We have a winner
Thanks to Hillary Clinton, any little girl can grow up in America believing that she can be a major party nominee for President of the United States. The lesson is this: Anything is possible!Except for tuition-free and debt-free higher education. That’s too expensive. And not health care as a human right. There’s no way that could be passed through Congress, not in a million years. And no cuts in military spending. That would make us look weak to our enemies. And there’s no way we can get money out of politics. Because…um.. I’m unclear what the reason is for that. Hillary won’t release the transcripts of those speeches.
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Notice the qualifier in the first sentence above: The first female major party nominee for President of the United States. Plenty of women have been on your presidential ballot. Most feminists have just been ignoring them. I voted for an entirely female presidential ticket in 2008-- Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, two women of color representing the Green Party. Then I did it again in 2012-- Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala representing the Greens again. I haven’t voted for a male chief executive since Nader in 2004. If Stein has the party’s nomination again this year, I hope she chooses a man as her running mate. I think the party is ready to accept one.
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A question for Trump’s critics. If you believe him when he says he would build a wall along the Mexican border, and that he would not permit Muslims to enter the country, do you also believe him when he says he would not implement cuts to Social Security nor raise the retirement age for SS benefits? If the man plans to fulfill every promise he’s made on the stump, then that puts him one up on Hillary Clinton in respect to Social Security. As recently as February, her campaign website said she would not rule out the possibility of making cuts and the director of the group Social Security Works has stated that the policy statement on the site does not definitively promise not to cut the program. Other groups fear that a Clinton administration might use cuts as a chip in a "grand bargain" agreement with Congressional Republicans.
If you’ve backed the candidacy of Bernie Sanders for president, here’s an accomplishment of your movement upon which you can already hang your hat. The Obama administration was moving on Social Security as recently as 2013. Five years ago he offered to change the way benefits are calculated to make them less generous. Bernie’s high-profile socialist campaign spelled the end for that little escapade. After Bernie made his announcement to expand the program, Clinton and Obama both followed suit.
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What Clinton voters still don’t get about Bernie’s voters is that it’s not about him. It’s not a rock star appeal, although the size of the crowds lend to that. Traditional Democrats assume that’s what it is because that’s who they are. They fawned over two Kennedys, Clinton, and Obama. They've been looking for the next Kennedy since Dealey Plaza.
Bernie also doesn’t control his supporters. We control him. The decisions he has made to call Hillary to the mat on matters related to her corruption, and to continue the campaign to the convention despite the delegate count are decisions that are expected of him. By us. And we are not all Democrats. Indeed, most of us are not. Your party has been breached by a group of voters, many of them brand new, that do not tolerate militaristic misadventure and one enriching herself at the public trough just because she has a "D" after her name. Bernie didn't raise money for other Democrats because what Democrats exactly would be the beneficiaries of such actions? The contributors want their money spent wisely.
There is not now, and has not been, any delusions among Sanders' voters about his chances. The details of game-rigging are fresh news to many of the Hillary faithful, but Sanders fans knew from the beginning. That's why we've been with him.
posted by CM @ 8:37 AM
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