Once again, Barbara Boxer has come out to patronize the youth by saying that Bernie's tapped into their votes because he reminds them of their grandfathers. (). I wanted to share the response I posted on facebook because this touches on a subject that is deeply important to me. I'm toying with the ideal of maybe expanding this and submitting it to a site like Medium (hey, maybe it could actually go viral and change a few minds). But without further ado, here is my facebook post:

---
So anyone who has seen my facebook page in the last 6 months knows that I'm really passionate about this election, but I wanted to share some really, really personal familial history and thoughts that I wrote today in regards to Barbara Boxer patronizingly saying that young voters are voting for Bernie because he reminds them of their grandfathers.

In my case, Barbara’s not technically wrong, although her logic is wrong. My maternal Grandfather grew up dirt poor; he came to this country in the 30s with nothing. He was proud to serve America in World War II and he was proud to be a socialist during the 1950s despite the fact that the government would often stop by his places of work and often succeed at getting him fired (and he was still proud to be an American even after that). My Grandfather never, ever, ever, ever stopped fighting for his political beliefs even when the cost was heavy or the going was tough. Most importantly, the bottom line was that the overarching belief that my Grandfather was fighting for was that everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or lack of, nationality and near anything else you can think of, should be fairly and equally.

I see this same drive in Bernie Sanders. I see it when I look at pictures of him getting arrested fighting for civil rights in the 60s, I see it when I read about him Bernie expanding housing protections for transgender citizens of Burlington in the 80s, and I see it now when Bernie talks about trying to break our cycle or military regime change, changing our criminal justice system and protecting our environment. I see it in nearly all of Bernie's policies because it's his underlying core belief. Yes, Bernie Sanders reminds me of my grandfather and that’s one of the many reasons I’ve voting for him. But this sentiment isn’t borne out of familial love, but rather over a shared commitment to equality and the passion and nerve to keep fighting even when the road is the long and dark. I would fight for any candidate that I think truly shares these qualities because these are the qualities we need far more of in our government, the White House and our everyday lives!

That said, after all that, Bernie actually reminds me more of my mother, but that’s a whole nother post!
---

Please give me any feedback on whether you think it would be worth it to expand it a little and try putting in on a site like Medium. If I expanded it, I would talk more about my mom and her similarities to Bernie and lightly touch more some of the areas where I take issue with Clinton due to the fact that I don't see the same underlying commitment to helping others as a primary (or secondary...or tertiary....) motivation. If possible, I would also include a nice picture that of my mom and I in Bernie's official Los Angeles office that we took just before canvassing Mother's Day weekend)!