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We Will Not Be Brought to Heel

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It’s statements like this one by Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and current chair of the Democratic National Convention, that make my blood boil:

“I think it’s gonna be a great convention, but of course the key to it is the Sanders people. Bernie’s gonna have his name placed in nomination; we’re gonna have a roll call; there’s gonna be a demonstration in support of Bernie; he’s gonna lose the roll call,” he said. “His supporters have to behave and not cause trouble. And I think they will, and I think Sen. Sanders will send them a strong message.”

The Party could have been gracious in its seeming march toward a Hillary victory, and stand down on the constant belittling until *all* the voting was all done, but they just couldn’t do that. Instead, they just can’t help but throw more fuel on an already burning fire.

These are Hillary’s peeps doing this; her birds of a feather. Throughout this entire campaign season, even before any “Bernie Bro” incident, Hillary and her surrogates have treated Bernie and his supporters with arrogance, disdain, and condescension. It’s been implied that we, including Bernie, are naïve, immature, cultish, uninformed, and young, and it’s all been heaped on us with a large helping of an elitist patronizing attitude. And if we (including Bernie) ever pushed back, even just a little, we got called Bernie Bros, pony wanters, not real Democrats, and/or accused of sexism or racism. 

This isn’t coming from one or two folks with Hillary; the list is very long. From Madeleine Albright, Gloria Steinem, Dolores Huerta, Claire McCaskill, John Lewis, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joan Walsh, Connie Schultz, David Brock, Paul Krugman, Jonathan Capehart, Ed Rendell and a whole host of others, all the way down to Bill and even Hillary herself. 

I can’t help but see that this – this is what the Democratic Party thinks of us. Sure you can’t take one or two isolated incidents and extrapolate out to that, but this is very much not one or two incidents; this is systemic. It speaks loudly and clearly what the Party stands for, and it’s not us. 

They don’t want the things for us that Bernie wants for us; they won’t even try, and they call us naïve for even thinking about pushing for them. Instead of saying ‘our ideas are better and here’s why’, they say ‘your ideas suck and can never be done’. They think they have the market cornered on what’s doable, and what’s doable to them is not very much at all. The Party stopped fighting for us a long time ago; now they either a) don’t want what we want and/or b) are happy to accept whatever crumbs the corporate/political power structure deems us worthy of getting. They have become officially the Party of “No We Can’t”.

We are issues voters and we are angry at the trajectory this country has been on for awhile; they don’t get that. It would have helped if they gave some full throated support for what are traditional New Deal/Great Society issues, but they didn’t. It would have helped if the Party and the Hillary campaign came out swinging on the voter problems that have been had in a host of states now, but they didn’t. Instead of doing some positive Democratic values reinforcement, they’ve been too busy tearing Bernie and us down and putting us in the place they see fit for us. 

‘Shut up unless we need you’ isn’t a good GOTV or Party building strategy. It’s not our fault a lot of us feel the Party has left us; it’s the Party’s fault. It’s not our fault a lot of us won’t fall in line; it’s the Party’s fault. It’s not our fault that a lot of the folks who recently registered in the Party likely won’t stay in the Party for long; it’s the Party’s fault. If the Party’s candidate doesn’t win in November, it’s not our fault; it’s the Party’s fault for putting up a candidate that didn’t inspire more folks like us to want to go to the polls for that candidate. 

When you consistently treat us with arrogance, disdain, and condescension – hell, even borderline contempt – well, that’s not inspiring at all. When you expect us to vote for your candidate cuz “winning” and “fear” but you keep treating us like children, don’t be surprised when we balk at showing up for your candidate. And when you talk in absolutes as if the primaries are over and insinuate that we’d better “behave and not cause trouble” as if we were just a bunch of kids that need to stay in line, well, don’t be surprised if we can’t be ‘brought to heel’.


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