the democratic party’s weeklong infomercial is having its way with me

the democratic party’s weeklong infomercial is worming its way into my heart. like many fervent bernie sanders supporters, i’m having a lot of trouble working up enthusiasm for the democratic ticket. yes, we need to defeat donald trump. no, i’m not in the “it doesn’t matter” camp or the camp (which may only be bots, but if so there are a lot of them on twitter) that suggests that we should let trump win so the country can get even worse so that we can nominate a real progressive/democratic socialist anyway.

passively re-electing this demagogue is a terrible “strategy.” though i must confess that i have often noted that trump’s overt white supremacy and destruction of democracy, the rule of law and the economy has, in fact, awakened the electorate. (and even though i am terrified that electing biden-harris may lure the fast majority of americans into a false sense that everything is okay now and we can all go back to not paying attention.)

people who were attracted to sanders and warren’s policies need to understand that there are very real issues at stake in this election and that there is exactly no chance of passing medicare for all, public higher education, public kindergarten, living wage, increased voting rights and criminal justice reform and bold climate action unless we win it and we win big.

while joe biden and kamala harris have both been among the slower democrats on taking on the fossil fuel industry, the trump administration has been wildly dismantling environmental laws and enforcement. recently the sunrise movement has been working closely with the biden campaign to strengthen the platform on the climate emergency.

while biden is strongly committed to obamacare instead of medicare for all, he has vowed to lower the age to qualify for medicare to 60—which would be a huge benefit for me, personally (it’s a really stupid idea to do it this way though, the most expensive possible way to address the problem is to bring the oldest uncovered people in the country under the tent without bring the young people to balance the costs).

and then there’s voting laws, immigration policy (which, yes, obama was weak on), the supreme court and so much more at stake.

so, yes, we need to defeat donald trump. and it needs to be big. and, the democratic infomercial this week, the parade of moving stories, is helping me remember (or believe) how much better the biden-harris team would be than the current white house occupants. and for that, i am grateful. i’d really rather feel enthusiastic rather than grudging support for biden-harris, even as i cling to my dreams of bernie…