Many readers have asked me why I have not endorsed anyone in the primaries.
I will not vote for anyone running on the Republican ticket because they are all committed to privatization and destruction of our public schools. That is a line I will not cross. They berate public schools and teachers, and they demean one of our society’s most important democratic institutions. All of them seem to think that government is a burden and a problem, rather than the political institution by which our society solves problems and manages services that none of us by ourselves could solve or manage. The Republicans want to get rid of social programs and invest in the military. I have family members who will vote Republican, and the very same family members rely on social security, Obamacare, veterans’ benefits, and other government programs. Take some or all of them away and many Americans will be plunged into deep poverty. Why do they vote against their self-interest? I don’t know and I don’t understand.
I am not supporting a candidate in the Democratic primaries. I have not posted anything that attacks either candidate, even when the “attack” is true. It is easy enough to find fault with Bernie (he’s a socialist and many Americans don’t know the difference between a socialist and a Communist) and with Hillary (the emails, the coziness with Obama’s education groupies and Wall Street). But I am not going to use the blog as a forum to undermine either of the Democratic candidates. There are plenty of other blogs and the mainstream media where you can read blistering attacks on both of them.
I am aware that most of the readers of this blog support Bernie Sanders. I agree with his analysis about the overwhelming influence of corporate interests and the corrupting effects of campaign contributions on government decision-making. We see the corrupting influence of money and greed on education policy on a daily basis. We see a corrupt charter industry bankrolled by hedge fund managers and entrepreneurs. I admire Bernie Sanders and will support him if he is the party’s nominee. Bernie doesn’t seem to understand the extent of charter school fraud and corruption, but I think he can quickly learn and understand the threat to our democracy posed by the charter industry.
Hillary Clinton is a highly qualified candidate. She has broad experience; she knows domestic policy and foreign policy. I am uneasy about all the Obama-Duncan insiders who are clustering around her campaign; the corporate reformers from groups such as DFER make me uneasy. But I admire Hillary’s guts in standing up to the barrage of scathing criticism that is directed at her every day, as well as standing up to the rampant sexism that is used against her. If she is the party’s nominee, I will support her.
These are two good people. Either is far preferable to any of the Republican candidates. When the primaries are over, and each party has chosen its candidate, it will be time for the respective parties either to coalesce and unite or to fragment. The one that unites will win. The one that fragments, loses.
I think it is crucial for those who share liberal, progressive values to unite behind the Democratic candidate in November. He or she may not be your first choice, but consider the alternative. I will not sit home. I will not vote for a third party candidate. I will vote for the nominee of the Democratic party. No matter how disappointed I have been in Obama’s education policy, there is more at stake: the Supreme Court; the economy; foreign policy, and other issues. We can’t allow an extremist or a demagogue to win the presidency.
I will not do anything to increase the divisions in the Democratic party or to contribute to the animosity between different wings of the party. I want the spirit of comity and civility to emerge after the primaries. We will not have the perfect candidate, but the Democratic candidate will get my vote.
This is a personal statement. It was not reviewed or approved by the Network for Public Education (which is nonpolitical and not allowed to endorse candidates) nor by the NPE Action Fund (our political arm, which does make endorsements).
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you.
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Thank you Diane!
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Bravo Diane. Fair and reasoned. I too have friends who are tuning OUT. But that is dangerous to leave our country to others. Keep uncovering the facts, providing the evidence and pointing toward solutions. Many of us consider YOU the true “Hero of Public Education.” When the time comes, you deserve a granite statue in NYC.
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Thanks, Gail. I am not tuning out. I am paying close attention. There is a grave danger, I believe, in the possibility of Trump becoming president. He is not grounded in any principle that I recognize other than self-aggrandizement. Who will he insult next?
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Diane, I agree completely with gailj2’s sentiments. By virtue of your life experiences and special talents, you’re uniquely equipped to inform all of us — parents, teachers, politicians, etc. — about education issues, and you don’t need half your audience tuning out because they don’t agree with your primary endorsement. A wise decision.
One thing I would value, though, is a short post on what you specifically would *like* to hear from the candidates on the topic of education. What do you *wish* they were saying? And tell us what you hope they will do once in office, given the state of education right now.
Forgive me if you’ve already done this and I missed it. I would love to have your wish list for education in a nutshell post.
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Mom2Twins, great idea. I will do it.
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Well, I’m shameless so I’ll plug Ohio school funding initiatives and levies 🙂
http://www.jointhefuture.org/join-the-future/march-2016-school-levies-and-issues
It’s all kinds of schools with all kinds of students and most of them have lost state funding since 2008. I don’t know where the state funding goes now, since I pay the same state taxes I always did – it seems to disappear into the black hole of “ed reform” where it travels to the state capitol and is never seen or heard from again, but it has gone missing from public schools. They have to make up the difference.
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Great comments. It is wise to leave the candidate endorsing comments to others.
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You said what was in my heart. I wouldn’t be so sure that all of your readers are Sanders supporters, but everyone needs to unite behind the Democratic candidate. No matter what his or her drawbacks are, the alternative is worse.
And let’s hope that the Democratic party is grooming some younger candidates for future races. The junior senator from NY might be one possibility….
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Diane, You’ve given a “fair and balanced” assessment of the weaknesses and strengths of the two Democratic candidates, with one exception: you say about Hillary, “She has broad experience; she knows domestic policy and foreign policy.” I think it’s just as vital as pointing out Bernie’s ignorance about charters to note that Hillary cited Henry Kissinger — a war criminal — as someone she is proud to call a mentor, and she bears as much responsibility as Obama does for supporting the illegal coup in Honduras in 2009, and thereby creating the Central American refugee crisis. This does not show a trustable knowledge of foreign policy! These are horrible errors for which she must be called out….
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Plus Hillary’s vote in favor of the Iraq war, her support of regime change in Libya, and her overall hawkish, imperialist world view.
Personally I think her Iraq war vote alone should have disqualified her for the Dem nomination. It is a sad indictment of the Dem party that Hillary was anointed the nominee by the DNC and many Superdelegates before the primary election even began.
If this election has taught us anything, it is that the Superdelegate system must be abolished.
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Thank you Diane …
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I’m sorry, Diane, though I love your site and believe strongly in its intent, I disagree. Hillary has been caught blatantly lying so many times during this primary it’s comical at this point. I can’t trust someone like that to follow through on what they are saying, pretty much period. I think she’d be as bad for our country as the current Republican favorite (who shall not he named, that individual gets enough free press).
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Jamie,
The choice will come down to Trump v Sanders or Trump v Clinton. What then? If lying is the criterion, Trump takes the cake. Politico studied his statements and said he lies once every five minutes.
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Hillary said in the debate that not one person was lost in Libya?! In fact, four were murdered on her watch. You wouldn’t be ok with that lie if they were your loved ones.
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If you’re concerned about privatization, you should be concerned about Hillary. Sure, she says she’s opposed to it, but she’s good friends with Eli Broad and John Podesta is managing her campaign – what more do we need to know about her? Sure, I have similar concerns about Bernie too and I definitely think he should be firmly encouraged to clarify his positions on charters, Common Core, “competency based learning”, etc., but at least he has stated that he opposes money being pulled from public schools for private charters.
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Dienne, I share your concern about Hillary and her friends who are in the privatization camp. But if it comes down to Hillary v Trump, that’s not a hard choice. He would be worse. He knows little if anything about education, except that he opposes the Common Core (probably has no idea what it is) and supports charters. Not a word about public education from him. He went to a military academy for high school. I don’t know about earlier years.
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But the choice right now isn’t between Hillary and Trump, it is between Hillary and Bernie. Many of us see a very stark difference, one worth fighting for.
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Exactly!
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Excellent statement Diane. Thank you. I care deeply about saving public education and opposing privatization, but there are other important issues at stake as well:
Women’s reproductive rights and health care,
Equal pay for equal work
Civil Rights and Institutional Racism
Poverty
The Supreme Court
Environmental protection/global warming
Wilderness preservation
Gun control
Student debt
Reining in Wall Street
Quality childcare and family supports
Healthcare and health insurance
Overturning Citizens United
Housing
Addressing crumbling infrastructure
Nutrition/Urban food deserts
And … so many more.
On some of these issues, I like Bernie’s positions better. On some, I like Hillary’s. On all of these issues, both Hillary and Bernie are far more thoughtful, compassionate, moral, and ethical than any of the Republican candidates.
Do I disagree with some of the positions/actions of Hillary? Of Bernie? Of course. But I will happily support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee. I will not opt out and end up “cutting off my nose to spite my face” (as my wise mother used to say).
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Thank you, Middle School Teacher.
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Middle school teacher: Very few of those positions have to do with education, so don’t confuse them (or those of us who disagree with you) with support for public education. Democrats are de facto “more compassionate” than ANY GOP candidate? It’s that simple? That’s a tall order. While we’re on the topic of non-education issues, I do not find it compassionate to support throwing people in jail for exercising their basic rights or supporting the “war of the day” when your guy is in office.
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The issues boil down to one-oligarchy vs. democracy.
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I disagree with you on several points, but how dare you argue that Bernie and Hillary are the same on Reigning in Wall Street? Trump or Cruz are likely to do more than Hillary, she of the $225,000 per hour long secret Wall Street speeches. Meanwhile there is talk that former Lehman Bothers executive Kasich may join Hillary as VP as an anti-Trump ticket.
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I, too, have been worried about some of the attacks against both Bernie and Hillary by their enthusiastic supporters. While I acknowledge that neither candidate has said what I’ve wanted to hear about public education, both are a much better choice than ANY of the GOP nominees who are bent on destroying not only public schools, but social security and assistance with healthcare. I can only hope Democrats will come together and VOTE in the general election.
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I don’t know how you crawl inside my brain like this. As usual, I agree with every word of this.
Thank you for your wisdom.
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I agree with Diane, vote for the Democrat in the general election because the alternative (Trump or Cruz) is beyond vomitous. Hillary is supposedly the biggest liar in the universe but Trump or Cruz or Rubio or Kasich are honest pure as the driven snow boy scouts?!?
I’m voting for Bernie but if he loses the primary then I will vote for Hillary for the reasons stated above.
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I understand completely , what you are saying.
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So well said………as always. My sentiments exactly.
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Diane,
Yours is perhaps the most morally compromised position of an education blogger I have read with regard to the candidates this election. Hillary is nothing but a corporate shill backed by the worst of the big money forces in the establishment. Those forces know what they want, and privatization of the education system is one of their wish list items. When I check out her own site there is nothing about public education in there. The closest I see is this:
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/early-childhood-education/
Where do you get how supportive of public education she would be? She has as much (or more) wall street and hedge fund ties as the GOP candidates. Where do you get that she would end the practice of handing out public money to privately run charter schools?
I enjoy this blog as it is a “single issue” blog that keeps to the facts on public education but this kind of thing is a turnoff.
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I don’t think Hillary will oppose charter schools. She has too many of the Center for American Progress types around her, and they love charters. But if the choice comes down to Hillary v Trump, I will vote for her.
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The Center for American Progress received money from Fordham, per the 2013 tax statements posted at the Fordham site.
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Incidentally, if the candidates can’t handle being “attacked” (more like questioned, or even grilled) by each other, how are they going to handle being actually attacked by the Republican nominee? Do we really think that Sanders or Clinton are going to say something about each other that the Republicans haven’t already thought of?
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Of course, they attack one another. But I don’t. One of them will be the candidate.
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Dear Diane,
Your blog has provided me solace in my darkest times as an educator. I have left two comments on your blog. One of the comments I left as anonymous (because I feared the consequences, some imaginary and some very real, if that mega-influential corporation worth multi-millions in California, who ran the charter school where I was last working, found out I had said anything), which you shared as a post with your readers. And another time I left a comment as myself to applaud all that you share.
I am sad to report that I have to leave this comment as anonymous as well. Although it has been almost a year since I worked at that place ( I am no longer even in that state), I still haven’t found the courage to share all that went on there. I am a daughter of a man who was granted political asylum a long time ago, a man who came to this country risking everything, including his life, so as to be able to exercise his freedom of expression. And yet here I am, afraid to share that story because of that corporation. I have enough knowledge of the law to know that I can’t be prosecuted for libel or defamation if I shared the truth. But legal action is the last thing one needs to worry about when it comes to these corporations; they can ruin your lives.
I have worked as an educator in three states now (east coast, west coast, and southwest, sorry I can’t reveal more) and I can tell you that the problem isn’t going to be fixed by either of the Democratic candidates. My African-American friends tell me that they can’t support Bernie because focusing on class takes away from focusing on race. My white friends tell me they want to support Hillary because America hasn’t had a female president yet. Relatives who have identified with the Republican party in its so called glory days feel disloyal switching parties even if they don’t support Trump. The only thing all of them have in common is they have no clue, absolutely none, about what is going on in public and charter schools. Teachers every day are dealing with parents who are really ignorant or really entitled; administrators who have very little control over decisions; and responsibilities that go far beyond inspiring real learning.
Can any candidate fix any of the following?
1) Parents, regardless of their socio-economic status, are unable to raise their children like they once could. Of course, this is even worse for those who have had to deal with generational poverty.
2) Teachers who have no mentors and are getting their lessons from Pinterest (I love all the websites for teachers; technology has made sharing of ideas so easy for educators but it doesn’t address lack of depth of knowledge that teachers now have). Teachers who have little to no knowledge of history are teaching social studies.
3) Learning for the sake of learning, for exploring curiosities that instill desire to change the world, is no longer acceptable. If you are not going to work for Google (which may not even exist by the time some of these kids grow up), what is your education worth? A college degree is now the equivalent of a high school diploma, except one used to be able to get a job with a high school diploma and could still be a literate citizen. We can’t fail kids.
4) The shoving of technology in the classrooms as a solution.
5) The preying of corporations in the form of charters on communities where you can’t find teachers, experienced administrators, and parents who don’t have knowledge.
6) The inclusion of students who once had to go to behavior programs because they just couldn’t work with other students are now the teacher’s responsibility or the parent will sue the school.
Once upon a time, Hillary Clinton wrote a book, It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us that influenced me deeply. This was in 1996. I was inspired by her clarity. I wished she was the President then. Except a few years later we got the No Child Left Behind by a different president.
It baffles me how a woman who once believed and wrote, “forward-thinking teachers and school administrators across the country are creating a whole range of alternatives to cookie-cutter teaching and evaluation methods, such as the use of student portfolios and exhibitions in addition to conventional exams to assess students’ progress” could support the privatization of charters that do nothing but testing.
I have emails upon emails from former students who were passionate learners when I had them who are now stating, “we are so tired of interim testing every few weeks.” Most people don’t know that in addition to PARCC and SBACC, if the school can afford it, there is interim testing. The frequency depends on the administration. The less an administrator knows about education, the more testing there is, as if magically the students will read and write better by taking more tests.
No one is asking any candidate real questions because no one in a position to ask knows any better.
I don’t know how long we can continue fighting the good fight regardless of who “wins”. At the local district and state level, everyone is in bed with Silicon Valley in one way or another, this delusion that somehow the start-up generation is going to jump start education, a car they have never even sat in, is beyond ludicrous at this point.
Both Trump and Sanders are extremes. I am afraid Clinton will offer more of the same Obama “progress” and we just can’t have more of the same anymore. The country will crumble under Trump, an extreme, sad, crumbling, but perhaps that’s the only way forward after it all falls apart for good instead of pretending things are fine like we have for the last 8 years.
I respect all you said and all you do. I thank the Universe for this blog every night!
Sincerely,
Very tired teacher who won’t give up.
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Sanders is not an “extreme”. He is what we had from the 40s to the 80s when the country was the most prosperous and had the strongest middle class. Please look more deeply into him and his policies and encourage your friends and family to do the same – especially your black friends. If they think Hillary cares about racial issues, they haven’t been paying attention (welfare “reform”, “three strikes”, etc.).
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Hello Very Tired,
I am a teacher in Newark and I was also very scared. The first time I came out of the closet so to speak to attend a political event, I was shaking. I have been using my name for some time now and I am breathing a little more easily. The dangers are real. Teachers have limited First Amendment protections. I wish you fortitude in your struggle.
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I can’t agree that Sanders is an ‘extremist’. Though an independent he has always caucused w/Dems & votes w/them most of the time. In a state which is hardly ‘extreme’ in culture [mostly Republican] he served 9 yrs as mayor of its largest town (granted barely-med-sized), then 16 yrs as their Congressman and 10 yrs as their Senator. Formed & served on Congressional Progressive Caucus 8 yrs, was a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act & frequent critic of Bernanke. He was supported in his run for Senate by Schumer, Reid & Obama among others, served on Vet Affairs Comm 2yrs, Budget Committee 2yrs & counting. The type govt model he supports is typified by Nordic-Euro-style Social Democrat party– hardly extremist.
Extremist describes Reagan, whose acolytes now run Capitol Hill. He surrounded himself w/ for-pol planners Wolfowitz, Libby, Rumsfeld & Cheney, whose doctrines landed us in Iraq post 9/11. He set loose deregulations undoing decades of post-Gilded-Age & post-Depression laws protecting the public from corporate dominance & the vicissitudes of Wall St, pro-corporate anti-middle class laws that came in the wake of his ‘trickle-down’ theory, plus the SCOTUS appointees who sealed the deal w/ the Citizens’ United decision.
This is the extremism that has resulted in a corp-dominated political regime where ordinary citizens like you & me are afraid to put our names to anti-gov ed-mandates for fear of losing our livelihood.
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The difference between Bill Gates and the Koch Bros. is that Bill Gates has better PR, courtesy of the Democratic Party. That said, the loss of democracy is marginally slower under oligarch-funded Democratic reign than under oligarch-funded Republican reign.
Endorsements of candidates only offend some voters and influence none, IMO; as example, Carson’s endorsement of Trump.
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Koch brothers have been trying to buy good PR, but thus far it is wasted money.
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Thank you Diane. I will support the Democratic ticket no matter what; however, I am more concerned with the Senate and House seats. Without Congress on our side, very little will be accomplished.
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TL Goodman,
Exactly right. Let’s hope for a sweep that throws out the Tea Party governor, legislators, and members of Congress. I long for the return of moderate Republicans, who understand and value tradition and stability and don’t try to take control of the lives of others.
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I’m thinking along the same lines. No way will I vote for a GOP candidate, and I have to vote to make sure the GOP doesn’t win and ends up losing seats in Congress. There is a reason why over the past 100 years, the Democratic party has held power nearly twice as long as Republicans—that reason is on display from every GOP candidate running or who has run for president with Trump leading the pack.
Over the past 100 years, the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate for 65 of those years. I think it’s time to give the Democrats back that control, because the GOP has clearly run up its flag of avarice and support for the 1%.
Why do so many voters support the GOP against their own interests? Because most people make 80% or more of their decisions based on emotion and not fact based logic.
Psychology Today reports that “Like it Or Not, Emotions Will Drive the Decisions You Make Today”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-feelings/201012/it-or-not-emotions-will-drive-the-decisions-you
And racism and hate are learned emotions—often starting from birth.
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I admire the way Hillary Clinton raised her daughter. It shows me what her values are. Chelsea went to public schools until Bill became president. She switched to Sidwell and Friends for security reasons. Chelsea was a Nariona Merit Scholar finalist, a classical ballet dancer, and she competed for Model UN. She attended Stanford, Columbia and Oxford, where she earned a Ph.D. in International Relations. During high school, Chlesea accompanied her parents on several international trips. I still remember the trip she took to India for International Women’s Day. I was very impressed with Hillary for educating Chlesea on international human rights issues. Chelsea is always poised, modest, and polite. I believe that Hillary thoroughly understands and values education.
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What about Chelsea’s job at Avenue Capital Group, a distressed securities and private equity firm? What about the $600,000 per year Chelsea was paid as a “special correspondent” for NBC news, where she did only a handful of stories? What about her work as a fundraiser for the Clinton Foundation, where huge donations are traded for influence (and, it has been argued, arms deals)? What about Chelsea’s marriage to an investment banker / hedge fund manager?
Maybe Chelsea Clinton went to public schools when she was very young, and she has a very good education, but her life exemplifies the oligarchy, generational wealth, and extreme privilege that both Clinton and Trump are entrenched in.
Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump are reportedly good friends — that’s because they come from the same rarefied social class where money equals power.
The notion that Hillary understands us common folk because Chelsea once attended public schools is totally unsupportable.
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Bernie’s a socialist? So are Cruz and Trump. Not like anyone’s calling for a charter military managed by Lockheed Martin?
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Thank you, Diane. Your position allows more people to be free in their opinions about the Democratic candidates. If you had made clear your choice, I think it could tend to close off healthy debate. I wish there actually was a viable Republican candidate to throw in the debate cycle as well, but they all scare me.
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Thank you, Diane. Your statement reveals why we respect and value your view and opinions so much.
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Hillary will end up being shoved down our throats by the DNC and the Democratic establishment. I am disgusted by the process. Randi Weingarten, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, The Human Rights campaign, Planned Parenthood…they should have stayed neutral in the primaries, too. I am sick of the neoliberal, Republican-lites being the lesser of two evils to choose from. I am also sick of the establishment attitude of, “what are you going to do, vote for the other guys?”. No, can’t see myself voting for Trump, but I can see a write in for someone who I believe in.
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I personally respect your desire to stay neutral in this election as far as the Democratic candidates are concerned.
Elizabeth Warren, another woman whom I greatly admire has also refrained from endorsing either Hillary or Bernie for, for her, good reasons.
You have not kept any of us from expressing our beliefs in this matter. Commendable.
EVERYONE has their own opinions depending upon where they place their trust in seeking “truth”.
What I say or what others may say will doubtless not change anyone else’s opinion but this in a very real sense become a forum for expressing those views
even if
as I have said, this is an education blog, not a political one.
Whatever happens, and we should learn a great deal more today,
the future of our children is at stake in so many, many ways.
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Gordon,
Education is inherently political.
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I agree wholeheartedly about supporting whomever the Democratic candidate turns out to be, & am incredulous about people who’ve sworn they’ll stay home if their candidate doesn’t get the nomination. As you say, there’s simply too much at stake; refusing to participate in the vote is exactly the same tactic employed by members of Congress who chose to cause a government shutdown rather than compromise on their demands, which many others found somewhat extreme. If all government & business operated that way, we’d still be in the Stone Age. When my daughter was very young & she objected to having only, say, one cupcake rather than three, I’d ask her, “Would you rather have *some* of what you want, or *none* of what you want?” My daughter learned; I hope these adults will, before November.
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amen
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Thanks for your well reasoned statement. No one is perfect. I like them both, Bernie’s idealism and Hillary’s realism. I don’t see much of a difference between their goals. My concern about Bernie is that he is a year older than me, and, while I am very active and don’t feel “old,” I know that anything can happen, things that wouldn’t affect a younger person. At most, he could be a one term president and we need a two term candidate. I know Hillary is no youngster either but she could do it. The Clinton’s have been hated by the Republicans since Bill defeated them in 1992. They have called them liars and worse. They have kept repeating the same discredited charges over and over again. The same technique used by “birthers” against President Obama. Some people end up believing them as a result. I heard the debate question about Libya. Gaddafi was dead about a year before the Benghazi attack. There was no lie on her part and time was limited. It is rare to have someone running for president as ready for the job as she. I appreciate the endorsements of the AFT and the NEA. Idealism is great, but when it is chauvinistic, it is destructive. I lean toward Hillary’s pragmatism.
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I have an enormous amount of respect for Diane Ravitch. However, I believe that by not endorsing a candidate in the primaries, a person is not taking an active roll in the democratic process and instead conceding their 1st Amendment right to voice their opinion.
I personally cannot stand when people will simply support a candidate because they believe they will win or have the best shot at winning. You vote for the person YOU WANT to win. You vote for the person you believe aligns with your personal desires, needs and agenda. By casting a vote for someone just so someone else will lose is NOT (in my opinion) how the Founders saw elections happening. It is a cop out and weakens the idea of 1 person 1 vote.
I understand and respect Ms Ravitch’s decision not to endorse a candidate. However, I do not believe the reasons are justified. Diane, whether she knows it or not, has great influence among not only teachers but parents and people who generally care about public education and teachers.
She should use her pulpit to not only advance the plights of the public education system but to influence the candidates and the people who value her opinion. Most folks (like myself) do not have the time to evaluate every topic and scrutinize the candidates. Having a trusted voice such as Diane’s to help guide our position is very valuable.
I ask that Ms Ravitch reconsider her position. It is not about Bernie or Hillary. It is about standing up and being counted.
Regards,
Dennis Gilgallon
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DG,
An important facet of America’s electoral system is the secret ballot. Dr Ravitch’s decision not to endorse a primary candidate coincides with that tradition. Her rationale for voting in the general election provides ample guidance.
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To DG:
It must be male style in which both you and Robert Rendo have the same mentality of “one way, my way, or nothing else.”
My parents used to tell their children that wisdom is not in age because a child at 3 years old can show his/her kindness and compassion whereas the old person at 70+ can still be savage like Mr. Trump in his speech that incites people’s violence.
I completely agree with Dr. Ravitch’s wisdom that in this Presidential 2016, we must be responsible to vote for Democratic Candidate – Bernie or Hillary, BUT NOT the third party from Harvard University because of the future of young American generations. Back2basic
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thank you. These are my exact sentiments. This quote sums it up for me
” “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”” Voltaire
Either Bernie or Hillary are far better candidates than anything the republican party has offered. They are also, after one has been nominated, the most realistic chance at winning unlike a third party candidate.
I recognize that both democrat candidates have flaws. But their flaws are not something that will break the camels back. For every Bernie supporter – I ask them to consider how realistic it is for any of Bernie’s proposals to actually become enacted given that republicans (who have a majority) will not want them. For every Hillary supporter – I ask them how much Hillary will have to bend to handle the republican obstructionism.
As a democrat, I will vote in my state primary. I will choose between the two democrat candidates and engage in the process. However, even if the one I choose doesn’t win, I will not sulk or have a republican temper tantrum. I will vote for the democrat candidate in the upcoming presidential election because there are two many important things such as the SCOTUS nominations that will affect not only my generation and younger but the following generation that hasn’t even been born yet.
This is a strange election year. I’ve been blessed with two exceptional candidates who have strengths and are miles better than the republican options. At this point, it’s just nitpicking.
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Please, everyone who reads this:
NPE’s refuses to make an endorsement is deeply disappointing.
But who here can really afford to be a single issue voter, even if this blog is a single issue blog?
Diane and NPE have every right not to make an endorsement, even though I think it is a grave, VERY grave mistake to stay silent.
Yet, from their perception, might they be thinking that they want to wait and watch, perceiving that the winner of the primary will listen to them as a result of being endorsed after the primary is over; and conversely, that the winner, if not endorsed, will ignore them or turn against them?
Playing politics and trying to form alliances is tricky and speculative, even with the most predictable of circumstances.
Instead of finding fault with NPE or Diane, please put your efforts and energy into getting Sanders elected. It’s okay to be angry and disappointed, but it’s not okay to be distracted to the point where you don’t focus your energies where they ought to be focused.
And despite the disappointment, I cannot consider NPE the enemy, nor can I Diane Ravitch. And I’m not ambivalent.
There are many slippery slopes to try and climb, and one has to pick their slopes in these sinister, hyper-slippery times.
Right now, we can probably say that most of us, or a good many of us, oppose Donald Trump, as I do very much. But what frightens me as much as Trump is the notion of why the people out there support him. What has caused them to feel and act this way? What are their needs an interests? Their fears? Their perceptions? Their real life experiences? THIS is something the media and too many critical thinkers out there are not paying attention to, analyzing, and reporting out on. Certainly our electorate body in general does not pay attention, which is why the GOP is imploding, state by state. Trump is pricking GOP balloon by GOP balloon, state by state. But people don’t realize is that he is bursting the bubbles of an institution whose air is just as hot and foul as his.
I mean, if Trump represents a big chunk of the pulse of the American body votership, then what does that body like? What are its contours, its genders, its socio-economic classes, its ethnicities, its levels of education, its per capita income, its residences? The most horrifying and infuriating of answers would give us the most knowledge, and knowledge is power when trying to solve problems and heal wounds. I say this with not one molecule of empathy toward Trump. He is rotten, lascivious, prurient, and base.
The Donald is a trickster. He will turn around and do everything his rivals would have done anyway, but he is posing himself as someone who is different from them, when in fact, he’s not. Same product with radically different new shiny packaging meant to distract and deceive.
I know, I know: you can say the same about Hillary and the GOPs and the neo-liberals. You can, and should!
But if Hillary wins, you have to pick a bad disease versus a deadly and quick one. It should not have to be this way, but if you want to live long enough to find a cure for your disease, you have to pick the slower disease, not the fast acting, virulent one.
I can’t believe I am comparing Hillary to a disease, but these are the times we are living in.
I support NPE is whatever way that I’m possibly able to, but believe me when I say that I support Bernie Sanders . . . . BOY, without idealizing him or holding him up on a pedestal, I support HIM. He has been saying the same thing about income inequality literally since 1988; see the interview of him on C-SPAN.
Tough choices, tough times, tough limited circumstances.
I’d like to think I’m a tough chap . . . . I think this readership is too.
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There is always the possibility that Sanders will agree to run as Hillary’s VP, and a few weeks after Hillary is sworn in a President, the nation will have another Teddy Roosevelt moment.
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Lloyd,
Can one “run” as the VP, or is the position chosen by the president?
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The VP is chosen at the party convention, usually by the presidential candidate.
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The VP is selected by the presidential candidate before the election, but Hillary might see Sanders as a benefit to bring more people out to vote—another Teddy Roosevelt moment who was a VP that the established political machine of his time didn’t want to continue as the popular and powerful governor of New York State, so they tricked him into saying yes for the VP slot—something he at first said no to. No one counted on him becoming president a few weeks after the election. I wonder if any of the leaders of the political machine had strokes that day.
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Hi Robert:
Please acknowledge my respect and admiration for your honesty.
Being a conscientious human being, and specially an educator, a National Certified BT veteran teacher, you would show your wisdom in flowing water strength, not stiff mountain on Earth.
I love Veteran educator Lloyd’s suggesting idea of Bernie as being VP or vice-versa.
I love Bernie and Hillary equally to be American President on this 21st century. This is our last chance to put down all corruptions from conservative party for good.
Please ask yourself a question why on earth GOP suddenly bursts secret documents which they were ok with for the past few years to Secretary Hillary!!!
Idealism is always nice to agree, but it is very hard to deal with, or apply to reality.
Pragmatism is hard to swallow, but it is a bitter medicine to cure disease.
We need to unite both idealism and pragmatism leadership in order to have a better society in which people have room to breathe and to grow in order to achieve PURE individualism – creativity, civility, and true democracy. May God bless America forever.
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Democrats have ruined education. If you’re brave enough, watch the 10 minute video. These cities have been destroyed with Dems at the helm for many, many years. I just don’t get why you would continue to support such corruption.
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sorry here is the link.
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To Mom of Five:
Please do not easily trust any POLITICAL document. Please follow your understanding of the nature trait in each leader regardless of their political party. It is very simple because personality and attitude come from individual nature, individual career and talent, NOT FROM parents, marriage, or friendship even though there would be some extended level of influence. Back2basic
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You will choose to not support the better candidate in the primary, because the other candidate may win the primary… and be lesser of the evils in the general?
It doesn’t make sense. You can support one now, without degrading the other — and switch support to the eventual primary winner if necessary.
I do not personally understand or accept your reasoning.
This is before we even get into a discussion of how horrible a person/candidate Hillary really is. You must not understand that Hillary Clinton is going to defend the pathetic status quo in which millions suffer at the hand of GREED.
She is more of the same. Money will still rule.
This is before we even mention the matchup of Bernie vs GOP and Hillary vs GOP. If Hillary is elected, your fear of GOP candidates is much more likely to become reality. Bernie stands a greater chance to win vs Trump, Cruz, or any of the other crazies. He has (1) much higher net favorability, (2) the independent vote, (3) leadership, not followership, (4) far less baggage than Hillary, and (5) momentum, enthusiasm, and inspiration based on a compelling vision.
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are much more different than you believe, and it’s a vastly more important decision to choose between them than you seem to think.
I am upset at what I believe is the wrong choice in an important moment. This is the wrong time to play it safe. Not that it’s even a dangerous play to endorse Bernie, when you do not personally have to negate Hillary as I have chosen to do.
If Hillary is elected, we are going to learn some painful lessons.
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Hillary will do a lot more than defend the status quo – she’ll advance it. But otherwise, good comment. As I write this comment, I’ve just woken up to the fact that Hillary swept all the primaries yesterday. I just hope in the next 4 or 8 years I don’t hear laments about what Hillary has done to education from people who refused to support Bernie (and that’s if we’re “lucky” enough to get Hillary rather than The Donald).
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Thank you–my thoughts as well.
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Hey everyone, education is political.
All of you who argue that poverty, healthcare, etc. are problems that affect STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, are making arguments that politics play a role in educational “outcomes.”
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I appreciate your restraint on endorsing a candidate. It allows fuller debate on the issues here. Though I will vote my conscience (Sanders) in the primary, I have to admit a soupçon of anxiety at each of his unpredicted successes– as the Trump shark inhales state after state– only because I fear Sanders could not beat Trump in a general election. Nevertheless I will vote for him because I think (pragmatically) that he will not win the nomination, & I hope (perhaps naïvely) that a big Sanders showing will require Clinton to dial her neoliberal bent further left toward the Progressives.
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“I appreciate your restraint on endorsing a candidate. It allows fuller debate on the issues here.”
Yes, we can continue to debate whether fracking is really harmful, and whether lying and corruption should be the political norm.
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Polls show over and over again that Sanders leads Trump nationwide. If you trust the polls……
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I will support the Dem nominee
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Tsk. Tsk.
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Piss on the fire and call in the dogs, it’s Hillary vs. Donald (unless the GOP goes bonkers in Cleveland). If Bernie wants to hang around and worsen wealth inequality by taking the enormous sums of money he’s collected from small donors and showering it upon consultants and media conglomerates, well, that’s why we’re living here in America.
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Geeze, give the lies a rest, or go to social media where the bloggers are impervious to evidence like YOU!
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Are we at the culmination of MTV’s Real World, President Elect style. What is this election were nothing more than a game constructed by the Bilderbergers to distract, profile and catalogued each of us for their next end game. Is that why the police wear military gear and are working with NSA to spy on our children? Are the predictive algorithms anticipating a civil war?
I guess that would be one hell of a land grab!
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It’s probably too late for an endorsement to matter now. It seems clear that Clinton will be the nominee. But I think you have the skill to craft a statement of endorsement that does not attack the other candidate or foreclose your ability to support the eventual Democrat nominee.
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FLERP, I don’t think my endorsement would change any votes or outcomes. I hope to dial back the temperature. I would be glad to vote for Sanders or Clinton when the alternative is Trump. I worry that Clinton will not be different from Obama on education. But she’s still preferable to Trump. He is a charlatan. He said he listens to Ben Carson on education.
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your announcement that you are not endorsing, which you have made a point of sharing well beyond your normal circle of influence by cross posting on huff-po, and in which your primary goal is to passive-agressively attempt to shame people into voting for what you think is not just the best, but the only acceptable outcome, coming as it does on the heels of clinton’s wins yesterday, is infact a tacit endorsement, as i am sure you are well aware.
anyone named clinton has receieved the only 2 votes from me that they ever will. in my defense, i was quite young and did realized, unlike some, and before i was 30, that those two votes had enacted the very policies i had hoped to defeat. also, unlike many who cast similar votes, i fully owned my complicity in the evil they have wrought.
every problem we now face is more directly the child of bill clinton’s presidency than it is of bush’s, or even reagan’s, with the exception of foriegn policy. but there, bush’s policies, far right policies, kisinger’s policies are hillary’s policies, a distinction without difference. you may comfort yourself that your vote will be less evil, but make no mistake, evil has no gradiations, only different tragectories and different victims.
i will not vote for hillary. ever. i accept the responsibilty of that decision and any culpability my decision may have. if you will not endorse, will you at least pledge to accept your culpability in whatever evil comes of your descision? or will you be the good german and say, “but it was not me, i’m not to blame, i was trying to do good, how was i to know?”
sometimes the only way to save someone is to let them fail. a trump presidency will not last more than 4 years. in that 4 years, he will achieve almost nothing, facing united opposition from both parties in both houses. and then, just maybe, before it is too late, those he will scare the most, those who will be at the most risk during his presidency in this country, will stop sabotaging the country and themselves by voting sgainst their best interest and we can finally begin a new. if it is hillary, the incremental path of destruction will continue and the dems will loose all branches of govt. in 4 years…and it will likely be too late by the time the chance to correct course comes again. and you will have not only made it so, but encouraged others to make it so.
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My article was published at 9 am on March 15, before the voting. I am not attempting to influence anyone’s vote. I expressed my views. Period. When the primaries are finished, we should unite. I made no tacit endorsement
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Hillary Clinton, if elected president, will move out of the White House in four to eight years. After all, Bill Clinton honored the term limits on president and moved out of the White House at the end of his 8 years. Reagan did the same thing.
Do you think Donald Trump will do the same if he is elected president? If Trump delivers on even 10% of his boasts that he will make America Great again—whatever that means to Trump—he will have to sweep aside the U.S. Constitution and become America’s first dictator for life, and the other GOP candidates are no better than Trump. It’s arguable that Cruz is even more frightening.
I’d rather vote for the Green Party candidate for president, but in a country where emotions and insanity overrule fact based logic on an hourly basis, if Donald Trump or another GOP candidate end up being president because too many foolish, emotionally controlled Americans don’t vote or vote for a candidate that doesn’t stand a chance of being elected, then I can’t vote for the candidate I want to see become president of the Untied States. Once again, I will be forced to decide between the lesser of two evils to avoid an evil much worse than the one I will vote for.
These are the choices the oligarchs, who obviously control most of the electoral process, are offering us —- always the lesser of two evils and one evil will serve them better than the lesser evil.
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This is a worthy read. SIAP
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/hillarys-emails-reveal-lucrative-ties-to-for-profit-colleges/
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Exactly how i feel. Thanks for articulating it so well.
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Diane states: “It is easy enough to find fault with Bernie (he’s a socialist and many Americans don’t know the difference between a socialist and a Communist).”
Sanders is not a socialist. Sanders is a democratic socialist. As Bernie would say, there is a YUGE difference. Diane is right that most people do not understand the differences.
Read the total article below to understand how socialists are very different than democratic socialists:
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-31/no-really-what-s-the-difference-between-a-democrat-and-a-socialist-
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