As you may have already heard, Bernie Sanders offered what can only be called a vapid endorsement of Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. The man who’s impassioned speeches have mobilized one of the most successful (if not ultimately thwarted) grassroots campaigns in recent political history seemed to have lost the silver luster about his eloquent tongue. He delivered an endorsement of Clinton’s platform and policies that seemed to negate the person herself. Even as she stood upstage of Sanders as he delivered his speech, he gave her presence little recognition. Even CNN had to comment on how stiff and awkward the two former rivals seemed as they shared the stage.
Really, why wouldn’t it be awkward, considering just a month ago Bernie Sanders vowed to continue fighting for his “political revolution.” He delivered his words with the same moving passion even as Clinton clinched the necessary votes for the Democratic nomination in California. Clinton and Bernie have fought a long, arduous and thought-provoking battle for the soul of liberal America as its conservative counterpart played out much more like farce than fact. The sudden change of heart in Sanders, however warranted, seems to ring hollow with many of his supporters. As one of those supporters, I felt his endorsement to be forced. A man whose entire platform had societal consciousness and moral values as its very core is now telling me as an American voter that our mission is no longer political revolution; no longer are American citizens the driving force of windswept change and a brilliant future for generations of descendants; our unity is now based on a common enemy: Trump.
Perhaps that is why this particular speech felt lackluster compared to Sanders usual fiery oration and genuine empathy for his fellow humans. He wasn’t pushing for a bright future. This was the day that Sanders, the white-haired, bird-enchanting dreamer, stopped dreaming. He stepped into the reality in which we all live (and many deplore) every four years upon having to select a new president. We have pretty much come to expect having to choose the lesser of two evils.
This may be an unfair assessment given that we may get to live history yet again as the possibility of the first ever woman president comes ever closer. Sadly, the highest compliment Sanders was capable of producing is that Hillary Clinton, despite years of public service and being a career politician, is not the same person as Donald Trump.
As far as rallying points, this is actually a pretty solid one. I will be perfectly frank: I am afraid. There are many reasons for me to fear a Trump presidency. He has terrible foreign policies, including the laughably impossible “build a wall and make someone else pay for it” plan. Trump’s personality is a grotesque self-indulgence of all that is wrong with America. Ultimately, the financial and political implications pale in comparison to the divisive nature of Trump’s campaign. In case you were wondering, here is a running tally of violent incidents at Trump events.
It is not only Trump supporters inflicting violence upon those who are deemed unwelcome, but also those who oppose Trump so vehemently they are driven to physical aggression.
As such, I suppose it is only natural that part of Sander’s endorsement reminded his supporters that when the possible outcome of not voting or not uniting is so terribly destructive and toxic, we have a moral responsibility to vote for the better good of the country and not our own selfish ideologies. Echoing Sanders in saying that voting is “not about any one candidate” but about the common good may ring hollow when the very good of the nation is perhaps dependent on a single candidate NOT getting elected. That said, it may also be disappointingly true. As we march forward in 2016 to vote in our next president and make the historic appointment of our first woman president, I am left to wonder: Don’t women deserve to have that historic appointment be the product of a just, moral, and upstanding individual showing herself to be precisely what we the people need? Shouldn’t our president be the very best of our humanity, not the very best at playing ‘politician’? Is this the very thing that has America so broken we are all drunk, high, or on medications? Will we ever care as much about our president as we do about "Pokemon GO?"
Hell, should we care?
