I am a big proponent of emotions and feelings. In fact, I have a Spanish word similar to Passion tattooed on my left arm. In a world where cold hard technology is revered like a god, my love of the human condition we know as emotions grow with each passing day. It is amazing when you get the 'feels' or the overwhelming urge to burst with passion when you are doing something you love. I would like to believe that feelings make the world go round. All of that being well and good, however, there is also a time when relying on feelings and emotions can be, well, dangerous.
For example, obviously dark, negative feelings do not always lead to good outcomes. Sometimes we let emotions cloud our judgements, not always a big deal at all, but when we let it course through our veins and let it consume us, then we have a problem. And I am here to tell you all, the Democratic Party has a problem. And, I am saying this as an undecided voter who is struggling to remain above her emotions to make the right decision in a few weeks. But listening to Bernie Sanders' supporters weep with euphoria in New Hampshire, I get the nagging suspicion that despite Laurel and Hardy-esque nature of the Republican Primary, the Democratic Party may end up screwing itself over, again...It seems, Democrats have now let emotions rule the day. People are offended, on both sides. When people are offended, especially Democrats all hell breaks loose.
So, emotions how does this tie into the Democratic Primary race you ask?? Well it is simple, Bernie is definitely playing on emotions, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. He is passionately against wealth inequality, I think we all are. However, the biggest and worst mistake he is making hands down is letting his supporters attack Hillary Clinton personally and very emotionally and not just her policies. When millennials in New Hampshire were asked why they did not like Hillary they cited things like, how "establishment" she was, how big of a liar she is, how corrupt she is, how uncaring she is. Many women were resentful and offended at the fact that they felt pressured to vote for her because she was a woman and how off-putting it was that, because they both had V's, their V was nothing like Hillary's and how dare they suggest so. (I will admit, that is a clumsy stance not being snuffed out by Hillary's campaign.)
So my honest question is, to both Bernie, and Hillary's campaign, where does that leave the Democratic Party after the primaries? How can you overcome the pure hatred directed towards Hillary in this campaign? The offense so many millennials feel towards Hillary? And I will admit, it is something I do not understand. It is not something I necessarily want to understand. I will also admit, the more Hillary is attacked for her personality, the alleged egregious acts she has been accused of committing by the Republican Party for years recycled over and over again, the more people move away from policy issues, the more I want to vote for her because she is fighting. She is fighting a battle on so many sides and now the one side who should be battling her for her policies, pushing her to go farther, are using the same emotional blackmail against her as well. It is slightly off-putting to hear young women in their twenties come out so anti-Hillary at such a primitive and gut level, I will say it again....where does that leave the party? I am just not sure you can get over those feelings and the Democratic leadership should be scared. Bernie Sanders should say something because it leaves us with a scary scenario. Hillary Clinton wins the primary, Michael Bloomberg jumps into the race as an Independent, all these people who aggressively despise Hillary Clinton just for being Hillary Clinton, vote for him and the next thing you know we are all watching President Trump's inauguration.
Can we get past the feelings? Can we stop attacking someone as a liar, a cheat, or corrupt politician who has been playing the game like everyone, and I mean everyone, else? How about we say, "Well, I do not think she goes far enough when it comes to domestic policy in regards to healthcare." Instead of, "She is a lying bitch who takes money from the healthcare industry so who do you think she is going to be in favor of?" Because at the very least, that is disingenuous logic and at the worst you are debasing a very legitimate candidate with emotional rhetoric that could have an after-effect you did not intend. So whom ever you are going to vote for, hows about we keep calm, passionately support our candidates in a constructive way and contribute to good stewardship of a democracy. Our country has a tendency to go off the rails and if you do not believe me, just look at the Republican Presidential primary.
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