Equal Opportunity

As attention starts to turn towards who will run for the Democratic nomination to be President in 2020, I've heard two recurring pleas:

• For God's sake, don't let Hillary Clinton run for President again.  It's because Republicans have been brainwashed into hating her, no matter how irrational, we're in this mess!  Her time was in 2016.  She needs to stay home this time!
• For God's Sake, don't let Bernie Sanders run for President again.  It's because of him, and his dividing of the party, that we ended up with Trump in the first place. His chance was in 2016.  He needs to stay home this time!

To all the people who are posting these pleas, from the bottom of my heart, SHUT UP!!!

We have a process in place to determine who will be the next Democratic nominee.  If the Democratic party (DNC) determines a candidate fits the definition of what makes up a Democrat, then by all means, let them run.  This includes Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.  Remember: You build resentment by making people feel as if they were wronged.

Hillary Clinton supporters were aggressive during the 2016 nomination process.  I remember when Vice President Joe Biden was considering a run and Clinton supporters immediately insisted he shouldn't because his mental state had been 'compromised' due to the death of his son.  That was cold.  Clinton supporters just presumed Bernie supporters were going to be on board, and took them for granted.  That was a mistake.  For many Clinton supporters, there's still a lot of anger at what they perceive was a less than open arms endorsement from Sanders.

Trust me, no matter how many times I point out the math shows Bernie's ignoring the southeastern United States' Democratic Primaries early in the Democratic race was the deciding factor which cost him the nomination, many Bernie supporters are still convinced super-delegates were the knife in his back.  They weren't, but part of the reason we're in this Trump mess is because they felt wronged (let's not discount the massive Trump/Russian campaign to drive a wedge into the Democrats, encouraging Bernie supporters to not vote or to vote for Jill Stein).  Even today you have a lot of Bernie supporters who have a chip on their shoulder, looking for a reason to turn on the Democratic Party.

This is why we shouldn't be starting this nomination process by insisting on who CAN'T be the nominee.

If Hillary Clinton wants to run, let her.  I'll be honest; besides creating an extreme uneasiness in most Democrats, all she'll likely do is waste a ton of money.  But that being said, IT'S HER MONEY TO WASTE!  If she wants to run, let her run!

If Bernie Sanders wants to run, let him! Considering he'll turn 80 in his first year in office, his age becomes a legitimate concern when it comes to Democratic voters making a choice.  It's almost as if he'd need to announce his VP selection the same time he announces a run for President.  He still needs to address messaging issues towards moderate Democrats, and he needs a better overall campaign strategy, but if he wants to run, let him run!

It's always hard when a candidate you like loses and withdraws from the race.  What turns that frustration into ballot box jeopardizing resentment is the feeling the process was unfair.  Nothing feels more unfair than starting a nomination process by telling a legitimate nominee they're not welcome.

If you're a Democrat, or if you're closely aligned with the Democrats, and the Democratic Party determines you fall under the umbrella of being a Democrat, then by all means, form an exploratory committee and RUN!  The Democrats are supposed to be the party of equal opportunity.  Let's start acting like it.