Have you seenthe CU Times poll asking “Which presidential candidate wouldbe best for credit unions?”

My vote is for Bernie Sanders, and here'swhy:

First there's the obvious rhetoric of his speeches. When Ihear thesewords, I can't help but feel there's a natural connection tothe philosophy of “people helping people” and the cooperativevalues I've believed in long before people were feelin' theBern:

“Our job is not to divide; our job is to bring people together.If we do not allow them to divide us up by race, by sexualorientation, by gender; by not allowing them to divide us up bywhether or not we were born in America or whether we're immigrants;when we stand together as white, and black, and Hispanic, and gay,and straight, and woman, and man; when we stand together and demandthat this country works for all of us rather than the few, we willtransform America, and that is what this campaign is all about;it's bringing people together.”

This makes my heart swell and I so deeply want the vision thatthese words promise. I want credit unions and cooperatives andleaders like Bernie Sanders to courageously lead us to this betterAmerica where we can all get along. I believe this America ispossible, and I believe this is our only path away from the edge ofdestruction and toward a better place for all. Cue inspiring music,I'm headed into the sunset!

The longer answer takes into account (sad, sad)reality.

It seems there are two distinct ways to look at what thepolitical landscape today could mean for the credit unionindustry.

The first is what I just described. The “pull” of vast consumersentiment that wants a more just and equitable economy. Adiscussion on inclusion, equity, justice and the dangers of wealthinequality — many of the values congruent with what cooperativebusiness are founded on — is being had on the big blue BernieSanders stage. This lends much needed exposure to the oftoverlooked “alternative” business model and has the potential todrive consumers to credit unions and cooperatives by the hundredsof thousands. Great news for credit unions!

Then there's the “push” side of the movement. This is the sum ofwhat the credit unions can and are allowed to do; how state andfederal regulations impact their ability to do business and whatthey can resultantly push out to offer as goods and services toconsumers.

When it comes to the impact of the federal government, Congressand regulators, Heather Anderson has already given due diligence tothe field of landmines credit unions have to cross ahead regardless of theoutcomes of this year's election.

While the credit union movement's ability to exist and dobusiness as usual may become increasingly more strained byregulation issues with a Bernie Sanders presidency, the great ironyof this all is that simultaneously, there would be heightenedawareness of the social good of organizations like credit unionsand cooperatives, driving consumer desire to use them.

So we may experience this “star-crossed lover” phenomenonwhereby credit unions who have been trying for decades to getpeople to see their softer benefits — to be able to capture morehearts and minds through their social “good deeds” — are finallyseeing the results of that awakening by the people. And people,finally hearing the message, will come running to credit unionswith open arms and hearts of hope that maybe, just maybe, theyfinally found “the answers to all society's problems” only to jointhe party too late, finding instead a faltering, anemic,too-far-gone dinosaur of an industry.

I believe a President Sanders would elevate the cooperative ideaand the consumer demand for more businesses to function similarlyfor the social good. While at the same time, the resultingpolitical system's scrambling to make ever more complex regulationseither to protect us from ourselves or to benefit the few from theactions of the masses will tighten the chokehold on credit unions'abilities to actually exist as viable businesses, to do businesswell, and to serve a new contingent of people suddenly awake to theimportance of businesses who do social good.

Given that there will likely be regulatory strangulationregardless of who wins, I believe Bernie Sanders to be the bestoption for the credit union movement to gain momentum for its ideason a stage much bigger than it ever could have afforded before.

Credit unions have been overcoming regulatory burden this long,and no doubt they will need to keep adapting to survive. The timingis just terrible. Two ships crossing in the night … people finallygetting the message of why local, small, inclusive and equitablepractices might be better for each and all of us. Meanwhile, theevolving regulatory environment could come to the point where thereis immensely less ability for credit unions to serve the verypeople whose financial lives they've promised to improve.

Holly Fearing is social media advisor at Filene ResearchInstitute. She can be reached at 608-213-5194 [email protected].