Bernie is undeniably the ONLY way you can vote for democracy and all the issues for which the Democratic Party stands.
With Hillary, you are voting for someone who has enormous debts to repay Wall Street and other vested interests, just as Obama has. From a purely practical perspective, this can't work out well for us. She can't represent US if she is committed to repaying and representing THEM on Wall St., in the MIC, and in the corporate boardrooms across the nation and globe (multi-national). Aside from the occasional verbal token her creditors will allow her, her support will be narrowly focused on issues the wealthy are willing to cede or tangle on in order to participate in the kabuki that makes it look like we have a real choice.
Some of you may recall the Princeton Study which definitively determined that our federal government is an oligarchy. Voter wants and needs are pretty much entirely ignored unless they happen to align with the wealthiest among us. With occasional exceptions, the wealthiest among us by and large determine the priorities and the outcomes in order to pursue their profiteering. By design, Hillary's campaign exercises political and financial profiteering and perpetuates this destructive status quo.
Her donor base, the one she is inDEBTed to, FUNDS OUR OPPOSITION.
Fomenting racism? They fund it.
Voter suppression? They fund it.
School to prison pipeline? They fund it.
Perpetuating the drug war racist pipeline and private prison profits? They fund it.
Fomenting anti-immigrant sentiments? They fund it.
War on Women? They fund it.
Unequal pay? The fund it.
Anti-abortion? They fund it.
No insurance for contraception? They fund it.
Fomenting anti-GLBT hate? They fund it.
Right wing religious fundamentalism? They fund it.
School vouchers? They fund it.
Charter school end run? They fund it.
Private college scams? They fund 'em.
Busting up unions? They fund it.
Re-writing textbook history? They fund it.
ALEC? They fund it.
Lobbying/Revolving Door? They fund it.
De-regulation? They fund it.
Socializing private risk? They fund it.
Privatization? They fund it.
Commercializing public lands? They fund it.
Right-wing radio? They fund it.
Suppressing the minimum wage? They fund it.
Not penalizing companies that outsource? They fund it.
Austerity? They fund it.
Demonizing the poor? They fund it.
Cutting the social safety net? They fund it.
Cutting social programs? They fund it.
90%-killing trade agreements? They fund 'em.
The Class War? They fund it.
The Climate War? They fund it.
The endless War Wars? They fund it.
Ever-increasing MIC funding? They fund it.
Support for mass surveillance, police militarization and aggression? They fund it.
The Patriot Act & Military Comm to KILL most of the Bill of Rights? They fund it.
And on and on and on. Every single issue.
When you have a candidate enriching Wall St., the MIC, corporate executives across the globe... you are GIVING A BLANK CHECK TO THE OPPOSITION.
How the hell does that even work??? It doesn't. Like hitting someone with twenty lawsuits and free access to your bank account at the same time... WE can't win if we are paying them to beat us.
Will Bernie Sanders be able to make progress on ALL these issues? NO.
How can he make progress on any any of them when Republicans own The Hill?
By using the executive powers he would have, especially the veto, executive orders, regulatory appointments, development and enforcement; setting SEC, DOJ and IRS priorities; the bully pulpit, to actually push back on fraudulent, destructive memes.
Are Presidential Powers absolute? No.
Can they be countered? Absolutely. And some no doubt would be.
Will he be hamstrung by Republicans, like? Yes. Just like Hillary.
Will Hillary's inclinations for Third Way compromise be helpful? NO, always a net loss for the general welfare in the long run. Unless you like pre-emptive war, unilateralism, blowback, endless war, endlessly increasing income, wealth, opportunities and power...
Perhaps the biggest differences are that, unlike Obama and Hillary, 1) Bernie, by virtue of his convictions and principles and commitment to them, will NOT be giving the following horrendous ideas and/or entities a pass without push back and therefore legitimizing them:
Reaganomics
Meritocratic fraud
Job Creator fraud
Predatory Wall Street scams, illegal or not
White Collar Crime
Corporate Welfare, especially for mature co's producing enormous profits, harming the general welfare, etc.
Tax Loopholes, including Hedge Fund Mgr. income
Bush Doctrine
Endless War
Fear-mongering and Fraudulent Claims of Terrorism for Profiteering & limiting Rights.
Fear-mongering and Fraudulent Claims of National Security Threats for same.
All of the Above energy policy
Government Corruption
Influence Peddling, Pay-to-Play
Lobbying, Revolving Door
and so forth.
2) BERNIE will NOT be consistently contributing to the opposition through acts of omission (silence, inaction) or commission (austerity, TPP, inappropriate praise).
Moreover, 3) he will not be playing a SUPPORTING ROLE IN ENRICHING THOSE WHO FUND THE OPPOSITION to every plank in the Party platform and democracy itself.
Is he perfect, a panacea to all our ills? HELL NO.
Is he a lesser evil? NO, he isn't. He's an option for good, for democracy.
Will he represent US much, much more than the 1%? ABSOLUTELY.
We as a Democratic Party gain NO benefit and demonstrate NO INTEGRITY by supporting the existing widespread corruption and status quo of oligarchy.
End the Democratic Party SELF-DESTRUCTION strategy: perpetuating oligarchy.
End the Democratic Party VOTER SUPPRESSION program: CORRUPTION.
Corruption only serves the opposition.
I rest Bernie's case.
p.s., on GUN CONTROL Hillary's position is clearer and better, Bernie's is fuzzier and mixed. However, the Third Way establishment which Hillary thoroughly represents has been ineffective as a proponent of gun control, so it's pretty hard to say we are losing anything there. And bear in mind, the NRA still gives him F.
If we want gun control, WE are going to have to change public opinion. WE are going to have to bring the manufacturers to heel.