So, this is going to be a sort of rambling post that I am writing mostly to explore my own thoughts on the matter. Watching the Bernie/Hillary fight is incredibly surreal to see, and I'm still not entirely sure how to react to it. I really don't want Bernie to become president. Not in a "I appreciate the sentiment, but the supreme court is too important to take risks on" sense. I don't think he'd be good at it. He's too one-dimensional, and seems mostly indifferent to any number of issues. And he's too ideological to get into the weeds of crafting good policy.
And yet, his candidacy has reached a level of support I really never saw coming. And as it was growing over the summer, I was basically thinking "oh, that's cool, he'll probably pull Hillary to the left. It's good for the election not to be a cakewalk." I still think Hillary will crush him in March. But it's also past the point of being a healthy issues insurgency. People REALLY fucking dislike Hillary. A lot of people I know and respect are deeply invested in Bernie's campaign, and it's kind of shocking to me. Not least of all because amazing to me to see how earnestly people believe I can't be a "true liberal" while supporting Hillary.
On some level, it shouldn't be shocking, and it's weird for me to be on the side that I am on. I was very pro-bama and anti-Hillary in 2008. And a lot of the reasons I felt that way then are still true now. I think it sucks to have a dynastic presidency on any level. I am still really not cool with the fact that Hills supported the Iraq war. So, I guess the question is, why was I so on board with the anti-Hillary campaign in 2008, while 8 years later being completely on board with her? It seems there are a bunch of reasons for that. And some of it has to do with the differences between Bernie and Obama, but more of it, I think, is simply an acknowledgement that quite a lot has happened over the last 8 years.
I am a huge Obama fan. To the point where I don't think I will in my lifetime see another president I am as ideologically aligned with. And I am SO HAPPY with the progress that I've seen in this country over the last 8 years. Part of that is the still woefully underappreciated work of the 111th Congress. Part of it is the the dramatic swing in national mood we've seen for equality, and the Supreme court's willingness to accept that. And there has also been the last four years of Obama working the levers of executive power, and the current Congress's realization that they can actually govern without facing a revolt from their base, as long as they're quiet about it.
Which comes back to a question often raised in 2008. Which was the real Obama: the one who ran to Hillary's left, or the one who wanted to be a pragmatic dealmaker? The answer, I think, is either and both: it was just a matter of what the situation required. The reality of that is how Obama can simultaneously be a traitor to the left and a tyrant king to the right.
Looking over the 16 year span of the Bush and Obama presidencies, which span my entire adult life, I don't know how any person who calls themself a liberal can't look on that be proud of the overall direction. If you're want more, want more, and if you're mad about certain compromises along the way, be mad. My point is that I've seen in the last sixteen years the country rapidly swing from some really unfortunate, dark years, to some incredibly promising ones.
All of which is to say, I don't want, and don't need, a revolution. I want continuation. I want to see a democrat pick the successor for RBG, Scalia, and Kennedy, and think that will do more for campaign finance the just about anything else. I want someone who was in the state department to continue the reconciliation with Cuba and Iran, and who will continue Obama's ISIS policy. I want someone who is not disinterested in foreign policy being the one to interact with the rest of the world. I want someone who cares about less politicized topics like autism and Alzheimer's, and I want a person who cares more about the practical details than grand sweeping ideas.
I want someone who gets the reality that the 111th Congress isn't showing up in DC again anytime soon. Any idiot can look at a map, see where congressional districts are, see where Bernie fans a located, and recognize all of Bernie's talk about a political revolution is insane claptrap nonsense. Continuing to support Obamacare and making the most of the ACA is more important than pushing for single payer. There's a real window to have criminal justice reform in america, but the last 8 years of party relationships in congress should make it obvious that Bernie's outside in approach to politics make him the least likely candidate to get anything done successfully.
I definitely don't want someone who thought it would be a good idea to primary Obama four years ago.
It's a shame to see how heated things have become. But I also think it's an interesting, strange window into 8 years ago. Seeing the sexism directed to Hillary lately reminds me of the racism in 2008, but also makes me wonder how much sexism I was blind to back then. Seeing the (what I see as) naivety of the Bernie camp makes me wonder how much of that was going on in team Obama back when. Probably a lot.
Anyway, I really look forward to having this all resolved. I think it's too bad that a lot of his supporters are so determined to stop Hillary, or not support her in the general, because I'm convinced a Hillary presidency is the best case scenario for the majority of their policy positions. I mean in a sense it's great that there are so many passionately liberal young voters, but there's also a lot of ways I really don't get the way that passion manifests itself. I think that means I'm old now?
