I like Sanders, really I do......BUT...

[daybranch]

72. some republicans say the party left them an that is why they voted for Obama

I grew in a home that always voted for democrats. I was so proud as a young man that the Kennedys and LBJ supported civil rights. I fought in Vietnam as our government squandered our country's wealth dooming the War on Poverty to a lack of funding. Both parties supported that war and many that came later. This did not make me more supportive of and Democrats or the party. Then Carter a conservative Democrat came in while I applaud his morals and his desire to end the hatred and continued violence of the middle east, his unwillingness to apply Keynesian economics for the benefit of our people distressed me very greatly. I saw the party move more and more to the side of big business. Then Ronald Reagan came along and preyed on the insecurity of poor white male democrats who saw their positions of male family dominance threatened by feminists and women in general, particularly in a new economic environment where they could not be sure of their jobs and therefore their ability to lead and control their immediate families. In order to salve their egos, they drank whatever kool aid would support their decision to abandon the more traditional democratic economics of Franklin Roosevelt. Republicans gave these men, what they needed, scapegoats, and a new economic theory called trickle down to rationalize their switch. Yep many working class male Dem's moved to racism and false economics to justify their switch. Today although many of their children move back to the democratic party, they continue to hold many of the racist views towards people of color and display an elitist attitude that republicans exploit. I listen to democrats in their own echo chamber and it is amazing to me so many are filled with cognitive dissonance as they continue to harp on the poor as responsible for their own situation. That brings me to Clinton and no president to my knowledge was ever as successful at exploiting class differences and waging war on the poor, He was the epitome of a business only friendly President and no name is more fitting than slick Willie. His pushing of NAFTA and reductions of the safety net for the poor stand as testament to who he worked for. The DLC and 3rd Way democrats were a total betrayal of a Franklin Roosevelt economic system. It became very clear that Democrats too much cared about their donors and little about their constituents. Then came Obama, who pirated the populist ideas of John Edwards and created an image of real change, easily convincing activist democrats that he would champion causes that would benefit the poor and disenfranchised, because after all did not African Americans, his apparent race, suffer disproportionately. But Obama to has been a disappointment, he has done many good things but most only allowed to keep the poor and the middle class exploited but not to the point of fighting back with property destruction etc.. Today we see more and more a police state where the very rich with the almost rich control the middle class and our governments local , statewide , and national. Obama institutes some changes to end some of the most egregious economic discrimination but their enactment does nothing to challenge the domination of the rich. Neither do the Democrats. Young people and many many progressives recognize rightly that both parties' leaders are owned and without great change in the leaders and the party direction, we are all screwed. Bernie Sanders reflects the beliefs held dear by progressives for decades. He attracts the populists and the activists within the party who put peoples welfare ahead of party dogma and marching in line. That is why he is the future of the Democratic party. With us to spread his message of support for our people over the interests of corporations, the banks, and the rich 1 percent he has an army of truly committed and experienced activists and meanwhile attracts more and more of the disenchanted young and others.