Why Bernie Sanders Needs to Step Down

      I figured it would be fitting to write my last Blogger post for this class as an opinion piece—you know me and my opinions.  As a staunch progressive who will be voting in the next election, I have found myself in a very tough and presumably relatable position: how do I choose between the 20 Democratic candidates already announced to be running in the 2020 presidential election?  It's especially difficult considering that the two frontrunners, according to polls, are the oldest candidates ever: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, respectively.  At this point, I believe Bernie Sanders needs to step down.
      Why only Sanders?  Well, Biden is currently in the first position, and we need to keep our strongest contender if we want to have a chance at winning the presidency.  However, on top of that, and perhaps even more significantly, Bernie Sanders is currently creating the divide amongst liberals.  He's too far left for the American voting population, and even if he did win, he would create an even more tense and reactionary Republican movement.  Many of the policies that he proposes have no explanation for their funding, yet sound so lovely that he dissuades voters from all other Democrat candidates that cannot offer free college tuition for all.  Sanders has repeatedly criticized his opponents, and in the 2016 election, became most unforgivable for attacking Hillary to such an extent that hoards of his supporters refused to show up to the polls and vote for her after her primary win.
      I wrote more, but it got deleted, so that's sad.  Essentially, Bernie is also problematic in his own policies.  As the senator of Vermont, he has repeatedly voted to represent the interests of his people rather than to assist those interests.  For example, he has time and time again voted against gun control, contrary to his apparently staunch liberal position in his presidential campaign.  In a country that is so tense, close, and opposing in its views on how to protect itself, it's very dangerous to put a man who is not consistent in his policies.  He has also acted problematically; once at an interview, he was asked how he planned on helping black women as president, which he completely ignored.  Additionally, he compared urban and rural guns, favoring the latter, and as he explained his inherent bias became clear towards white Midwesterners and against commonly colored cityfolk such as Latinos and African-Americans.
      He's too old, he's wishy-washy, and he is divisive.  There are tons of qualified candidates of diverse and important backgrounds and experiences, and it's their time.  For him?  It's time to step down... but that's just my opinion, of course.