If you care about unions, including your own, you should vote for the Democratic nominee. If you have any doubt that Trump will eviscerate unions, just remember his call to eliminate the federal minimum wage.
I have said numerous times on this blog that I support Clinton, but should Bernie win, I will support him.
Unfortunately, there are few vocal Bernie supporters who feel the same way (I speak here only about the most vocal--already, 72% of Bernie supporters say they will vote for Clinton. That will increase should she win the nomination, just as Hillary supporters moved to Obama in 2008).
Look at the list of Supreme Court nominees that Trump has put forth. Nan Aron, of the Alliance for Justice Action Council, said: “Their opinions demonstrate open hostility to Americans’ rights and liberties, including reproductive justice and environmental, consumer and worker protections. They have ruled consistently in favor of the powerful over everyone else. They would move the needle even further to the right on the Supreme Court.”
Is there any doubt they would destroy unions and teaching as we know it?
Diane Ravitch has emerged as a voice of reason in this debate. She has questions about both candidates and their positions on education, but she clearly understands what is at stake here. While refusing to endorse either candidate, she said:
The overwhelming majority of denunciations are directed at Hillary. Some of our readers are as vicious towards her as Donald Trump is. If you read the comments, you would think that Donald Trump is much to be preferred over Hillary because she is allegedly dishonest, corrupt, a war-monger, a tool of Wall Street, etc. The demonization of Hillary is often times over-the-top, angry, and hateful.
This internecine warfare is not admirable. It should stop. It helps Trump. One candidate will emerge from the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. It will be the candidate who gets the requisite number of delegates. It will be either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. When the convention chooses the candidate, I will support that candidate.
Amen to that. Neither candidate is perfect, but either is far, far preferable to Trump, on virtually every issue important to the 99%.
Sure, you can vote for whomever you please. Or you can choose not to vote at all. That is your right. But the reality is that there will be only two nominees with a chance to in the presidency. Voting third party, sitting out the election, or voting for Trump as some kind of twisted "protest" vote will only decrease the mandate of the Democratic candidate should he or she win.
This isn't about voting for "the lesser or two evils". It is about voting for the candidate who will better defend the rights we have struggled for over the last 50 years. That this will be the Democratic nominee should be without question for anyone who values liberal ideals.
This isn't about "ideological purity". There's nothing pure or noble in refusing to vote for the nominee who best represents progressive ideals and has a realistic shot at the presidency.
Diane Ravitch gets it. I hope you do, too.
