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Guest Column: Democrat Recognizes Need for Bernie’s “Revolution” But Will Give Trump a Chance

Spink County Democrat Gordon Richard offered some solid comments following the state Democratic Party’s discussion in Aberdeen last month. Now the Dolander* expands on his state of mind, a vigilant, tentative patience with the President-Elect in tension with a recognition that Bernie Sanders may be right:

I feel as if I need to apologize to my liberal and progressive friends and acquaintances. I am sorry. I was a Bernie Sanders supporter and gave him more money than I have ever given to any politician (two $27 donations; along with over 8 million other Americans with that particular amount). I had some trouble with Bernie’s insistence of the need for a “revolution”, but have come to pretty much agree with him. We are going in the “wrong direction as a nation” and Bernie and others have articulated that feeling and, I believe, most Americans agree.

So, who and what is the answer? The American people have not really “spoken” because we have the Electoral College that skews a Presidential race, and we have the loser (again) with more individual votes from American citizens.

I am not altogether pleased with The Donald being elected President. I am not altogether disappointed that Hillary Clinton ‘lost’. I’d like to see changes made so that the candidate with the most votes’ wins, but that seems to be an almost insurmountable challenge. I was not enthused at the probability of the Clinton’s Wall Street friends coming back into the White House and continuing the reign of the rich and connected we have seen over the past many years. I was especially not tickled to get ole Bill back in the White House. I felt her winning would give him a chance for a ‘redo’ of what I believe was a squandered Presidency.

So, not to turn this into a tome, let me say that I will give President Elect Trump, and after January 20, President Trump a chance. I will stop calling him “The Donald” and comparing him to a Carnival Barker or the other terrible things many are calling him. I will remain vigilant and will protest, with others, when I see things going the wrong way. I do believe both Democrats and Republicans, especially, at the national level, are corrupt and have undermined our Democracy, or is it our Republic?

Anyway, maybe I should be more upset and outraged, but I did vote for “hope and change” twice and was disappointed both times by the Democrats and their policies, and especially, the Republicans with their extreme partisanship and just plain unwillingness to work with President Obama on anything.

I am coming to Senator Sanders’ basic assumption that we do need a “Revolution”, but am willing to give this ‘wild & crazy’ guy a chance to prove me wrong, and, besides, what choice do I really have other than what I have already described of what I will be doing?

I would enjoy hearing your thoughts, opinion and insights and what you are doing and are going to do!

Gordon Richard… about one month post 2016 Presidential Election

p.s.: I am especially torqued at how the DNC undermined Bernie’s primary campaign and feel as if we might have had a President-Elect Sanders at this moment had he not met subterfuge [Gordon Richard, letter to Dakota Free Press, 2016.12.11].

Friends, fellow progressives, fellow Americans (and isn’t progress written into the definition of American?), read GR’s letter, then consider these questions:

  1. What does “giving Trump a chance” look like?
  2. What specific actions would have to happen to justify ending that “chance”?
  3. What does “no longer giving Trump a chance” look like?
  4. Can we bring Bernie back?
  5. What does Bernie’s revolution look like in 2017… and 2020?

Update 2016.12.16 13:26 CST: I originally incorrectly identified Richard as a Redfielder. I apologize and welcome further correction on the proper term for a denizen of Doland.

30 Comments

  1. owen reitzel 2016-12-12 19:17

    I’ll give Trump the same chance that President Obama received in 2008.

  2. Leesa 2016-12-12 19:38

    The writer doesn’t want Clinton’s “Wall street friends & reign of the rich & connected” in power. Yet that is exactly what Trump is bringing. “Met the new boss, same as the old boss.”

  3. Roger Cornelius 2016-12-12 19:38

    There is absolutely nothing about Trump that I find redeeming and I refuse to give him a chance.
    There are any number of reasons to resist Trump and all he represents.
    He’ll have all kinds of people that will attempt to clean up the messes he creates and let him spend his time on Twitter.
    My concern with Trump is the 1st Amendment. Over the weekend pseudo adviser Newt Gingrich encouraged Trump not to hold press conferences.
    And late this afternoon Trump took away the Washington Post press credentials, he is not even in office yet and he’s denying 1st Amendment Rights the media.
    This is just the first step in Trump’s attack on the 1st Amendment, what other media and reporters does he plan to ban?
    A Trump presidency is frightening.

  4. leslie 2016-12-12 19:46

    When asked if Comey “singlehandedly” swayed the election,  Reid said Clinton “would have won” had Comey not “written that letter” shortly before Election Day.
    “We would have picked up at least two more Senate seats,” he added. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/reid-blames-comey-for-hillary-clintons-loss/ar-AAlsVPy?OCID=ansmsnnews11

    I will dearly miss harry. wonder who is gonna be president?

    that the republicans are able to spin all this says something about democrats, perhaps. we deeply underestimated the 1.09.09 dinner while much of the world celebrated. vast–right–wing–conspiracy entitled: “i hope he fails”.

    a couple of years of Obama care has saved many of our lives.

  5. leslie 2016-12-12 19:49

    ” I am not altogether disappointed that Hillary Clinton ‘lost’.” boy, I do not understand you, friend.

  6. mike from iowa 2016-12-12 20:13

    We are having a revolution. Wingnuts want to destroy America so bad they enlisted a government agency and the help of a foreign nation to put them in power. Think of that. Committing treason to win public office in a Democracy.

    Drumpf doesn’t get a chance. He would only lie about it anyway.

  7. MJK 2016-12-12 20:17

    I will give Trump the same chance the Congress gave President Obama. Nada! None! Let’s impeach the President elect the way Congress wanted to impeach President Obama! Trump’s relationship with Russia is beyond explanation and is terrifying!!! You know what?? The GOP deserve Trump!! Who are they going to blame NOW???? All Republican Congress!!! It is absolutely frightening with Russia and the hacking and the espionage that transpired during the election!!

  8. Robin Friday 2016-12-12 21:30

    Give Trump a chance? Like we have a choice?

  9. Loren 2016-12-12 22:03

    Didn’t we give Trump another chance after he disparaged an American judge of Mexican descent? Gave him another chance after he mocked the handicapped? Gave him another chance after he bragged of groping women by the crotch? Gave him another chance after he said Mexican immigrants were rapists? Gave him another chance after he wanted to ban Muslims from the U.S.? We won’t even mention his outright, daily lies on the campaign trail, fat shaming women, etc! Any idea how many more chances you’d like to give this gent?

  10. Rorschach 2016-12-12 22:21

    I generally favor Presidents being able to choose their own staff. But most of the people Trump is choosing for the cabinet are either dangerous and/or dwellers of the swamp that needs to be drained and/or completely unqualified. The senate Democrats and independents should cast 48 votes against many of these picks and make Republicans own the results if they are confirmed.

  11. Rorschach 2016-12-12 22:23

    Let’s not forget that Trump has no mandate. None whatsoever. If there is any mandate at the Presidential level it is for Hillary Clinton’s agenda – which received 2.8 million more votes than Donald Trump’s agenda.

  12. o 2016-12-13 08:29

    “I was not enthused at the probability of the Clinton’s Wall Street friends coming back into the White House and continuing the reign of the rich and connected we have seen over the past many years.”

    Seriously? That is the nonsense that drives me mad. Trump will be a nice break from the “rich and connected?”

    Here is an exercise for Mr. Richard: put issues from the liberal/progressive agenda supported by Secretary Clinton on one side of a sheet of paper, and issues from the liberal/progressive agenda supported by President -Elect Trump on the other side of the sheet, and re-evaluate your stand on candidates. Or maybe re-evaluate your own liberal/progressive definition.

    “Осушить болото”

  13. mike from iowa 2016-12-13 08:51

    Rumour has it Drumpf’s business partners in Turkey have been arrested and Drumpf’s holdings have been seized. Partners will be released when Drumpf turns over cleric wanted by Turkey for attempted coup. Gee, sounds like the cretin with conflicts is susceptible to blackmail-just as he accused HRC because she is a woman.

  14. JudyJudyJudy 2016-12-13 09:40

    I remind everyone that Bernie is not a Democrat and still refuses to join the Democratic Party. He is a registered Socialist. He lost the primary contest by 3 million votes. It wasn’t even close. He lost the race for non-super delegates too. It wasn’t close either. The only reason why he made a respectable showing was because of caucus states where the obstacles to participation restrct voting to only activists and true belivers. To say he might have won the election as the Democratic Party’s Socialist candidate for President ignores the electorial history of our country. It is never going to happen.

  15. Porter Lansing 2016-12-13 11:14

    I can’t say I’m sorry Hillary Clinton’s not the President, either. I supported her politics but personally she’s unlikeable. The likeability factor is often downplayed but it’s vital to winning. The most distasteful Presidents on the right have at least been likeable. Reagan was very likeable, except when he talked ultra-conservative politics. Same with Geo.W. He wouldn’t be a bad guy to have a beer with. Trump’s likeable, in a country club locker room full of foul mouthed men kinda way. Hillary’s just not likeable. Never really has been. Her accomplishments and her qualifications are impeccable but she made the voters that could have brought her victory stay home or not vote the top of the ticket.

  16. bearcreekbat 2016-12-13 11:20

    I did vote for “hope and change” twice and was disappointed both times by the Democrats and their policies

    I wonder what sort of “hope and change” this writer was seeking from Democrats. If memory serves me correctly, under this Democratic President we saw unemployment change from 8% or higher to below 5% today. We saw the stock market more than double in value. We brought home most of the troops from Iran and Afghanistan.

    While Republicans blocked many of the Democrat goals, such as shuttering Gitmo. Our Democrat President used his executive powers in an effort to bring about the changes he campaigned on. What other steps should our Democrat President have taken to fill this wish for “hope and change?”

    That is the biggest puzzle for me about Bernie supporters. What makes them (or made them) so upset with President Obama and Hillary Clinton? What sort of “hope and change” do they feel either of these individuals did not fight hard enough to achieve? What were their expectations anyway?

  17. Porter Lansing 2016-12-13 11:33

    PS … John Kerry, John McCain and Mitt Romney fall into the “not likeable” category with HRC and also lost, not by policy but by personality.

  18. jerry 2016-12-13 12:10

    The locals are getting the word from Washington and the lackeys that serve them well. Here is a fact. They are coming for your, all of your Social Security. The more you wail about it being something for the poor, the more they will ignore you

    ““Programs for the poor become poor programs,” said Monique Morrissey, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “The more a program resembles a safety net program, the more vulnerable it is to cuts.”

    Let that soak in for a minute. When we say Medicaid Expansion is for the “working poor” The more Governor Hypocrite pulls back and that goes for his paid off legislature as well.

  19. o 2016-12-13 13:32

    Was HRC really “un-likable” or was that just the message given to provide cover? Reason or excuse for not supporting? And in what way is Trump more likable? Sanders defines the grumpy-old-man, was he “likable?”

    The irritating one-way false equivocations are all raising their ugly heads again in this thread. A reason to not support Trump (like dishonesty) would be falsely equivocated on HRC, then objections to HRC would almost never be put in context of Trump.

    I agree with Bearcreekbat, what is the reasoning that has people who did not get enough “hope and change” under Obama to support the standard bearer of the obstruction of that hope and change?

  20. jerry 2016-12-13 13:43

    Just because I did not like Clinton does not mean I did not vote for her. She did get three million more votes than Trump, so there is that. To vilify her is to deny the majority of the will of the voters. She did not win the electoral college vote because she did a poor job of campaigning as a whole. She still won the popular vote as Al Gore did 16 years ago. That knowledge and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee and that is all.

    Trump got the presidency whether he likes it or not. It is clear that he is not a president and has no background for anything other than a privileged trust baby. So do we give him a chance? What chance do we have?

  21. mike from iowa 2016-12-13 15:06

    Recently saw a poll of Drumpf voters whose number one Drumpf promise they wanted kept was to jail HRC, even though she hasn’t committed a criminal offense. Drumpf told them jailing HRC was a useful tool for election purposes but he no longer cared about jailing her. He can’t legally do it anyway. Gonna be a bunch of poor white working suckers screaming for Drumpf’s scalp for lying to them. What’s there to feel sorry about for these willfully ignorant masses that fell for all of Drump’s lies. He can’t even blame democrats for blocking his agenda, although he will try it and I’m sure his voters will fall for another lie or twenty.

  22. Porter Lansing 2016-12-13 17:43

    @o … I won’t say Trump is likeable to our people but he was likeable enough to his people to get them out to vote for him. Hillary didn’t. I voted for her, too. But more for her policies and potential to do what I want to see … not her personality.

  23. bearcreekbat 2016-12-13 18:28

    I voted for Hillary, too, but I thought she was very likeable. I had not followed her career as and after SOS, but I did become very interested in the frequent attacks on her character. Trouble is, the more attack articles I investigated and discovered to be “fake news” or simply unsupported innuendo the more likeable she became. Add to this her actual resume, and her public statements about our Country and the people here and around the world, the more likeable Hillary became.

    It seems the peak of propaganda power that any rational person (even those who strongly disagree with her policy positions) has been convinced that they should not “like” Hillary. Otherwise, what do they think she did – pee in their soup?

  24. John 2016-12-13 18:46

    “Deserves” do not matter. “Fair” is a fall event where you show your cantaloupe.

    Many, too many voters loathed HRC. It was well-known. The tone-deaf coastal dems were fools to nominate her and received their desserts. We’ll all pay.

    What matters is the long arch of history. Never has extended unified republican government led to greatness or greatness again. Never. Unified republican government has led to economic and social misery. Enjoy the fruits of the irrational exuberance in the moment. Yet be ready to preserve your assets. Winter is coming. Here’s the irrefutable history. Read it. Weep. Put in your stops. Prepare to identify your shorts.
    http://thereformedbroker.com/2016/12/13/every-unified-republican-government-ever-has-led-to-a-financial-crash/

  25. o 2016-12-13 19:36

    Mike, “Gonna be a bunch of poor white working suckers screaming for Drumpf’s scalp for lying to them.” Will there really? One of the points this thread has made clear is that people vote for “likable” not policies. Isn’t he still the same likable Trump? So what if his policies/promises change?

    Can’t we point to both parties having people vote against their best interests and still holding on to their candidate? The Rust Belt finally snapped this – and the Democrats – in one fell swoop last November.

  26. jerry 2016-12-14 12:04

    @John great post. One thing to remember is this, in South Dakota there really are no peaks and valley’s when it comes to finances. It is all level. The ag folks get to say they had a good year for every decade of mediocre years. They then have just enough money to buy equipment to replace the ones they got from the last good year. The rest of the time, they work for the bank and depend on them to pay them just enough to keep the door on the barn. You can go to Walmart and see the rest of us going up and down the aisles buying stuff made in the Far East to put on our backs along with discounted foods for our bellies. There is a blankness in our stares though of a people that have been defeated for the most part to include those that run the registers. We know the game is rigged and that we are close to being out in the streets but hope for warm weather when that happens. We know that the discussion of the disparity between the 1% and the 99% has been blown away like old dried snow on the prairie being solved like the made up War on Christmas. I just do not feel comfortable giving Trump a chance to keep doing the same old thievery with the taxpayers picking up the failed bankers yet again.

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