Never Say Never Bernie

We must oust the current occupant of the White House. We must be ready to do the unthinkable to accomplish that, even if means voting for Bernie Sanders.

This is an opinion submission from a reader like you, part of a growing conversation about political affiliation, the future of conservatism, and the 2020 election. We encourage submissions from all perspectives in this most poignant of discussions.

In this ridiculous Age of Donald we’re living in, we have had to face some choices we never, in more sensible days, would have had any reason to expect. Justin Stapley has summarized this awkward position in his recent rejection of the candidacy of Bernie Sanders. In 2016, Americans were presented with, in my opinion, the two least competent and eligible candidates the major parties could find, and ordered: “Choose one.”

Now, four years later, both parties again seem determined to repeat the same mistake. Justin has concluded that, in the event of a Sanders vs. Trump race, he can vote for neither. I disagree.

Four years ago, I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either Hillary or Donald, but didn’t find it necessary to declare myself “Never Hillary” the way I was (and still am) Never Donald. I wasn’t looking forward to a third Clinton administration, but I was reconciled to it. I made the perfectly understandable assumption that even Hillary couldn’t screw that election up, and I was prepared to fight her agenda for four years. After that, I would be ready to help the GOP recover from the damage done by the Donaldistas, and maybe get back to some semblance of the sanity we enjoyed back in the pre-Donald era.

As we have learned, of course, there is no opportunity that Hillary can’t screw up. It turned out that neither of these two people wanted to be president. Apparently Hillary wanted to win even less than Donald did. As a result, the Nationalist/Populist wing of the GOP is now in power, and unlike Hillary, they want to win. They’ve tasted blood, and they like it.

I’m not okay with that. They are perverting the character of America, the same way they destroyed the character of the Republican Party. I want my country back. There’s not much we can do about the GOP. It’s dead, and will never rise again. But maybe we can still redeem the country by ousting the awful man currently occupying the Oval Office.

Right on cue, the Democrats search their ranks for the person Republicans hate almost as much as they hate Hillary, and seem to have settled on an unrepentant socialist. Like Justin wrote, it’s like they want to repeat the same mistakes that lost them the election in 2016. I will do everything in my power to change their minds, but regardless of the outcome, I will vote for the Democrat in November. That’s a firm promise.

I never thought I’d be in this predicament. But again, who could have foreseen these conditions? We could act like the Republican rank and file, reacting to short-term problems with short-term solutions for short-term gains. I choose instead to take the long view. Here is my analysis:

1. American needs a conservative party, with good leaders and strong principles. We can’t have one if most available conservative voters continue to support the GOP.
2. Most available conservative voters will continue to support the GOP as long as Donald is perceived as a winner. Therefore Donald must lose, and convincingly.
3. In order for Donald to lose convincingly, another party’s candidate must take a majority of both electoral votes and popular votes in the November election. In reality, only the Democrat nominee is capable of winning those votes.
4. For the Democrat to win convincingly, a coalition of Democrats, independents, and disgruntled former Republicans such as Justin and myself must vote for the Democrat ticket, and perhaps even the House and Senate candidates as well. Only when the Republican monopoly on conservative voters is broken can the hard work begin of repairing the damage done from 2016 until now.
5. Even if that means voting for Bernie Sanders.

On November 3rd, I will vote for either Pete, or Liz, or Joe, or even Bernie, not because I want to, but because my country needs me to eliminate the petty dictator currently corrupting the White House. If I am successful, I will spend the next four years resisting the mischief that our new president will try to commit.
Then, in 2024, I will finally get a chance to vote for somebody good.

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