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Why this Tea Party Democrat is going to #FeelTheBern in primary

Why this Tea Party Democrat is going to #FeelTheBern in primary

Anyone but Hillary.

I have been enjoying Legal Insurrection’s “Conservative Case For” series very much, with posts highlighting Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

And while I can’t really make the conservative case for any of the current crop of Democratic nominees, I thought this might be a golden opportunity to share a deep concern I have as an independent conservative who is a registered Democrat in California. I also hope to provide some insights into the Democratic Party primary race, which has been extremely contentious.

My worry stems from the 2008 race. Many Republicans were thrilled when Obama became Democratic Party’s nominee, theorizing he would easily be vanquished by the GOP candidate. Interestingly, conservative pundit extraordinaire Don Surber reminded everyone recently that National Review actually begged Obama to run.

My Republican friends were blindsided by something I saw clearly, as I had been following Obama’s exploits since his initial entry into the race: Voters were deeply in love with a candidate who had such a minimal record that they could project their own aspirations for good governance onto him. The press was a very willing participant in this obfuscation.

After the Tea Party’s inception in 2009, I maintained my Democratic Party registration with the 2008 election in mind. I wanted to be in a position to at pick the least toxic representative among those California would send to Washington D.C., especially as President. I still don’t foresee our state going red any time soon.

Initially, I was planning a write-in vote, as I really didn’t think there was a “dime’s worth of difference” between the declared candidates. However, the Iowa Democratic Townhall changed by mind.

I am now voting for Bernie Sanders.

The reason is that Bernie is simply a “Happy Warrior” for progressive policies. Don’t get me wrong: I will be voting for the Republican candidate in the general election, and will supporting GOP efforts once the nomination is secured (the level of my enthusiasm will be based on the candidate chosen).

However, if the Democrat wins the general election, I want it to be Sanders instead of Clinton. In my opinion, Sanders would be less toxic to the country. I do not want Clinton near any seat of power in this country’s government.

My decision stems from the sheer level of hostility directed by Hillary Clinton towards Republicans. I understand that she is furious that her scandalous mishandling of classified materials may lead to the FBI’s request for an indictment. However, she was instructed on the proper handling of secure materials and she seems to have ignored those instructions. There was no “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” that shoved classified emails onto her homemade server.

Clinton chortled when one of her supporters threatened to punch out Republican Trey Gowdy during the townhall. Clinton obviously thinks violence against Republicans is comedy gold, as she also chuckled over offers to strangle Carly Fiorina.  Isn’t that #WarOnWomen?

Clinton’s anger level was a common observation among those viewing that townhall:

Under President Obama, the tools of government have been honed to a fine, sharp edge to use against conservatives. The IRS targeting of Tea Party groups is probably the best example of the precedent-setting political thuggery that seems to have been established as the norm.

Now, imagine the power of a fully operational, conservative-targeting bureaucracy headed by a woman whose “enemies list” includes many of the people and organizations I like best.

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Comments

If he and Trump are the two nominees, I’ll vote for Bernie. Why?

Because he’ll be an amusing, and HARMLESS, distraction who could not possibly get an iota of his Socialist platform taken seriously in Congress. A toothless tiger, sputtering and ranting to the great entertainment of the rest of the world. Even if this election causes a sea change and the Dems win control of both branches, they won’t do any of the things Bernie advocates.

Hillary’ll be indicted before summertime. What is the DNC going to do?

    pablo panadero in reply to Sneaky Pete. | January 28, 2016 at 9:44 am

    “Hillary’ll be indicted before summertime. What is the DNC going to do?”

    It is part of the plan. Then you have an open convention where the delegates are free to choose any candidate, regardless of whether they ran for President in the first place. Most people are saying that it will be Biden or Warren nominated, I am going the full Alinsky and stating it will be Michelle Obama. For a clue, you need to look at who Hillary actually chooses as delegates. My guess is that she will fill it with rabid feminists who will only vote for a female candidate.

    userpen in reply to Sneaky Pete. | January 28, 2016 at 11:21 am

    The subject of the article is the primary election. As to the general, Leslie says:

    “I will be voting for the Republican candidate in the general election, and will supporting GOP efforts once the nomination is secured (the level of my enthusiasm will be based on the candidate chosen).”

    I think to any fair minded reader Leslie’s arguments carry more weight than yours. I’m with Leslie.

    Re your idea, Peter: you might want to re-think it.

Leslie, I’m with you!

If there’s not an interesting race in the GOP by the time California rolls around, I’ll register Dem to vote for Bernie.

Pete~ Okay, so “Tea Party Democrat” is oxymoronic enough, but voting for a Socialist (read: Big, Big, Big Government), which is the antithesis of what the Tea Party symbolizes? You must be going through a whopper of an identity crisis. Either that, or you’re just pulling our leg.

    Valerie in reply to phdwyphe. | January 28, 2016 at 9:20 am

    The whole point to the TEA Parties was to be able to span the political spectrum, by collecting people who agreed on conservative economics, and avoided social issues.

      Thank you so much for underscoring what is the essence of Tea Party!

        P.S. Fun Fact: 15% or so of all Tea Party activists were Democrats at the peak of the nationwide movement. I am not certain about now, because true citizen activism is now more at the state-local levels. In our merry band, 40% were non-Republican and about 8% were Democrats…the rest being a mix of Libertarian, Independents, and Decline-to-State.

legacyrepublican | January 28, 2016 at 9:09 am

Having lived in Vermont, I am quite familiar with Bernie. He is New York transplant who has his own chip on his shoulder.

However, I agree with your point of view that Bernie doesn’t feel he is owed the presidency.

Clinton has the Nixon virus. Imagine her hands on the power of the IRS.

Hillary clearly will do what it takes to harm her enemies and hurt badly her friends.

I have never voted Deemocrat. A party platform that supports abortions and pretends to be for the little guy is odious to me.

An interesting strategy, Leslie. I may have to adopt it. Like you, I live in a Great Blue Swamp (Illinois), so my vote is largely symbolic anyway. I could vote against the Clinton Crime Family in the primary, and for the right candidate in the general.

Stupid is better than criminal.

There is going to be no tolerable presidential from the Democratic Party. They still support Tyrant Obama the Liar. What’s needed is steps that choose their party’s best loser candidate. That is Hillary who I would love to see in a debate with Ted Cruz. She would loose and loose big.

Because citing mike deshawn lends such credibility to your argument…

THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH.

Vote for Hillary in the primary, if you’re going to vote in a D primary.

We’re far better off facing her in the general (assuming she hasn’t died of natural causes before we get there) than Bernie.