The truth is if we didn't elect Obama, we wouldn't have Bernie as President

Hey everybody.
Been away from this forum for awhile because I needed some fresh air.
Last time I was here I was debating about the rights of sex workers & talking about the inevitable destiny of Hillary Clinton as the 45th President of the United States.

Luckily, destiny has been averted with the arrival of Bernie Sanders.
Didn't see him coming but I'm so glad he's here.
I have come to look at politics much like scratchoffs in the Lotto system.
Most likely ain't gonna win nothin' but every now & then I might win a free play or even a couple of dollars.

The Obama era has tempered my already faded hopes that much gets done through the system.
I didn't vote in 2010 out of anger for his half-heartedness.
I KNEW & STILL KNOW that this man can transform the country with a mere word.
His bully pulpit is mighty & when he DID use it things changed. Sometimes virtually overnight.
There's a reason why opposition to gay marriage has collapsed after he gave that interview with gay Robin Roberts on ABC TV.
And when he cries on screen about gun victims & talks about finally doing the basics in getting a handle on these tragedies, you see the results.

I have been tired of the Democrats forever & haven't identified myself as Democrat for many years now.
I joined this forum in 2008 when Obama made his first run & I wasn't a Democrat even then.
I vote WITH the Democrats but I am not a Democrat.
I wanted so bad for Obama to transform the weak-ass Democratic Party along WITH the country.
Hoped so much that he'll turn this political faction into something worth voting for instead of using them to vote AGAINST the obvious problem. Because he OBVIOUSLY had the power.
He WAS the Transformative President.
But that didn't happen & I got mad & sat out for 2010.

Going by the name of this forum I refer to myself as the UNDERGROUND over the DEMOCRATIC.
Many times on this forum I have pointed out the flaws & benefits of both sides.
The DEMOCRATIC has the numbers & the team organization but they lack the conviction & principles.
The UNDERGROUND has the conviction & principles but they lack the numbers & team organization.

Put simply, I see the DEMOCRATIC part of this forum as the Rah-Rah Cheerleaders who swoon over pics of the First Family & other Democratic Party officials as hero figures.
They might not take these figures to task preferring to follow blindly but because of that same trait they also make better team members who work together better.
On the other hand, I see the UNDERGROUND part of this forum as the Lone Wolf Contrarians who'll break on every mini-issue & micro-issue ensuring that they'll end up splintered & not effective.
They might be horrible for team efforts with their splintery ways but because of that same trait they'll challenge the team & keep the principle & convictions on track.
You need BOTH to win & I have come to appreciate that being on this forum for the past 8 years.

After I made this realization (along with the need to keep voting out of respect for my ancestors who fought & died for the right. Yes, I'm Black) I told myself NEVER to skip an election ever again.
EVEN IF I don't believe in the system anymore...STILL do it.
And I use the Lotto analogy to make sense of my participation.
I didn't miss any more elections after 2010 & recognized that it's all about coalitions.
It's about the DEMOCRATIC working with the UNDERGROUND to make things happen.
And obviously both sides are not best buddies & won't see eye to eye on every issue or sometimes many issues.

Even though I KNOW Hillary won't really do much of anything if elected, I was prepared to vote for her for the sake of the coalition.
As much as I was disappointed in Obama, I have to admit that his mere existence in that office has changed the conversation on many things in this country.
The demographics of this coalition that works through this political faction known as the Democratic Party is one of GROWTH.
An optimistic diverse pack of people with lots of youth.
That's the future of this country & the Democratic Party has that coalition backing them up.

Obama REALLY DID change things in America in a subtle way.
We are now looking at the end of the Republican Party as a national political force.
That eventually kills the regional power of that party before long.
The coalition backing the Republican Party is breaking down while the coalition backing the Democratic Party is getting stronger.
Hillary's election would easily further this situation.
Now EVERYBODY will know that the Presidency is within grasp.
A Black can become President & a Woman can too.

And maybe a Jew can too. Especially one with the credentials of Bernie Sanders.
A man who said outloud in the open that he was a Democratic Socialist & didn't flinch.
And THEN he got support across the board.
That mother might just change something. And not subtlely either.
There's a reason why the Black Lives Matter protestors bumrushed his events.
Because he might be the only one who will actually do anything significant.
He might be the only one who cares for real.

We might have won big money on this scratchoff for once.
Our numbers might have just come in when we least expected it.
And when I think about it, NONE OF THIS would have been REMOTELY possible if we didn't get Obama elected as the 44th President of the United States.
Could you imagine Bernie saying these things & winning with it a mere 8 years ago?

That article I read on Salon years ago was TRUE.
Obama and the dawn of the Fourth Republic
It talked about how roughly every 72 years a new structure in the American political system takes place.
For the first half of that time, things go generally in the direction of the one who started the structure.
Then for the second half of that time, things go generally against the direction of the one who started the structure.
At the end of the second half, you have a collapse of that structure & then a new one starts a new structure.

George Washington was the one who started the 1st one.
Abraham Lincoln was the one who started the 2nd one.
Franklin Roosevelt was the one who started the 3rd one.
And Barack Obama is supposed to represent the start of the 4th structure.

This seems to pan out with Bernie AND Hillary running on the Democratic ticket.
Either one who gets in strengthens this coalition.
Bernie takes it much further than Hillary ever will but either way whichever one gets elected is poison to the coalition of the Republicans/Conservatives.
And that means that for about 36 years, this country is about to get more & more Progressive in its policies before it inevitably goes the opposite way.

Bottom line, without Obama we wouldn't have Bernie as President.
And it definitely shows me that all my votes were not in vain.
That maybe it might just be a little more than a scratchoff on a Lotto ticket.
It's about the coalitions & making sure they stay together long enough to get the policies we need.

Hillary's destiny may or may not be denied but this coalition of people who votes for the Democrats will benefit very soon.
It's about to go our way for a good long while so let's get as much done as we can before the pendulum inevitably swings the other way.
Going for Bernie but I will make doggone sure not to let Donald Trump ever SEE the inside of that White House as anything other than a visitor. So if we only got Hillary, I'll take her.
Either one we pick, at least we won't end up like 1945 Germany.

John Lucas