political differences

a lot of our political process seems to be about image and focus grouping and marketing these days.

i am going to tell you right up front that senator sanders is my favorite candidate in every race he enters ever since i became a convert. senator sanders is my senator. i didn't like him in the early years of his political career, but the more i hear him talk, the more upright i realize he is. he does his own shopping. he flies coach. he answers his mail thoughtfully, and he tells you what he thinks, instead of what he thinks you want to hear.

how do you want your candidate to appear? hillary will appear that way in your district. she will shape shift faster than you can focus group. (and i don't mean to pick on hillary. most major candidates will do this.) she'll disavow her voting record, tell you she was taken out of context, and you very much get the idea she wants to be elected and will say anything, do anything, be anything until she gets your vote and then it's back to bizzness as usual, which is lining her pockets and the pockets of the rest of the wealthy lawless class.

senator sanders doesn't care about what you think of his hair. he never once made an attack ad. not once. he doesn't believe in them. he's been saying the SAME STUFF his whole career: income inequality hurts us all. opportunity inequality hurts us all. sustainable profits are much better than stripping companies and land and people of all its value and letting the wealthy amoral few walk away with everything. quality of life is important. fair treatment of prisoners benefits you whether or not you are in prison or someone you love has ever been incarcerated. the obscene unjustified war is too damn expensive and why aren't the wealthy paying for it if they want it so much? why are the poor paying in money and blood?

some candidates want to be president and will say anything to get to be president. senator sanders keeps saying the same things because he believes them and he wants a better life for us, regular people. he wants you to understand what's at stake and why it's important. he hopes enough people will agree to get things done.

ask your candidate. ask very hard, in a lot of ways. ask and keep asking: what change do you want to bring? show us what work you've done. how do we know you mean what you say?  why do you want to be elected?

if their answer is glory or strategy or party politics, toss them right out.

and yeah, i know y'all call him bernie. and i know he doesn't stand on ceremony. but bernard sanders is my senator. he answers my letters and my calls. he's earned my respect. we're not on a first name basis.

i'm actually not wild about him being president, because i'm worried about losing his effective advocacy in the senate.

but he's a good man, a regular guy. listen to what he says. don't think about his image. he doesn't care about hillary's email. why should you care about his image?