A rare political post

I rarely discuss politics--mostly because it almost always leads to arguments and I hate arguing.  But I do have to vent a little bit and decided to do it here, where maybe it'll be of some benefit.

I'll admit right here that I support Bernie Sanders, and I voted for him in the primary. He lost my state--he lost several states, but he also won some--to Hillary Clinton during Super Tuesday.

I have nothing against Secretary Clinton, and if Bernie losses the primary I will have no problems throwing my support behind her and voting for her in the general election. I won't even be holding y nose.

My problem is the people who seem to be personally offended that Bernie Sanders is in the race at all. Not because of the positions he takes on the issues, but because he's not an establishment candidate like Hillary Clinton. This seems to turn some people's worlds upside down and inside out--they seem to take his candidacy as a personal affront. I'm also hearing that Hillary's lead over him is insurmountable and any vote for Bernie is wasted.

Maybe that's true. Maybe Bernie doesn't have a prayer. I'm not an expert in politics. However, I feel like he does have a shot--there is still a lot of campaign left.

But even if he didn't I'd still support him. In the primary, even if I knew going in that he had no chance at all of winning (and he didn't in my state, which went overwhelmingly for Clinton), I'd still vote for him.

Why? Why vote for someone if you don't think they have a chance?

Well, for one thing, polls can be wrong. It's hardly an exact science. Some are more accurate than others, true, but none are dead-on accurate all the time.

For another--if a candidate speaks to the issues that matter to you, if you agree with his or her stands on those issues, then you aren't wasting your vote. Every vote for a particular candidate makes that candidate a little bit stronger, his or her voice a little bit louder. Even if your candidate has no chance in hell of winning, it forces other candidates in the race to speak up about those issues, to clarify or even change positions. It forces the debate to go into areas where it may not go on its own.

Consider Hillary addressing income inequality--Bernie's favorite issue, and probably the single biggest problem, not just in this country, but in the world. Would Secretary Clinton be speaking up about it if Bernie wasn't hammering away on that issue? I seriously doubt it.

So, I guess the lesson here is, once you step into that poll, vote for your candidate. Not just the one you're being told is going to win. Vote for whoever you feel like speaks for you, and the issues that matter to you. Don't worry about whether or not that candidate can win. Just vote.