Peter Smith, a friend from Buffalo, sent me this piece he wrote for Artvoice, an independent weekly.
(Originally published by ArtVoice. Reprinted with permission.)
Can "Clean For Gene" Become "Learn From Bern?"
By Peter Smith
Once
upon a time I introduced Senator Gene McCarthy to an audience of
students at Dartmouth during the 1968 primary season. The largest
auditorium at the College was packed to overflowing – the stage was full
of people as well as all the seats and aisles. When “Gene” came on
stage the audience exploded.
Fifty
years later another insurgent is challenging the establishment of the
Democratic Party. In 1968 McCarthy did not win in New Hampshire, but
President Johnson decided not to seek another term. In 2016, the
question is whether a former first lady will, amazingly, end up without
the Dems’ nomination just as LBJ did?
One
of the most important unknowables right now is whether young and
enthusiastic supporters of the “insurgent” can face a few facts and
become a more cohesive political force. “Clean for Gene” was all about
asking young men and women in 1968 to shed their counter-culture
characteristics and go canvassing in clothes that would not wrong-foot
them when they called on regular folks. They did so.
The
equivalent today is surely to persuade young supporters of Bernie
Sanders to get serious. I have been watching politics for a long time,
and I cannot recall ever seeing the number 86 beside a % except in
totalitarian countries; but 86 is the percentage of under-25 voters
Sanders won in the Iowa caucuses on February First. Imho that is stunning.
What
“getting serious” means is doing something more than “liking” this or
that on Facebook, or following a trend on Twitter. A few days ago there
was a very important and totally relevant Op-Ed in the New York Times.
In it, Tom Friedman gave a young Egyptian the opportunity to share with a
wide audience his experience with using social media as a political
tool.
The nub of the matter is that while social media launched the
“Arab Spring” and played decisive roles in the overthrow of Mubarek in
Egypt and other authoritarian rulers elsewhere in the Middle East, the
role of FB and the others in creating a new regime – anywhere –
was very limited indeed, if not totally absent. Young Americans,
engaged in politics for the first time in their lives in 2016 must learn
a lesson from that history if they are to help the revolution Sanders
proposes to lead.
The
fact that - I am told – Sanders supporters are posting horrendous words
about Hillary Clinton has to mean that his young backers have to ”Learn
from Bern!”
The
first thing is to learn patience. The first thing is to learn
consistency. The first thing is to learn civility. The first thing to
learn is channeling passion. The first thing to learn is persistence. A
great many “First Things to Learn;” all of them are options. Different
people will find some lessons easy, and they can act on their new
knowledge immediately. But all of them will need to learn all of them if
Bernie’s work is to prosper and succeed.
If
he wins the Democratic nomination he will win the presidency. And a
large percentage of the 1% will have to figure out how to respond. I am
sure I am one of millions who are looking forward to finding out what
they make of it all.
***
