Bernie and Jeff,
Well, let me address you Bernie. Jeff I have never met you. Bernie, I met you in 1980. I was a UVM student at the time working on the Andersen campaign (please hold your laughter). I doubt you know me, but I voted for you in 1981. I voted for you in 1983. Unlike a lot of the phony open letters here this isn’t written by some Clinton supporter in disguise.
I flew at my own expense to work for you in Iowa. I was an Iowa precinct captain — the picture is my badge
I did so because I believed, and still believe, that there is a very real problem in the Democratic Party. That the Party has lost its way in many respects. It defends past attacks on the poor (Welfare Reform). Its likely nominee was for an immoral war, and has proposed getting more deeply involved in Syria. Our likely nominee has attacked Single Payer Health Care reform, despite widespread support for it both in the Party and in the Country as a whole. Our likely nominee’s connections to Wall Street are well known. Her economic proposals are tepid, and while infinitely preferable to Trump’s are unlikely to make a significant difference in the lives of working Americans.
I have been thrilled with the campaign — which has succeeded far beyond these know it all pundits predictions. Yes, I do find amusing that these same pundits seem fit to tell you what to do now.
This is how change happens. I learned this from you, though in truth I didn’t agree with you very much at times. So we should fight for every delegate. We should go to the Convention loud and proud.
And it must be noted how vile the opposition has been. They attack your wife with little substance. They attempt absurd comparisons to make excuses for Clinton’s vote for the AUMF. The Clinton campaign hired the ultimate political hit man, after all.
More important has been the institutional response of the Party. I was there Bernie. I saw people leaves the lines in Iowa on Caucus night because the Democratic Party had so badly organized them. And yes, I do believe those were our votes I saw leave the lines.
I will note there is no outrage from the other side about that.
I have been part of Florida Voter Protection for a decade. The outrages in this primary process though still surprised me. The long lines in Arizona. Unenrolling voters in New York by the tens of thousands.
But now, having said all of this, I come to the events that triggered the writing of this letter.
The lines in Arizona were outrageous. They are not why we lost Arizona.
Unenrolling voters was outrageous. They are not why we lose New York.
I know you know this, and I know you have in fact never suggested they WERE why you lost those states. But these stories are getting repeated. They are fueling anger — and anger not based in fact. Sure, there is plenty to be outraged at when it comes to the existing National Democratic Party.
But they did not steal Arizona. And they did not steal New York.
And you need to be clear about it. And in the same statement you should be just as clear about the outrage that occurred in New York and Arizona.
And then we come to Nevada. Again, lost in all of the phony anger (and no one does phony anger like Clinton supporters) is the fact that duly elected delegates faced an attempt to bar them from the proceedings.
What we get now is reports of harassing phone calls and “death threats”.
In the age of the Internet and social media anyone can claim to be a “Sanders Supporter”.
And so in the age of the Internet it becomes necessary to make sure people know that they do not represent you.
And you need to do that. Because something big is at risk.
You see what I have found out in all of this is that there are a lot of phony progressives. They pretend like the agree with us but they really do not.
Those people are dying to find something to marginalize your campaign (I would include in this many who write for this blog). In point of fact because your campaign is about things that matter, they will largely fail. I believe we have a chance to build something that will last beyond November.
But we need to address what happened in Nevada. And we need to be clear about what happened in Arizona and New York.