Via friend Brains' Twitter feed two weeks ago, I came across some details of the project to write in Bernie Sanders in Vermont, the broader, but not directly connected "OpDeny270" and more.
First, to the broader OpDeny.
The idea that, if Bernie managed to get some electoral votes, and enough to throw the race to the House, that it would elect him, is laughable.
Let's start with the fact that the House is, of course, in such cases, a one state, one vote situation and Republicans have the majority of 32 House delegations. Even if Trump didn't lock them down, the idea of 26 states' worth of disaffected donkeys and elephants alike voting for Sanders is even more laughable.
Second, whether the Vermont write-in only, or the larger movement?
If you're butt-hurt over certain comments by Green Veep candidate Ajamu Baraka, well, they're not actually that radical.
First, Bernie himself, though he was at some 1960s civil rights events, rightly or wrongly, was not perceived as that much of an activist in later years. And, re more recent times, he wasn't that much ahead of the curve of Clinton on private prisons, the War on Drugs or other issues.
Second, Bernie is not THAT liberal when it comes to Vermont. Beyond slobbering over F-35s for the Vermont National Guard (more in a minute), he voted FOR the 2014 Big Ag farm bill, in large part to help Vermont's larger dairy farmers and cheesemakers with some corporate welfare.
Third, while not as much a warhawk as Hillary, there's not a LOT of difference between the two on most foreign policy issues outside the Iraq war vote. One big example? While Bernie has not expressly condemned BDS, there's nothing he's done to promote it.
And, related to this, while Baraka's white supremacist comments were blunt, broad and jarring, they were made in the larger context of commenting on Sanders' foreign policy stances. And, yes, it's true, Bernie or Bust folks, whether you're uninformed on foreign policy, or have deliberately plugged your ears — Bernie's a fair degree of imperialist, and fair degree of American exceptionalist, himself.
Otherwise, it's laughable how many Bernie or Bust folks paint themselves as so knowledgeable about American politics, but actually aren't, specifically, on the things above. Oh, and I myself DO vote on foreign policy as well as domestic issues. And beyond that, the Bern or Bust folks apparently view him as the third bear's bed and porridge from Goldilocks — just right, as in just bland, mushy and centrist between Hillary Clinton and real left-liberalism.
As for the Vermont write-in vote in specific? I have no doubt Jane Sanders supports it very much. It's an attempt to boost his legacy ...
With the longer-term eye being on capitalizing on his legacy.
The "capitalizing" is a very intended pun. You watch and wait and see. I get more and more to the point I trust her less and less.
How much of sellouts do Bernie, Jane, or both have to be to wake some people up?
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