I remember with fondness and a great deal of sentimentality the first Bernie Sanders rally I attended. I am not exaggerating when I say that I found myself in tears throughout- tears of joy, of anger, of wanderlust. As a college freshman from a mixed race background- I had finally found, after years of aching to be able to do something real, a movement that spoke to the sense of compassion and global citizenry that was such an integral part of my life from the time I was young. I volunteered every second I could spare (and, to be forthright, even some I couldn't) for the political revolution. We fought our hearts out, and left it "all out on the field."
We did not lose. Sure, we came up short in the 2016 Democratic primary, but this endeavor cannot be condensed to a primary cycle- it isn't condensed to a primary cycle. It's still going on in local, state and senate races all across the country. It's happening in people who have been inspired to take on global poverty or advocate for climate justice or mental health reform because they were brought into the fray by a movement started by Senator Sanders that will live far beyond Senator Sanders. The people I have met through Bernie 2016 and NextGen Climate aren't going to stop on November 9th, if anything they are just getting started. We are just getting started.
Imagine if, at the beginning of his campaign, Bernie Sanders had refused to debate out of opposition to the contests being hosted by mainstream media outlets. Imagine if he hadn't shown up to the town halls or refused to engage with the mainstream networks in any capacity. There would have been no revolution, there would have been no movement.
Two things can happen on November 8th. Either we see the first female president, a centrist who will, at the least, uphold the status quo and make incremental progress. The political revolution will continue to unfold and take American politics by storm, possibly with Bernie Sanders as the chair of the senate budget committee, and more and more young people, overwhelmingly progressive, will reach voting age. Or, we could see a racist white male bully reminiscent of George Wallace nominate anti-choice and who knows what else supreme court nominees, a man who will possibly do irrevocable harm to the future of our Republic and the globe. Upcoming generations come of political age in a regressive and isolationist America, and future generations grow up in a country that we don't recognize, but also one that we recognize all too well, potentially becoming demoralized as a result.
Think critically about the choice, the risk vs. potential benefits of how you cast your ballot. The 2000 election came down to hundreds of votes in Florida, and it could be this close again. The stakes have never been higher and the impact this election will have on our lives going forward is literally unfathomable in its entirety to the human mind. The good news is that it's up to us, the choice is ours. Let's choose wisely.
