Avoid pre-compromising and go for what you want

To The Daily Sun,

I would like to make an argument for voting for Bernie Sanders to anyone who describes themselves as a moderate.

I was recently listening to a podcast called “the argument” and one of the hosts made the point that the mistake that Democrats almost always make is pre-compromise. To paraphrase, what was said in that podcast is, “if you want moderate change, do not vote for moderate.” 

Often Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents have something that they really want, but then they think to themselves that it won’t get passed because of the makeup of Congress or what they imagine is in the head of “most people” and then they take a position that they think is something that can get done — usually something less progressive than what they actually want. The truth is that any political position is a starting point when drafting legislation. So whatever your favorite candidate puts out there is likely to be watered down once it gets to Congress. 

It is also worth pointing out that Republicans do not pre-compromise. This is something I very much admire about Republicans: If they believe something, they just say it. I may not agree with them, but they’re not shy about it. You never hear Republicans saying, “I’d really like to have no restrictions on the Second Amendment, but that’s just not going to pass.” What they do is say exactly what they want and, as we have seen, they don’t quite tend to get what they want, even when they have power in the Senate, House and presidency. Obamacare did not get repealed, Roe versus Wade was not overturned, we have not, in fact “built that wall.” And this is a party who had full control for 2 years and were ideologically pretty much in lockstep. Despite not being shy, Republicans have had huge success, both nationally and at the state level. 

I do think that a lot of Democrats see that and say, “Well, we don’t want to be like that,” which is another thing that pushes them toward “moderate” candidates.

I don’t want to misattribute a quote, but I think it was the philosopher Hannah Arendt who said that the problem with political life and why people are so cynical is that politics used to be about “what kind of a person do I want to be and what kind of a world do I want to live in.” We have turned that into, “how do I best fit into the economy as a consumer.” 

If you want something and you believe that’s the right thing to do, then advocate for it. Other people will not agree with you, and there will be compromise when it is the right time for compromise. But do not pre-compromise. You don’t have to do the work of the opposition. You also don’t have to hate the opposition. I love all my Trump friends and hope I can get a few to flip for Bernie. 

Michael Dowe

Gilford