An Open Letter to Pete Supporters
We can still change the world together.
Dear “Team Pete” fans, I know how you feel this morning. You have a candidate you love, and you really believe in, and then they are gone. And you look at the rest of the field with burgeoning distaste and dislike before begrudgingly settling on the next best thing. And EVERYONE seems to be telling you to buck up and choose their candidate. Those people are cheerful and disgusting and all you want to do is mourn in peace. I get it. I felt that hangover in 2016 and “I guess I’m with her.”
I may be blunt, painfully honest, socially awkward, and convinced I am right, but I do have empathy. I am also deathly in earnest. That’s why I am writing today. If you know me, you know I am not a “Bernie Bro”. I believe in policy, in ideas, and I have very definite beliefs on what path we need to take. And, with the primaries picking up speed from here on out, there is no time to waste.
I need you to vote for the only candidate who can not only defeat Trump, but also change the path that our country has been on for decades now. Any candidate who doesn’t envision a metamorphosis for this country isn’t going to be willing to make the touch choices that can achieve those goals. All that will do is leave us stalled in place until the next right-wing dictator comes along to finish what Trump has started.
Bernie Sanders is that candidate.
His plan for Medicare for All, even if it falls short of what he wants, will put us on par with the rest of the civilized world. It will cover mental and dental health as well. People will not have to ration insulin or cross national borders to get needed medication.
He has consistently been in the fight for a living wage and better working conditions. He believes we need to end corporate welfare for companies like Amazon and Walmart and stop allowing them to double down against the people by both avoiding taxes and refusing to pay competitive wages, forcing a portion of their workforce onto TANF.
He believes in investing in our future, in educating our children and making sure they have safe, healthy homes. He believes in bolstering our infrastructure and working to reverse the damage we have done to our climate, bringing an end to fracking and stopping the oil companies from continuing their rampage on our public lands.
He believes in honoring our past. He wants to take care of the veterans we have while working to change our current, hawkish foreign policy. His health plan covers home health care, an important thing to keep in mind with the largest generation rapidly aging.
He believes in ending the wealthy takeover of our elections, safeguarding them from foreign interference, and stopping those who seek to buy influence (and even admit it on the debate stage.) He believes that the “Great Experiment” has NOT failed, but in order to prevent that from happening, we must take action.
He believes we must do it, together. We can actually be the change we say we want. That is what his slogan, “Not Me, Us,” is all about. He is one man, yes. But if EACH OF US votes and acts for that change, we can make a difference. We have to stop being afraid and take action.
