Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had turned in two solid election performances in the first two states of the Democratic Primary. He nearly won Iowa and went on the next week to win New Hampshire decisively. Rather than simply be happy about it, some Sanders supporters (egged on heavily by pundits who really want to keep a “horse race” going for ratings) have taken to taunting those of us who support Clinton with graphics of Sanders’ support with young people (especially women) in Iowa and New Hampshire.
One possible reason that young people (in states that have voted so far) might be flocking to Bernie that is not exciting, and isn’t about how young Dem primary voters mostly believe Hillary is an evil hellbitch sent from Goldman Sachs to turn them into catfood for vagina voting old hags, is that the Sanders platform includes a proposal for tuition-free public college for all. Which, leaving aside considerations of its feasibility in being passed and implemented, is a great idea! I think progressives/liberals across the board agree on that. But when I and others have raised that as a factor in Sanders’ youth support, some people have become strangely upset over it.
Consider the following scenario:
1. “People on the Left agree that free college is a worthy goal.”
2. “Both Clinton and Sanders have proposed free college, with Sanders’ plan going farther on that.”
3. “Maybe young voters prefer Sanders in part because of the free college promise.”
and then
4. “What??!? Well, I never!! How DARE you accuse young people of supporting Sanders for “free stuff”, you monster!”
It’s bizarre, truly. I say it’s great what Sanders is doing, in making a point about how the government should actually be doing things to improve people’s lives, instead of collecting taxes from us and handing it over to the massive security state and other favored interests while services and infrastructure are starved! Hells yeah to free college! And all kinds of other “free stuff” too! Democrats are going to be accused of being the party of welfare and free stuff anyway so let’s start talking about all the “free stuff” we want to give people!
But instead, I see liberals who on one hand tout Sanders’ democratic socialist platform but on the other are acting like losing Best Supporting Actress nominees – It’s okay, it’s just an honor to be considered! – at the prospect of Democratic voters actually wanting what they are being promised! WTF? It seems to be both an indication of how effective the right wing bootstraps puritanical work-work-work-but-deny-yourself narrative is and also that some Sanders supporters assume everyone who isn’t voting for Clinton just purely hates her as much as they do and any “reasons” they offer are just for show.
thats bernie not genie spell check gets me again!
congressman john lewis said he didn’t see genie in the 1960’s during his civil rights activities. he didn’t see hillary either during the march on washington in 1963 or selma in 1965 because she was supporting goldwater when he voted against the civil rights bill!
HRC admits to being a Goldwater Girl in her book. That does put John Lewis’s Bernie slam into perspective, but I don’t hold that against her, I’m a recovering libertarian myself.
I think one reason Hillary supporters get butthurt when you don’t support her is because it doesn’t seem fair, Hillary has worked hard and done everything right to be elected POTUS.
If she was running in 1990.
But this is 2016, the biggest danger to the USA isn’t ISIS, it’s Wall Street.
BTW, the dig about Bernie’s plans being “feasible” is weak. Sorry Donna. Hillary is going to have a GOTeaP controlled congress and senate, too, and if you think the Right has been mean to Obama, well, they have decades of hate built up for Hillary.
If you’re talking about money for things like Single Payer Healthcare and college tuition, well, the rest of the first world seems to make it work.
So what I hear when Hillary supporters say Bernie’s plans aren’t feasible is “Yes We Can’t!” I suspect I’m not alone, it’s not a good message.
Don’t worry, I’ll vote for the Dem either way.
Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are the future, and instead of picking on each other about who we support, we should be cultivating more Bernie and Elizabeth’s. The way the Koch’s have been grooming right wing candidates for decades.
Hillary’s fans complain about Bernie’s and Bernie’s fans complain about Hillary’s.
Could we talk about the actual candidates, their positions, and their histories instead?
But I did talk about a position! Free college! Which is a good thing that both candidates support, with one going farther than the other on it. I want Democrats to push for those great things without backtracking on them when it appears that voters might *gasp* actually want them!