DISCLAIMER: considering how a Biden-bashing diary is published here every 20 minutes or so, I think a diary criticizing another candidate is perfectly fine.

In 2016, Bernie Sanders was the only viable alternative to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Seemingly everyone on the left was “feeling the Bern”, and he seemed to be generating at least as much excitement as Barack Obama did in 2008. Personally, I wasn’t partial to either him or Hillary, but was 1000% behind Hillary once she won the nomination, because the alternative was...well, we all know. While Hillary was put through the ringer for everything from her emails to coughing in public once or twice, Bernie was never really vetted in 2016. Now he’s running again, and it’s crucial that we don’t give him a pass this time. Mark my words, the GOP has a War and Peace-sized oppo research folder on Bernie, and they are salivating at the opportunity to use it.

His rape essays: All Trump has to do to waltz back into the White House for four more years is point out “A man goes home...” The MeToo movement will abandon the Democrats in disgust, and the “liberal media” will gleefully say “See? Both sides! Both sides!”

His background: Bernie never had a real job until age 40. He never even voted until age 40, and that was for himself when he ran for mayor. He refused to get a job to support his son. He stole electricity from his neighbor. He was evicted from a hippie commune for refusing to work. He criticized JFK for being anti-communism. He attended a rally where people chanted “here, there, everywhere, the Yankee will die”. If we nominate someone with this kind of baggage, don’t be surprised if Illinois and Massachusetts become swing states and the GOP controls the White House and Supreme Court for a generation or more.

His Russian connections: Aside from honeymooning in the Soviet Union (who does that?!), the Mueller report clearly states on Page 23 that Russia helped Bernie in 2016 in order to defeat Hillary and elect Trump. Russian troll farms were even told not to criticize Bernie because “we like him”. As if to return the favor for their support, Bernie either voted against Russian sanctions or abstained from the vote altogether multiple times since then. Much of his Twitter/Reddit support is clearly Russian, as they spread Trump talking points such as “Russiagate is a hoax” and “child separation started under Obama”. And let’s not forget the mother of all pro-Bernie Russian narratives: “The 2016 primary was RIGGED!!!” Personally, I’d prefer not to vote for anyone that Putin supports. That eliminates Trump, Bernie, Gabbard, and the entire GOP. (And yes, I will vote for Bernie or Gabbard if one of them is the nominee)

His supporters: Replace “snowflake” with “corporate shill/centrist/neolib/etc.” and it’s virtually impossible to tell Bernie’s most hardcore supporters apart from Trump supporters. Simply put, they are out of control. They disrupted the convention in 2016. They allegedly threw chairs in Nevada. They threw dollar bills at Hillary’s car and called her a whore. They held a fart-in, FFS. Many of them outright voted for Trump out of spite and are threatening to do it again next year if Bernie isn’t the nominee. They have zero empathy for the people who have been hurt and even killed due to Trump being president because their mostly white, male, mid-upper class privilege has protected them from the worst of his policies. I’ve heard many of them make a case then and now for ceding all power to the GOP in order to “bring the revolution” (see: Sarandon, Susan). That attitude comes from the top. What would this look like if Bernie was the nominee? Would they go door to door and scream “CORPORATE SHILL!!!” at anyone who didn’t commit to voting for him?

Bernie is at least partly to blame for electing Trump. He ran a scorched earth campaign against Hillary, contested a primary he had no chance of winning and has indicated that he will do it again. He is not a Democrat. He openly hates the Democratic party. He is a chaos agent and must be taken out of the running before he can hand Trump another four years.