Nice little Q&A by VTDigger with one of the legions of young people inspired by Bernie Sanders to throw his hat into one of the many available rings. In this case, 28-year-old Nick Clark, running for State Representative. He wants to provide a voice for the millennial generation, a group under-represented in the Statehouse. 

Fair enough, and I welcome new people to the political process. I just hope his dreams aren’t permanently dashed when he gets mollywhopped in the August primary.

Clark is running against two seasoned Democratic incumbents, Jim Masland and Tim Briglin. Both are respected members of the caucus, and both have the nearly bulletproof status of “incumbent.” Methinks Mr. Clark, like many of his fellow Bernie-inspired young progressives, is in for a big fat disappointment. I hope it doesn’t transition into disenchantment.

Political careers don’t happen overnight. Bernie Sanders, of all people, knows this full well. He soldiered on through years of ignominy, pulling tiny shares of the vote on the Liberty Union ticket, before his first taste of success.

Most of our politicians start small. The best way to build a political career is by volunteering, networking, serving in town government or school board. Getting to know people one-by-one.

And yeah, a bit of brown-nosing doesn’t hurt, although the most important things are diligence and service.

I really hope that a lot of successful political careers are born of the Bernie movement. I’d love to see a new generation of progressive voices in public office. But the simple fact of being a Bernieac and turning in some petitions? That doesn’t mean a thing, and I’m afraid Nick Clark is about to find that out the hard way.