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Here is some Boomer advice for the Bernie set, especially the young ones. You can take it or leave it as you choose. It’s intended to make you feel more politically successful in the future.
1. Don’t become so enamored of a candidate that they can do no wrong in your eyes or that you find yourself saying only s/he can accomplish things. You’ll invariably be wrong.
2. Don’t become so enamored of a candidate that you can see no good in competing candidates. Again, you’ll inevitably be wrong.
3. Don’t be judgmental & don’t be quick to slap labels on others. The chances that you are perfectly noble & everyone else is hopelessly corrupt are none.
4. Don’t make an enemies list. Everyone who doesn’t agree with you that your candidate is best is simply a human being, just like you are.
5. Don’t impose purity tests. You couldn’t pass them yourself, & neither could your candidate.
6. Give other people credit for doing their best & trying to do the right thing. You didn’t invent righteousness & virtue.
7. Don’t use your right to vote as a means to extort people. You’re the only one who is responsible for your vote, & extortion is just plain wrong.
8. Canvass & do phone banking. This will teach you skills on how to convince people rather than alienating them. Believe it or not, people don’t like to be insulted or called names.
9. Don’t fall prey to GOP/Russian propaganda. Be skeptical whenever you hear anything that reinforces your already held beliefs.
10. Listen to people who disagree with you. Don’t do all the talking. You can’t convince others if you don’t even know what they’re thinking.
11. Of you want your candidate to be the head of the Democratic Party, urge him/her to not run against the Democratic Party.
12. Avoid puerile insults and a high school bully/mean girl mentality at all costs.
13. Learn from history. Lasting change always occurs incrementally. That’s the way life is.
14. Get rid of the binary thinking. Nobody is all good or all bad. People are most definitely not bad just because they disagree with you on a certain issue.
15. Stop thinking of people as either heroes or villains. Your heroes will inevitably disappoint you & your villains will prove you wrong.
16. Realize that it’s not the end of the world if your candidate doesn’t win & that you can always try to persuade the winning candidate on issues important to you. Just do so nicely if you want results.
17. Don’t make your political engagement a once every 4 year thing dependent solely on presidential nominees. Start forming networks & coalitions that go beyond just your preferred candidate.
