A word of advice about controlling the Democratic Party message

[BainsBane]

45. Rhetoric is meaningless

If your argument is that nothing is going to happen so you might as well go along with the guy who makes the biggest promises or most caustically validates your anger, I'm not interested. I don't see politics as about entertainment or emotional validation, and I don't respect politicians more concerned with appearing on camera than getting work done. If you want a government that doesn't function, that's your choice, but I believe government can improve the lives of people. I do not support the view that polarization or scapegoating for the sake of it is worthwhile. It only contributes to the toxicity of our political system. Sanders is more concerned with white male Trump voters than regular Democratic voters like me anyway. He made clear in the primary he didn't want my vote, and he didn't get it. Nor will he ever. Not because he's too leftist. He isn't. He's conservative in some ways. Any number of Democrats are to the left of him on a range of issues, like guns, immigration, and social justice.

The argument that nothing is going to get done so you should go along with the guy whose talks the biggest game is far from persuasive. I'm not looking for the most ineffective person as president. Sanders doesn't motivate me to do anything but vote against him. He obviously was far less successful than Clinton at motivating voters to get to the polls, despite greatly outspending her. If he couldn't get a majority of Democrats to vote for him, how was he going to get voters in deep red districts to demand Their GOP congress people support his agenda? If he had such an ability, why did he not use it during his three decades in congress? Belief in one's superiority is not evidence of effectiveness, particularly when the congressional record shows the opposite.

I look for competence and thoughtful policy. You are of course free to vote as you choose, but I am hardly going to be convinced by the argument that nothing gets done so might as well vote for the guy who does nothing the loudest. There are lawmakers who do get things done, and Hillary Clinton was one of them. I will continue to make decisions as I see best, and others will vote according to their own criteria. I don't try to control others' votes, so I don't see why they feel compelled to control mine.