Alone, each of us may be just one grain of sand. Together, we can be a landslide for Bernie.
Jerry and I have been Bernie's constituents in Vermont for 35 years. We've seen him in action. We've the seen his consistency, his passion, and his integrity in working for low and middle-income people--especially those who have been marginalized and discriminated against.
He is not a politician in the usual sense of the word. He is a fighter for justice. And that's why we've been campaigning for Bernie around the country for the past year.
Our country has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized democracy. Our current political system cheats, disenfranchises, and exploits low and middle-income Americans--especially if they are from communities of color.
Essentially, Bernie's message comes down to one question that he has been asking his entire political career: If America is the richest country in the world, and yet why are so many of our citizens unable to access employment, a fair living wage, a good education, and have equal pathways to realizing their dreams?
Bernie has made concrete proposals to do just that--at no additional expense to 99% of America.
Free College Tuition will be funded by the Financial Transactions Tax--less than 0.1% on Wall Street speculation. Universal Healthcare costs will be less than what people are currently paying for private health insurance premiums. A massive jobs program will help create millions of jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure and paid for by closing offshore tax loopholes.
Why don't we already have these benefits? Because today our representatives do not serve regular people. It serves at the pleasure of corporations and the ultra-wealthy who buy off our politicians through unlimited campaign "donations" in a process that Sen. John McCain calls "legalized bribery."
Bernie has led the fight to put an end to this corrupt system, while Hillary Clinton is a product of it. Her campaign is funded by the same corporations that benefit from the pay-to-play culture in Washington and hope to maintain the status-quo in the form of usurious interest rates, sweetheart government contracts, and obscene prices for healthcare and prescription drugs.
Bernie's campaign is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Never in my lifetime has a presidential candidate truly of the people, by the people, and for the people come so far. Even the fact that his campaign has been funded so mightily by small donations from regular Americans is simply unprecedented.
Despite being virtually unknown at the start of his campaign, despite the refusal of mainstream media to cover the historical victories of his campaigns, despite being undercut by the DNC-- Bernie is now polling neck-and-neck with Hillary. Additionally, in match up polls of Bernie versus Donald Trump, Bernie is the Democrat that has the best chance of winning.
Bernie's success so far has been nothing short of miraculous. The problem has been that in the early primary states, by the time people heard about Bernie and what he stands for, it was too late for them to register or their primaries were already over. But that's not the case in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota, and New Mexico, which have their primaries on June 7th. If Bernie can win those states in a landslide, he will clinch the Democratic nomination.
An interesting thing about miracles: they don't just come out of nowhere; people make miracles happen. Sure, we might get a little help from above, but when we all work together--when we all do our bit--PEOPLE. Make. Miracles. Happen.
Now you might ask: I'm just one person--I'm just one little grain of sand--what can I possibly do to get Bernie elected? Well, as near as I can figure, we're all just little grains of sand, but when we work together we create a landslide.
We have the power to create a landslide in this presidential race. The reality is that if everybody who believes in what Bernie stands for, gets out and votes on June 7, he will win.
So do your bit. Vote on June 7th. Get your friends to vote too. Get online and volunteer to phone bank and canvass for Bernie. Donate. We have come so far. There's less than 10 days to go. It's time to pour rocket fuel on the fire and #FeelTheBern.