It's Time For THE TALK, My Progressive Friends: Saturday Political Soap Box 239

It's time for the talk, my Progressive friends.

Are you ready for the sad truth?

Bernie Sanders is not going to be President of the United States.

Whether you call yourself, like me, an independent Progressive, or any stripe of Democrat - leftist, liberal, progressive, moderate, or a republican/Independent who believes in the anti-establishment approach and feels like Trump failed to deliver - and you supported Bernie Sanders, I'm sorry to break it to you.

It's not a done deal yet.  Bernie could win Michigan and prolong this for awhile.  But I don't think he will.

That does not mean you shouldn't vote for Bernie if your primary is coming up.  You should ALWAYS vote for who you believe in, regardless of what the media says, or what the delegate count is.  I HATE coronations.  We do not have to fall in line until the convention.

But we may need to admit reality.  Barring the unforeseen, Biden will be the nominee of the Democratic Party.

I will vote for Warren in the Georgia primary.  Some of you think that's stupid since she has withdrawn.  My vote is my vote, and I believe she is the best person to be the next President of the United States. 

This decision is made easier partly because Bloomberg is no longer in the race, and I don't have to vote strategically to stop him, and by the fact that I remain agnostic between Bernie and Joe.  They both have flaws.  They both have advantages and disadvantages, and it is hard for me to decide which one outweighs the other.

I'm much closer to Bernie on policy.  I worry about the negative charge that his campaign has built up, and although it is unfair, and partly stemming from Hillary people's resentment from 2016, it will be hard to impossible to break through that.  It has been a considerable mistake to identify as a Democratic Socialist.  I understand what that means, and think it is the preferred form of governance.  Many young people are undeterred by it, and I think it will become more acceptable, understood, and appreciated over time.  And although that time is close, I am not sure that it is now.

Although not much in policy synch with Biden, I do like him.  He was my choice for Obama's running mate, and when he was picked, I was stunned when I had finally gotten both the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate that I wanted.  AND they won TWO terms.  AND they brought the country back from the brink of economic disaster.

At this point, it's a lot to surrender policy-wise. But it's not anywhere what we'd have to surrender if Trump wins a second term.

Joe has clearly lost a step.  I'm not trying to be mean, but it's the truth.  He's always gaffed and glitched, but it seems to be increasing.  I don't think it's reached a dangerous level - this is a good and decent man who cares about the American people, and is still practical and intelligent.  But he's goofing enough that the Republicans are going to use it against him.

These next few weeks are crucial for Biden, and it is why Bernie must continue to challenge him.  Biden must decisively convince the American people that he still has it.  We don't want to find out this in the Fall.  It has to be gotten out of the way now.


So, if we don't have Bernie, my Progressive friends, what do we have?


We have the future.  We have the world.  If the young and disadvantaged, the working poor of all colors/religions/ethnicities turn out and vote, we will be able to move this country forward.

Let's concentrate our firepower on the new Progressives coming up the ranks.  Let's recapture the Senate and make Mitch McConnell irrelevant.  Let's support people like Georgia First Congressional candidate, Lisa Ring.  Let's support the most progressive people running for the Georgia US Senate, or from whatever state you live in.  Let's turn around as many state legislatures and Governors as we can.  Let's elect young, dynamic Progressives even at the local level.

Let's join and advocate and march with organizations that promote our causes - Medicare For All, raising the minimum wage, responsible gun legislation, income equality, restoring voting rights and civil rights, removing corruption and oligarchical control, standing up to authoritarians, and most importantly, taking climate change seriously and advocating for the Green New Deal.

And at the national level, let's promote candidates of the future, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kaite Porter, like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, like Stacy Abrams and Andrew Gillum.  Let's NEVER have another election that comes down to old white men.

The future belongs to...

Change the year or candidate if you want to.  But you get the drift.

Just a suggestion,  folks. 

But a pretty damn good one.