An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders Supporters: Saturday Political Soap Box 128

The Miracle in Portland: Best Endorsement Ever!

Dear fellow Bernie Supporters,

Do not lose hope!  The Bernie Bird is the WORD!

Our best states are yet to come!  Beginning with tonight's caucuses in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, Bernie should start winning the lion's share of the delegates!

Yes, you should ignore and disregard the cajoling of the Hillary people that it is hopeless and time to get out.  But let me place the emphasis on IGNORE.  There is no reason to get angry or return fire.  This is a natural position for someone who at present has the most delegates to take.  It's just the way politics is played.

That said......

Yes, I hope Bernie wins.  I, like many of you,  believe he would make a great President, and would compete better against Trump or Cruz than Hillary would.

But you need to prepare yourself for something, and I'm just trying to keep it real....

The odds and math greatly favor Hillary being the nominee.  Bernie is already in a position where he cannot win the nomination without the help of some superdelegates.  And that's not likely to happen, not in the numbers he's going to need.

She is not a 100% lock to win the nomination, but she is kicking 80 to 90% certainty.

I still hope Bernie will defy the odds.  But you have to be prepared if he does not.

And if he does not, what do you do then?

This is what you DO NOT DO - withdraw your support from the political process and give up.  YOU DO NOT vote for Trump.  YOU DO NOT tell people you'll refuse to vote for Hillary.  YOU DO NOT pick up your marbles and  go home and abandon the process to the corporatists, the fascists and the Christian Dominionists.

This is what YOU DO - you stay together and you continue to fight for the things that Bernie believes in. You continue to back Progressive candidates throughout the nation, turning the Democratic Party back into the defender of the middle class that it is supposed to be.  There is a new Progressive majority coming by 2020, but ONLY if you continue to fight for it. 

The fight for single payer can continue.  The desire for free college can become a reality.  The battle for climate change can be engaged.  The quest for justice for all groups - African Americans, Latinos, the LGBT community, and so many more can be continued every day.  The power of the 1% and the nightmare of our growing economic inequality, and it can be done by staying together and NOT GIVING UP.

If you stay strong, and continue to speak out for economic and social justice, African Americans and other groups that have voted mostly for Clinton will join our cause.  And when that happens, when the middle class defies the artificial borders that have been ginned up to separate us, we will be a force for change, a political revolution that cannot be stopped.

So do you vote for Hillary Clinton?  Yes, you must.  Trump or Cruz cannot gain power - the damage they will cause will be horrendous and irreversible.  Vote for Clinton, but stay united, so that the day she takes office you can pressure her to take up the issues you care about.

But that only happens if you STAY UNITED.

Bernie is about more than just one man gaining the power of the Presidency.  It's about a movement that can restore the REAL greatness of this country - a strong, vibrant and caring middle class.

You can DO IT!

Make Bernie proud!


UPDATE:  Bernie takes Wisconsin by a decisive margin!  Now if Bernie takes Manhattan on April 19th, we'll have a real shot at upending this thing!  Feel the Bern!  Feel the promise of tomorrow shine through TODAY!

UPDATE:  Bernie did not get the the nomination.  Everything I said remains true.  Every day Drumpf turns into a more and more frightening figure.  And defying all political reason, Trump continues to hover in the polls within the statistical margin of error with Clinton.   Yes, Bernie would have been a better candidate to run against him.  But it's not what happened.  And now we have to band together to defeat this greatest of all menaces, this foul, narcissistic fascist Orange Mussolini.  If Stalin and Roosevelt could combine forces to defeat Hitler, surely Hillary and Bernie forces can join together to stop this misogynist racist con man.

Bernie is our Moses.  Our John the Baptist.  He has shown us the way.  It is now up to us to follow.  Push the Democrats to adopt full-throated progressivism.  Fight for every US Senate and Congressional candidate that leans our way, and do it at the state and local level as well.

This will be a long, hard fight.  It won't happen overnight.  But it will happen if you don't give up.