I just made my first contribution of the 2016 presidential campaign season
I sort of feel like I'm starting to do my Christmas shopping in July, but that's what we've become.
I sent a modest three-figure contribution to Bernie Sanders, whom I do not by any means expect to be our nominee. What I DO expect, however, is that his voice will be a strong one for some social justice that has been sorely under-supported by members of Congress these days (Sanders and Warren excepted, with Al Franken and a few others with lower profiles deserving of honorable mention). Bernie is coherent, and fearless, as he has nothing to lose by this. He's not saying anything he hasn't been saying all the time--but this time, a lot of people will listen that haven't listened before. That's what I intend for my contribution to facilitate. When the nominee is decided, I'll contribute what I can at that time. As another post noted, Bernie is not a blithering idiot. I make my own feeble attempts to follow that example.
If I were still a full-time resident of the USA, I expect that I'd be seen as "voting against my own interests," a phrase we usually use to describe teabaggers voting for their families to drink polluted water and be deprived of medical care. In my case, it would be a financial hit, as I would pay more in taxes. Boo hoo. In Germany, I'm already at slightly over 50% with none of the benefits that a German citizen would get, and I'm still not starving.
But "my own interests" include being able to say I come from a country that has seen the light as far as caring for both the rights and the well-being of all its citizens. As this is not the case so far, I'd like for that to change. I'm sure Hillary or Martin O'Malley (or whoever) will champion a few causes I care about, too, and we would commit national suicide to not support our nominee, whoever it ends up being. But I want a voice in what that nominee's voice will be saying. That nominee might or might not, depending on who it is, get an earful from me. That nominee will definitely get an earful from Bernie Sanders, so I contribute so that he can speak for me.
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I will give whatever I can to our nominee whoever it is, since I find even the hint of a chance of a Republican picking the next SCOTUS members about as appealing as drinking water from a fracking site. Hillary as president wouldn't faze me in the slightest if the alternative is Bush regurgitated (or worse). I can't campaign from here, of course. I doubt Düsseldorf has many more polling places than Seoul. HRC seems to be one of those few politicians who seems MORE comfortable in a small situation than addressing a crowd, where Bill and Obama are in full bloom when they have a crowd in front of them. I never met Reagan, but my dad told me he was awkward and uncomfortable in a small setting. Must have been all those years in front of the camera with a script. I never met Bernie Sanders, although I hear he's like Howard Dean--exactly the same in person as on camera, i.e. the real thing. Must be the way maple syrup affects New Yorkers who move to Vermont. But on a one-on-one, I actually like Hillary.
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Of course, on a one-on-one basis I even like Richard Viguerie, and he's the Prince of Darkness politically, so don't take my personal tastes as a measure of character 
