I’m going to be frank here–supporting any Republican candidate is out of the question for me. Every time I’ve watched the debates, I don’t remember any of the candidates speaking intelligently over policy issues. They don’t usually offer concrete solutions to the “problems” they quack about (which are, in my opinion, completely irrelevant or even helpful to many people). Donald Trump is charismatic, but he is misogynistic, racist, shallow, rude, and inexperienced. Ted Cruz is a hypocritical megalomaniac. Carly Fiorina lies about her managerial competence and strong leadership skills when she failed as a CEO at Hewlett-Packard. Ben Carson has made several ridiculous claims, my favorite of which is that prison turns people gay.
I strongly dislike Hillary Clinton–she is possibly a step above the Republicans I have mentioned before. She’s hawkish, two-faced, and corrupt. She voted for the Iraq War and supported the war in Afghanistan. Until now, she hasn’t apologized for knowingly sending millions of American soldiers to war (and subjecting thousands of Middle Eastern people to terror, torture, and death). I don’t think she’s corrupt–she downright accepts campaign donations from Wall Street and receives hundreds of thousands in speaking fees from big banks. Unfortunately, The New York Times has a very obvious bias towards her, and Time Warner, which owns CNN, has donated over $500,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaigns.
No wonder CNN crowns her winner after almost every debate.
I think I would support Martin O’Malley if Bernie weren’t in the picture, but for the needs of the times we need someone who sparks interest in politics, someone who can create and mobilize the young and working class people to fight for their rights.
That’s why Bernie Sanders is the candidate I support.
“But he’s never going to win the primaries! He could never beat Trump!” The polls say otherwise. Obviously, it’s too soon to really know how accurate the poll numbers are. However, according to economist Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under the Clinton administration, in the latest polls, Bernie defeats Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in hypothetical matchups. He adds that “the latest Real Clear Politics averages of all polls shows Bernie beating Trump by a larger margin than Hillary beats Trump, and Bernie beating Cruz while Hillary loses to Cruz.”
Do you want proof? Here it is.
Bernie is head-to-head with Hillary in the New Hampshire polls and he just surpassed her in Iowa!!
I have some qualms about his moderate position towards guns as well as his ambiguous relationship with the NRA (which can be pinned down to his position in the late 1980s to leave mandatory waiting periods up to the states rather than the federal government). This is not something I overlooked. However, I overall agree with his platform (which is to expand healthcare to all, break up the big banks, and expand the rights of working people, minorities, LGBTQ people, and women). I think that we need a leader that represents the American people, not the corporations. We need to get rid of welfare–corporate welfare, that is. We can’t keep subsidizing, bailing out, and giving tax breaks to corporations. That’s not capitalism at all.
So, finally, here are the five reasons why I will support Bernie for the 2016 Presidential Election.
1. He has class.
When easily given an opportunity to attack Hillary in the first debate about her e-mail scandal, he chose the high ground and said the American people are “sick and tired of hearing about [her] damn e-mails” and that we needed to “get to the real issues facing America.” In my opinion, his attacks on Hillary concerning her relationship with Wall Street are not petty and dirty politics. His talking points are about how he is against campaign corruption and big banks taking over politics, so I think it is warranted that he use this as his opponent’s critical weak point.
Via nydailynews.com
2. He’s too preoccupied with justice to care about his looks.
Via hypeline.org
Alright, he isn’t shabby–he’s pretty well-groomed. However, I don’t think his appearance is his main concern–his main concern is the American people. So next time someone says his hair is all over the place or that his teeth are yellow (which, even if they were, who cares?), tell them that he isn’t spending time dolling up in front of the mirror. He’s spending time fighting for the 99%.
3. He fights for what he thinks is right, not for what he thinks will make him popular.
Bernie not only voted against the Iraq War, but he also gave a powerful, perceptive speech on why he thought it was immoral and costly for not only the United States, but also the Middle East. He stood up to Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and confronted him about his policies that clearly benefited the rich right before the financial crisis of 2007-2009. He fought for gay rights in 1995 when it wasn’t even yet supported by mainstream left-wingers. This guy is the real deal, let me tell you.
Via digital.vpr.net
4. He knows that having an education should be a right for EVERYONE.
Via rawstory.com
For all of our sakes (and for our progeny), he wants to eliminate tuition for public colleges and universities, reduce student loan interest rates, and expand work-study programs for low-income students. This would include immigrants who came to the United States before they were 16 and meet certain requirements under the DREAM Act so they can become “conditional permanent residents” and be eligible for financial aid and work-study programs. They can become “lawful permanent residents” after six years, given that they either graduated from a two-year college or vocational colleges, studied for two years toward a B.A. or a higher degree, or served in the military for at least two years.
5. He isn’t funded by Wall Street and other mega-powerful corporations.
Via huffingtonpost.com
So while “progressive” Hillary over here has big banks and Wall Street corporations as her top donors, Bernie does not have a Super PAC (which is essentially a pool of money into which corporations can LEGALLY (questionable) and UNLIMITEDLY donate to politicians campaigns, but without interacting with the candidates themselves). A great portion of his contributors are small donors and unions! Who do you think will consider the American people’s best interests?
BERNIE SANDERS. Boom, mic drop.
Check out how to vote for Bernie in your state for the Primaries!
For the fourth presidential debate last Sunday, he was the most searched candidate since the beginning of the debate (as seen on the post-debate YouTube streaming)!