This Monday evening, I stood snapping photographs of what amounted to the most important game of musical chairs I'll ever witness.
As impassioned Iowans at the Waukee Community Centre in Dallas County appealed to each other on behalf of their candidates, I was struck by a feeling of great admiration and gratitude. Being a foreigner in an adoptive land, this was my first close-up view of American democracy in action: a civil, non-violent difference of opinion with a common goal shared by all.
But of the many moments to be had in the Democratic Caucus, one moment stood out for me. As someone from the larger Clinton camp was extolling his candidates virtues, a young man from the Bernie ranks piped up that Hillary was a criminal. But just as he said this, a dear friend who had driven me to the caucus center reprimanded him in a soft and patient voice. "Bernie would never want you to say that," she said, and he instantly quietened down, muttering "Oh, you're right!" under his breath.
The young man looked sheepish the rest of the night and even apologized to my friend (who, by the way, was caucusing for O'Malley) after all the delegates had been counted. Then, neighbors and friends alike all hugged each other and went home.
This exchange, so small and simple in its decency, only hit me properly once I had returned home... and opened my laptop. For the discourse being had on my screen, between two sides of the same political party, was a truly stark juxtaposition. With Hillary winning by the slimmest of margins, accusations of cheating and criminal conduct were hurled across cyberspace with the heat of a thousand suns. By the end of the first day, I would not have been surprised to read a blog accusing Secretary Clinton of framing Roger Rabbit to boot.
By his own terms, Bernie Sanders' campaign can be taken as a social experiment, a grand national study to prove that a candidate can run without the aid of super-PAC money, negative attack ads, and tabloid-driven debates. In the eyes of magnanimous Bernie and his triumphant supporters that experiment has been a resounding success, proof positive that yes, it CAN be done.
But to end the findings there is to ignore the whole picture, for unfortunately this experiment has more results to yield than that, and a more troubling conclusion to draw.
The more disturbing realization is that, in the absence of name-calling, smear campaigns, misogyny and conspiracy theorizing by Bernie, his supporters have compensated by doing it all themselves.
Now, let me preface that I am of course not speaking for every Bernie Sanders supporter in this blog, but neither is this some vague generalization. I have a large network of liberal friends in this country, and many of them are in the Hillary camp. The majority of them are women, and every one of them has multiple stories of being on the receiving end of acrimonious Bernie supporters, and I don't mean over this primary period, I mean EVERY day of this primary period. Throw a stone on Facebook and you will find someone who has been harassed or had to block someone else for this reason, and in the wake of the Iowa caucus I have had numerous interactions myself.
The ultimate irony is that, after lionizing their man as the integrity candidate and vaunting their movement for being the "clean" campaign, Team Bernie has muddied their hands on his behalf, pumping so much vitriol through the veins of social media as to render it a zero sum.
The Sanders campaign has no need for attack ads, their supporters write infinitely more toxic slurs and accusations in countless blogs, tweets, Facebook posts and memes. Bernie doesn't have to talk about Clinton's "damn emails", his fans have already upgraded to analysing every caucus coin toss for the merest hint of conspiracy. Neither does he have to resort to the indignity of calling his opponent names, as his loyal mob are already calling her, AND her supporters, every name in the book, and only show signs of getting worse. Even the beloved chorus of "Feel the Bern" has been warped and twisted from its original context, abrogated to the more violent and misogynistic chant of "Bern the witch!", less a policy-based mic-drop and more of a social media petrol-bomb.
And the saddest part: Bernie most certainly DOES NOT approve this message.
Worryingly, the equation seems to be that the nicer Bernie Sanders is, the more his supporters feel entitled to be mean in his name. And while, of course, no side can claim to be perfect in this regard, in the many disparaging posts and messages I've read from Clinton supporters it is Bernie's policies and viability that tends to be targeted rather than the man himself, and they rarely target his supporters personally.
Now, I can picture many of Sanders' fans proclaiming their right to free speech. They will argue that their commentary is valid and an individual choice not connected with the campaign, which I suppose is fine, except that.. .you can't have it both ways. You can't use your candidate's menschy-ness as evidence of your side's higher moral authority, and then turn around and act like trolls to the other Democrat in the race. It's just so... Republican.
And this is a disquieting notion, because it belies something nasty and insidious at the heart of American politics. The central argument of Sanders' virtuous revolution is that it was the politicians and their convoluted corporate infrastructures that infected the people with spin, hearsay and paranoia, and perhaps he was right. But if this race is any indication, once that manipulation is taken away the masses are just as capable of manipulating themselves, inventing their own bogeyman (or woman) and amassing an arsenal of slings and arrows with which to assault them.
The era of Super-PACs may be drawing to a close, with the Koch brothers scratching their heads at their lack of influence and Jeb finding zero return on his investment. But we may be entering an even more unsettling phase of politics, the era of the "grass roots super-PAC", with all the good AND bad that brings.
If this nation is to move forward in the way that Senator Sanders hopes, into a realm of dignity and high-mindedness, it is going to be a painful birth. Whether it is a destructive habit honed from a lifetime of political indoctrination, the drinking of GOP Kool-Aid, or something darker that lurks on the fringes of idealistic fervour, we ALL need to hold ourselves accountable. What is the point of changing the way our country's leaders comport themselves if we the people remain the same?
So as we move inexorably to the New Hampshire primary and every primary after that, whether we Feel the Bern or Stand With Her, it would behoove us all to consider our moral absolutes.
After all, we have to think for ourselves now, and the experiment is not over.
