know what to think. I'm a lot like Dana Scully—I want to believe, I'm just not sure if I can.

The takeaway from this rambling political post from yours truly is that there is an enormous amount of good in the Sanders campaign. Even if he doesn't win the nomination, Bernie Sanders is important and is a force to be reckoned with. Bernie taking this incredible leap of faith with the American people means that he gets voters talking about marginalized issues and presents a viable alternative to the conventional wisdom and tired old conversations—if one person on the ticket talks about these things in a debate, everyone else will be forced to bring their ideas to the table. And by debate season, if the American public is still interested, it's going to be damn hard brush a tidal wave of voices calling for answers off with some fancy rhetoric.

Bernie Sanders also does a damn good job in convincing even a cynic like me that I deserve someone that will fight for me. All of you do, my fellow Americans. You deserve someone that puts you first. That's what a good elected official is supposed to do. You deserve someone that will try and tackle the issues that are rarely talked about but present deep and problematic divisions instead of the tired old party politics. You deserve someone that will actually fight for liberty and justice for all. Whether you vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush or Rand Paul or me in seventeen years (Rose 2032!), you deserve that, above anything else, from your choice or candidate. You have so much power in this republic, and you deserve people in office that will respect that. Remember that moving forward.

So yeah. Moving forward I want to try and get to as many rallies as possible before primary season begins—living in Colorado, a swing state, we're going to get a lot of people coming through, and that at least excites me. If you want to go or hear of stuff let me know and I can be ambivalent unlike your candidates that will stand for things that matter (I will stop being Kierkegaard's worst nightmare by 2032 don't worry).

Yeah. Democracy. Changing the world. The ultimate problematic fave America. Life is grand, folks.

Thanks for reading :)