I posted this at TOP a couple weeks ago, my first and last diary. If I'm gonna post at a progressive blog, I'm going to post at a progressive blog.

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Fandom's been a big part of my life for more than twenty years. It's a very interactive community, very grassroots. I've participated in many forms, conventions, meta discussions, and yes, even fanfiction (reading AND writing and no, I'm not going to give you my penname). I've followed a number of fandoms, including Lord of the Rings, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Avengers, among others.

As far as political fandom goes (and yes, there is such a thing) I followed Obama's campaign mostly after the fact; I tend to be a late follower in anything - I was late to tumblr, I still have a Livejournal (that I very rarely update), and I still haven't ported all of my fanfiction to AO3. I only read Twitter when specific posts show up on BNR or someone else's tumblr or someone on Pidgin links me directly.

My 'participation' consisted of voting and spending long afternoons watching various rally and campaign speeches in the summer of '08.

Bernie's campaign is different.

Before his campaign even got started, I was chatting up a local organizer about volunteering. He set up the a local livestream meeting in July at the local coffee house; the fact that I was there (with my laptop!) saved it when it discovered that the equipment on hand wasn't capable of connecting to the tv. Most of the 100+ people packed into the room stayed late to watch Bernie speak, since we only managed to get it up and running when the organizational part started.

Politics may be 'taboo' but I find that annoying. I talk to everyone about Bernie - and I ride public transportation, so I almost always have someone new to talk to. Of the TWO HRC supporters I've run into in the last eight months or so, one of them has switched to supporting Bernie after looking him up at my suggestion. The other I have not seen since asking him to look Bernie up, but the only reason he could give for supporting HRC was because "It's about time we had a woman in the White House."

I made my first donation (ever!) to a political campaign, even though I can't afford much.

I attended his rally here in town back in November and stood in line over three hours for the privilege to do so. (The people I met there were awesome!)

Yes, I own, have read, and have out on loan Bernie's updated Outsider in the White House (with a waiting list on the want-to-borrow part). I don't know when (or if) I will get it back.

THAT SAID.

There are three four things I really want to point out.

First, one of the things that really gets me to connect with a fandom (show, movie, book (series)) is the exploration of not just power, but people assuming power less than enthusiastically. People who assume power because the current leadership fails to function, for whatever reason, be it corruption (because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely; therefore it stands to reason that the best person to give it to is someone who didn't want it in the first place) or incompetence, or lack, etc.

Bernie's earned his retirement. He's worked his entire career for the betterment of other people and society as a whole, and deserves to spend the rest of his life (may it be long, hale and hearty!) with his family, with Jane by his side and spoiling his grandkids. But his job's not done - it won't be done in his lifetime, and it likely won't be done in mine. He sees that, probably better than I do, and is willing to give up what his ad American Horizon offers - time to spend with the grandkids - to try and make sure the rest of us have a shot at the chance to do so.

Moreso, I get the distinct impression that he's not in this race necessarily because he wants to be, but because he sees a need for someone like him - someone who can and more importantly will stand up for the people who elected him to his various offices, lead by example and inspiration, and reach for what's beyond his grasp, always - and no one else fit the bill. I can see him willing and able to pass that torch to someone else.

Point the second.

One of my biggest fandoms is Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Avengers (and its individual members' movies). In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America was accused of treason and the general public finds it impossible to believe. This patent disbelief - the strength of Captain America's reputation - plays a major role in the end of the movie, and spurs others to act on his behalf and their own.

Bernie wasn't a hero of WWII, and he didn't spend almost 70 years on ice, a period of time in which Captain America's legend and persona took on mythic proportions. But what he does have is decades of public service and a set of consistent guiding principles, all connected by a thread of fairness and justice. We've seen it play out again and again against attacks from many directions. Nothing sticks. (Not even socialism.)

So if you ask if I'm comparing Bernie Sanders to Captain America? I don't think Bernie likes bullies any more than Steve Rogers did, so I guess you could say...

I really want to see a manip of Bernie wearing a Captain America uniform.

Point the third.

As much as I loved, and still love, The West Wing, before there was The West Wing there was a movie called The American President.

People (some of them probably Bernie himself and/or surrogates) have, in some fashion, made the point that democratic socialism is an unavoidable part of our society at large (and while they may be talking about Social Security and Medicare, I'm talking, more basically speaking, about ROADS.).

The climax of The American President is a speech given by President Andrew Shepard, a speech I at one time could recite from memory (yes, I watched it that many times). While the topic was different, I very very much liked the approach he took in addressing one of the attacks by his political opponent, Senator Bob Rumson.

The attack was about Shepard's being a member of the ACLU, and the pertinent part of the speech is bolded in the transcription below the video:

For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character. And although I've not been willing to engage in his attacks on me I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation being president of this country is entirely about character.

For the record, yes, I am a card carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is, why aren't you, Bob? * Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights. So it naturally begs the question, why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for president choose to reject upholding the Constitution?

* bold and italics emphasis mine

I would dearly, dearly love to see Bernie take the "But you're a socialist!" question/accusation and turn it around like that. I'm no kind of speech writer, but I can imagine him cutting that argument off at the knees in a way that simply pointing it out hasn't (thus far).

Democratic socialism isn't just for the little guy. We've heard that - the point's been made over and over again that we have socialism for corporations and elite, and rugged individualism for everyone else. But the truth is that democratic socialism lifts everyone, poor and wealthy alike. More importantly, this country cannot function without the democratic social systems that are currently in place (roads, sewage treatment, etc.) despite the oligarchy's attempts to destroy them.

The fourth point I want to make has to do with one scene in the America ad.

I love this ad so much, like many many others. I've watched over and over again, and cried, and gushed to friends, and sat them down and made them watch. I've watched every clip about it I can find and read every blog and article I came across about it, and nobody's pointed out the little bit that struck me the most.

Here's the ad; if you need to, go ahead and watch (another) few times. Please pause it at 0:10 when it lets you go.

It's a man and a woman in a coffee shop, talking and working on their laptops. No big deal, right?

The people in the shop aren't the point. At least, it's not the point I see in this particular scene. In my view, the point of this clip is the poster on the wall between and behind them, with the photograph of the hands on the keyboard.

If there is one person alive who fits that headline more than Bernie does, I don't know who it is.

The fate of a good man.

Bernie Sanders is, IMHO, a truly good, compassionate, honest and profoundly unselfish man. Just an ordinary man, trying to do extraordinary things.

An ordinary man I would be proud to call my president.

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Disclaimer: First diary; lurked for years, never had anything to say before now. Please be gentle. All words belong to me.

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Note: The disclaimer at the end was half joke, what with the creation of AO3 making such things sort of a moot point, but I left it in because I'm thorough that way.

Other note: Yes, I did have not one but TWO moments of extreme deja vu over at TOP with two different diaries concerning points two and three. But I know next to nothing about Marvel comics-verse, and my focus on the speech was different, so. There you go.