2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie's campaign has gone completely off the rails ... [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)What I hear on the street is that we are starting a movement.
The political revolution is not violent, but we want to be heard.
That is very important.
I am recommending that we hold a pre-convention interactive internet convention with people sending in videos and discussing things on-line, issues and potential candidates for future elections.
We Bernie supporters have shown that in just over a year, we could get a respectable number of votes and supporters.
The future is ours.
Hillary supporters need to understand that regime change in Syria is not a go.
Peaceful and persistent change in America is our goal.
I have not encountered any desire among the people I am working with on the Bernie campaign to create any unnecessary chaos. We want to play the role in the convention that our numbers, our votes, make appropriate and fair.
A repeat of the shut-out that took place in Nevada would be an extremely foolish move on the part of the DNC.
I am not a millenial. I am 72 years old. I will not be attending the convention in Pennsylvania. No way.
Hillary faces a test, and it is a test that many winners face: can she be gracious and include people she views as the conquered, as the losers, in the process. If she doesn't, she is more likely to lose in November.
Hillary does have a problem with arrogance. A test of whether she can handle the power and authority of the presidency is how she handles her victory.
Of course, we have not voted in California. Any show of heavy-handedness on her part will make her wished-for route to the White House more difficult.
My daughters had an easy time -- at school, in music, at all of the competitive things they tried, but they were small and not competitive in sports. So I required them to sign up for sports, something in which they would taste defeat. Hillary has tasted defeat. She should know how it feels and be gracious about it. But I think that when she was young, she did not learn how to be gracious to others who were less talented and fortunate than she.
So Hillary's success in November hangs on this: can she as Bernie challenged her to do, be inclusive, care about the needs of others who may not agree with her, or will she haughtily claim her "right" and because of her haughty claim, lose the very right she would claim?
It's up to Hillary and her pals in the DNC.
Meanwhile, we in California will continue to campaign for Bernie because we love him. We love his ideas. We love his morality. We love his honesty and integrity.
Hillary would do well to learn from Bernie. She built her movement over decades. He built his in a year. Clearly, she has not done well. She needs to turn to those she wants to shun, stretch out her hand in a humble way and ask for our help.
I campaigned for Bill. I campaigned for Kerry. I campaigned and did election protection for Obama. Spent lots of time, lots and lots of it, on their campaigns. I do not not feel so moved for Hillary.
Rather than feel high and mighty, Hillary should feel humble and thoughtful.