Platform Party People

Warning: This is an overtly political post, addressed directly to progressives and liberals. This is regards to Bernie Sanders recent commentary on why Bearnie Bros should vote for Hitlary.

A friend of mine who is a minor political celebrity in his own right, and a Bernie Bro extraordinaire, recently approached me and asked the following question: "I don't know if I should vote for Hillary Clinton or if I should vote my values and vote for the Green Party." First I will give you my answer to him, and then I will elaborate:

1. Supreme Court vacancies alone make voting Green Party in 2016 a naive decision. Sure it would be hilarious to see the USA have to deal with it's own cultural baggage head on with a Trump presidency, but the recent decades have shown us what you get with a hard-right supreme court, and THAT my Bernie Brothers, is NOT funny.
2. The plan all along with Bernie Sanders, and if you recall until about a month ago this was ALL of our's mantra: "The point is to influence the party platform." Bernie did that, massively up ended the party platform, and 90% or more of Bernie's agenda has become vanilla DNC party platform stuff: free school, public option, $15 minimum wage (science fiction outside of WA,) legal weed, carbon pricing, etc. etc. Mission accomplished: now are you going to stick to the  original Sanders game plan and vote DNC or not?
3. The DNC's new platform has become legit socialist. They aren't doing basic income, but neither is most of Europe. As far as becoming as cool as Candada is concerned, the DNC platform is trying to get there as fast as possible. Now what happens if the DNC swings this hard left and loses the election anyways? If you hate progress in the USA, vote against the DNC after them having transformed their party platform to be as progressive as possible!

But to the question of is it sound to vote 3rd party right now. With Trump making a mockery of the GOP, if you are a right winger, then yes of course you should be voting Libertarian at this point. However on the left the 3rd party options are not so great. If you think that the Green Party demonstrates your "values," consider:

1. The Green Party has become the anti-vaxxer party, the perfect definition of opposite-of-progress.
2. They have also become anti-wifi and anti-screens in school. They are completely blind to the value of Khan Academy, which is the single most socially just thing that has happened to education recently.
3. The Green Party platform is chuck full of other idiotic nonsense. Take for example from the Green Party Platform this putrid gem: "The Green Party accepts as a goal a world in which persons can freely choose to live in and work in any county he or she desires. We recognize that this would be impractical without reciprocity between nations. " Oh really, I need Mexico or Canada's permission to move from King County to Pierce County? Since when? Oh, maybe they mean "Country" with an "r." OK... then now me being allowed to move and work in any country I want is now super important? So I should be able to live and work in some country that currently does not allow me to move to and work there... AS IF I WOULD EVER WANT TO DO THAT?
4. The US has real problems that effect real people. If you think the Libertarians are only concerned about strange economic issues that only impact the very wealthy, check out that Green Party Platform some time. The DNC platform now represents serious left values, UNLIKE THE GREEN PARTY.

I have more than my fair share of concerns vs. anyone with the last name of Clinton running for public office. However, you want your very progressive, ideological politicians legislating law. You want Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren writing laws and passing them, getting them to the desk for the president to sign. You really shouldn't be wasting their talent in the White House, BECAUSE THE WHITE HOUSE DOES NOT LEGISLATE.

What you want in the White House is people that are politically skillful, such as Obama. Obama's sleek and shockingly accurate political maneuvering is impressive to behold. The difference between Obama and Hillary in the 2008 primaries over health care is that Hillary wanted the individual mandate - a position left of what Obama wanted - but yet what Obama passed included Hillary's individual mandate. What you want in the White House is a skilled politician, not an ideologue. Hillary's wicked trickery far surpasses Bernies to be sure, and that is exactly WHY you should be voting for her if you voted for Bernie.