I was seriously pumped to vote for Warren.

[Pacifist Patriot]

<adapted from a reply I made on another thread at a fellow DUer's suggestion>

I voted early in Florida on Saturday and voted for Biden. Ideologically, she may be closer to Sanders than Biden. But temperamentally she is closer to Biden than Sanders. At the moment, I'm finding executive experience, temperament, and measured intelligence way more important than ideological alignment. That's never going to be perfect anyway.

Given the age of the candidates, it is highly likely we're looking at a one term presidency that will largely be focused on damage control and damage repair. It's going to be an uphill battle in many respects. I think Biden has the connections and diplomatic chops to make that happen faster and easier than Sanders. I also think that, like Sanders, he's well aware of the need for succession planning and mentoring the next generation of Democratic leaders. I think we'll see diversity in a Biden cabinet that crosses generational lines as well as gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identification, etc. So no fears for me in that respect.

I thought it was going to be more of a struggle for me when Warren dropped out than it turned out to be. I voted for Biden with confidence, not a heavy heart.

Good luck to all the original Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Harris, Booker, Yang, ..... supporters with your decision making. I know from experience it is disappointing to be in this situation and not as easy as it seems to people who supported Biden and Sanders from the beginning.

On a side note, we took my nephew with us to vote for the first time. The poll workers and poll watchers made an announcement he was a first time voter and he got an ovation from everyone. It was really heart-warming.

So of course we all traded stories on the first time we voted. Some people couldn't remember, others had really cool stories to tell. Mine? I was in college in VA and voted absentee in the GA presidential primary in 1988. I voted for Bruce Babbitt. If I recall correctly, he announced he was dropping out of the race either the day or the day after I dropped my ballot in the mail. My primary experiences have been pretty much along those lines ever since. Let's just say adjusting expectations and rallying behind the eventual nominee has become pretty much second nature to me.

[FailureToCommunicate]

1. Thank you for this clearheaded advice! Relatedly, I just read a...

NYTs article about how campaigns that end are getting grass roots help from other campaign that ended. Former staffers are sending $$ to them thru Venmo to help them...well, drown their sadness. Gift certificates for a drink or two.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/venmo-2020-campaign-staff.html

[Pacifist Patriot]

5. Aw that's awesome.

I actually got tears in my eyes.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. I know. What a great outreach by and for laid off campaign workers!

[apnu]

2. Me too. My thoughts are very close to yours (nt)

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. My first vote for President was Shirley Chisholm, in the primaries of 1972. Sadly she...

wasn't able to stay in the race and McGovern became the candidate that year.

I was still too young to vote in 1968, but my first campaign to volunteer for was Robert Kennedy, during that horrible year.

Then, thru tears, to help with Eugene McCarthy.

Alas. Dark days back then.

[joost5]

4. +1 :)

And Bravo to your nephew.

[Hortensis]

7. To all of us. And Biden IS ideologically close to Warren,

varying in methods and timetables, scope of goals, but not ideology. Sanders the one who's very different from both, so those who admire Warren for what she really is have a good second choice.

"To read Warren’s books is to see that she is a radical in defense of tradition." Franklin Foer

As for getting pumped, I can't remember a time I didn't accept that the great glory of democracy, as well as inevitable imperfection, was that it is a group decision -- and between the branches and states a whole collection of group decisions who share power and are supposed to cooperate to achieve various purposes.

Never forgetting what we're supposed to be doing means I can like one candidate a lot without imagining I should despair if the majority doesn't.

That majorities are supposed to choose is also why we wrote strong protections for the individual against the tyranny of the majority into our constitution.