Samuel Casey
I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve been losing sleep — losing sleep over the start of primary (or caucus) season. It started when a number of candidates larger than my biggest political science class decided to run. The field started to narrow slightly when most of the ambitious white guys dropped out, but then two old white-guy billionaires jumped in the mix while the most promising candidates of color dropped out. Then the moderate old white guy front runner was replaced by the most liberal candidate who happened to be an older white guy. And all of this was before the lead-off Iowa Caucus which really put the “IA” in disaster. What is happening?
The Democratic Party and their candidates claim to have the same main goal: “Beat Donald Trump!” However, I can’t help but feel a total lack of cohesion. Sanders has (pretty much) won the first three states, so I think maybe that means he will drive people to the polls, but then I go on Twitter and see some of his supporters stoop to Trump-like levels of antagonization against other Democrats. Warren is fishing from the same pond as Bernie, and it seems like most of the fish are taking his bait. Buttigieg lacks support amongst minority voters, which is a major red flag. Biden does better in this department, but are voters really going to mobilize around him in November? His showing in early states has not been all that convincing. Klobuchar seems the most reasonable moderate in my eyes, but her national polling average is so low that a come- back seems unlikely. Don’t even get me started on Bloomberg. Every anti-Trump conservative newspaper columnist think he’s the best thing since New York sliced rye bread. Yeah, that’s what I want — to replace an old, white, racist billionaire with an old, white, racist billionaire. No thanks!
But this election isn’t about what I want, it’s about nominating the candidate who can beat Trump no matter their flaws, right? It would be less of a problem if I didn’t read an article everyday about how the Democratic Party is terrified of Sanders and how he must be stopped at all costs; or reading about how “Bernie Bros” will defect to Trump if their can- didate isn’t nominated. This is ridiculous. How the hell are we supposed to make a decision?!
As a straight, white, upper- middle-class 20-something male, my life doesn’t change that much based on who’s in office. There- fore, it is my responsibility to cast my vote for the lives that are affected the most and who cannot afford to face four more years of Trump in power. Tbh, this is how everyone should vote. But this year must be weighed differently because the incumbent has really gotta go. So far, that candidate seems to be Sanders, but if I’ve learned anything this election it’s that anything is on the table. All I want is the assurance marketed before this wacky situ- ation — whoever the Democratic nominee is must be supported.
Every candidate has flaws, but we cannot afford a repeat of 2016 where a voter refuses to vote for either. You may think both nominees are evil (boo corrupt U.S. politics), but the guy running for reelection will always be worse. The reason I’m losing sleep is because I feel the need to pick the right person; I’m not convinced that people and the Party will rally around the nominee. The solu- tion? Look at the bigger picture. Support the candidate who gives the most hope to voters and keep supporting them till November