The No-Bernie Calculus

Fascism now or later?

It’s become clear that the DNC, the DCCC and almost all of the media are dead set against a progressive Democratic candidate. For most of us, that means Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Remembering the contest between Sanders and the swollen pustular ego of Hillary Clinton, we Progressives must accept the possibility that Sanders may win the caucuses and primaries and yet be forced out in favor of an Obama-like conservative neoliberal. If we are to vote strategically, what strategy is most likely to yield best results over the long term?

I myself am struggling with my decision, and it relates very much to my understanding of recent history. Ronald Reagan spent the eighties destroying labor unions, raising taxes on the middle-class and escalating vicious wars in South America. His Republican successor, George H. W. Bush, continued the tradition of war with a pointless invasion of Iraq and Panama and the appointment of one of the first of the modern unqualified Supreme Court Justices. Then the Democratic Party provided Bill Clinton. Finally, a president who could restore the power of labor and reconstruct the safety net for the poor.

Once elected, we found that Clinton basically agreed with the Republicans on most economic and military issues. While the Republican organization continued its assault on labor and civil…