I don’t know about you but I feel pretty strongly that there are monumental challenges facing our country. In fact, I think that there are issues that are so paramount, so foundational to forming a fair and just society that we need a radical departure from the status quo.
So what are some of these issues?
How about campaign finance reform? I believe that if we don’t change our campaign finance system that it will be far more difficult to enact many of the other changes in society. Therefore I want a candidate that will loudly and proudly say, with no if’s, and’s or buts:
And I want to support a candidate that has this to say:
“We have to end the flood of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections, corrupting our political system, and drowning out the voices of too many everyday Americans. Our democracy should be about expanding the franchise, not charging an entrance fee.”
But campaign finance reform is a means to an end and so I would want to see that followed up by dramatic climate change actions. I study what is going on in the arctic on a daily basis and it is truly frightening the changes that are going on up there in the past year and what it may portend for the future of our posterity. Anyway, what I want is:
The president to set bold, national goals that will be achieved within ten years of taking office:
Of course, those that espouse the conservative, incrementalist approach will scream that doing this will hurt our economy but I don’t think so. In fact, if done correctly and if done with reforms with our educational system we might actually see better qualified American candidates for the jobs of the future so I support a candidate that lays out a radical departure from today’s status quo. Specifically, I support a president that will:
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Ensure no student has to borrow to pay for tuition, books, or fees to attend a four-year public college in their state.
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Enable Americans with existing student loan debt to refinance at current rates.
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Hold colleges and universities accountable for controlling costs and making tuition affordable.
I could go on and list other issues like our mass incarceration society where I want a massive change that will:
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End the era of mass incarceration, reform mandatory minimum sentences, and end private prisons.
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Encourage the use of smart strategies—like police body cameras—and end racial profiling to rebuild trust between law enforcement and communities.
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Help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully re-enter society.
But a diary with a bunch of bullet points on policy issues is neither sexy nor all that engaging. However, what I would say is that I think that these radical departures from the status quo are utterly basic, reasonable, fair and should have been done years ago. I’m sick of waiting for the change and we need to get this done now!
It is for these reasons (and many more) that I strongly endorse almost all of Bernie’s policy positions and think it’s imperative that Democrats win the Presidency and take control of Congress so that these types of legislative actions can take place.
Do you not also feel this to your core? Do you not also sense the urgency of now to make these types of changes?
If you do, then I’m on your team and I want to work with you in the next six months (and beyond).
But in order to do that I think I need to clear the air a little bit and indeed I need to apologize a bit. For all the block quotes in this diary are truly all positions I agree with and they are all positions that are taken directly from Hillary’s website.
For those brave souls that have read this far what I would like to say is primarily based on whom you supported in this primary season:
For Bernie supporters I would say I love you guys. I ended up voting for Hillary in the Virginia primary but I did so mostly because I wanted the race to be over, I wanted us to come together and focus on the policies and issues that unite us. I think I prefer Bernie’s policy positions a little more than Hillary’s but if Hillary truly supports and can enact the policy positions on her website, then this country will be far better than it is now. But ultimately it is meaningless unless we get control of the Congress as well.
For Hillary supporters I would say that while I am with you (and her), I would have been absolutely fine with Bernie being the nominee because it is the policies and not the person that I truly support and both Hillary and Bernie are supporting policy positions that radically depart from the status quo. To be sure, I haven’t liked a lot of the comments that Bernie supporters have said here but, between you and me, I really didn’t like a lot of the comments from a lot of the hardcore Hillary supporters either. But ultimately, that is all water under the bridge if we understand and can tap into the passion felt by the Bernie supporters.
We can’t do this by winning the Presidency alone. So we need to win the House and Senate as well and that isn’t remotely possible if we don’t start acting with love, compassion, understanding and start working together in the next months. With the Republicans divided and the bully Biff Tannen, I mean Trump, as the nominee for the GOP, we have a huge opportunity here but we can’t do it without the help of the Bernie supporters. So please stop the internecine war and start commenting here at DKOS with the understanding that how you comment may impact the support (or lack thereof) that we have going into the general election.
