— from David Turnoy —
Back in the early 1990s, when I learned that there was a socialist Congressman from Vermont named Bernie Sanders, I was thrilled. Finally, I thought, a person with my political views is in somewhat of a position of power. I began contributing small amounts of money to keep him in the Congress and keep his ideas in circulation.
When Bernie declared himself a candidate for president last year, though I was skeptical due to his age, I was ecstatic. He quickly proved that he has the physical constitution of a much younger man, so his age was not an issue. I helped put on some local events for Bernie, and in my position as vice chair of the county Democrats, I ran the Orcas Democratic Party caucus and the county convention, where in both cases Bernie triumphed handily, as he did throughout our state. Bernie inspired millions of new participants to jump into the campaign, fighting for such causes as raising the minimum wage, free college, reducing student debt, single payer health care, fighting climate change, and so many other very important issues. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the system was rigged, and Bernie did not win the nomination. However, in the process of the campaign, the eventual winner adopted most of Bernie’s positions.
I am writing today, as a Bernie supporter, to ask you to vote for the Democratic nominee for president. Yes, her name is Hillary Clinton, and yes, she has a lot of baggage. However, the platform adopted by the Democratic Party, which Hillary will be expected to bring to fruition, is just about everything Bernie was calling for in his campaign, and it is the most progressive platform in history. And in fact, Bernie is asking you to vote this way as well.
Here is what he said in an interview on September 20: “I’m a United States senator, and I have a responsibility to the people of my state—also to the people of this country. The first thing that I’ve got to think about is: What does a Donald Trump presidency mean for the people of my state and for the people of this country? And for the people of the world? I think it would be an absolute disaster. It would be beyond a disaster. Therefore, as a United States senator, I’ve got to do everything that I can to make sure that Trump does not become president.
“Now, do I have strong differences of opinion with Hillary Clinton? I think the whole world knows that. The goal here is not to say, ‘Hillary Clinton is the best thing in the history of the world—she’s great, she’s wonderful, she’s terrific.’ What we should be saying is that if you look at virtually all of the issues of importance to the people of this country—issues like making public colleges and universities tuition-free—Hillary Clinton is now on record for doing that for people making $125,000 a year or less. You know what? That is pretty revolutionary. That will transform the lives of millions of families in this country. That’s what Clinton stands for.
“Clinton is on record supporting a doubling of community health centers in this country, which will mean that tens of millions of people—poor people—will have access to health care that do not have it today. Is that significant? It is very significant. Clinton is on record supporting pay equity for women, so that women do not continue to make 79 cents on the dollar compared to men. I happen to believe that one of the great crises facing the planet is climate change. Donald Trump happens not to think that climate change is real. Clinton takes it seriously.
“The point is not to say that we love Hillary Clinton or that we agree with her on all of the issues. The goal is to go above that and ask: Which candidate will do a better job for middle-class and working-class families? I think the answer is obvious.
“The second point to be made is that politics does not end the day of the election. The day after the election, when Hillary Clinton wins, you can be assured that I and other progressives will be saying to President-elect Clinton, ‘Take a good look at the Democratic platform that you supported—because together, President-elect Clinton, we are going to implement that platform. We’re going to involve millions of people in the process who are going to break up the large Wall Street banks, who are going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free, who are going to be very aggressive on climate change and transforming our energy system.’
“But if Trump is elected president… I just don’t know what America looks like four years after his election, in terms of the kind of bigotry that will be erupting, in terms of the kind of divisiveness that we will see, the kind of demagoguery that we will see.
“On many, many issues, Clinton’s views are progressive. In many areas, they are awesome.
“That’s where I am. I’m not going to sit here and say to you that Hillary Clinton is going to be great on all these issues with absolute confidence. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that on many, many issues, her views are progressive. In many areas, they are awesome. Where they’re not progressive, we’ve got to push her, and the day after the election, we will mobilize millions of people to make sure that we make her the most progressive president that she can be.”
So that’s where Bernie Sanders is. What about a third party candidate, you ask. Many are excited about Libertarian Gary Johnson. Do you know what Libertarians believe in? No regulation of corporations, no public schools, no social safety net, for starters. This is the opposite of Bernie Sanders. What about the Green candidate, Jill Stein? If she had a chance, sure; I voted for Ralph Nader twice myself. But Jill Stein doesn’t have a chance, and with a fascist like Trump running, it is just too dangerous to contemplate what might happen if he becomes president.
The great American novelist Sinclair Lewis anticipated this 80 years ago during the emergence of fascism in Europe; he wrote It Can’t Happen Here, which is the story of a demagogue like Trump getting elected in the United States and the terror that ensues.
In closing, if you can’t stand the thought of voting for Hillary Clinton, think in terms of voting for the most progressive platform in history, a platform that is as close to Bernie Sanders’s platform as possible. Then during the next four years, those of us in Our Revolution and those in other progressive groups will work to keep the pressure on Hillary to make the platform real.
Hillary Clinton needs our votes to win, and if she gets them and does win, she will be that much more obligated to implement the platform. Rarely has there been a time when the progressives in this country could sway an election, and this is that time. If, instead, we get Donald Trump as president, the next four years will see us fighting battles in the streets against the thugs that join with him. You have a choice in which battle to be involved—choose carefully.
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For five decades, I have been voting for the lesser evil. In what may be one of my last presidential votes, I am voting my conscience.
Neo-fascist Donald Trump and Romney Democrat Hillary Clinton don’t offer an alternative to the 99%.
Swamped by debt, millions of Americans wallow in quick sands as the wealthy elites stock their yachts with caviar and engage in idle chatter.
Elected presidents don’t read party platforms. Platforms are meaningless documents written to assuage doubts.
Washington state is a safe state for Hillary Clinton. Why wouldn’t I vote my conscience?
Green Party Nominee Dr. Jill Stein in 2016!
Thom Carnevale
Orcas Island
Thank you David, you added clarity and specifics to an ongoing important community conversation. Spread this exact message around to those that might not vote at all, encourage them to vote for Hillary, a hopeful progressive direction .
I wanted to add one more thought that I failed to bring up in my article. The next president will have the opportunity to nominate several Supreme Court justices, including Scalia’s currently vacant seat which remains vacant because the Senate Republicans refuse to do their Constitutional duty to bring the president’s nominee to a vote. One of the reasons so much progress was made in this country in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s is the fact that we had a liberal Supreme Court, as opposed to what we have faced since Nixon put Rehnquist and Powell on the court in the early 1970s. We can have Trump nominating ridiculously reactionary anti-choice justices, or we can have Hillary nominating reliably liberal justices. Think about the fact that we got Citizens United due to the make-up of the current court. You get one more decent person on the court, and you overturn Citizens United overnight instead of having to get 20 more states to approve a Constitutional amendment. I have worked on the Washington state amendment. We spent all last year gathering signatures, and now the initiative will finally be on this November’s ballot. Thinking about repeating this same effort in 20 more states blows my mind.
Thom, I totally sympathize with your point of view. I was hoping we would get the opportunity to vote for Bernie, and that was taken away from us. But with a fascist waiting in the wings, this election is too important to take a chance that voting third party won’t bring us the disaster Trump would be. Obviously, you and others will vote the way you decide to vote, but as a strong Bernie supporter, I feel it important to follow Bernie’s wishes. We need to build a serious third party of the people, but it needs to be done from the grass roots over many years, not during an election year where the outcome could be a fascist president.
I am a strong supporter of Bernie and all he stands for. If he says “vote for Hillary”, I will vote for Hillary. Good article, David
Thank you David for a very powerful article. After watching Frontline on TV the other night, which revealed the histories of both candidates, I am more and more frightened of Donald and more and more convinced that Hillary is not only qualified but right for the country. Her detractors have listened to the critics so often that they believe the hyperbole, but watching her history is what gave me the comfort to vote and to convince others to vote for her.
Thanks again for your thoughts and convictions.
I agree that the Frontline special on the backgrounds of the two major party candidates was well done, and provided chilling insight into our choice in this election. Both candidates grew up in homes with cold, distant parents, and each began a career trying to prove themselves to those parents. One reacted by striving to make the world a better place; the other, by being a narcissistic bully. Hillary is an imperfect person; most people are. Being reminded of her long history of efforts of working for the good, and of the incessant, crazy, baseless vitriol that she faced from the right, most often simply because she, as a woman, dared to express an opinion, only reinforced what, for me, seems to be an obvious choice.
I, too, have been a third party voter, spending most of my adult life in “safe” states and having the privilege of voting to “send a message” to the two major parties that I was tired of their inability to address real isues. This year, I think it important to vote FOR Hillary and AGAINST the crude, racist, sexist, misogynist, uninformed Trump. We need to make a statement to the world that we reject this hateful cartoon character.
I think that the 99% arguments we have heard since Occupy Wall Street are useful in pointing out that there exists a huge gap between the truly powerful and the rest of us, but that rhetoric doesn’t really get us very far. The fact remains that we have a large middle class that, while possibly unhappy with current conditions, is doing pretty well in the big picture. We also have various subgroups that have been trying to make their way in America, and are vulnerable to the hate-driven fascistic tendencies demonstrated by Mr. Trump and his followers. (If you listen only to him, you may be appalled, but you need to see what his followers are saying all over the internet to take the full measure of what we risk in this election.)
Finally, I’d recommend reading some of the writers who have recently taken a step back from the heated rhetoric of this godforsaken election and looked at Secretary Clinton’s record from start to finish, without the shrieks of BENGHAZI!! and other manufactured scandals (MURDERS!! DEATHBED!! WHITEWATER!!) in the background. She has, in fact, a great record of progressive action; she’s made some mistakes, but none with demonstrated damage to the country, and all likely to inform her Presidency. She doesn’t smile as much as some would like, but’s she’s whip smart and uses her intelligence. She wears pantsuits, but functioned well in the Senate as a worker bee, learning to compromise and produce results like healthcare for vulnerbale children. She seems cold and guarded to some, probably because she has been subjected, since her husband became Governor of Arkansas, decades ago, to the ugliest series of baseless attacks our country has seen since McCarthy.
So, yes, I kicked and screamed last year, hoping for the perfect candidate. He or she did not appear. I’m voting for Hillary. For my granddaughter.
Gosh, it’s not easy to be a political scientist. Political Scientists are trained (Ideally speaking) to watch for nuances in the political trade.
Nuances are great predictors of future behavior by politicians.
Admittedly, I am cautious of politicians who court former State and Defense Department officials who have served in administrations that thrust us into the unnecessary war in Iraq. (Oops, I forgot Hillary voted for the war.)
For example, Secretary Clinton has spent the greater part of the current campaign seeking favor with former George W. Bush officials who embrace a neo-con foreign policy perspective.
Former Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (2001-2005) is a prime example. Another example is James Armitage, Undersecretary of State under GWB. Both men have endorsed Clinton for president.
Seeking favor from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger whom many fair minded people have called a war criminal is another indicator of how a President Hillary Clinton would govern in the foreign policy arena.
Leo Tolstoy, in his later years, stood outside both the political and religious orthodoxy of his times. Tolstoys’ belief that you couldn’t support secular or religious institutions who manifest trademarks that violate conscience was not a new idea. Remember American William Lloyd Garrison who fought against slavery and published volumes on honest dissent?
Tolstoy in his later years continued to challenge convention; speaking of complicity as one of the greater evils.
In this instance, I can not stand with either major party candidate.
Bernie has my heart, but he is wrong on his support for the lesser of two evils.
Thom Carnevale
Orcas Island
Thank you, David, for your extensive analysis of the current political situation and decision to support Hillary Clinton for President. As you know, we agree on many progressive issues and occasionally disagree on a few important matters. In this case, my only disagreement is on whether the Democratic primary was “rigged” — which I’m glad you say is your opinion, not fact.
Hillary received a much greater percentage of the black and Hispanic vote than Bernie, sweeping southern states by large margins as well as the vote-rich Democratic bastions of New York and California. She even won the meaningless Washington state primary, 52-48 percent. She was the clear winner, with or without superdelegates. It’s important to establish this fact, for without it there’s a seeming, undeserved taint on Hillary’s candidacy.
Now that we face the horrid prospect of a possible Trump Presidency for the future of US democracy and the world in general, it seems that any reasonable progressive who’s not all-consumed with standing rigidly upon his principles would vote for Hillary. This is probably the most important election of our lives and maybe the most important since 1932. That same year, the Socialists and Communists could not come together in Germany, and they got Hitler. We face a similar choice.
Some may think Washington a safe state in which to vote based on principle. If so, please go read the Facebook site of State Senator Doug Ericksen of Ferndale, Deputy Chairman of the state Trump campaign. In one recent post he suggested that votes for Johnson and Stein could dilute the Clinton vote so much that Trump could squeak by and win the state with a plurality of the votes. That might be their strategy.
Thus casting a supposedly meaningless vote for a third-party candidate could suddenly and unexpectedly become very meaningful in a way that those voters did not at all intend. This is especially true in other states where the Clinton/Trump margin is much closer. I wonder what the folks in Florida who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 think now, after the Iraq War that Bush II duped us into and all its follow-on consequences.
You can vote your conscience and support neither Clinton nor Trump, but the consequences of that vote may be on your conscience forever after.
Thank you, David, for your thoughtful article. The Supreme Court appointments are one of the strongest arguments for me in supporting Hillary. However, new members of the court cannot overturn previous decisions “overnight”. Citizens United has been decided. The Court does not sua sponte reconsider its previous decisions. A new case would have to come up through the court system.
Thank you, David, for your letter, as a Bernie supporter, urging Bernie supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton. I think we do not have the luxury to cast our vote in a way that might make Donald Trump president.
I also thank you for mentioning Sinclair Lewis’s novel It Can’t Happen Here. I recently re-read it and it is a chilling experience in the current moment. I recommend it to everyone. It is available in a new edition at the OI Public Library.
I also want to thank Michael Riordan for pointing out the following: “This is probably the most important election of our lives and maybe the most important since 1932. That same year, the Socialists and Communists could not come together in Germany, and they got Hitler. We face a similar choice.”
With that in mind, please read the following review of the first volume of a new biography of Hitler. This review is clearly not just about the book, but also about Trump and the current moment:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/books/hitler-ascent-volker-ullrich.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fmichiko-kakutani&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
I grew up playing in the rubble fields of post-war Hamburg, Germany. Please take it from me: voting in a way that can bring a racist demagogue to power can have catastrophic consequences.
Thanks to Jens for pointing out the new biography of Hitler; the review paints an ominously similar picture of a nutcase that ended up getting elected and then became one of the world’s worst mass murderers.
Moana correctly points out that the court can’t automatically overturn Citizens United, that a case is needed. I think it will take a lot less time for such a case to be adjudicated, though, than for 20 more states to pass a Constitutional Amendment.
Thom, I can only once again sympathize with your point of view. For Hillary to have met with war criminal Kissinger to have sought his approval is pretty sad. [I could use much worse descriptors than sad.] We had the nerve to support and work for a candidate with high moral aspirations, and the establishment saw to it that we didn’t get to have him win. I am voting for the platform and against Trump.