Bernie or Bust has gone on long enough – it needs to stop

PHILADELPHIA –– For the past three days, I’ve attended every Bernie or Bust protest in and around the Democratic Convention.

I’ve seen everything from elderly gentlemen with neon blue hair to classic stoned-out hippies, from all across the States. Some Bernie fans have told me how they’re voting for Donald Trump, and others have accused me of being a corrupt capitalist. My ears are still ringing with “feel the Bern” shouted from megaphones, and the cartoon image of “Birdie Sanders” is etched onto my eyeballs.

And outside the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday, I witnessed the aftermath of the Bernie delegates’ walkout. The final count had come in: Hillary Clinton had won the nomination, and Bernie supporters lost it.

Men and women stood angrily outside the arena, tape across their mouths, with their hands in the air. One lone woman stood apart, yelling at the journalist interviewing her. She had worked for Bernie’s campaign for 15 months, and claimed that by Hillary winning the nomination, the DNC was “telling millions of Americans they can’t vote for their candidate.”

While I appreciate their heartbreak and their disappointment, to the Bernie or Busters, I must say: it’s time to break up. No, I don’t mean break up your movement. I mean it’s time to break up with Bernie.

It was Bernie himself at the DNC who said:

“This election is not about, and has never been about, Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump, or Bernie Sanders or any of the other candidates who sought the presidency… I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic Platform Committee there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns and we produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”

Bernie or Busters’ own fearless leader has fizzled out. And to continue to fight tirelessly in his name is just chasing after a dead pipe dream.

Rather, I challenge Bernie or Busters to remove the tape from their mouths, and fight against the true source of democratic corruption: the Democratic National Committee’s favoring of Clinton. Staying silent and refusing to utilize your vote (unless it’s for Bernie) as a method of power, is as equally undemocratic as the actions the DNC took.

Democracy demands participation. Walk-outs, crying, and shouting over well-informed speakers does nothing for a cause except lose its chance to ever be respected.

As Obama said in his DNC speech: “Don’t boo, vote!”

I spoke with a protester who told me “one party is already broken; one party has Donald Trump.” As the Democratic Party becomes ever more fractured with the outrage of the Bernie crowd, it does look like it’s at breaking point. Listen to the chants of “Hell no, DNC! We won’t vote for Hillary!” and you might start thinking about it.

I fear Bernie or Bust is a movement too caught up in itself to evaluate the impact of its message. While I agree Bernie has started a revolution, it’s time for Bernie or Busters to innovate new means of maintaining his message.

Or they’ll just keep screaming about how people walking past their demonstrations are corrupt capitalists.