U.S. presidential election (23): should the Democrats choose Hillary or Bernie?
Some of my closest American friends are working their hearts out for Bernie Sanders and he is doing far, far better than almost anyone expected in his quest to win the Democratic nomination for the US presidential election in November rather than the presumptive candidate Hillary Clinton.
But for me, while my heart says Bernie, my head states Hillary. I just feel that her policy positions are more credible and that her experience would make her a better president both nationally and internationally. I was impressed by her memoir as Secretary of State “Hard Choices” which I’ve reviewed here.
Bernie has attracted massive support from young voters and Paul Galtris sent an e-mail – which he has turned into an online essay – to one of these young people explaining why he supports Clinton rather than Sanders. The analysis reflects some of my own thinking on the primary race and concludes as follows:
“Of course, most people don’t have the time or inclination to learn the nuances of complicated policy questions. If you’re a young person who leans left, you’re probably engaged in a simpler thought process: establishment politics has left me with high student debts and diminished job prospects; Hillary Clinton is the ultimate example of establishment politics; Bernie Sanders has fought establishment politics for years on behalf of progressive goals I believe in; why the hell shouldn’t I vote for Bernie?
I get it. The simplest response I can offer is this: on policy, Bernie doesn’t know what he’s talking about; the policies that most damaged your life came overwhelmingly from the Republicans, not the Democrats; and the Democrat most likely to beat the Republican in November is not Bernie Sanders.”
You can read the full essay here.