Political Revolution: Now That Many Have Quit

The political revolution started by Bernie Sanders continues. If we were to liken what happened this year to the same stage of the Revolutionary War, we are at The Declaration of Independence.

There were significant casualties in the loss of the battle for the nomination.

Many have quit the cause Bernie Sanders supports believing the General leading the charge is wayward, and that the best way to continue growing the revolution is from the top down in greener pastures.

I won’t criticize anyone whose conscience simply will not allow them to vote for the nominee of the Democratic Party. I have voted third party and casted write in votes in previous elections, so I understand that position. You are welcome to participate in ways other than that. You also will be welcome back in at any time you want. It is that kind of inclusion that Bernie promotes.

You are also welcome if you are a long term Democrat who liked what Bernie was able to accomplish getting the platform moved left, and would like to see the nation move toward people with those ideals replacing those in office who do not execute their jobs faithfully.

We need not be coy about what we are doing. This is not a covert operation. We are going to take over the identity of the Democratic Party.

Bernie, and his supporters who listen to what he says, will be doing what they can to make certain the other candidate does not get in office. Many of us will vote for Hillary because that is what the General of the revolution says is the best situation for the movement to make a difference.

Again, I have voted third party and casted write in votes in previous elections. I hope our disagreement on the method does not distract us from the common goal of the end result.

I could offer up the elections of 2000, 1968, 1912, and 1876 as examples of elections that votes cast for conscience made a difference, but you have already been offered those by other people, and can easily look them up on Google, so I trust you understand what you are doing is not anything new.

If you must cast your vote as a protest vote, do so.

My great great grandfathers might have cast protest votes in 1876. Their wives would not have been allowed to vote, of course. That election was a long time ago, so it may not matter to you today. That election represented the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the Jim Crow era.

The election in 1912 gave us the switch from Republicans being the progressive party to the party of big business, the supporters of Eugene McCarthy not supporting Humphrey gave us Nixon in 1968, and the 19,000 votes for Ralph Nader in Florida gave us George Bush in 2000. It might have been just as bad the most progressive, the most honorable, or the most popular candidate won, but at least people didn't vote for the lesser of two evils, nor did they get the lesser of two evils.

The winner of this election will either be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. No other candidate has enough support to have a chance, and all people who are in play must absolutely vote for only one candidate they all agree upon if one of the other candidates are to win. If Gary Johnson and Jill Stein do not agree to run together, there is no chance that all of one's supporters will support the other.

Let me reiterate, It will be Hillary or Donald, and one is not as bad as the other. That, though, is my opinion - oh, and Bernie Sander's opinion, too. One of them will likely fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court resulting from the death of Antonin Scalia, and may replace others over the next four years. That is the single most important reason Hillary must win. That is my opinion, and likely the opinion of Bernie Sanders.

The battle for the nomination is lost. Soldiers in the revolution must now focus in on candidates in other races. Every member of the House of Representatives is in play. A third of the seats in the Senate are in play.

Tulsi Gabbard must be re-elected in Hawaii, and she must be regarded as a leader of the party moving forward. She is young and dedicated. She is a huge part of the future of the movement, perhaps even the face of the movement as it moves forward. Her position as the Vice Chair of the DNC gives her the experience needed to take the top position there, and her ethical conduct while holding that position, including resigning when she could no longer be impartial (and likely other reasons), proves she is worthy of the highest consideration as we change the identity of the Democratic Party back to one that represents the people.

Tim Canova is a Bernie supported candidate for Representative in Florida against none other than Debbie Wasserman Schultz. If you are a Bernie supporter, you know what a debacle her handling of the DNC was. If you are a long term Democrat, she is the main reason Trump has a chance to win. We do not know what difference impartiality might have made, but such disregard for the rules she was given charge of cannot be rewarded by positions of authority. Hopefully, it will be rewarded by demonstrating through the voting booth that the way things recently were is now changing.

Regardless of how any one election turns out, except, of course, the Presidency, we are coming after Citizens United, including the oligarchy that today are the beneficiaries of neoliberalism. We will be fighting for universal healthcare with the public option, living wages for working people, and free tuition for many people provided they attend public colleges or universities and qualify. We will be taking on the banks that have grown exponentially through mergers, takeovers, and lax regulations to the point they are dangerous to the economy.

We will be continuing the revolution with soldiers that not only are here to stay, but also with soldiers we garner from the supporters the establishment once had who have renewed enthusiasm that the party will represent the 99%. We will add to that those soldiers we can lure back, with the establishment’s help, who will loudly and enthusiastically demand change, just like they did when the party might have kept them had the process been impartial. I don’t think those particular soldiers will have any difficulty voicing their opinions if the party does not stick with the platform, and they are really young. They are the future.

I am quite proud to support Bernie Sanders, and the ideals he represents. I wish he had won the nomination over Hillary Clinton. However, he did not. We must now recognize that he has no chance to be President, and that him becoming President was only one battle in the revolution. Despite the loss, significant ground was gained.

The revolution continues. My money is on the capability of the 99% to make a majority at the voting booth, which consequently and ultimately will win the revolution.