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the aftermath of Iowa

15 January 2020 - 21:48

Man, I'm really bummed out about the Iowa Democratic Primary Presidential Debate...! (Or as the cool kids call it: the DPPD. Okay, no one calls it that; I'm not cool.) I consider myself a hardcore leftist (voted Green Party in the last general election), and the spat between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren really has me down. I don't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, Bernie's always been my number one pick, even back in 2016 - and before you go off on me, no, I don't consider myself one of those "Bernie or bust" people who boycotted Hillary Clinton. I voted Green because I vote my conscience, and Hillary never came after my vote. Jill Stein had excellent proposals and would have made a better president. That's my view, anyway. Up until the moment I cast my ballot, I really struggled on whether to vote for Hillary or Jill, but in the end, I had to go for who I thought had the better policy proposals, and the better record. Now that we're back in the primaries again, I go back to Bernie. He's inspiring to me. Still, Elizabeth Warren has always been my second choice. She too, has excellent policy proposals, and she is a strong, intelligent fighter for the progressive cause. However, seeing this awful situation developing between these two candidates over the weekend, and then coming to a head during the debate really crushed my spirit. I was angry at the awfulness of the moderators and their asinine, biased questioning. That, honestly though, I was expecting. However, I was hoping that a high point for the debate would be to see these two powerful progressive warriors join forces as they did during the Detroit debate when they took on all the establishment corporate Democrats. Instead, when the opportunity to clarify misunderstandings and deescalate the situation came about, it wasn't taken. In fact, it seems to have only gotten worse. By the end of the debate, I became legitimately worried that not only the professional, but the personal relationship between Warren and Sanders had soured beyond repair. It was devastating, and a bit heartbreaking. I could see the hurt, the shock and pain and sense of betrayal from both of them towards the other, which quickly turned into defensive body language and resentful anger. Now, both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are grown ass adults, and I'm sure they'll come to resolve their issues with each other, but I'm afraid their relationship won't ever be the same again. Something broke there, and although I hope they overcome it, this is going to leave a mark, both for their individual campaigns and their followers. Worse still, it will mar their friendship. It amazed me to see their awkward interaction at the end of the debate, where Warren refused to shake Bernie's outstretched hand. I saw myself reflected there for a moment, in both of them, and it made me sad to realize that even at their age, even at that stage in life, relationships can still be as fragile and hurtful as the gossamer fledgling relationships of emo high-schoolers. In any case, I wish them both well.

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