You might think that Bernie Sanders is a undemocratic asshole with zero class, who refuses to acknowledge the will of the voters and congratulate our historic presumptive nominee. So what? Ignore him. The primary is over.
You might think that Bernie Sanders is the party’s savior, who pushed our nominee to the left and ignited a conversation over topics the political establishment refused to debate. That’s great! Embrace those victories! But the voters spoke and the primary is over.
You might have a bug up your ass about Clinton. So what? Ignore her. The primary is over. You can either focus your energies on downballot races or advocate for your favorite issue or slink off to wherever Jill Stein’s handful of supporters spend their time. Or Fox News, you know, the regular Hillary-bashing locales.
So what’s the common theme here? The primary is over! Who gives a shit if Sanders endorses Clinton or if he’s going to vote for her or whatever? His supporters are already flocking to Clinton. Few are stupid enough to sit around and wait for Sanders to send them marching orders. They are quite adept at thinking for themselves. So frankly, if someone is still holding out at this point, it’s doubtful that even Sanders can get them to back Clinton. There are always dead-enders. Remember the PUMAs? 2008 was no different. And in the end, their numbers are so small as to be inconsequential.
Elizabeth Warren was always Plan A, and she’s now on the trail firing up the base. By refusing to concede, Sanders has squandered all the goodwill he had accumulated and has now been replaced. Hillary Clinton doesn’t need him anymore. He’s almost irrelevant this presidential cycle.
Almost. You know who is keeping him relevant? Those of you haters who furiously blog every word he says. Kapish? If you hate Bernie so much, the best way to get back at him is to not give him the attention he desperately wants. Just stop paying attention! He no longer matters this presidential cycle. Let it go. And if his supporters want to write about him, so what? Let THAT go as well! As long as it doesn’t cross into third-party activism or Fox News-style attacks on our nominee? Who cares? Let people be excited about their favorite politicians without you shitting on it.
Now, if you are a Sanders supporter, note I say irrelevant “this presidential cycle.” Sanders wasn’t able to build an establishment-busting operation, but neither did Howard Dean in 2004 and his campaign still morphed into Democracy for America, doing great work in the years since. Sanders can be relevant by helping build a strong bench of progressive Democrats who can, over time, work their way up the ranks. That’s a positive, constructive future that would benefit us all, and the approach he hopefully embraces. Because whatever he’s doing now? Who knows what he thinks that sore-loser gambit is accomplishing. He never set out to make friends, of course. But there’s a difference between making friends and turning off allies and sympathizers.
Regardless, the primary is over, did you hear? Let me reiterate, the primary is over. Pretty much everyone has moved on. Why haven’t you?
p.s. If you wonder why I’m not following my own advice about moving on, it’s because of train wreck blog posts like this one. Seriously, just move on so I can as well.