Friday, June 10, 2016

An Open Letter To The Super Delegates

By Jeff Simpson

Hello to all of the Super Delegates of the Democratic Party.  I must start out by saying that I feel that Super Delegates are a very bad idea and one that should be abolished.   I also respect that fact that people who are Super Delegates, are people that have a long time established themselves as working within the Democratic Party.   I appreciate that also.

That being said, I am going to make a pitch on why Bernie Sanders is the ONLY choice for you to make at the convention.    I know many will say, you don't like them and now you want them to back your candidate?  The simple answer is YES.   I do not like the new Voter ID law but plan on bringing my ID every time I vote until we can get the law changed.  We are forced in many ways to comply with rules/laws/policies that we disagree with.

I truly believe, like many, that Donald Trump is a disaster waiting to happen.  I believe that the Republican Party managed to find a business person who was actually more incompetent than Carly Fiorina and made him their presumptive nominee.   That takes some doing!  

Since priority number one is to defeat The Donald, we know for a fact that the one person who polls the best and will beat him is Senator Bernie Sanders.   Sure Hillary also out polls Trump and will Probably beat him, but it is a certainty that Bernie would.  Are you willing to make that bet?

We know Hillary has been grooming herself for this for years, and has waited in line and earned her turn.  I appreciate that but this is a new era of politics and lately the next in line succession has not done very well. Especially in Wisconsin, as Governor McCallum and Governor Green will testify too.  Besides, there is very good evidence that it was Bill Clinton who actually talked Donald Trump into running and unleashing the monster.   Maybe being so close to Donald in her personal life somewhat explains her way to cozy relationship with Henry Kissinger.

At the recent Wisconsin Democratic Convention, there was a session on how to engage the youth and get them active and voting.  That answer is right in front of us, if we want to see it:

 

Senator Sanders has been able to draw large crowds of youth, new voters and people who were disenfranchised with politics as usual.   As Matt Taibbi pointed out in Rolling Stone:

 If they had any brains, Beltway Dems and their clucky sycophants like Capeheart would not be celebrating this week. They ought to be horrified to their marrow that the all-powerful Democratic Party ended up having to dig in for a furious rally to stave off a quirky Vermont socialist almost completely lacking big-dollar donors or institutional support.
Thomas Frank, who has made a career  trying to figure out why Democrats continually shoot themselves in the foot every election cycle, had this to say:

The rest of us, meanwhile, will get to pass the remainder of the year under the slowly dawning certainty that nothing is going to change. The policies of the last eight years are to be the policies of the next eight. Minus, of course, the enthusiasm that followed Barack Obama along the campaign trail in 2008. Nobody will be partying in Grant Park on the day Hillary is elected. And nobody will parade triumphantly through the streets of any city other than Washington when the Clinton restoration is complete.
In a Politico piece, Yves Smth believes many of her progressive leaders will vote for Trump.

 The Clintons’ dismal record, which Hillary cannot run away from, speaks for itself. And this is what makes many progressives I know unable to support her, even if she wins the nomination.  
None of the even takes into account the email scandal she has her self embroiled in.  While I personally do not think it will amount to much of anything, but showing Ms. Clintons ignorance of technology, it is never good to have to explain criminal investigations while running.  

There is also a popular myth, that Bernie could not handle the scrutiny of Republicans if he were the nominee, which Josh Atchison disproves in his piece on Commondreams:


There’s two things wrong with this story, however.
First, Sanders has been under a concerted and systematic assault in the mainstream media and from the Democratic Establishment since he began to threaten Hillary’s “inevitable” candidacy, yet his numbers have continued to skyrocket up in the polls. There’s little more the Republicans could do in this regard.  Which brings us to the Establishment’s second error.
Any political consultant will tell you that the two most important numbers in predicting a candidate’s performance are their unfavorability/favorability ratings and how trustworthy voters perceive the candidate to be.  
While I adamantly support Senator Sanders for President and ask that you use your very powerful super delegate vote to also support Senator Sanders.   I understand the courage it would take to do this.  It always takes courage to make history and do the right thing when everyone else expects status quo.   I believe it is quite obvious at this point, that the status quo could be the most toxic campaign issue that we have seen in our lifetime.

The voters are desperate for change and sick of being told how great that our politicians are doing while poverty is the highest it has been in 30 years.  The people see a different America then the politicians tell us is happening in their neighborhood.

Senator Sanders understands this, saw it coming, and has been talking about it for the last thirty years!  He actually has 'street cred" on this issue.

If I still have not convinced you to support Senator Sanders with your Super Delegate vote yet, let me give you maybe the most compelling point!

As of February 2016 there were 191 Bernie Democrats running for office throughout the country.   That number has increased since then, just checking the GAB list of candidates on the ballot this fall, there are numerous Bernie inspired candidates up and down the ballot.

There has been talk for as long as I have paid attention to politics that the Democrats need to build their bench.   No candidate that I have ever seen has inspired so many new people to not only get involved in the process, but to actually do something about it and put their name on the ballot.

That is what happens when someone comes out with a progressive populist ideas and campaign.

People are desperate for change.  People are sick of politicians telling us what we cant do.  In the 60's President Kennedy challenged the country to put a man on the moon and the country accepted the challenge successfully.  

That is what American exceptionalism is all about, when you work with all people towards a common goal.  Not when Wall St., Fossil Fuels and Multi National Corporations get to eat until they are stuffed and the rest of us get the crumbs.

I beg, plead and ask to please use your Super Delegate vote to help put Senator Bernie Sanders in the White House.  It will help down ticket races and inspire a new generation that will see that they too can make a difference without needing to be a multi millionaire.  

Our Country, Our State and our children need your help!

Let's make this a priority:



Not this:






Respectfully

Jeff Simpson


PS:  Martha Laning we are counting on you to keep your promise and vote for the person who handily won the Wisconsin Primary!   The whole state is watching!









5 comments:

  1. From your lips to their ears. Well done!

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  2. I understand your heartfelt support for Sanders but by no metric should the superdelegates switch over to Sanders. Hillary has won more primaries and has more of the popular vote. As to polling, Sanders currently polls well versus Trump. How much will that change when Trump begins attacking on increased taxes on the middle class, a burgeoning national debt and Sanders previous socialist leanings? If polling means so much, Scott Walker would have been elected president a year and a half ago.

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  3. 1. the popular vote is a moot point when there are so many closed primaries and caucuses. There were 3 million people alone who couldnt vote in New york because they didnt register 6 months in advance...at the time 75 % of them were polling bernie, that alone would have significantly cut into the "popular vote" lead.

    2. How many primaries were there before there was even one debate? Hard to imagine why anyone would not vte for HIllary pre debates since she was the only one everyone knew. Not to mention that she started out wth 500 delegate lead before a single vote was cast. They pushed her inevitability very hard.

    3. THe repubs wll attack him is the worst argument of all. D we think now it will e an issues oriented debate with Hllary? She starts out the campaign with record negatives and do we think that will improve in an election season? Now she has alienated Sanders voters that she desperately needs to win.

    The thing about Bernie is his message has been CONSISTENT for thirty years and he has beaten both dems and republicans....People like honesty and someone who stands string for values and he was the only one running who could say that.

    He has easily handled the increase in taxes bs, the national debt and his socialist leanings attacks very well because they have been coming from clinton on a daily basis.

    Our one chance to destroy Trump and win up and down the ballot lies with the superdelegates, deciding that attending a fundraiser is not maybe the best reason to vote for someone.

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    Replies
    1. 1. Both candidates chose to run in the democratic primary. As such, Hilary has won the majority of democrats so the popular vote is not a moot point. Without the democratic party and the recognition provided to Sanders through it, Bernie as an independent woulds have been nothing more than a spoiler such as Nader.

      2. Zero primaries were held prior to the first debate. In fact, four debates and one democratic town were held prior to the Iowa caucus.

      3. While it is correct that Hillary has record negatives, she has also been negatively attacked as a public figure for close to thirty years. Do you believe that attacks on Sanders will increase his popularity? If Sanders were the nominee he would have to become more specific as to his policies. He has struggled with this during the debates and during interviews.

      I agree this should have been the year that the democrats easily captured the house, senate and presidency. However, with the venom coming from Sanders supporters and those saying they will never vote for Hilary I am not so sure anymore.

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  4. I strongly disagree that Bernie could have been attacked any worse than hillary will. the thing about Bernie is his message has been the same for thirty years, hard to attack consistency...especially when you compare it to Trump.

    I agree this should have been the year when we actually elected a progressive populist that brought in dems, repubs and independents, unfortunately the party pulled out all stops to make sure we stayed status quo.

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