I don’t usually have any trouble picking my presidential candidate. By this time in the season I’ve got my bumper stickers, my buttons, and my precinct lists to pass out literature. This year, however, I am what is known in political science as “cross-pressured.”
I like Bernie Sanders. Always have. I like his attacks on Wall Street tycoons, his support for labor, his environmental record. I like the fact that he is bringing college students into his campaign.
I like Hillary Clinton. I like her experience. She knows policy, and I hate the way Republicans are trying to demonize her. She was gracious in 2008 when she lost the nomination to Obama, and she was an excellent Secretary of State.
My heart is with Bernie. I am a left-winger, influenced by democratic socialist theorists like Edward Bernstein, and a strong labor union supporter.
On the other hand, I wonder what would happen if the Republican nominee were Rubio or Kasich running against Sanders. They would paint Sanders as a radical, they’d superimpose Karl Marx’s face on Bernie’s body, and they would do their best to conflate democratic socialism with Stalinist communism, not difficult to do in America.
I also am annoyed by the unreality of Sanders’ proposals. Single payer health is not going to happen. President Obama barely got through a weakened health care bill, and Republicans have been doing their best for six years to kill it. Sanders had a poor record of getting bills passed in the Senate, and he does not play well with others.
Clinton also has drawbacks. For some reason, there are many Republicans who simply loathe Clinton. While I believe much of that comes from antipathy toward any strong woman, that makes it no less worrisome. Nevertheless, at this point I think Clinton would make a better candidate and a better president.
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