I voted for Bernie but I’m sick of the Bernie or Bust movement

As we move in towards the Democratic Convention, things are getting ugly between some Democrats. Bernie was my preferred candidate and that’s why I voted for him.

However, as Bernie supporters we need to accept that he is not the Democratic Party presidential nominee.

Stop pouting. “Bernie or bust” is unrealistic, irresponsible and childish

If you’re supportive of someone who is so left wing, it’s hypocritical that in response to his loss in the primaries you refuse to participate further nor support the candidate closest to his policies. Anyone for “Bernie or bust” is effectively reversing any of the progress Bernie made by risking a Trump presidency. There are times when we must be strong and stubborn to achieve our goals but there are times when we must say enough is enough, choose your battles wisely and move on. The most effective decisions come from knowing when is the right time to stop or try something a different way.

My advice is to keep working to strengthen the goals Bernie united us under in other ways. The presidency isn’t the only way to make change in this country and often is one with some of the most blocks based on how visible the position is. Run for office in your own district, volunteer for other movements like the Fight for $15 and Black Lives Matter or keep pushing for changes to the democratic party platform.

The United States cannot have powerful third parties

There are many that claim that we should focus on creating and strengthening new parties. Sorry, but the United States government doesn’t work like that. You may have been told that he could be elected by a write in vote, but there definitely aren’t supporters who are well organized enough for that to do anything besides give more power to Trump voters by taking away votes from Hillary.

You also may have seen countries across the world who manage to have 3+ parties that hold power at some time or another. They can do that because those governments have proportional systems. In the United States, we have a majoritarian one. What that means is that basically if we want to have more than two parties to have any power, we would need to change all of the laws pertaining to how officials are elected. It’s not as simple as just banding together and hoping that somehow the new party’s vote counts. If that is the fight you want, it’s not one that is achievable before the election in November.

The consequences of disunity will be disastrous

The vote isn’t between Hillary and Kasich or even Hillary and Rubio. This is Donald Trump we’re talking about. In case you needed reminding, the man who has a suspicious relationship with his daughter, called for a shut down of all Muslims entering the United States, insulted Mexican immigrants (except of course the “some [he] assume[s] are good people”), and called President Obama’s birth certificate a fraud. You get it, the list goes on.

There are obviously things I strongly disapprove of with Hillary but she also claims to be in support of campaign finance reform, reducing the student debt burden, clean energy, universal healthcare, LGBTQ rights and many other things that us Bernie supporters want, too. She is not the devil some are making her out to be.

In the end, I’d much rather have a president that we can push into the direction we want over the man who seems to just spew hateful word-vomit every time he opens his mouth. Not to mention how his image as the leader of the United States would look to the rest of the world.

I’m begging Bernie lovers like me to stand behind the democratic candidate

We cannot afford to lose this one to such a hateful man. We all wanted Bernie, but this election specifically is not where we will win. We win when we continue to push for politicians to speak out against injustice at all levels. We don’t need the title of “president” to head our movement.

We can keep the fight going and one of the biggest steps we can take is keeping Donald Trump out of office.