Listen, I would love to get excited about Bernie. I love his positions. I agree with him 99% (I don't think it's ever possible to agree 100% with any politician).
But check my user ID. I joined this site in 2003. At the time another candidate from Vermont was surging, getting the progressive base fired up, saying everything I wanted to hear and motivating me to volunteer. I canvassed in three different states. I worked directly under his Southern California campaign manager. We had a California office - in June 2003, 6 months out from any primary! I even became the candidate's driver when he would come to California on Fundraising trips. I composed a little electronica score for some speech edits of his (still out there thanks to someone else putting it on youtube - nothing dies anymore). I coordinated sending over 600 volunteers to neighboring states that were voting on Super Tuesday. And we never got there. That campaign was almost over after Iowa and definitely after NH.
That candidate was Howard Dean. Some blame Joe Trippi ignoring the ground game, believing the entire campaign could be won online. Perhaps he was ahead of his time. Some blame the media for capitalizing on a moment that made sense if you were THERE, but through the magic of audio mixing made the candidate look foolish. Some blame the campaign never hiring a good media consultant.
Follow me below the orange SCREAMsicle for a warning.
Did I work for Kerry? A couple of times. Begrudgingly. Did I vote for him? Heck yeah. Just like I would vote for Hillary in the general, if she's there. But I was heartbroken and demoralized, so much so that when Obama came along I couldn't get swept up. I voted for him (three times, counting my primary), sure. But I couldn't wear out my shoe leather for him.
From my no-longer-idealistic post, then, let me just warn some of you. Yeah, Bernie is doing everything right, and exciting the base, including me. But the rest of the country is not really paying attention yet. Only those who enjoy politics as sport, such as you (and those on the other side) are really in on this.
Yes, we were all shocked when Mitt Romney so blatantly flip-flopped on everything he had ever said at the first debate with Obama -- but the vast majority of the country was seeing him for the first time -- and the following week the polls tightened and in some cases showed Mitt with a lead.
There is a LOT of time between now and even IA and NH. The rest of the country only really starts paying attention in IA and NH, and even then, many, many not until the first debate.
I love Bernie. I love everything about him. But it only takes one mis-step, one moment to derail the entire campaign. Some in the MSM are just sharks looking for chum. They have no passion for the rightness of a cause. Has Bernie hired that media consultant yet?
I worked my ass off after Kerry's campaign botched the 2004 election to get Dean elected DNC Chair. We won that one. And we rebuilt the party over the next four years, enough to help elect a young Senator from Illinois in 2008, despite what Rahm Emanuel would have you think. But I was done working shoe leather for Presidential campaigns.
For all of you that might be thinking, "If Bernie doesn't win, I'll never vote for Hillary," how does President Trump sound? I'm sorry, but most of the country still is not paying attention. Let me say that again... Don't get caught up in your own bubble. Keep your excitement, your hope, your enthusiasm, but pay attention. There will be blood.
I'm voting for Bernie in the primary - if he gets to California. I voted for Dean in the California primary even though he had already pulled out of the race (but was too late to get off the ballot). What matters most, however, is what you do in the general and afterwards. Don't become bitter and discouraged like me... All I do anymore is sign petitions and give money... and I don't have much to give. In a perfect world, it ends up being Bernie vs. Trump and everyone but the 1% is so scared of Chump that Bernie becomes President. But I have learned that to expect perfection is to always be disappointed.