Column
The Ballad of the Reluctant Bernie Voter
It’s hard to get excited about a candidate who leans into how rigged the system is rather than inspiring hope
When it comes to Bernie Sanders, the internal struggle is real. I will vote for him if he becomes the Democratic nominee. (I would vote for a German shepherd, a fire hydrant, or an assortment of loose teas over Donald Trump.) But I didn’t favor Sanders in 2016 and I don’t favor him now. And though I’m hardly alone in this — many Democratic party officials regard him as kryptonite — I sometimes have a hard time parsing out why this is. My Bernie-loving friends will tell me that I’m blind to the scale of corporate greed in this country and in thrall to the lie of that vague pejorative known as neoliberalism. My anti-Bernie friends will insist that no one is blinder than those who think the guy stands a chance against Trump. Both sides have a point, and until recently I was happy to assume that Sanders would never be the nominee and therefore the question would remain moot.
Biden may lead the delegate count now, sweeping the South Carolina primary on Saturday and emerging as the clear winner on Super Tuesday (including in states where he didn’t even campaign). But Sanders is still very much in play. As someone who’s no Bernie fan but is…
