Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Bernie or Bust: Self-Serving and Self-Destructive

The degree to which the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has benefited the Democratic Party cannot be overstated. Rather than constituting a slumber-inducing coronation ceremony with the presence of competitors requisite only to crown the head of the triumphant, the primary process has instead witnessed an invigoration at the hands of Sanders’ buoyant idealism and unyielding will.

Thousands of disaffected Americans, from the halls of intellectualistic academia to the weathered factories of the Rust Belt, have not only been inspired to engage with politics for the first time, but have passionately adopted the mantle of activism. Issues that may have been otherwise marginalized­ — such as banking regulation and campaign finance reform, among others — have become fundamental platform priorities. And voter enthusiasm, purportedly tempered in a cycle featuring a frontrunner less rhetorically inspiring than President Barack Obama, has surprisingly rivaled, if not exceeded that of his meteoric 2008 ascendency.

Despite this phenomenon, however, Sanders is neither primed to become the democratic nominee nor is he in a position to feasibly alter this outcome. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton currently holds 2,811 delegates, easily surpassing the 2,383 needed to secure the nomination, while Sanders has only 1,879. And while it is true that 591 of Hillary’s delegates are superdelegates, her three million-vote national lead over Sanders dispels any conventional argument for a shift in their allegiances.

As the inevitability of a Clinton victory looms, the fervency of pro-Sanders passion has been discernibly tainted by a desperate, unapologetic obstinacy laced with vitriol. Campaign attacks originally founded upon policy differences have transformed into assaults against the former Secretary of State’s character and morality. Additionally, criticisms of Democratic establishment insularity and opaqueness have prompted vows to contest the party’s convention and have even spurred the incitement of violence.

Secretary Clinton is, understandably on the part of many Sanders allies, not an optimal nominee. Questions abound revolve around her trustworthiness. Furthermore, some of her policy positions lie to the right of some liberals who consider her overly beholden to the interests of the elite.

Nevertheless, as the aforementioned figures reflect, Clinton will be the democratic nominee, the standard-bearer of progressive aims that even rebellious leftists so infatuated with Sanders’ promises do hold dear. And in an election between two candidates, what hurts one will inherently benefit the other. Consequently, present efforts to stunt Clinton’s candidacy will aid the ambitions of Republican presidential nominee-assumptive Mr. Donald J. Trump.

The reprehensible nature of Trump’s campaign is beyond description. Hatred abounds in his speeches, violence is ever-present at his rallies and alarming levels of ignorance permeate his communications. Yet even more terrifying than the prospect of a president who refuses to condemn the Ku Klux Klan is that of a leader advancing an agenda of incomprehensible unpredictability. Would Trump legitimately command the deportation of 12 million people and impose a ban on Muslim entry, or might these extremist suggestions be only a ploy designed to keep viewers tuned in until next week? The reality is that leaders on both sides of the aisle have little comprehension of what a Trump presidency would entail. The best-case scenario envisions the mogul’s deal-making abilities netting favorable trade agreements. But the worst-case scenario? A descent into authoritarianism and the demise of American democracy.

The majority of Sanders supporters comprehend the catastrophic consequences of a Trump victory, and by extension, the immense stakes characterizing the 2016 election. Yet for a vocal contingent of the Vermont Senator’s devotees, their loathing for Secretary Clinton exceeds any distaste for or fear of Trump. Adopting the banner of “Bernie or Bust,” these hardline adherents argue that because Secretary Clinton is a product of the political and corporate establishment, casting a protest vote or refraining from electoral participation altogether would advance their interests more than rallying behind the democratic nominee.

For these Sanders enthusiasts, pledging unconditional allegiance for their idol constitutes a display of ideological purity and idealistic integrity. In a contest between Clinton and Trump however, “Bernie or Bust” must be seen for what it truly is: a fundamental betrayal of the Democratic Party and a potent weapon in Trump’s electoral arsenal. Every vote cast by a progressive not marked for Hillary Clinton directly helps Trump’s probability of victory, and with it, the likelihood that years of social progress, not to mention the precarious balance of international peace, could be shattered by the whims of man whose convictions are as unstable as the corporations he led into bankruptcy.

Sanders’ supporters will be faced with a choice in November: stand by their party’s nominee, or refrain. Electing to vote for Clinton will prove a trying task for many, a gut-wrenching ordeal necessitating the temporary forsaking of principle for a cause perceived as corrupt and misguided. But momentary indignity will fade over time. The damage inflicted upon the United States and the global community by a Trump presidency, on the other hand, will likely not. If Sanders’ adherents elect to prioritize personal vendettas and self-contentment over the good of the nation, they will bear responsibility for each and every atrocity perpetrated by Trump over the course of his reign. For as has been done over the course of our history, sacrifices must be made for the preservation of the republic. This time is no different.

 

Matthew Gregory is a Senior in the School of Foreign Service, and previously served as President of the Georgetown University College Democrats.

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  • L

    Liz AdairJun 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    Bernie or bust is about integrity.
    Our nation and what is right.
    Our Founding Fathers were somewhat like that.

    Reply
  • J

    Jackie ArnoldJun 27, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    How dare the author suggest to Bernie or Bust that if we don’t cast our vote for Clinton it is a vote for Trump. Get a fucking clue.

    If you and every other Hillary shill got off of your high horses and listened, really listened to us and heard our reason not to vote for Hillary then maybe you could understand that it not we who predetermined the Democratic candidate, it is not we who falsely characterized Bernie, his platform, his followers. We are not who lifted Queen Hillary to media heights of praise and burned Senator Sanders every chance. We are not the ones who found it useful to lie cheat and steal the election from the citizens as felt from the beginning only to be validated by DNC own hacked files stating as much.

    We are not collage kids wanting free stuff. We are not white guys. We are not millennials. We are everyone who cares about the environment and are scared that no action will ruin our planet. We are the sick, the unemployed, the elderly, the veterans, the single parents, we are families and religions and races that of which make up the populous of our nation.

    We are Bernie supporters because he gave us truth to power. We are awake.

    Clinton is faux progressive through and through. She lies she steals, she panders for votes. She is the most unethical, morally inept, power hungry, war mongering, untrustworthy, ideologically retarded, and lastly the worst excuse for a feminist to be sadly pre-installed as the first woman president. Disgraceful.

    To be clear, I am a 43 year old mother of a teen and preteen. I have been married to their father for 27 years next May. I am not a Republican. I do not subscribe to their bull. I am a free thinker. And I am a Bernie or Bust.

    Reply
  • S

    SFS*2016Jun 27, 2016 at 11:56 am

    Who exactly are you arguing against? The most recent poll shows that Sanders primary supporters now support Clinton 81%-8%. At this point in 2008, 22 percent of Clinton primary supporters said they would vote for John McCain over Obama, and 16 percent ended up doing so.

    Reply
  • C

    Carlton ShardleyJun 27, 2016 at 11:01 am

    I have been a strictly loyal straight-ticket Democrat for 28 years. I cannot ethically support Hillary Clinton or any member of a party that endorses that career criminal. I have left the Democratic Party and regard it as an evil to be destroyed. GOP, DNC are both beneath even the KKK in my estimation, and I don’t respect any of their partisans anymore.

    Reply
  • H

    Honorine GedatusJun 27, 2016 at 10:41 am

    Your article “Bernie or Bust: Self-Serving and Self-Destructive” is just using this as propaganda to keep Hillary in position as a candidate. The truth is, we meaning Bernie supporters, don”t have to vote for Hillary or Trump. We have the right to vote for who we believe would make the best president of the united states. Using the theory that if we do not support Hillary we could get the evil trump, just doesn’t fly. And the Democratic party will have to take responsibility for making Hillary their nominee. The Democratic party can not blame Bernie or his supporters if Trump becomes president. That is just nonsense. Bernie is in this presidential race for the people and for real change.

    Reply
  • G

    Gurnhilder BlanstenJun 27, 2016 at 12:36 am

    The Anti-Trump rant is a given. The man is a morally bankrupt demagogue, nothing new there.

    Reply
  • G

    Gurnhilder BlanstenJun 27, 2016 at 12:15 am

    I wanted to be objective about reading your opinion piece, because going into this I strongly disagree with your Title.
    But your obvious bias did not take long to rear its ugly head.
    I will read as much as I can in small installments because my BS meter can only stomach so much. But in the interest of critical thinking I will do my best.
    So when you write that Bernie Sanders betrayed the Democratic Party during this primary, I had to read that statement three (3) times to make sure. WHAT?!?!?!
    Are you serious?!?!?
    Is this ” the Onion” newspaper?!?!?
    Oh wait, this is fron Georgetown University??
    Oh, I am sorry that explains everything.
    I will finish the piece, seriously.
    Your college has awards in her name, not to mention fellowships.

    Reply
  • S

    Sharon ReddyJun 26, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    No, won’t happen. We aren’t going to vote for confrontation with Russia, perpetual war, the TPP, fracking… No, it won’t happen. Either Bernie is nominated or we’ll rip out of the Democratic Party on the left, form a new party and actively work to defeat every corrupt Democrat who gave her a superdelegate vote. If the Democrats are going to support a conservative platform and candidate, which is DEFINED as desiring to maintain the status quo, then they can vanish into the neocon Republicans. I’ve been a Democrat for 50 years. The people take the party back from the moneyed neoliberal elitists and end corruption, or we kill it.

    Reply
    • D

      DavidJul 17, 2016 at 5:49 am

      It’s so sad to me to see how dumb people are. Your integrity means absolutely nothing when civil rights are all destroyed or rolled back, social security and healthcare are destroyed, gay marriage overturned, abortion made illegal, women and minorities made the scourge of the right wing theocratic government. America was started by people who committed genocide and built on the backs of enslaved africans. You benefit from evil every single day of your life, but you have integrity? How dare you! The grown ups need to come in and rescue this sad, stupid, purtianical movement from itself. Absolute insanity!

      Reply