If Bernie Sanders loses the Iowa caucuses, it will be because of people like this:
For Sanders aides like Casca — young, progressive, digitally-literate — the fight against the Bernie Bros is personal and impassioned. Under Casca’s direction, the campaign has promised to do a better job of policing its digital ranks.
“The digital space is so critical to Sen. Sanders’ success and because of that we want to work to make it safer for everyone to come and exchange ideas — no matter which candidate they support,” he told BuzzFeed News in an email. “That should be a goal of all the campaigns. We all know there’s already enough hate on the internet.”
If you’re wondering who “Casca” is, it’s Mike Casca, the “rapid response director” for Bernie Sanders who spends more time attacking Bernie supporters than exposing Hillary Clinton for the threat to America that she truly is. Casca’s remarks were clearly aimed at me in particular, as I’ve been a social media warrior for the Bernie campaign (although I’m not officially involved with the Bernie campaign) from before day one.
Let’s not forget what we’re up against here:
- Someone who, when a U.S. Senator, took campaign cash from a man, currently seeking the other major party’s presidential nomination, who compared Mexican immigrants to rapists and praised the North Korean dictator for killing his own relatives
- Someone who thinks that it’s a valid crime for a white man to seek the Democratic presidential nomination
- Someone whose supporters have hurled sexist slurs like “bro” at me and other Bernie supporters
- Someone who wants to start World War III, cut Social Security benefits, hand out corporate welfare to large corporations like Boeing, and protect Wall Street greed
- Someone who is more than willing to use the corporate media’s hate speech about Bernie to run paid ads attacking Bernie.
I’m not a “bro” at all. I’m a NASCAR-loving redneck, and I have faced sexist insults from Hillary Clinton supporters for standing up for what I believe in. Of course Hillary has faced sexism by both the right and a handful of people on the left, and that is unacceptable. However, it cannot be ignored that there are many, but not all, Hillary supporters who think that it’s a crime for a white man to exercise an important civic duty in this country by running for public office. While there are many white men who are racist, sexist jerks, not all of us are racist and sexist, and I’m not going to be silenced just because some political operative thinks that he and his fellow political operatives can control us.
I can’t wait to rub it in the face of Hillary supporters come Tuesday morning, after Bernie trounces Hillary in the Iowa caucuses.