OK. So, it’s official. President Barack Obama is not running for another term. I know because I’ve checked.
And before my alma matter begins to collectively roll its eyes at awarding me a law degree, and before the Internet trolls commence their weekly attack on my intelligence, I should say I know that there are Constitutional limits which prevent the president from running again.
However, I can hope. You see, in my adult life I have liked presidents and presidential candidates. I’ve even been able to stomach voting for some of them.
President Obama has been the first president I have considered to be my president. For eight years, he has been responsive to the issues of salience to me. He has been consistent, measured, tempered and poised.
I have been riding with my president since Hillary and Bill tried to race bait him out of the presidential primaries in the early months of 2008.
And now that the ride is drawing close to an end, it has been difficult to envision being excited and enthused about another presidential candidate. It has been difficult to imagine another presidential candidate speaking to my concerns.
It is been difficult to imagine whose positions on substantive political issues encompass my hermeneutic — one that views Jesus as a savior who came to empower the marginalized, the poor, and the distressed.
But, after much prayer and meditation, I find myself excited enough about a presidential candidate to say something publicly about him.
That candidate is Senator Bernie Sanders.
This guy speaks to all of the issues that are of theological importance to me.
For instance, I’ve spent the last year watching Andrea Irwin, mother of police shooting victim Tony Robinson, grieve and mourn the loss of her son. Sanders not only treated Andrea with kindness and compassion, but he heard her concerns. He has called for the demilitarization of local police forces and has indicated that he will federalize the investigation of police shooting.
He has also spoken well on behalf of working families. The senator wants to raise the minimum wage federally to $15 an hour, and invest $1 trillion in our nations crumbling infrastructure and put people to work building that infrastructure.
And what’s more, Sanders has pledged to be a president on the side of women. He has proposed to only nominate Supreme Court justices who support a woman’s right to choose her own reproductive health and her privacy firmly established in Roe v. Wade.
That’s enough for me to be excited for him, but frankly Sanders gets it right on almost every issue from my theological perspective.
So, while my president won’t be on the ballot, Senator Bernie Sanders will be. And he’s saying and doing some pretty exciting things.
And I feel comfortable riding out with the guy.
