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Yep, I'm done

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I’m officially done with the primary wars.

Not just the pie fights; I’m done with the campaign in general.

To preface: I’m a Bernie Sanders supporter. I voted for him on March 1st in Texas. I was happy to have given money to him, the first and only candidate for whom I have ever done so. I’m extremely sad that he’s lost — but that’s the thing. He has lost.

We can discuss how there are X number of states who haven’t voted. It’s true — not everyone has cast a ballot. But Bernie Sanders needs too many of the remaining delegates to realistically have a shot at winning the nomination. It’s over. C’est fini.

The post-mortem of this campaign needs to start now. We as progressives need to figure out what we can do to appeal to minority groups like Hispanics and African Americans who have, to varying degrees, rejected Bernie’s progressive message. I believe the main thing to do is to introduce progressivism not to blacks or to Hispanics, but with them. We need to support individuals from those communities who already have a progressive outlook, informed as it is by their background as a member of a dispossessed group. There are already several who come to mind: Kshama Sawant, one of the City Councilpeople of Seattle; Donna Edwards in Maryland’s Senate race; Lucy Flores in the race for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District. These are just a few minority women we can vigorously support in lieu of Bernie’s now-quixotic campaign.

We progressives have (temporarily) lost the battle for who should lead the Democratic Party for the next four years (or eight, God willing). But we came closer than we ever have before. Bernie’s message is now deeply ingrained in the young people who voted for him by landslide margins. Thanks to Bernie, Obama’s idea of a $10.10 minimum wage now seems paltry. For the first time, we have a large number of Democrats discussing single payer as a legitimate option, and have exposed the forces in our party who would fight against it. There has now been a mainstream presidential campaign that took the phrase “black lives matter” and made it mean something. The idea of tuition-free college is now so mainstream that the only question on the Democratic side is whether to extend it to 4 year degrees or just 2 year degrees. As a rejection of Clintonian free trade, Democrats are now becoming openly protectionist again for the first time since the 80s. The travesty of the United States having no law mandating paid medical and family leave is now exposed.

In short: Bernie Sanders has lost; but WE PROGRESSIVES have won an overwhelming victory. Now it’s time to BE the political revolution, supporting downballot offices that are just as, if not more critical than the presidency itself. Hillary, for all her faults, will not be any worse than Obama, and she will feel pressured to embrace some of Bernie’s progressivism. We can work with her and endure the next eight years under her. I, for one, will be happy to vote for her, even if I’d be much happier voting for Bernie this November. But it’s on us to remake the Democratic Party in Bernie’s image, in Lucy Flores’ image, in Kshama Sawant’s image, in Donna Edwards’ image. Because it’ll take blacks, women, Asians, gays, American Indians, the transgendered, Hispanics, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Hindus, and yes, young white males to make the political revolution last beyond this campaign.

The Bernie Sanders blitzkrieg has only just begun. Now it’s time for the really hard work of organizing and mobilizing progressives for downballot races for local, state, and federal government. Are you in? Are you ready to light a fire under the ass of your local city council, state legislator, county commissioner, or mayor? Or do you feel like we progressives will benefit from another two months of sturm und drang over a presidential primary that has already been decided?


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