Back in the ‘70s I knew Bernie Sanders. At that time he was a perennial candidate for Vermont's governorship, struggling to get 5% of the vote. What was unique about Bernie was his amazing persistence and consistency, working tirelessly to articulate progressive/socialist truths and to build a progressive political presence in the state. Because of his exceptional dedication to those ideals for over four decades, he is now a presidential candidate.
Fast forward to 2015. In spite of that extraordinary history, I reluctantly concluded that I would support Hillary Clinton for president for one simple reason, I believed that Hillary would be more electable. In spite of the fact that I saw her as a “business as usual” establishment politician, who did not inspire me in any way and who certainly lacked Bernie’s incredible integrity, I assumed that once again I would end up voting for the “lesser of two evils”.
But, I have changed my mind. Putting it simply, I have come to believe that Bernie is the only hope for real progressive change- for breaking our headlong plunge towards environmental disaster, economic disparity, and the myriad of social injustices that are being visited on poor, people of color, Muslims, women and others. Bernie is talking about change, real change and his amazing consistency from struggling third party candidate to U.S. senator shows that he is not giving election year lip service, he means it. Bernie is not a politician, he is the real deal!
I am a boomer, my time on this earth is growing shorter and I am gravely concerned about the future of this world. I can support Hillary, knowing that she will obviously be better than any of the Republican field, but also knowing that all she will do is rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Or I can vote for someone who is going to fight tirelessly for real change. I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils, that’s why I am ready to do all that I can to support Bernie.