I’ll admit it, I, like many young(ish) Democrats, am definitely feeling the Bern.  It’s not just the down-with-the-1% rhetoric, though the emphasis on income inequality certain strikes a chord with me.  And it’s not just the free college tuition angle, though I’m also very much on board with greater access to higher education and necessary relief from crushing student debt.  For me, it’s more the ethos of the campaign and its mature[1], adult approach to politics.  Bernie is not pandering to the lowest common political denominator, and he continues to refuse to kowtow to the traditional rules of campaign finance, mudslinging, or even personal grooming.  More so than even Obama, his is a grass-roots campaign that is not bought and paid for by oligarchs or manipulated by special interests.

For me, Bernie’s announcement to run for the presidency perfectly encapsulated his refreshing approach to the campaign.  “Thank you for being here.  I’ll keep this brief.  I intend to run for the Democratic nomination to be the next president of the United States.  Now if you don’t mind, I have many other important things that I have to get back you.  Thank you very much.”  It was genius in the straightforward, succinct, and even brusque nature of the message: the country has serious problems and we don’t have time to dither with meaningless platitudes.  Elegant in its simplicity.  Refreshingly direct in its delivery.  And it set the tone for the Democrat contest to follow.  Bernie wasn’t going to get caught up in games.  Or scathing one liners.  This campaign was going to focus on the issues and not waste everyone’s time with superfluous shit.

And, to my and most Democrats very pleasant surprise, the Democratic primary has been a very adult affair conducted by two grown-ups.  Bernie has resisted the urge to attack Hillary on a personal or even political level.  The debates have been policy and position-centric.  And even if Hillary won’t admit it, there’s a very clear ideological choice between a progressive, left-leaning candidate on the one hand and a moderate-centrist one on the other.  At the end of the day, Democratic voters have a pretty accurate idea where each person stands and can make an informed decision.  Which is of course in stark contrast to the laughable clown car of asshats that make up the Republican field.

I appreciate that Bernie quite clearly perceives the corrosive influence that money has on our political system.   Two Princeton professors recently released a study that empirically demonstrates that our republic is no longer a democracy[2]; in short, they claim that moneyed interests have greater impact on policy than voters.  To begin to reclaim our democracy, Bernie correctly points at the issue of campaign finance which is at the root of the problem.  If our politicians are bought and paid for before they even take office, the concerns of average citizens have no real shot at being pursued.  It is no wonder that a system set up by a wealthy elite would then benefit these same people.  We need rational tax laws that place a fair burden on all classes through equitable income, investment, business, and estate taxes.  The rich shouldn’t be able to pay a lower percentage of their income because they have the means to manipulate the system.  I know this.  You know this.  But Bernie’s the one out there saying it and pushing it forward.  And I very much appreciate his candor, energy, and, let’s call a spade a spade, chutzpah.

But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have my reservations as well.  My chief concerns center on Bernie’s ability to pass his proposed agenda.  If Obama, a much more centrist politician than Bernie, struggled with non-universal health care and immigration—issues that Republicans had broad incentives to pass—how will he push through “socialist” programs such as universal health care, free tuition at public universities, or an infrastructure overhaul?  I fear that Bernie, if elected, would be a one-term president analogous to Jimmy Carter: a great man with an idealistic vision for the country that never came to pass.  Obama was able to make some fairly significant gains over the last seven years on the issues of health care, gay marriage, and nuclear deterrence, among a host of others.  Perhaps what we need next in the White House isn’t a revolutionary or a firebrand but a consolidator.  A harmonizer.  A Hillary.

Hillary’s campaign has underwhelmed principally because she is not an inspiring figure for most people.  Certainly not for young people.  Hillary lost the under 30 demographic to Bernie in Iowa by 70%.[3]  Seventy freaking percent.  To a septuagenarian.  The campaign, like its candidate, often seems robotic and manufactured.  It’s polished but cold and unimaginative.  At the end of the day, it just doesn’t inspire.  But Hillary represents a steady hand at the till.  She’s obviously smart, and capable, and effective.  She was an outstanding secretary of state.  I think she’d be a solid, if unspectacular, president.  Most importantly, however, she would be able to consolidate the important gains made during the Obama administration.  She would make sure that we didn’t backslide on immigration or gun control or turn a blind eye toward institutional racism.  She would absolutely appoint liberal justices to the Supreme Court, possibly as many as three in the coming presidential term.  It’s a hugely important election.  If Carter is Bernie’s potential equivalent, then Hillary’s isn’t Bill but LBJ.  LBJ followed up an inspirational president (who admittedly did not accomplish, or even have the chance to, what Obama was able to) and was simply effective.  He was able to pass the hugely important Civil Rights Act.  More than perhaps any other president, he just knew how to get shit done.  Hillary knows DC as the ultimate insider and can also get things done.  At this point, we need a strong, steady leader.  And I would be just fine voting for Hillary to be that person (assuming, of course, that’s she not indicted).

Whichever way the Democratic primary goes (my heart says Bernie, my head says Hillary), I think we’re in good hands.  Our party should be rightfully proud that we’ve had a serious, issue-driven, adult debate.  The Republican primary has been shambolic and embarrassing for many of its more serious, thoughtful members.  I can’t imagine the despondence I’d feel were I a fiscal conservative, staring at the wreckage of a once-proud and reliable partner in our democratic contest.  Now, Rubio will probably win, and the Republicans will probably get their shit together eventually.  But the stink of the primary and the horrible things that they allowed their candidates to say (and for which they supported them) will linger.  I just hope voters remember that come November.  And elect one of the two good, if different choices that are now before us.

[1] Some would say too mature—Bernie ain’t getting’ any younger.  Though Hillary is no spring chicken either.

[2] https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/02/bernie-sanders-crushed-hillary-clinton-by-70-points-among-young-people-in-iowa-but/