Reading Bernie's book is making me sad all over again
Tonight, on my way home from work, I stopped by the public library to borrow a copy of Hillary's 2014 book, Hard Choices. The library had the audiobook available electronically, but she only read the first few chapters herself, and having some other woman read the rest got weird, so I wanted to get the actual book to read.
On a whim, I decided to see if they had Bernie's book too, and they did. So I checked that out too, and since it had an earlier return date I started reading that first. What was I thinking? I was ready to move on from the primaries, but reading his book is making my heart break all over again.
It's not that I dislike Hillary or think she won't be a good president. I think she has a lot of strengths she will bring to the presidency, and I was prepared to support her even before today. I was happy to see Bernie come around and endorse her this morning. But reading his book is making me feel like we missed an opportunity to elect an extraordinary man who has fought for decades to open up the political process to working people and never lost sight of his humble roots. The story of how Bernie defied the odds to get elected in Vermont in the face of vigorous opposition from both major parties and from corporate interests is pretty incredible, and it makes me sad that we couldn't achieve a similar upset on a national level.
I wish I had read the book earlier, because I think it shows that he is a lot more pragmatic than we give him credit for, and I probably could have used some of the information in it when I talked to undecided voters who agreed more with Bernie but were afraid he couldn't win or would be too rigid to compromise and get things done.
I don't mean this post as an attack on Hillary at all. I am going to finish reading her book after I finish Bernie's, and hopefully that will make me feel more excited about supporting her.
Stupid me for reading Bernie's book now of all times.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I think you're grieving that Bernie didn't get the nomination, and reading his book has just brought your feelings into sharp focus.
Be good to yourself...
And keep reading! 
Except that Warren and Biden didn't run.
But I agree that between Hillary and Bernie we had two good choices. I got on board with Bernie because of Bernie, not because of opposition to Hillary. So I was ready to support her after California and I still am. But reading Bernie's book is a reminder of what could have been 
