“Only Choose Righteous Fights” – Senator Elizabeth Warren

I’ve spent my whole life being told who to vote for. Finally, when I became a progressive, I thought I would be freed from that. I was wrong. One thing I’ve learned is that no matter how much I try to fight for those with less privilege than myself and choose the “right” candidate they will always ALWAYS be flawed.

There hasn’t been one candidate in this race that I didn’t have some issue with. Originally, Julian Castro was my favorite with Sen. Elizabeth Warren as a close second. Once Castro had to drop out of the race, Warren became my top choice. Give me the politics of Castro, with Warren’s plans and charisma, and Sanders’ passion for healthcare reform and for workers.

Give me a world where it’s possible to hold all of that in tension and make the best decision for myself. Without attacking myself and others when we make the “wrong” choice” or pick the “wrong” candidate. I can tell you that Warren’s campaign definitely sent me way too many emails and text messages but it’s that same persistence that I valued. 

Today I’m so sad because Elizabeth Warren was possibly my favorite presidential candidate since I’ve been able to vote. Her campaign gave me and so many others hope. We believed in her plans and her commitment to getting things done. We still do. Regardless of presidency, I value that Senator Warren will continue to get things done. In spite of the sexism that she had to endure, in spite of online harassers attacking her and telling us that we were on the wrong side. I feel like suddenly, I should know better than to hope. We hoped in 2016 and I supported Bernie Sanders. We hoped beyond hope that perhaps Hillary Clinton could be the nominee to beat Trump. We kept hoping and our hopes got dashed.

This hope seems to now be crushed by those in our own party as I watch Warren, Biden, and Sanders supporters bite each others’ heads off on social media. 

Let me tell you about hope. I get to keep that hope today. And every day. I choose to hope beyond all goddamn sense in a world that is better than the world we live in. I will support whoever the Democratic nominee is because I keep hoping we can undo some of the damage of the current administration. But don’t expect me to move on quickly without being sad that once again, this country has decided we’d rather have mediocre white men (yes, I mean Biden) leading us than powerful, competent women who had to drop out of the race.  Elizabeth Warren fucking deserved better than this.

“Choose to fight only righteous fights” She said. And God, I’m so tired but I believe it with my whole being. “Choose to fight only righteous fights” may become a new mantra for me in the year of our Lord 2020.

While I strongly disagree with Biden and align more with Sanders, ultimately, I will support whoever the nominee is. Because when I’d rather have Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker leading this thing, in the end Obi Wan Kenobi is our only hope. We all just want to beat Darth Vader.