An Open Letter to My Friends Feeling the Bern
Many of you are my friends and family. I have watched as you have invested your time, money and good offices in an effort to help Bernie Sanders win the 2016 Democratic nomination for President. And his candidacy has succeeded beyond most people’s wildest expectations. You millennials, who feel left out and left behind by a rigged economy were the fuel that started the Bern and you have carried the campaign to wins everywhere that raw enthusiasm and hard work were enough. This last weekend you did it again winning 3 western caucus states by huge margins.
BUT there is a cloud which rains on these wins, onewhich is usually expressed in mathematics. Simply put large blocks of minority voters in early primary states gave Hillary such wide margins that is very difficult for Bernie to catch her in a system with no winner take all states. It is not mathematically impossible by any means; it would just take a major change in voting patterns which have settled into a fairly predictable pattern. Hillary was in the same position 8 years ago and she is playing it the same way Obama did then, she is proceeding cautiously, not wasting her resources on a try for an early knockout punch. 8 years ago, to be so close and yet so far made her supporters angry and frustrated and it is now having the same effect on many of you.
If the trends don’t change, my advice to you is twofold. One, do not give in until Bernie decides its time and the Hillary people meet any reasonable terms he has. You and he have proven the force of your ideas and they should be reflected in the platform, in the speeches at the convention and the choice for Vice President. Two, keep your powder dry.
The first Presidential election in which I could vote was 1968. President Johnson had turned a “police action” in South Vietnamese with a few thousand advisors into a full out American War. He had never made this part of his election campaign. He embellished upon the truth to justify his actions. The war was going badly and my friends we dying over there. I supported McCarthy in New Hampshire, then when his victory brought Bobby into the race, I went to work for him. Then after winning the California Primary and looking like he had a fairly clear path to the nomination, Bobby was killed.
Then came the convention which nominated Hubert Humphrey who hadn’t run in any primary. We knew he wasn’t an evil man. He had been a great leader on civil rights and labor issues but he’s been Lyndon’s lapdog on the war. As the convention went on young people were beat up by police in the streets of Chicago and Humphrey was bubbling on about running a happy campaign as a Happy Warrior. If ever there was any question about how isolated the rooms at the top are, here was proof. We weren’t going to be happy about our classmates killed in the jungles of Vietnam or those who had their skulls cracked in Chicago’s public parks.
During this time, I swore I would never vote for Humphrey. We didn’t have social media back then and so my voice didn’t carry beyond the hundred or so friends with whom I shared political cause. Then as I cooled off, I thought about the consequences of my actions. It was clear that if Humphrey won he was not going to be able to continue to prosecute the war. We had made that impossible with our victories in the primaries. But what about Nixon. He said he had a secret plan to end the war but when you listened close he always talked about us losing because we hadn’t invested enough in winning. I thought we had already invested far too much. I still have those thoughts every time I visit the “Wall.”
On the other thinks I cared deeply about such as civil rights, worker’s rights the environment the only choice consistent with my values was Humphrey. I got behind him and worked for the Democratic ticket that fall. It was a close election that we lost because of those who didn’t come back. My friends who argued foolishly that Humphrey and Nixon were “just alike.’ Two candidates might be alike in that you don’t like either of them, that doesn’t mean the consequences which will flow from either one’s election will be similar. Nixon continued the war another 4 years. During this time my wife’s father was killed in the struggle. Nixon expanded the war beyond Vietnam. He killed thousands with his bombing and in the end signed a treaty almost identical to the one LBJ was going to sign in 1968 before Nixon scuttled it because he knew it would cost the Republicans the election.
After winning election, Nixon designed the “southern strategy” which we now know that Nixon and his aides saw as a racist strategy. He turned the Supreme Court into a regressive force. He corrupted the government.
Here is my point. If I had listened to my anger and frustration in Chicago, I would regret to my dying day that I didn’t do all I could to keep Nixon from getting to the White House. This is a similarly important year. In considering the consequences of our actions, we need go no further than “Citizens United.” Bernie says it is the rotten fruit that is spoiling the whole barrel. If Bernie defies odds and is the President who changes the court, great. If Hillary wins the nomination, getting rid of the poison fruit is no less important and therefore her election is a priority for all of us.
Many of you are my friends and family. I have watched as you have invested your time, money and good offices in an effort to help Bernie Sanders win the 2016 Democratic nomination for President. And his candidacy has succeeded beyond most people’s wildest expectations. You millennials, who feel left out and left behind by a rigged economy were the fuel that started the Bern and you have carried the campaign to wins everywhere that raw enthusiasm and hard work were enough. This last weekend you did it again winning 3 western caucus states by huge margins.
BUT there is a cloud which rains on these wins, onewhich is usually expressed in mathematics. Simply put large blocks of minority voters in early primary states gave Hillary such wide margins that is very difficult for Bernie to catch her in a system with no winner take all states. It is not mathematically impossible by any means; it would just take a major change in voting patterns which have settled into a fairly predictable pattern. Hillary was in the same position 8 years ago and she is playing it the same way Obama did then, she is proceeding cautiously, not wasting her resources on a try for an early knockout punch. 8 years ago, to be so close and yet so far made her supporters angry and frustrated and it is now having the same effect on many of you.
If the trends don’t change, my advice to you is twofold. One, do not give in until Bernie decides its time and the Hillary people meet any reasonable terms he has. You and he have proven the force of your ideas and they should be reflected in the platform, in the speeches at the convention and the choice for Vice President. Two, keep your powder dry.
The first Presidential election in which I could vote was 1968. President Johnson had turned a “police action” in South Vietnamese with a few thousand advisors into a full out American War. He had never made this part of his election campaign. He embellished upon the truth to justify his actions. The war was going badly and my friends we dying over there. I supported McCarthy in New Hampshire, then when his victory brought Bobby into the race, I went to work for him. Then after winning the California Primary and looking like he had a fairly clear path to the nomination, Bobby was killed.
Then came the convention which nominated Hubert Humphrey who hadn’t run in any primary. We knew he wasn’t an evil man. He had been a great leader on civil rights and labor issues but he’s been Lyndon’s lapdog on the war. As the convention went on young people were beat up by police in the streets of Chicago and Humphrey was bubbling on about running a happy campaign as a Happy Warrior. If ever there was any question about how isolated the rooms at the top are, here was proof. We weren’t going to be happy about our classmates killed in the jungles of Vietnam or those who had their skulls cracked in Chicago’s public parks.
During this time, I swore I would never vote for Humphrey. We didn’t have social media back then and so my voice didn’t carry beyond the hundred or so friends with whom I shared political cause. Then as I cooled off, I thought about the consequences of my actions. It was clear that if Humphrey won he was not going to be able to continue to prosecute the war. We had made that impossible with our victories in the primaries. But what about Nixon. He said he had a secret plan to end the war but when you listened close he always talked about us losing because we hadn’t invested enough in winning. I thought we had already invested far too much. I still have those thoughts every time I visit the “Wall.”
On the other thinks I cared deeply about such as civil rights, worker’s rights the environment the only choice consistent with my values was Humphrey. I got behind him and worked for the Democratic ticket that fall. It was a close election that we lost because of those who didn’t come back. My friends who argued foolishly that Humphrey and Nixon were “just alike.’ Two candidates might be alike in that you don’t like either of them, that doesn’t mean the consequences which will flow from either one’s election will be similar. Nixon continued the war another 4 years. During this time my wife’s father was killed in the struggle. Nixon expanded the war beyond Vietnam. He killed thousands with his bombing and in the end signed a treaty almost identical to the one LBJ was going to sign in 1968 before Nixon scuttled it because he knew it would cost the Republicans the election.
After winning election, Nixon designed the “southern strategy” which we now know that Nixon and his aides saw as a racist strategy. He turned the Supreme Court into a regressive force. He corrupted the government.
Here is my point. If I had listened to my anger and frustration in Chicago, I would regret to my dying day that I didn’t do all I could to keep Nixon from getting to the White House. This is a similarly important year. In considering the consequences of our actions, we need go no further than “Citizens United.” Bernie says it is the rotten fruit that is spoiling the whole barrel. If Bernie defies odds and is the President who changes the court, great. If Hillary wins the nomination, getting rid of the poison fruit is no less important and therefore her election is a priority for all of us.