So what are dedicated Berniers to do? Bernie’s supporters were put in a position to have to choose between two bad outcomes. Trump wasn’t acceptable, but for those who truly believed in Sanders’ principles, neither was Clinton.
Political parties are not the vehicle for change. The DNC is one of the two most powerful private corporations in the country. They both have a stake in enacting only the reforms that will benefit their side, but not a true democracy. There should be electoral systems in place that benefit the people, regardless of a party affiliation (or lack thereof).
The political revolution has to come from outside — from the true independents.
We need election reforms that will decrease the power of the duopoly and increase competition while leveling the playing field for those running as independents or third-party candidates. We need our primary election process to serve the public, not just the two major parties, and we need to allow independent voters a voice in the primaries, not just in the general election. We need Ranked Choice Voting.
Now there are many Berniers still dedicating their time and resources to getting him to run again or to advancing the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. And I understand why: Many of us invested a lot in the movement and some may be finding it hard to quit.
We have to quit thinking that Bernie can fix a political system that is rigged against true independence.
Now this doesn’t mean we should quit supporting the reforms he champions, like open primaries, campaign finance reform, and working outside the two-party system.
It does mean that we should work toward fixing the system that the two parties have rigged in their favor so that in the future, candidates that don’t fit into the two-party mold, whether a Bernie Sanders or a Ron Paul, don’t have to pick a partisan team to be taken seriously.
If we really think that partisanship is a problem in the country, the first thing we need to do is quit partying. Stop putting our confidence in the two parties. Stop taking it for granted that our tax dollars should pay for their primaries. And most importantly, we need to stop thinking that good ideas come from only one side of the political aisle or the other.
I was sick and tired of partisan politics. So I quit. I quit belonging to one of the two major parties. Maybe you should too.
"Quit Partying and Quit Bernie"
Excerpts from article by Lynn Marie Morski in Opinion Nov 27, 2017