Folks, let's be cool to Bernie's people tonight.

I think the basic premise of most of the policies Biden has will parallel Sanders. They both support the Green New Deal, they both want to reverse the immigration policies set by the Trump administration, they both want to expand healthcare to the point of universality. That being said, they aren't perfectly in line about the details and they disagree on how to enact said policies. I think it will be difficult at first to accept someone who represents some of what you believe but not all of it. I can sympathize with that. I'm not an original Biden supporter. I am a converted Buttigieg supporter. Nonetheless, I think I can provide insight into something I am quite passionate about when it comes to Biden.

Sanders and his supporters had a unity of vision that was unmatched in the primaries. If you are looking for that exact brand of passion, you probably won't find it here. Sanders and his supporters have been very rigid in their set of ideals. This strict singular vision of what is best for our country comes with a sense of camaraderie among peers.

I believe that one of, if not the most important aspect of a post-Trump presidency is stability. This is something that I disagree with Sanders on. He promotes the idea of revolution and seeks disruption but I do not believe that is the correct path to nearly any of the issues on his agenda. I approve of his ideals but not his approach. This small difference is why I supported Buttigieg and not Sanders.

After Buttigieg exited the race, I spoke to both Biden and Sanders supporters about why I had supported Pete and how I might fit into another group. Now, I realize this is anecdotal so take from it what you will. The response I got in each case was generally positive. For what its worth, I believe the toxic portion of the Sanders' base is just a vocal minority and not representative of the greater movement. There was a key difference to me though. Almost every response from a Sanders supporter was framed in such a way as to imply that Buttigieg was inferior to Sanders: "Here is why you will actually like Bernie better..." or "If you liked Pete's plan, you'll love Bernie's plan..." On the contrary, the responses from Biden supporters were generally more about Pete than Biden: "I loved the way Pete was able to speak to anyone..." or "Pete really was a trailblazer, he ran a great campaign..."

I've seen several instances of Sanders supporters joking about the idea that "Your supporters were mean to me so I'll vote against my own interests". Again, I don't believe this represents the bulk of his base but I feel like I need to address the idea. The feeling I got was not that anyone was mean to me. Quite the opposite. Like I said, the response I got from each group was generally positive. The issue was that I felt cordially unwelcome. I did not feel like Sanders or his base would adjust even slightly to better represent voters like me. Instead, I felt like they viewed my beliefs as incorrect and that they knew better than me.

This is where I am passionate about Biden. If you look around this sub, you will see people reference the Rules of the Road. This was adopted from the Buttigieg campaign. The Biden base is welcoming. This was a major focus of Buttigieg's campaign. I feel like both Sanders and Biden are pushing us in a similar direction. I believe the only way we will actually make progress pushing that direction is if we do so from a stable and united front.

Biden's base does not have the same brand of passion as Sanders' base. It doesn't have that luxury. Sanders is able to galvanize his supporters by distilling them down to the most passionate. Biden is trying to represent anyone and everyone. There is a huge number of varying opinions within the greater subset of Biden supporters. They are held together by a few common ideals but are spread far and wide on the specifics. Both Biden and Sanders make a similar claim: No matter who you are, I will represent you. I personally only feel like that is true coming from Biden.

So all that being said, I hope the fact that I wrote something this longwinded shows you that I am passionate about Biden and his campaign. I also want to end this by attempting to do what I said the Biden crowd did for me. I want to talk about what I appreciate about Bernie.

We need Sanders supporters in the Biden base. We need you because its the only way to beat Trump, that much is obvious but there is a deeper, greater need as well. I am a moderate who believes heavily in compromise. However, I am also aware that sometimes compromise will be the wrong approach. We need Sanders supporters to hold our feet to the fire. No matter how the rest of the primary goes, even if you don't get the miracle you hoped for, Sanders already pushed the bar. Even if he's not the nominee, he's set the agenda for the DNC this summer. We need Sanders supporters because they've already been heard far and wide about what they want this country to look like and damned if they aren't correct about where they want us to go. We need Sanders supporters in the Biden campaign so that voice doesn't go quiet, with or without Bernie.

/r/JoeBiden Thread Parent