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The Ernest Opinion: Democrats, let’s get in formation – Metro US

The Ernest Opinion: Democrats, let’s get in formation

The Ernest Opinion: Democrats, let’s get in formation

Democrats, Let’s Get In Formation Now isn’t the time to tear apart our candidates harder than the GOP is. While my fellow liberals on social media relished in rubbing in my face how much Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by in the New Hampshire Democratic primaries – my frustration was directed somewhere else.

Real Clinton followers expected this to happen since New Hampshire might as well be Vermont given how close the states are to one another. But what startled me the most about Tuesday night’s primary was seeing Sanders’ “revolution” gain momentum in the Democratic arena – while another revolutionary also reined supreme in the GOP.

Donald Trump won a presidential primary. It’s time for us to get serious right now.

I can’t even laugh at his gaffes or try to ignore his prowess anymore. Unlike more tolerable Republican candidates, such as Chris Christie, Trump is even outpacing them to the point of immediate surrender.

The Ernest Opinion: #OscarsSoWhite is a first world problem that can be more impactful

Christie and Carly Fiorina suspended their campaign bids shortly after their huge lost on Tuesday. But Democrats right now are too busy taking cheap shots at each other over how progressive one candidate is against the other. The conversation has gone from a sincere intellectual debate, to now a petty indictment at racial communities and their voting habits. I’m sorry, but my black vote going to Hillary isn’t me being brainwashed by “the establishment.”

It’s actually my personal understanding of dealing with real-time crisis and shooting for immediate results. Voting for Hillary doesn’t make me, an openly gay black millennial, not progressive. Sanders supporters’ litmus test on measuring such progressiveness doesn’t account for what it actually is – progress, which is relative. Instead, those who have tried to divide the party on these matters have distorted the context of history in order to make a point.

When folks say Hillary wasn’t initially in favor of gay marriage in the late 90s – neither were many of your favorite liberal politicians, including President Obama. Even pop culture was dredged in homophobic content that wouldn’t fly in today’s times. But now many liberals are trying to showcase a racial divide amongst the party.

The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act— which arguably offset what we now know as mass incarceration (which disproportionately impacts people of color) – is coming back to haunt Hillary’s platform of racial justice and equality. Sure, as First Lady, Hillary lobbied for the bill her husband would later sign after receiving the support of black organizations that thought it would reduce crime in their neighborhoods.

But Hillary’s lobbying wasn’t a vote. You know who actually voted for it to get passed in the Senate? Sanders did and with Vice President Biden authoring the bill altogether. Today, it would be foolish to consider any of these men not progressive – but for some reason, they aren’t being held as accountable as Hillary is.

Which further shows that if such political bias continues, it’s only going to deepen the likelihood of lacking enough civic engagement to beat the rising tide of the GOP. It’s time for Democrats to reevaluate how they publicly bash their potential presidential candidates and play fair. Otherwise, we can lose it all.