My Whole Expanse I Cannot See…

Candidates, politicians in general, rarely mention people with disabilities, so this speech is definitely exceptional.

Waiting for Hillary…

The Hillary Clinton rally was packed, standing room only. Had the venue been large enough, people would have filled it. Her chances to take Florida in next week’s Primary are looking really good. Still, if you’re a Hillary supporter in sunny Florida, now is not the time to get complacent. Just because various polls say she’s up by 30, 40ish points doesn’t mean it’s safe to skip voting. That’s how election upsets happen; a candidate is way up in the polls, their supporters stay home on Election Day, while the underdog’s supporters show up en masse. We can’t let that happen, in any state. We can’t let Bernie Sanders take Primaries because his supporters are super-organized, while we’re so wrapped up in polls and projections that we forget to actually VOTE for the woman who ought to be our next President, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Hillary talking plans and policies… that actually make sense!

Over the last year, I’ve really paid a great deal of attention to Clinton’s speeches. It’s one thing to visit web sites, read up on the candidates, but hearing them speak is a totally different experience.

I’m going to be honest, I’ve only really started paying serious attention to Hillary Clinton this election cycle. Up until this past year, I’ve had cursory knowledge of Hillary; She’s former President Clinton’s wife. As First-Lady she championed universal health care, and lost. She was Senator of New York, Secretary of State, a career politician. Some say she’s sort of cold, others say she’s a stone-cold bitch. That was the gist of my knowledge of Hillary Clinton. With that kind of understanding, I didn’t like her so much. I did a really poor job of understanding one of our country’s most influential politicians. Such is no longer the case.

Hearing Hillary Clinton speak, the most important thing I’ve come to understand is that she is a true public servant. She isn’t in politics for power, or greed, or to make her rich pals richer. Hillary Clinton is in politics to affect change, to make society better than how she found it by the time she leaves it. Her entire political career has been about helping people, serving America. She cares deeply that all Americans have their shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She’s worked in child-advocacy, with a focus on health care for children, and early education programs. She led a strong charge to grant access to health care for all. Her attempt at health care reform was unsuccessful, but she tried because it was the right thing to do. She’s what all politicians should be, one who genuinely cares about people, especially those who are the most vulnerable. You can hear it in her voice, a sincere desire to perform good works.

As for being a stone-cold bitch, I think that’s a moniker given too often to women who are bold enough to smash a glass ceiling rather than be crushed underneath it.

After hearing Hillary Clinton speak in person, I’m only more certain that she is the right person to serve as our next President.

So, I’m not a fan of Bernie Sanders, but not because I don’t necessarily like his ideas. Some of his plans are totally great; campaign finance reform, wage reform, making college possible for all, great ideas. He’s an excellent speaker, really powerful, his talk of POLITICAL REVOLUTION sounds to be exactly what America needs. Politics is astonishingly fucked up, something has to change, so his narrative of POLITICAL REVOLUTION is really compelling. Sanders is especially compelling to young voters, kids who are about to cast their very first ballot and already feel like their voices don’t matter, or those who voted for President Obama twice and feel disgusted because they were promised change and got less than they hoped. I totally understand the frustration, I see the appeal of Bernie Sanders. Political revolution sounds really fucking cool, and necessary these days. However, Bernie fans, casual and die-hard, are missing something important, something crucial about his candidacy. When Bernie Sanders talks about his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, he isn’t talking about some ephemeral ideal, it isn’t some affectation to make himself come across as daring, exciting. Rather, he means something quite specific by his promise of political revolution. Unfortunately, it’s a promise without wings.

See, when Bernie Sanders talks about political revolution, his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, he’s talking about how he plans to fund every policy, accomplish every goal. Sanders believes that he can create such voter support, such an uprising of the people that the political process will bend to their will. Congress will have to pass legislation for debt-free college tuition, they’ll have to pass legislation for a real living-wage, otherwise any legislators who oppose Sanders’ Presidential ideas will be voted out office by everyone throughout America gathered under the banner of President Bernie Sanders. He doesn’t publish detailed budget plans, nothing much beyond, we’ll make the fat cats pay for everything. Making the fat cats pay will be possible through political revolution, that’s the key to every piece of proposed legislation, every change in policy. He will bring so many people into the political process, people speaking as one voice, that politics will fundamentally and permanently change.

Ideally, the American people are in charge, those we elect are supposed to govern according to our will. This is how politics should work, and maybe one day, when society is truly ready to get deeply involved in the political process, we’ll see the sort of fundamental shift that is required for any kind of political revolution, but we’re not there yet, nor is Bernie Sanders the one to help us get there. For Sanders’ political revolution to take place, voter turnout would have to reach epic numbers, and so far, that hasn’t happened. Sanders would have to beat Hilary Clinton in primary after primary, and so far, he hasn’t. Lets say, Bernie Sanders does make it to the general election, but only just barely, and only through the bluster and moxie that is so loved by his base of young voters. That’s hardly an auspicious start for his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, and being that said revolution is the lynch-pin for his Presidency, his Presidency doesn’t look like the strong hand that America so desperately needs.

Bernie Sanders is all bold talk and bold ideas that are just right for firing up young voters who are a likely ticket into a general election, but that’s the only firm plan he has under his proverbial hat. His POLITICAL REVOLUTION is beyond his ability to make reality, and without it, his promised change and big ideas are nothing but ash. This election is far too important to leave to a guy who’s all cotton candy, fun, but no substance. We need someone with solid plans AND a realistic way to implement them. Bernie Sanders is not that someone.