Trying to shame supporters wrong

Published 11:54 am Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Froma Harrop’s very wordy column on Bernie Sanders, “Sanders backers suppressing their own votes,” highlights the confusion most political analysts struggle with when trying to get a grip on the support of Bernie Sanders. They accuse Sanders supporters of stifling democracy while shaming us into voting out of lockstep loyalty or fear. We are supporting a man with good ideas and the courage to shout about them, not a party that has offered him the utmost minimal support in his bid for the presidency and failed consistently to provide leadership that embraces our ideology and ethics. We’re not Snapchat or Tindr or Tumblr Democrats. We’re just voters, informed and opinionated about our leaders. Bernie Sanders isn’t leading an insurrection by refusing to raise funds or contributions for Democratic candidates. He is showing the electorship the respect they are due by not dictating what he’ll do with our votes and our contributions.

Michael Wolf

Everett