MY SON WAS LOST BUT NOW HE IS FOUND

When I was in elementary school, my family spent a year’s worth of evenings reading the Bible out loud – straight through, Genesis to Revelations.  My parents had found a study guide that divided the Bible up into 365 sections, and prescribed which verses to read on a given day.   At the time, I’d rather have been out playing, and no doubt I missed the point of most of what we read.  But it was a useful introduction to themes I’ve been revisiting ever since.  A few of the stories – the Book of Job, for instance – bothered me.  One of the others I found problematic was the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

Basically, it’s the story of a ne’er do well younger son who persuades his father to give him his inheritance immediately.  He leaves home, he squanders his inheritance, and returns home to his family, begging for forgiveness.  His father is thrilled, and prepares a welcoming feast.  The other son – the good one, who stayed home and worked hard at the family business – said, basically, WTF?  You never did anything like that for me!  And the father said, “thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”  That’s worth a celebration, so lighten up, dude.

For a long time, I identified with the older brother’s sense of grievance.  In my mind, if in no one else’s, I was the good kid in this scenario.  Why reward the bad kid instead of the good one?  It took me until adulthood to grasp the concept of forgiveness and the joy of a redemption story. 

And that brings me to a question my friend Jeff asked in the course of a comment on my most recent post about third party candidates – the one entitled WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’.  Jeff wrote: “So if third party candidates just hop into the Democratic Party like AOC, its all good? No one would ever CRUCIFY (figuratively) that candidate right? Or blame said candidate for the total incompetence and tone deafness of the eventual establishment candidate the Dems would push forward by hook or by crook? That person would be lauded by all? Or is it only winners we are celebrating? Asking for a friend who was called a "bro" who still voted dem in the general election.”

Fair questions.  Here’s my response. In 2019, Bernie Sanders finally joined the Democratic Party.  I wasn’t thinking of him when I wrote about third parties, but I suppose he qualifies as a third party convert since he was a member of something called the Liberty Union Party back in the 70s.  But for most of his career, he was an independent, rather than a member of a third party.  Same difference, I suppose.

In 2016, when Bernie ran against Hillary Clinton, he enjoyed the benefits (and had to deal with some of the drawbacks) of being an outsider candidate.  He won a lot of converts with his critique of the Democratic Party.  But that same critique also annoyed some longtime Democrats, including the members of the Democratic National Committee. 

Did the DNC praise him when he signed on as a member of the Democratic Party in 2019?  Not that I know of.  Was he lauded?  Not that I know of.  But that’s the DNC.  As professional Democrats, they saw Bernie as an interloper in 2016, and took it personally. 

There’s plenty to criticize about the DNC’s handling of the Clinton-Sanders competition in 2016.  They put their thumb on the scale in favor of Hillary Clinton whenever they could.  It was dumb, it was wrong, and it was also unnecessary.  I suppose the DNC thought they were helping a loyal member of their party beat an outsider who was trying to usurp the throne.  I’m not surprised that they wouldn’t be thrilled about Bernie’s candidacy, but their job was to be neutral.  I understand the bad taste that left in the mouths of Bernie supporters. 

Three years later, Bernie Sanders still harbors presidential ambitions, and it’s clear that he understands that his only realistic shot at becoming president is with the Democratic Party.  As summer 2019 winds down, Bernie remains strong in the polls.  He’s not every Democrat’s first choice, but no rank and file Democrat that I know of disputes his right to be in the race. 

I donated to Bernie in 2016, and voted for him in the Arizona primary, which he lost to Hillary, 56.5% to 41.1%.  He lost in a landslide, in other words.  It wasn’t close.  That result, and the results of other primaries, can’t be blamed on the DNC.  The plain fact is that the establishment candidate got more votes, won more primaries, and accumulated more delegates, than Bernie did.  It happens. 

It’s obvious in retrospect that the Clinton campaign made some crucial mistakes.  Maybe there are people who blame Bernie Sanders for Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016.  I’m not one of them.  Bernie endorsed Clinton, and campaigned for her.  Bernie Sanders wasn’t the reason Hillary Clinton lost.  And with that, I don’t see any point in continuing to litigate the 2016 Democratic nomination fight.  The bottom line is that Hillary Clinton won’t be on the ballot in the 2020 primaries, and Bernie will. 

So far, so good.  My discomfort with the Sanders candidacy is less about Bernie himself and more about a subset of his supporters – the ones who are basically “Bernie or Bust,” the ones who say or imply that Bernie is the only Democrat they’ll vote for.  I won’t criticize any 2016 Bernie supporter (or Green, or Libertarian) who, whatever their reservations, voted for Hillary Clinton.  That’s precisely the approach I’m advocating for the 2020 race. 

Here’s the Jeff Foxworthy-esq “you might be a Bernie Bro if” test I would apply to Sanders supporters.  You might be a Bernie Bro if you think that Elizabeth Warren is an establishment hack, and would rather vote Green or stay home if she’s the nominee.   I could add a couple of other candidates, but let’s stop there.  There are differences between Bernie’s policies and Warren’s, but they’re trivial compared to most other Democratic candidates, and microscopic when compared to Donald Trump and his Republican enablers.

If there’s no Democrat in the field besides Bernie who is an acceptable Plan B, I say you’re in a cult of personality rather than a political party. 

Why?  Because none of the other Democratic candidates have supporters like that. There are no Biden Bros, or Buttigieg Bros, or Beto Bros, or Warren’s Witches, or Harris’ Hexen.  No other major contender has a loud cadre of supporters who talk as though they’ll take their marbles and go home if their guy or gal isn’t the nominee. 

Should we blame Bernie for that?  Sure, why not?  He must know this is happening.  He could, if he chose, tell his supporters that he intends to support the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it is, and that he hopes his supporters will too.  No denunciations, no purge, just a reminder that he’s a Democrat now, and that once the party’s nominee is chosen, whether it’s him or someone else, his supporters should make defeating Donald Trump their highest priority.

Is a statement like that urgent right now?  Probably not.  Does it need to happen sometime?  I say yes.  If it were up to me, all of the candidates would focus on “why I’m good,” rather than “why my opponents are bad.”  Wishful thinking, I know.  John McCain famously said that the only cure for presidential ambition is embalming fluid.  But most of the current crop of Democratic contenders are kidding themselves.  My hope is that, once the primaries and caucuses begin, the marginal candidates will have given up, allowing the serious candidates to get on with vote-seeking. 

When that winnowing happens, I expect Bernie Sanders to be among the survivors. Recent polling has been all over the place.  Warren is up.  No, Warren is down.  Biden is slipping.  No he’s not.  Beto is tanking.  No, wait, he’s trending up.  But Bernie Sanders has an ace in the hole.  While other Democrats are building name recognition and hoping for the best, Bernie has a substantial core of support that is NOT volatile.  He’s got a legitimate chance at winning the nomination.

And if Bernie Sanders is the Democratic nominee, I’ll support him.  I’ll give him money, advocate on his behalf, and vote for him.  But I will do the same for Joe Biden (although he’s now my least favorite among the major candidates in the race) and the rest of the major candidates.  Donald Trump is an existential threat to American democracy, to world peace, and to the future of the planet.  On November 3, 2020, my vote will go to the person with the best chance of defeating that existential threat.  Which is to say that my vote will go to the Democratic nominee, whoever it is.