BernieCrats: People That Just Woke Up To Politics?
As with any group, it’s unfair to try to throw everyone into a single solitary label. Thus it is the same with the ‘BernieCrats’, who are those that support the political and social stands of Bernie Sanders.
As described on their own BernieCrat website:
“Being a BernieCrat is not about party affiliation; it’s about the issues. Any candidate who publicly endorsed Bernie (Twitter, Facebook, website, etc.) and supports his platform, qualifies for this list. They don’t have to agree with Bernie on everything, they just have to believe that he was the right person for the job. Together we’ll get this country headed back in the right direction!”
And therein may exist the problem. Many of these individuals actually see no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. To them, they are ‘all oligarchs’, members of the establishment, and those that have sold out the country for a personal profit. In their eyes, there is only a ‘black and white’ condition and no shades of grey and in their naivety, they have exposed their underbelly that results in misinformation and down-right propaganda. Many of them just lifted their heads from texting and emailing to realize that politics can and do influence their lives and when they actually began to pay attention, it was Sanders message that they heard combined with the massive influence of international ‘fake news’ against Hillary Clinton that was designed just for them.
White Millennials and Others
One of the largest demographics that supported Bernie Sanders during his 2016 Presidential election as well as later to join the BernieCrat movement, has been white millennials. This isn’t to say that they were the only group, as many that were incredibly young as well as those that might be self-described ‘old hippies’ joined the fray.
While Hillary Clinton was trying to be as transparent as possible, offering progressive ideas with actual plans, and going around the country talking to people that needed to have their voices heard, Sanders was holding rallies. Lots of rallies. And the type of people that attended his rallies were almost entirely Caucasian with the sudden realization that voting day mattered.
Although this is not about Hillary Clinton, in fairness, it should be noted that if you attended any of her Presidential rallies you would have seen people of all ages, cultures, backgrounds, colors and even many that represented the disabled community. Not so with Sanders.
This may be a leveraging point to explain exactly ‘who’ the BernieCrats are and why they made the decision to follow someone that had a history of talking a lot and doing little.
Everyone Wants To Believe in the Dream
If there is one thing that can be said about politics, it’s that con men seem to always take the lead. People innately want to believe the words that come out of their mouths, even though there is little to back up what they are saying. The ultimate snake oil salesman has been Trump and as he sits in the White House, slowly converting it with layers of tacky gold and dictator behavior, we see that everything we thought about him was true.
But the second con man that very few bothered to even look into, was and is Bernie Sanders. You have to give him credit in offering a message that so many felt that they needed to hear. He addressed their frustrations and especially their anger at seeing the United States adopt an almost entirely oligarch agenda. It didn’t matter that Sanders has been saying the same thing for over forty years and that his agenda has always been to transition from a standard Democracy to a socialistic government.
And yes, we are already in a partially socialistic existence (as the BS supporters are so fond to remind us), but the United States was never designed to adopt socialism as a main form of government. Even those countries that are socialistic in nature have come forward to admit that the U.S. is a completely difference scenario and some have actually requested that Sanders stop referencing them as a comparison.
But that isn’t enough to validate why one would refer to Sanders as a ‘con man’, his history of a lot of hopeful words with little or nothing in follow through is. The BernieCrats don’t want to know about his dark and sometimes vindictive past that includes deliberate sabotage of a homeless shelter, unfettered gun use and approval and even being responsible for approving a toxic waste dump in an impoverished Hispanic community. Sanders has also spent a lifetime praising socialist dictators who were known for human atrocities, simply because they had a good health care system.
Two Missing Elements: Accountability and Team Work
BernieCrats seem to envision themselves as lone revolutionaries; you know, the kind that you see in movies that fight the battles and win in the end. They are lone wolves, fighting the good fight and doing it with only the words of their leader. This pattern was exemplified during and after the Democratic candidacy when Sanders lost and Hillary Clinton won. The anger of the Bernie supporters launched numerous conspiracy theories and accusations. All the while, the behavior of the Sanders campaign in attacking Hillary along with the totally unacceptable and cult-like behavior of the supporters themselves was ignored.
This sole attitude catapulted many of the Sanders supporters to decide to take one additional step in the Presidential election: to not vote, write in Bernie’s name, or vote for Trump. It is here that we see that ‘accountability’ was lost. They rally, yell and scream while ignoring the fact that their own actions not only caused Hillary Clinton to lose, but supported the horror of Trump. Accepting the fact that there are (at least for now) only two major parties was just not part of their unicorn and rainbow ideologies. This lack of accountability continues in the various social media areas that the Sanders supporters cling to and they have a myriad of excuses that sling the blame to the Clinton supporters.
The other piece of the pie that is missing in the BernieCrats is even the smallest inkling of teamwork with the many Democrats that share their ideals. In so many of the polls that have been taken over the last six months or so, a majority of the Democrats all agree on the main issues such as healthcare, education, global warming, balancing income equality, and even removal of influential dollars within the political system itself. These are detailed on the Democrats.org website, and each item could be a check list for the exact same goals as the BernieCrats. The only difference is this website doesn’t have Bernie’s name associated with it and the one reason is:
Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat.
Understanding that there are so many shared goals should give the BernieCrats hope and the ability to work as a team within the Democratic Party. Instead, they have made the decision that all Democrats are enemies and only ‘they’ can save the country and the world. This is a missed opportunity and their attitude is so extreme that it has turned off any Democrat that tried to reach across the table to talk.
BernieCrats lose their ‘hero identity’ when they have to think about working with Democrats that believe many of the things that they do. They have spent so much energy projecting them as ‘enemies’ that they have closed off the potential to work together.
Who the BernieCrats Aren’t
There are many reasons why a majority of people of color didn’t ‘feel the Bern’ and unless you have been embedded in, lived with or are part of that group, it will continue to be a point of denial for the BernieCrats. The bottom line is that they have heard these stories before and Sanders doesn’t have demonstrable actions or history to prove his words. Add to this the fact that there were very few people of color involved in his campaign and they simply turned their backs on Sanders. This was not the case for the Hillary Clinton campaign, where the demographics ran the gamut including a lot that represented those that were disabled.
In a 2016 Daily Beast article, author Keli Goff, a Black American woman indicates: “Black writers and activists who have had the temerity to challenge Sanders’s record have been targeted by his supporters in ways that go against not just civility but even decency. I should know. I’m one of them. For having the gall to share my perspective, buoyed by polling data, that self-described socialists are pretty much unelectable to the American presidency, his supporters attempted to harass me offline. (Emphasis on “attempted.”)”
This author, like many from that time on, has experienced personal attacks from the BernieCrats in the same way that the Trump supporters have done. This happened to people of color as well as not for anyone that questions the ‘almighty policies’ of Bernie Sanders.
While the younger people have been heavily involved as BernieCrats as well as some older, a majority of the Baby Boomers have not been part of the Sanders crowd. For that you will hear an explanation of ‘blame’ from the BernieCrats in that everything that is wrong with the country and the universe is because of the Baby Boomers. Although some of this may be true, simply due to those that have disposable incomes, anyone that has an ounce of common sense realizes that one demographic does not dictate all of the government processes. Voting does.
Moving to the Left
Full credit must be given to Sanders for helping to move the Democratic Party a bit more to the left. But there is something that all BernieCrats need to remember:
They are not the only people in the country.
Respect for varying opinions and ideas have been the pinnacle of the Democratic Party and while everyone may have their own top priority issues that need to be addressed, all must be heard and listened to. The Democratic Party is not a one or two or even three issue Party. If the BernieCrats don’t learn from the mistakes, they are simply destined to divide the liberals and allow the Republicans to continue to be in control….and we see where that has gotten us.
