First things first, let’s get this out of the way: voting third-party in the 2016 presidential election is not a productive way of exercising your civic duty in a broken democracy. The immense amount of support and coverage Senator Sanders received during this election cycle is incredible and unprecedented, but to expect that Jill Stein or Gary Johnson will be able to garner the support necessary to win the election this late in the game is nothing short of delusional.
Going into your senior year at a politically and socially active college during the most stratifying and emotionally-charged election cycle in recent American history means talking about current events constantly. Since the Republican and Democratic conventions, pretty much every conversation I’ve had has turned to politics at some point or another. And nearly all of those conversations are about “picking the lesser of two evils”, and “the year we choose between the first woman and the first Oompa Loompa president”. But, sometimes, you find a straggler. The one who was undoubtedly voting for Bernie Sanders until his campaign is relinquished in order to mend the divide within the Democratic party.
This is the revolutionist.
This is the individual who sees our system for what it is - mutated, rigged, and an illusion that you have the freedom to choose your leaders without manipulation. This individual knows that Bernie, based solely on numbers, should have been the Democratic presidential nominee. They know that super delegates and connections turned what could have been the most impressive underdog tale in recent memory into another Good Old Boys Club meeting. They are fed up with the two-party system that Washington himself warned us against, more than two hundred years ago. They want the option to choose someone who isn’t a Democrat or a Republican; they want to push the reset button.
And, sometimes, the need for that reset button has a lost Bernie supporter turn to Trump.
“But how can you be a Trump supporter when you were planning on voting for Bernie? He stands for literally everything Bernie was fighting against. He’s the poster child of corporate greed, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, elitism, and fear-mongering.” I know. Trust me, I know. The question I never thought I would need to ask has now been pulled out of my mental FAQ file on a few different occasions.
But here’s the thing: our entire society is based on our tendency as humans to like the idea of choice and free will. When I was a toddler, I was extraordinarily headstrong. If my parents told me what I was going to wear that day, you can bet I gave them hell for it. So, to avoid the headache, my mother got smart. When shopping, she would pick out two outfits for me that she liked and allow me to choose between them. I thought I was winning because I chose, when in reality my mother won either way. She just added in an extra step to the process to create the illusion of free will and to keep me quiet. And that, dear reader, is how psychology works in politics. This is the illusion of choice.
Like a child, America has always been given two parties to choose from - whether it was the Whigs vs. Jacksonian Democrats or the modern Democrats vs. Republicans, we have always had two major parties with just a few quasi-successful third-party candidates here and there. Because we have more than one option, suddenly we’re satisfied and feel as though we have the ability to make a difference and choose our future. But, in recent years, it has become more and more evident that this is not in fact free will - it’s a facade.
That’s the driving force behind the Bernie-Bro-Turned-Trumper: they see that Hillary is the definition of modern American politics. She is cunning, she has money in all the right places, and she has connections with the people who matter. And, to them, voting for Hillary is voting for four more years of the same broken system. They loved and respected Bernie for his democratic socialism, his plan to re-establish a stable middle class, and his genuine love for the people of America. He is not a product of the machine; he is the machine’s biggest threat.
...or, was.
Now that Bernie has thrown his support to the winning Democratic nominee, the revolutionists feel that they must choose the candidate who is the political antithesis of Hillary: Donald Trump. He is not a diplomat, he is not politically correct, and he is not a politician by nature. He is seeking to turn American politics on its head, and this is clear choice to the revolutionist: anything to get out of the cycle of blindly electing pre-chosen politicians.
The question that remains, then, is why must it come to this? Why is this behavior not enacted from a grassroots level? The vast majority of Americans recognize that our electoral process needs to be overhauled and taken back by the people. But this is not a fight that can be won two months before the presidential election. It is during the midterm elections - our local office elections, our county and state elections - that make a difference. If we want to change the two-party system, it can’t be done overnight.
Instead of compromising what you claimed were your ideals when Bernie was running for a slandering, hateful demagogue, vote for your local Green Party or Libertarian or Socialist candidate - whichever platform you stand by, go out and vote for them before the 2020 presidential election. Because as noble of an idea revolution is, it is not noble to throw your vote from someone who was looking to improve the lives of everyone to someone who is looking to decrease these rights in the name of change. You are privileged enough to vote against Hillary out of spite (even though she has absorbed many of Bernie’s policies) without fear for what it could mean for you and your family. To so many Americans who will live in fear under a Trump presidency, it's a slap in the face.
Yes, voting for Hillary will be voting for more of the same for four more years. But is the same worse than looming nuclear war and social regression? Let this election be a lesson to us, so that we can spend the next four years working toward that revolution. Bernie may no longer be in the running, but for a few sweet months America felt the Bern - don’t let that flame go out, and don’t let the appeal of a Trump revolution make that flame dangerous.
