Tea Party Republicans for Bernie Sanders!

Posted: Oct 7, 2015

I'm a Tea Party Republican considering Bernie Sanders and I do not believe I'm alone. self.SandersForPresident submitted 2 months ago by NebraskaMerican I've long considered myself an Independent but was drawn to the Republican Party with the rise of the anti-establishment Tea Party movement and specifically Ron Paul's 2 presidential runs. 2 weeks ago, I decided to go see Bernie in Iowa with my lifelong Democrat father because I thought it would be a great way to spend some quality time with each other, since we're usually butting heads on political issues. What I did not expect from this event was just how much a self-described democratic socialist could identify with somebody like me who detests the word socialism. After sitting with crossed arms initially, finding myself being unsurprisingly skeptical of Bernie's economic populist calls for things like raising the minimum wage, I soon found myself opening up when he moved onto a multitude of other issues. By the end of his hour and a half long speech, I found myself standing up and clapping more often than sulking. I was completely blown away by somebody who I was thought I was fairly familiar with and he's had me rethinking supporting Rand Paul for the last 2 weeks. After further deliberation, I've come to the conclusion that the idea of Bernie Sanders getting support from a significant portion of the "very conservative" wing of the GOP is not such a far fetched idea and here's why I think his appeal will stretch further than even most supporters think. 1) He is as pro-American as they come. This might seem like a random, weird argument but it was the first step in getting me to open up to the idea of voting for a "socialist". The way that Bernie speaks is different from the stereotypical left-winger. He has a strongly nationalistic undertone to his populism and is unapologetic about it. He has the ability to take any moral majority argument and flip it right on its head. When he spoke about what the U.S. went through in to win WWII in essentially 2 1/2 years, he had me almost tearing up. 2) In a GOP race full of candidates tripping over themselves to shift their policies to the right, they are alienating the truly small-government wing and the socially liberal wing of the party. Bernie's message has always been the same. Even Rand Paul's message has changed to embrace more socially conservative voters, which we all know are a dying breed. Bernie, among any candidate, has the real small-government views on social issues and foreign policy. He's been against the War on Drugs, the broken criminal justice system, nation building and debt financed wars in every corner of the globe, NSA mass surveillance, police militarization and has an intelligently moderate view on guns. 3) A $1 trillion investment in America is an easier sell than another $1 trillion war. Even though I disagree with many of his economic positions, most Americans would be more open to spending money on new roads than new wars. If he can talk more about the long-term savings of his plans versus what the GOP would spend our money on, he can sway voters. 4) His last name isn't Clinton or Bush. Seriously though, there is nothing that the anti-establishment wing of the GOP would hate more than another Clinton or Bush presidency. If it's a Sanders versus Bush match-up, do not expect a big conservative turnout for Bush because they're petrified of Bernie. They'll sit at home or go 3rd party. 5) Bernie Sanders. Cannot. Be. Bought. This message is going to be huge for Bernie reaching out. Even if you don't agree with his message or some of his policies, his unbreakable charisma is something to respect. He is the Ron Paul of the left for many of us. He stands for what he believes in, regardless of whether or not it's popular and will refuse to back down. He's the only candidate who is willing to stare Wall Street billionaires right in the face and say I'm not going to take one damn penny from you. The "I'm self-funded" message that is clearly working for Donald Trump will pale in comparison to the "100% people funded" message of Bernie. I might still vote for Rand Paul in the primaries because Nebraska law would require me to register as a Democrat and at this point in my life, I still have enough hope that the youth of the Republican Party will one day be louder than our blatantly idiotic base. I will continue to root for Bernie in the primaries and challenge every one of my progressive friends to back a candidate that believes in what they do. TL;DR Bernie Sanders has the right message at the right time. If he can learn to become the Teddy Roosevelt of our time, he can win. With 2016 shaping out to be a big-money slugfest, the American electorate will become disgusted enough to consider Bernie's consistent message. https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/3djn72/im_a_tea_party_republican_considering_bernie/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook;