The conventions are over and the general election has officially begun. In the primaries, I received 1,846 pledged delegates, 46% of the total. Hillary Clinton received 2,205 pledged delegates, 54%. She received 602 superdelegates. I received 48 superdelegates. Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee and I will vigorously support her.
Donald Trump would be a disaster and an embarrassment for our country if he were elected president. His campaign is not based on anything of substance — improving the economy, our education system, healthcare or the environment. It is based on bigotry. He is attempting to win this election by fomenting hatred against Mexicans and Muslims. He has crudely insulted women. And as a leader of the “birther movement,” he tried to undermine the legitimacy of our first African American president. That is not just my point of view. That’s the perspective of a number of conservative Republicans.
In these difficult times, we need a president who will bring our nation together, not someone who will divide us by race or religion, not someone who lacks an understanding of what our Constitution is about.
On virtually every major issue facing this country and the needs of working families, Clinton’s positions are far superior to Trump’s. Our campaigns worked together to produce the most progressive platform in the history of American politics. Trump’s campaign wrote one of the most reactionary documents.
Clinton understands that Citizens United has undermined our democracy. She will nominate justices who are prepared to overturn that Supreme Court decision, which made it possible for billionaires to buy elections. Her court appointees also would protect a woman’s right to choose, workers’ rights, the rights of the LGBT community, the needs of minorities and immigrants and the government’s ability to protect the environment.
Trump, on the other hand, has made it clear that his Supreme Court appointees would preserve the court’s right-wing majority.
Clinton understands that in a competitive global economy we need the best-educated workforce in the world. She and I worked together on a proposal that will revolutionize higher education in America. It will guarantee that the children of any family in this country with an annual income of $125,000 a year or less – 83% of our population – will be able to go to a public college or university tuition free. This proposal also substantially reduces student debt.
Trump, on the other hand, has barely said a word about higher education.
Clinton understands that at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, it is absurd to provide huge tax breaks to the very rich.
Trump, on the other hand, wants billionaire families like his to enjoy hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax breaks.
Clinton understands that climate change is real, is caused by human activity and is one of the great environmental crises facing our planet. She knows that we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and move aggressively to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
Trump, on the other hand, like most Republicans, rejects science and the conclusions of almost all major researchers in the field. He believes that climate change is a “hoax,” and that there’s no need to address it.
Clinton understands that this country must move toward universal healthcare. She wants to see that all Americans have the right to choose a public option in their healthcare exchange, that anyone 55 or older should be able to opt in to Medicare, and that we must greatly improve primary healthcare through a major expansion of community health centers. She also wants to lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs.
And what is Donald Trump’s position on healthcare? He wants to abolish the Affordable Care Act, throw 20 million people off the health insurance they currently have and cut Medicaid for lower-income Americans.
During the primaries, my supporters and I began a political revolution to transform America. That revolution continues as Hillary Clinton seeks the White House. It will continue after the election. It will continue until we create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent – a government based on the principle of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.
I understand that many of my supporters are disappointed by the final results of the nominating process, but being despondent and inactive is not going to improve anything. Going forward and continuing the struggle is what matters. And, in that struggle, the most immediate task we face is to defeat Donald Trump.
Bernie Sanders is the junior U.S. senator from Vermont.
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3 Comments
This kind of pandering and self-humiliation is truly a sick thing to see. Clinton understands one thing and one thing alone: she has been coronated by the global imperialist oligarchs to do their bidding because that’s what she has effectively done her entire political life.
“Lesser Evil”? That’s a bunch of crap no matter how tightly you “hold your nose.” And once you let go, the stink will be strong enough to kill you.
You are not telling us anything I or Sen Sanders does not know! Repeating the same biolerplate slogan-like expressions over and over and over again is not presenting an argument. You need to address and try to debunk the specific points Sanders is making point-by-point and propose an alternative strategy – starting with the fundamental fact that, like it or not, the next president is going to be either Trump or Clinton.
From a standpoint of strategy and our ability to organize, Trump is much worse. And if you don’t think he would be much worse, and that things could not get much worse than the current status quo, then you are terribly mistaken. The consensus on this is near unanimous among scholars and activists on the left who spend much more time analyzing such matters than I am able to.
Your vote is just a vote – it is not a deep expression of your individuality, your honor, or any such nonsense – nor will strategically voting for Hillary turn you, magically, into a right-winger. It is just a short-term tactic as part of a mid-to-long term strategy.
So, with that in mind, I and a goodly number of others here on Znet are only asking that if necessary, in closely contested states, that a person votes for Hillary for president in order to prevent worse things from happening. Meanwhile, they should spend the rest of their time not even thinking about electoral politics and organizing, organizing organizing.
I think Julian Assange framed the issue well in his address to the Green Party Convention just a few days ago:
“What the Clinton campaign is doing at the moment is trying to say, well, okay, maybe we’re connected to arms dealers, and to Saudi Arabia, and yes, maybe we have subverted the integrity of the democratic primaries, but, you’ll just have to swallow that, you’ll just have to swallow that or else you’ll get Donald Trump. That’s a form of extortion. It is, it’s a form of extortion. It’s very important not to allow the political process to suffer from extortion, or even yourself to be susceptible to extortion – that one says one has certain principals, if these principals are not followed, then there is a price to be paid. And that creates a standard and a general deterrent, and I think it is important for those people who feel that their principles have been violated, in the way that the democratic primary process has been run, or how Chelsea Manning has been in prison for 35 years, and tortured, or espionage act crackdowns, or many other things, to go Okay, there’s a cost to violating principles, even if there’s also a cost to yourself, even if you don’t like the risk which seems to be getting very small, the risk that Donald Trump becomes president. One has to have a line somewhere, otherwise as each election cycle recedes, you are pushed further and further into the corner.”
The idea is that we can’t concede our fundamental principles for the sake of “short-term tactics” or what is perceived to be an emergency situation. What will the incoming Clinton administration learn about maintaining the status quo, once they know that authoritarian populism and white nationalism (and whatever other powerful ideas represented by Trump) can be leveraged to scare people into an ultimatum?
As long as the establishment is threatened, there will always be a “greater evil”. The day after Clinton is elected, do you think we will finally be given the time and the space to organize? Or will another crisis be contrived, another imminent danger presented us by the media?
Long term strategy is essential, yes, but the moment of change is now. The momentum is here. Bernie is down for the count, but that doesn’t mean the whole progressive movement should make the embarrassing concession of voting Clinton for President with the hope of buying time for a lower-stakes environment in which to organize. It only escalates from here.