Bernie Sanders Says He's Willing To Campaign For Montana Populist Rob Quist

[JCanete]

8. okay, his vote was unacceptable, his excuse for it is lame. But he has come around on this issue

and maybe i'm just finding the wrong sources, but that seems to be the only vote people are talking about in regards to his record on pro-choice. People do evolve, or make expedient choices that I'm particularly not happy with. He is on record as saying he is pro-choice, that he regrets his vote, and that he does not believe, as a catholic, that abortion is murder.

His Democratic competitor, Northam, on the other hand, voted for W twice, something I'm willing to accept he also evolved on. He suggests that at the time he wasn't politically informed. That's reasonable, and he wasn't in the Senate at the time to advocate for a lame amendment, but the Republicans under W did a whole slew of shitty things.

When it comes down to it, I don't accept Pariello's earlier votes as anything but pandering(although one could flip that and say he's pandering now) but importantly, he is on the right side of that issue and most others now, assuming he doesn't flip-flop on them. It doesn't look like he has a robust history of that flip-flopping though, unless the journalists making a point of exposing his record are too lazy to go beyond that one vote and his gun advocacy. Having an A rating, if that is correct, from the NRA is troubling. How does a Democrat get an A rating? (I"ll look it up but have to head out to work) Hell, Bernie had a D- and people wanted to show his softness on gun issues.

But while gun violence is a huge concern for me, and responsible legislation a must, it isn't the crux of the problem. It is all kinds of other social ills that we are ignoring that gives people "permission" or lack of empathy, or the right kind of anxiety, to take other people's lives, so those things are higher on my list, even as a solution to gun violence. So if one of the two is going to be far more aggressive about money in politics than the other(because its from on high where this violence is bred), I would be inclined to go with that one, assuming I thought that person comparably trustworthy to the other candidate.