Just wow: My conservative cousin is now a Sanders volunteer

[cali]

In the Hoosier state

My cousin is an ER doc who works in a very busy hospital in Indianapolis. He lives in a very affluent suburb near Indy, and has been an establishment conservative for all of his adult life. He has also been fairly active as a volunteer and donor to political campaigns starting when we were 16 (he’s six months older than me) and knocked on doors for David MacIntosh. He donated heavily to Mitch Daniels’s campaign. We argue a lot when I’m forced to leave California to spend time with my Hoosier kinfolk.

Since my dad passed last September, I’ve made three trips to the auld home place and talk to my ma more often than, well, necessary, really, but it’s good to check in, yeah? Anyhoo, while on the phone with her yesterday, she dropped this on me: “Your cousin, name withheld, surprised the shit outta your aunt and me earlier this week when he told us he’s supporting Bernie Sanders. Not only that, but he’s in touch with the campaign as to how he can volunteer.”

”Bullshit”, says I. “He’s Romney with less personality and about as progressive as Jim Inhofe.” So she started explaining his rationale. Remember, folks, this is a conservative who spent his first five years as a medical professional interrupting someone who dared called him “Mr.” instead of “Dr.” until he gained a grain of humility. So endorsing and volunteering for a progressive candidate in Indiana is pretty fucking big.

He said, and I called him up to verify this, that he was voting for, donating to, and volunteering for Bernie Sanders because, as an emergency room doctor, he’s fed the fuck up with our health care system. He works 12-16 hour shifts treating people who use the ER as their primary care facility, he often can’t treat people for 45 minutes to hours down the road because insurance paperwork needs to be filled out beforehand, and he’s fully aware that most of the people he’s seeing on a daily basis are likely to continue this pattern indefinitely unless someone does something to change that reality on the ground.

I asked him why he wasn’t taking the more pragmatic approach that Hillary Clinton is offering. He responded that having spent his entire career as an ER doc, the plan that Hillary has put forward may eventually help the next generation of health care professionals, but the system is broken now. What about the critics who say he’ll never get any serious healthcare reform passed? His answer deserves a blockquote.

”I’m not a god damn idiot. I don’t think for a second this will happen overnight. But I will dedicate all of my free time and resources to local and national elections to change the political landscape by 2020 so we can make this vision a reality”

That’s fucking huge. And that’s the Sanders campaign at it’s core. Knowing that there’s an enormous amount of ground to cover, but being willing to fight every day for real, systemic change. My conservative cousin has had a political awakening, and he sure as hell feels the Bern.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/6/1480748/-My-Conservative-Cousin-Is-Now-A-Sanders-Campaign-Volunteer-In-The-Hoosier-State

[Metric System]

1. LOL

[cali]

2. And?

I never really wondered if you had anything to say.

[Qutzupalotl]

59. Maybe he's choking on his tongue. n/t

[Blus4u]

7. LOL???

Highly educated crossover vote. The doctor realizes that it will take time, as do the rest of us not interested in continuing with business as usual.

But he realizes, as do many, many more, that the conversation has got to change.


Peace

[Enthusiast]

55. He also knows if it's going to take time we must start the effort as soon as possible

and not take the stance that, "It will never happen".

[SoLeftIAmRight]

18. the rest of the world has the metric system and...

single payer

join the revolution

[ljm2002]

20. You're off your game...

...took you a whole 3 minutes to respond.

Wake the fuck up.

[PonyUp]

36. Not their fault. Their spin doctor went offline for dinner.

If he's not available, orders are to post "LOL" until he gets back.

[Fuddnik]

52. He could save wear and tear on his fingers if he'd just do a Sid imitation.

[forest444]

21. As opposed to Lady Landslide, who does nothing but motivate Republicans to vote GOP with a passion.

Face it, Metric: whatever her merits, she's a liability to her party and she's utterly unelectable.

Yes, I would vote for her if she's the nominee; and most staunch Democrats would too.

But unfortunately staunch Democrats are in the minority in this country. She wouldn't stand a chance with the independents - never mind with any Republicans. Bernie, on the other hand, does.

Cali's anecdote is hardly uncommon. But finding a Republican willing to vote for Hillary is like finding a white fly.

[Glamrock]

35. I'm also seeing it in Indiana

My boss, who is one of the owners, is supporting Sanders after I turned him onto the ole Bern. He has been a Republican since he was in high school. Ran as a Republican in his little town. And he's supporting Sanders!

On the downside, he won't vote for Clinton. Period. I'll keep working on him if she wins the nomination, but it's gonna be a long hard road.

And that's just one. I had to make my twin aunts who always vote Democratic promise to vote for her if she wins the nom.

Now, while most of us here know that most of the "dirt" on Hillary is complete and utter bullshit, most of the voting public doesn't. It's not fair, but it is a fact.

[forest444]

38. Wow. Kudos to you, Glamrock. Changing people's minds is certainly no easy task.

And as your anecdote goes to show, independents and Republicans are chilly on Hilly - but they're feeling the Bern!

[Glamrock]

40. Well, truth be told...

The GOP in it's current form is scoring a lot of assists in these battles. I can tell you the exact moment he had his revelation.

We're telecom installers so lots of hours in the truck. I read him an article I found here on DU. It was about Republicans voting to raise the limit on interest that could be charged on military families. He saw red and I've been reading him stuff since.

I got my dad Bernin too, mom's gonna be tough. She sends me crazy ass Uncle Liberty emails. But, i'm trying. One voter at a time....

[forest444]

41. More and more military families are seeing that the GOP loves to "support our troops" during wars

But are at lot less "supportive" toward their many needs when they come back.

Tom "Doc" Coburn's stunt last year against the Veterans Suicide Prevention Bill is another disgusting recent example.

As for all the red-baiting against Bernie by Uncle Liberty and such, to my mind Bernie's a far more loyal capitalist than any of the "pro-business" types: Medicare for All would be a Godsend to small and medium business (source of most new jobs in this country) by freeing them from the often ruinous burden of insurance (which is mostly useless anyway), and he's the only one serious about reining in the speculators and vultures that jeopardize the real business economy - the businesspeople who actually work for a living, and more importantly, create jobs and something of value for others.

They probably have the most to gain from a Sanders administration. Question is: will they see it?

[Glamrock]

42. Listen man

I know I'll sound like a fan boy when I say his fiery exchange with Hillary showed me a very, very clear path to the WH. That message about money in politics is going to resonate. Loudly.

But fuck man, while I trust his judgement, he really needs to get his shit together on the middle east. He dominates the domestic policy arena in this election, his foreign policy needs some help.

[forest444]

43. That'll be tricky. The neocons play the media like a harp and have pretty much framed the discussion

Consequently, anyone with a pacifist outlook like Bernie will always have an uphill battle when it comes to sounding good to most voters on issues of foreign policy and interventionism.

One of the great ironies of the modern age though, is that Bush, Cheney, Rummy, and the rest of the Fourth Reichers have - by the sheer monstrosity of their mistakes - done more to promote a moderate, conciliatory world view by voters than anyone else.

Will Bernie be able to galvanize that feeling? You're absolutely right: it still remains to be seen.

[lostnfound]

48. I agree it will be tricky. One approach could be..

He COULD say something like this:

Some wars are necessary, some are not. They all come at a cost. In the last twenty years the U.S. has spent about $10 trillion dollars on wars and weapons. In the meantime our roads, rails, and bridges are crumbling and yet we don't have enough job opportunities, and our cities are subjected to austerity that harms citizens with polluted water and crowded classrooms.

The US has been at war in 222 years out of 238 years of its history. Ask yourselves, is that what the American people want, or is that what Wall Street has wanted?

The Afghanistan war in my opinion was necessary. Avoiding the Iraq war, which I voted against, I would've saved about $1 trillion. $1 trillion invested in infrastructure in the US could have repaired or transformed the condition of our transportation network and our power grid, while creating at least 13 million jobs and a catalyst for the US economy.

[A Simple Game]

50. I have to disagree with you on the Afghan war.

I think 20 helicopters, 10 A-10s, and 200 troops could have wiped out Osama bin Laden and his camp in about 2 hours. Job done, but no profit for the war suppliers.

[forest444]

54. Or the opium rackets.

Dubya basically installed a narco-state in Kabul, and our current heroin epidemic is a direct result of that.

It's basically Iran-Contra (which had far more to do with cocaine than with Iran or weapons); but on a far grander scale.

[Enthusiast]

57. Me too. Additionally, no nation state attacked us on 9/11. Afghanistan didn't attack us on 9/11.

It would have been more appropriate to attack Saudi Arabia than Afghanistan.

Did Afghanistan even have anything resembling a central government at the time? It could hardly be accurately said that they were "harboring terrorists" in any case.

[lostnfound]

72. I agree with you but in the general election..

it may not be worth pointing that out. Even in the primary. The hawks will paint him as a starry eyed idealist unfit to be COC. blah blah blah.

[A Simple Game]

76. No you're right mums the word. n/t

[forest444]

51. Incredibly eloquent - and in Bernie's voice too!

If you're not a screenwriter, lostnfound, you should be.

[cadaverdog]

64. I agree, very well said.

But screenwriter, I dunno. Speechwriter for sure.

[lostnfound]

74. Thanks! My friend said it even better and more concisely:

"Which wars in the last fifty years have helped or benefitted the American people?"

[Manifestor_of_Light]

69. I am a staunch Democrat

Third generation but I am also a liberal. Both Clintons have disappointed me greatly.

[forest444]

70. Same here.

But the alternative is unthinkable.

[GoneOffShore]

73. And will likely continue to do, Yay even unto the third and fourth generation.

[StandingInLeftField]

31. I'd like to thank you for your cogent and insightful reply.

LOL

[NobodyHere]

46. For some idiotic reason this post was alerted on.

Even more idiotic is that 2 people voted to hide.

[21st Century Poet]

61. You prove the poster right.

Sorry, Metric System, but if 'LOL' is all you've got in reply to a well-written post outlining a well-thought-out political philosophy, then you are doing Hillary Clinton no favours.

Are you going to improve people's lives and healthcare with LOL?

I don't think so.

I suggest you re-read the post again and think long and hard about it. You never know. You might even start to 'feel the Bern'.

[stonecutter357]

3. I don't doubt that at all..

[cali]

6. I rather think you're worried.

If there's one thing this primary has exposed, it's what a lousy campaigner Hillary is and how weak she's going to be as the nominee. Unfortunately for us.

[Jefferson23]

4. It's not shocking to me he is voting for Sanders, but it is awesome WHY he is doing it.

He totally GETS IT.

The elephant in the room is the one to no longer ignore, Bernie is berning...wooohoo.

[Gregorian]

5. His context is resonating.

Bernie's got mojo.

[pacalo]

14. Bernie's got mojo.

Perfect phrase for what I've been feeling!

[sadoldgirl]

8. Congrats, Cali! More of these people

should see the light! First the nurses, now the
ER doctors. Great!

[Live and Learn]

9. I've been amazed while tableing at how many conservatives are coming over to Bernie.

Sometimes it actually leaves me perplexed. Many times they start off supporting Trump and come over to argue with us but after hearing Bernie's plans they end up supporting him. It really is a strange phenomenon.

[cascadiance]

13. When Trump gets air time speaking against things like TPP and H-1B or H-2B guest worker programs...

... many Republicans who've lost their jobs, or who know people who've lost their jobs due to crap like that feel inclined to look at Trump as a maverick in that party who's not being bought by other people's money. When they hear that Bernie is also trying to work on those same goals, but then understand that Bernie's got more experience and is trying to focus on that and is not a liar about things like that they come over to him. I had a conversation with a young Republican woman who almost made those exact sentiments to me when I had on a radio show talking about H-1B visas in my car, and she was speaking on supporting Bernie Sanders too!

When you get down to the issues and can talk about them and how they affect people personally, it's amazing how some of the most conservative people can come over to your side. The strategy has been by the corporatists to try and keep Bernie from getting much attention and THIS IS WHY!!!!

[Snotcicles]

67. I think many conservatives have merely been convinced they are conservative. But aren't really. nt

[Trajan]

10. Fuck Yeah ... THIS:

”I’m not a god damn idiot. I don’t think for a second this will happen overnight. But I will dedicate all of my free time and resources to local and national elections to change the political landscape by 2020 so we can make this vision a reality”


This why the "can't get it done so why bother" answer is such a fallacious loser of an argument.

NO movement to change government happens immediately, so nobody EXPECTS it will ... The only people saying it are doing so out of political expediency, NOT because it's the truth ...

Thanks .... such great news on many levels ....

I guess this authenticity thing is a good idea after all ... GOOD for Bernie to have made sure he kept his integrity INTACT and hadn't sold his soul ... Now HE has the credible authority to speak to these problems ... People rightly believe he will do his damnedest to follow through with EVERY proposal, as best as he can ...

That is the most we can ask of anyone ... I believe Bernie will do everything he can to make it true ...

[questionseverything]

11. this part>>>

He said, and I called him up to verify this, that he was voting for, donating to, and volunteering for Bernie Sanders because, as an emergency room doctor, he’s fed the fuck up with our health care system. He works 12-16 hour shifts treating people who use the ER as their primary care facility, he often can’t treat people for 45 minutes to hours down the road because insurance paperwork needs to be filled out beforehand, and he’s fully aware that most of the people he’s seeing on a daily basis are likely to continue this pattern indefinitely unless someone does something to change that reality on the ground.

///////////////////////////////////////

most doctors became docs to help, to do science,

they are tired of the insurance companies coming between them and their patients

[MrMickeysMom]

12. K&R to opening his mind further...

Nothing like day-to-day experience with the step by step "health care delivery progress" (nope... I'm not buying it as a respiratory therapist for 41 years, either).

[Uncle Joe]

15. ...

”Bullshit”, says I. “He’s Romney with less personality and about as progressive as Jim Inhofe.” So she started explaining his rationale. Remember, folks, this is a conservative who spent his first five years as a medical professional interrupting someone who dared called him “Mr.” instead of “Dr.” until he gained a grain of humility. So endorsing and volunteering for a progressive candidate in Indiana is pretty fucking big.

Thanks for the thread, cali.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

68. speaking of Oklahoma,

Senator Tom Coburn's daughter Sarah is an opera singer. He does not believe government money should go to the arts because that is frivolous.

[TCJ70]

16. Congrats!

As someone who has seen this attitude in his own family, I share your enthusiasm!

[Oilwellian]

17. I've seen the same with moderate conservative friends in a very red part of Virginia

They are ALL saying Bernie is the only choice in this election. I give them a Cheshire grin and welcome them to the light.

[Kip Humphrey]

19. When the left & right come together, the ruling elite fall.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. So who's he voting for in the general?

Ready for Rubes?

[hifiguy]

23. Yet Bernie "can't attract independents and Repubs."

HRH will completely demoralize the left/liberal base and bring the cave-orc base of the Repubs out by the krillions to vote against her. She's worth 1-3 million extra Repub votes nationally at the top of the ticket.

[kimbutgar]

24. I was to a swap meet today and there was a Bernie table

The young volunteers told us they are planning to go to all the swap meets in the Bay Area and canvas for Bernie. There is an enthusiasm I haven't seen for Hillary. At a farmers market a couple of months ago there was another table for Bernie with white haired seniors.

People of all ages are hearing Bernie's message and not letting the MSM dictate to them who they think should be president.
I have yet to see Hilary or Trump supporters canvassing for them.

[Marty McGraw]

60. Why won't

Gold ManSachs front up some cash and pitch in for some booths at local events? Would be easy money for the ones manning the booths I suppose, not having to interact with anybody. Would probably be too beneath them to acknowledge the lessers.

[AikenYankee]

25. Thank you for posting!

[orpupilofnature57]

26. Intelligent people are turning down the strobe lights and connecting the dots !!!!

[Pharaoh]

27. how can his brother be 6 months older than him!

That kind of made me go WTF!

[Maynar]

32. Adopted?

[Arazi]

33. It's his cousin. It's right there in the thread title and first paragraph eom

[Pharaoh]

34. okay, missed that!

[1monster]

37. He's six months older than Cali, his cousin, not his brother.

Sometimes my eyes read things differently than they are written... It's nice to know I'm not alone.

[MuseRider]

28. We get it,

some Independents get it, even some conservatives and teabaggers get it. The only people who do not get it are HRC supporters. I am just not sure what to think about that.

[malokvale77]

53. " I am just not sure what to think about that."

It tells me who's side they are on. It's not ours.

[Paka]

29. K&R

Keep the stories coming. Feel the Bern!

[cantbeserious]

30. When We Stand Together - No Citizen Need Settle For The Lesser Of Two Corporate Evils - Go Bernie Go

eom

[hopemountain]

39. this!!!+++^^^

on point regarding where hillary's approach to healthcare for all is unrealistic. by the time her plan would be realized, should she be elected, how many more families will have lost their life savings, their homes, and perhaps even their loved ones?

we cannot wait for reforms. and, why should we?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

44. It must be an ER doc thing. They see the worst of the worst how fucked up this system is..

My neighbor's brother is a conservative ER doc and he says we need single payer. Haven't talked to him in a couple years but he was on single payer in 2008.

[asuhornets]

45. Really? Oh my goodness <> n/t

[JesterCS]

47. Got my parents to switch from Clinton to

Sanders after showing them videos of Bernie speaking. I also keep them updated about his domestic issues, especially the Healthcare numbers, which would save them 5000 dollars a year

[Enthusiast]

58. Glad to hear it!

[boston bean]

49. I love a good conversion story on a Sunday morning.

[SoapBox]

56. Just talked with another neighbor...

She put a Bernie bumper sticker on her car...and one on the daughter's car...and one on the daughter's bf's car.

This gal is mid 50's...daughter and bf are in their 20's...she said the "kids" are over the top for Bernie and have been already doing phone banking.

I really believe his support is still totally underestimated.

[leftcoastmountains]

62. K&R and shared!!!

[Betty Karlson]

63. That's the cross-over appeal the Democratic Party could be harvesting.

They could potentially have a reallignment moment on their hands.

But Debbie doesn't want that, because it would upset her Republican friends.

[AlbertCat]

65. Smug dismissals.... that's what you get from Hillary supporters

It's so sad that they cannot see that having conservatives vote for the Dem candidate is an amazing step in the right direction. Are they so condescending that they cannot see if conservatives will switch, what do they think independents are gonna do? Are they so busy being superior that they don't imagine this could be the breaking of this "us or them" attitude that has kept the government practically stagnant for the past 8 years?

Pitiful.

[Snotcicles]

66. Next trip to Indy maybe you could take him out for a beer. nt

[humbled_opinion]

75. Bernie's message speaks to all

Americans, I have had more than a few people who I work with that I normally associate as conservative who tell me that Bernie's message of income inequality resonates with them. The only people that fear Bernie Sanders are the Washington establishment, the elite and the top 1/10 of 1 percent......

Oh yeah and Hillary supporters...

[Yeager29]

77. This is not uncommon

I know conservatives that are Bernie fans but hate HRC with the same passion they like Bernie. I think the answer is simple. Most Americans are Americans first and repub/dem second. But the two parties and media foment and encourage hatred and anxiety, trying convince the public that the other party wants to burn America to the ground. I generally find all Americans to be kind, generous and loving people. Bernie has tapped into the internal love and desire for the best that we all have for each other. I don't know any politicians.