Barack Obama built an incredible coalition of voters comprised mainly of minorities (particularly African-Americans and Hispanics), women and young people. That coalition garnered him electoral victories in numbers that hadn’t been enjoyed by Democrats since the heydays of FDR and LBJ. Although I don’t fit any of those constituencies (well, I was young once), I was proud to be part of his coalition and to vote for him for President twice.
Eight years after Obama crafted his coalition, the Democratic base is now divided between two incredibly capable, gifted, and qualified candidates as to who should be our next standard-bearer. Should it be someone who continues Obama’s legacy or someone who tacks even further left? In general terms, the youth vote and left-leaning Independents have opted for Senator Bernie Sanders while women and minority voters have cleaved to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
I admire both candidates. I’ve long admired Sanders’ progressive stances and passion in the Senate. And I’ve been impressed at his ability to engage young people and left-leaning Independents in the political process. I have to admit that I was surprised at how many people confessed to me that they were “feeling the Bern” over the winter, before the first primaries had voted. I think that’s a good thing for our party, for our country and for our future. I’ve admired HRC even longer, first as she withstood unfounded and ridiculous attacks from the right during her husband’s candidacy and presidency, then as she charted her own political career as a Senator and Secretary of State. I’m impressed by her stalwart advocacy for liberal causes over the years, especially the rights of women and children. I’d be happy to have either of them as our nominee and would proudly vote for either in the fall.
However, as so many of us have noticed and lamented, this primary season has unfortunately devolved into fractiousness and vitriol between the various camps of the Obama coalition. I know that no one person can heal that divide but I’d at least like to address one aspect of it.
Sanders supporters repeatedly remind Clinton supporters that Clinton will need their vote in the fall. You know something? You’re right. If Clinton is the Democratic nominee, she will need the youth vote in November as well as left-leaning independents. If I know anything about Clinton as a candidate, she will ask for your vote and fight hard to earn it.
Yet I rarely hear Sanders supporters acknowledge the reverse. If Sanders prevails in the Democratic primary, he’ll need the other slice of the Obama coalition in November too. He’ll need women and Hispanics and African-Americans. That’s why I’m so dismayed when Sanders supporters, the Sanders campaign and Sanders himself denigrate women or minorities by implying that Southern votes are less significant than those in other states, by undercutting our popular incumbent President regarding his Supreme Court nominee, by suggesting that Clinton supporters are uneducated or uninformed, or by resorting to chauvinistic language.
If anything, Sanders needs the other slice of the Democratic coalition (women and minorities) more. That’s not because one voter is more important than another, and it annoys me when Clinton supporters seem to imply that. It’s because Sanders needs those votes right now- in April, May and June- and not just in November if he’s going to overtake Clinton in the primary. Sanders can’t win without women and minorities in the fall or in the spring.
The truth is that we need each other. We need an injection of inspired and passionate young voters. And we need the steadfast party loyalty of African-Americans, women and (increasingly) Hispanics. That inclusiveness is what the Democratic party is all about. It’s natural to disagree about who our next standard-bearer should be. But that disagreement should never blind us to the reasons we’re part of this party in the first place.
