I’ve noticed that some journalists have taken to referring to Bernie Sanders supporters as “fans” — evoking an unserious comedian or singer rather than a candidate for the presidency — and not, correctly, as voters or supporters.
Josh Marshall did it today on Twitter:
xMSNBC Host To Top Sanders Aide: Telling Fans He Can Still Win Is 'Dishonest' @TPMhttps://t.co/oQuzWLWdLX
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 13, 2016And Matthew Yglesias has done it quite a few times:
xBernie fans might want to look into donating to Donna Edwards https://t.co/iahatOO8YI
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 5, 2016 xWhich is in part just to say that I think the real Bernie Sanders is more pragmatic than his current fans or critics realizes.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 16, 2016At one point, Matthew Yglesias even goes so far as to refer to Bernie Sanders voters as “fans,” but Trump voters as “supporters,” in the same tweet.
x@jbarro You probably could, though as you can probably guess I meet a lot more Bernie fans than Trump supporters.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 11, 2016So, at least in the mind of this VoxExplainer, Bernie Sanders supporters are even less serious than those choosing to vote for future Idiot-in-Chief Donald J. Trump.
It’s a small thing, I know, but words matter — especially when they’re coming from (generally) respected journalists.
Bernie Sanders supporters aren’t voting for Bernie because he tells good jokes or he has sexy hair or he’s stylish — no, they’re voting for him, because they think he would be a good President of the United States of America.
It’s dismissive, childish and petty for “journalists” — especially ones with an obvious axe to grind against Bernie Sanders — to refer to serious voters as “fans.”
I’m not a “fan” — I’m a voter supporting Bernie Sanders.