I’d like to take a moment to respond directly to the Hillary supporters who feel besieged by repetitive comments from Bernie supporters. I kind of think I know what’s going on here, and it’s quite interesting. This is more than just an echo chamber like you’d expect from the Trump crowd — there’s something more fundamental going on, and no, it’s not the free stuff (unless you’re talking about politics free of corruption, or a country free of injustice, that we surely all desire). This actually started as a reply in the comments on another site, but I decided it was important enough to merit its own diary.
I attended the rally in the Bronx yesterday - I was the 15th person on line. I had some pretty lengthy conversations with a large number of people (what else was there to do from 11 until the doors opened at 4), and I can tell you that the people I spoke to were remarkably well informed. One in particular, a 25 year-old from Jackson Heights, Queens demonstrated a remarkably deep understanding of the current political situation and the factors that led to them. About half of the books he owns are political in nature (similar in quantity to mine, actually) and he's clearly read them. I could fill in some specific anecdotes he was unaware of since I've got twelve years on him and remember stuff even from when I was a kid (I've followed current events for nearly as long as I can remember), but he impressed the hell out of me with the breadth and depth of his understanding and awareness of the political situation in the United States and our entanglements abroad.
I don't think it's fair to say we are parroting talking points at all. I've advocated for many of Sanders' proposals for years before I even knew he was advocating for them, essentially from the point when I went from an interested observer to an activist after coming out in 2001. It just happens that for many of us, the more we saw of Bernie, the more we realized he was saying the same things we were already thinking before some of us were even born. For me, it's particularly interesting, because I've actually tried and largely failed to find an issue that he and I are not in agreement on - the closest you'd find is his gun record, which IMO, is OK, but not great (I get that he's from a state with more of a hunting culture).
Please consider that we have genuine opinions on these issues and many more - we did not simply show up at a rally and convert. ;-) I respectfully ask that you give this post on Daily Kos a read - it's something that I wrote nearly thirteen years ago, and you will see hints of the political revolution we're attempting to build even in that:
Why the Great Experiment is Failing
July 17th, 2005
The reason attempts to convince Bernie supporters to move towards Hillary or otherwise "change their tone" don't work is because we literally were always here - we just finally found someone championing what we already knew to be true.
Now, that said, let’s see where we can find common ground. My purpose here is to give some insight into where some of the passion is coming from. NO PIE FIGHTS PLEASE. I’ll flag that from either side, this is an attempt to let us settle down and find common ground, wherever that may be.