So side note, I write and self-publish fantasy books on Amazon. (Yes I know Amazon is bad in a lot of ways, but they also have a stranglehold on the self publishing market, and I’m not going to kill 70% of my sales by leaving the platform, but that’s not the point)
As part of that I’m on a lot of Facebook writer and authors groups.. and this guy, this VERY guy was bragging on his marketing coup and getting his message out.
Basically..
Bernie or Bust 2.0 is a pledge that Senator Bernie Sanders' revolutionary supporters take to send a message to the members of the Democratic Party. It is a commitment to vote for a true progressive on November 3, 2020. "Or Bust" does not mean staying home. It does not mean writing in a candidate who has not registered as such. It means voting for a genuinely progressive candidate who is actually running, who reflects a voter's values and who is not a means to perpetuate the neo-liberal machinery that has been in place for more than 40 years.
Bernie or Bust is a demand. If you prefer another candidate and vote for that candidate in the primaries, you will need to acknowledge that you are ensuring another four years of Donald Trump. While all Berners are helping bend the arc of history toward justice, Bernie or Busters are the adults in the room. (Those who believe Busters are "Bernie Bros" should know the Clinton campaign allegedly pitched that myth to the media in 2016. Just ask Olivia Nuzzi.)
I get these people exist, I get that they love Bernie (He’s not my candidate of choice, but I don’t dislike the guy.) But demanding that they will take 1 million voters and go third party, because Sanders *OR* Tulsi Gabbard isn’t the nominee, is just… well.. you can fill in the blank.
You like who you like, and if I had seen this as a blog post or a screed on twitter I would have ignored it. And while Newsweek isn’t what it was anymore, I find it disturbing to have it be a loudspeaker for this kind of ‘shoot myself in the foot cause I am not getting my own way.’ editorial.