07 Aug The Short Version: Bernie or Bust?
The point of it all is to break down the headlines, determine why an issue is important and reveal the best arguments on each side of the story. Last week, Cleo Abram assessed Hilary’s VP pick, Tim Kaine. This week she examines the Bernie or Bust movement.
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“I love getting feedback every week—thank you! If you want come hang out, debate a thing or two, and meet other Shorties, check out Short Events,” says Cleo.
Cleo Constantine Abram of the “Short Form,” offering densely packed spins on issues of national and global importance.
Despite Hillary Clinton’s official acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president, some Bernie Sanders supporters are reluctant to vote for her. Some have pledged never to support her, calling their decision “Bernie or Bust.”
Sanders himself does not support “Bernie or Bust,” saying to rally-goers who booed his Clinton endorsement, “It’s easy to boo. But it is harder to look your kids in the face who will be living under a Donald Trump presidency.”
Why is it important?
“Bernie or Bust” highlights an important reality: Sanders supporters are key to a Clinton victory over Donald Trump. And as of now, it’s unclear how many of them will come to the polls on election day.
A recent Pew Research poll showed that 90% of Sanders voters say they would back Clinton. But those numbers are a bit misleading. In the study, Sanders voters are forced to choose between Clinton and Trump without the option to vote for the third party candidates (Gary Johnson and Jill Stein)—or not to vote at all. Some polls show up to 30% would choose one of these latter options, which makes sense given that many Sanders supporters are independents or disaffected with the Democratic party. Add the fact that Sanders supporters are fairly infrequent voters in the first place (even controlling for age), and the risk that they do not vote for Clinton gets even higher.
Art by Luna Adler. See more of her work with The Short Version, her website, and her Instagram.
Eight+ years ago, Telluride Inside…and Out began as a lifestyle webzine. Today, in the full knowledge that Telluride is a window on the world, we continue to bring the “zazz” (short for “pizzazz) of the region to a local, national, and global audience by covering everything from Telluride’s robust cultural economy – major events and festivals – to health and fitness and outdoor adventure. When Telluride travels, we write about places to go, people to meet too. (That’s part of the “Out” part of our handle, the other, obviously, Outdoors.)
And now, this new weekly column, “The Short Version,” which offers simple summaries of issues of national and global importance. (Though we won’t go political, or rather we won’t show bias in the upcoming election.)
“The Short Version” is written by Cleo Constantine Abram, the daughter of Telluride locals Eleni Constantine and Jonathan Abram (and therefore an honorary local and regular visitor) and a digital strategist.
Why “The Short Version”? Because, though we live in Shangri-La, our bubble is not impermeable and the rest of the world is only a click away. Because there is no inconsequential action; only consequential inaction. And because information is power in a moment so many of us are feeling powerless.
More about Cleo Constantine Abram:
Cleo grew up in Washington D.C., lives in New York City, and loves to visit her parents in Telluride. She authors “The Short Version,” a newsletter that explains each week’s most important issue and both sides of the debate around it.
Cleo is a digital strategist at Precision Strategies, a political consulting firm born of the Obama 2012 presidential campaign.
Cleo’s work focuses on ways to share, educate, and inform using online platforms. While in college at Columbia University, she guided the school’s entrance into online education through her role as the youngest elected representative to the Columbia Senate, which makes university-wide policy.
She continued her work on online education at TED-Ed, the educational branch of the nonprofit, building new programs and online tools to support high school teachers worldwide.
Continuing her work with TED, Cleo founded and led an early TEDx conference, the organization’s community-specific series.
Most importantly, Cleo loves to ski.
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