Let me preface this by saying that Hillary Clinton is not my candidate of choice for the Democratic nomination. I think that many of the criticisms that people level at her are valid and important: yes, she has changed her positions a lot over the years. Yes, she receives donations (as most politicians do) from banks and corporations. No, she is not a very inspiring speaker or a very exciting person to rally behind.
But she’s still a pretty good candidate and a lot of people don’t acknowledge that. Despite the fact that she’s the leading Democrat by most measures, I have not heard from any of my fellow college students who support her in the primaries. I imagine that being a young Hillary supporter is similar to being a "Star Wars" fan who prefers the prequels to the original trilogy.
Even though the prequels are pretty good films, favoring them over the originals is often treated as an act of treason against the entire "Star Wars" fandom. Such is the case for Hillary supporters nowadays. For most young Democrats, Sanders is the only respectable choice.
One trend that I’ve noticed lately is that the comments sections of any article that paints a favorable picture of Hillary (or a negative picture of Sanders) will be filled with comments like this one. Even the most reasonable criticisms of Sanders are dismissed by commenters as “pro-Hillary propaganda.” While I agree that the mainstream media does seem to be biased toward Hillary, this doesn't mean that any and all Sanders critics are part of some grand conspiracy. Still, the general sentiment of most comments sections is that Sanders is the only reasonable choice who will undoubtedly win the general election, and that Clinton is a lying corporate shill who is no better than the Republicans.
I believe that comments like these are probably doing more to undermine Sanders’ credibility than anything else. Don’t get me wrong: Bernie Sanders is a candidate with an important message, a consistent track record and a sense of dignity that few other politicians can match. But these things don’t mean that he is impervious to the realities of American politics. Despite what polls may say, his electability should still be a major concern for Democratic voters, and his weakness on foreign policy issues is hard to deny. Ignoring these flaws does nothing to help the Sanders campaign; being realistic and working to fix them is a much better idea.
In any case, there are valid criticisms to be made about both of the leading Democrats, and that’s OK. No candidate is going to be perfect.
Over the next few months, Sanders' growing base of supporters will continue to support him for his progressive ideas and personal integrity. I imagine that Hillary supporters will continue to defend her for her moderate stances and leadership experience. In the end, it's important that these two groups respect one another, because either one of the Democratic candidates will represent their views much better than will any of the candidates on the Republican side.
