Politics as Usual

Today, I had an opportunity to do something really cool. A few weeks ago, I was invited via email, to apply to be a delegate for Bernie Sanders. After a fair amount of thought, I decide "what the hell," and I sent in an application. The application passed, and I was certified as a candidate.

My wife and I attended the caucus for our congressional district. I gave a speech to other Bernie supporters, and I was one of two men selected to represent Bernie at the 2016 Democratic Convention (if enough people in my district vote for Bernie.) Truly, that is pretty fucking far out.

However, I am a tad perturbed at some of the things that I witnessed at tonight's event. You see, there was a caucus for Hillary Clinton next door to ours. That's not necessarily the disturbing part...

It starts with this; I am a union man. My union arranged to bus several dozen members to the caucuses tonight. Other unions did the same. These union members where there to support a union approved group of delegates for Hillary. Tonight, I talked with a high ranking union official. I told him that I was a candidate for delegate in the Bernie camp. We talked about Bernie's candidacy. Bernie Sanders is the only Democratic Candidate that voted against the Pacific trade agreement, a trade deal that was strongly opposed by every major union. Hillary supported it. Bernie Sanders supports a $15 an hour minimum wage, something that every major union has been working to get passed. Hillary supports a $12 an hour wage. Bernie is the ONLY major presidential candidate that has walked a picket line in support of unions on strike. How much more fucking labor friendly can a candidate possibly get?

The high ranking union official told me, "Bernie is everything we want in a candidate, but I just don't think he can win. Clinton has the machinery in place to win."

And that my friends, is why politics in America suck. A major union is willing to settle for the good, when they could potentially help the best win an election.

In the meantime, a lot of my union brothers and sisters, missed an opportunity to support a fellow union member in his bid to become a delegate.

How many times have we seen this happen in politics? How many times have we voted for a candidate, at the local level, the state level, the national level, because they were the 'lesser of two evils?' Or because we didn't think the 'little guy' had a chance to win?

I have learned, that we should not allow the good, to get in the way of the best.

In the end, it didn't fucking matter. I won in our caucus anyway, without the support of over one hundred union members (there was a handful of hardcore union members in our caucus too.) I am an obdurate fucker. I will not desist. I will continue to push, to cajole, to make noise, in an effort to convince my union to do what is best.

The revolution will most certainly be televised. A campaign with over 2.5 million small donations will not be silenced. In July, I will wear a union shirt, while I wave my flag in Philadelphia, and proudly cast a vote for Bernie Sanders. Because sometimes, just sometimes, a bunch of 'little guys' can join forces, and tilt the scales.