Bernie Sanders: What I'm sad about.

[TygrBright]

I voted for Bernie in the 2016 primary. I love so much about him. I am so grateful to him for pushing many of the issues I care about into the light, and advocating for creative, progressive solutions to some of our country's most intractable and engrained problems.

He's a fighter and there's been a need for that. He's focused, and there's been a need for that. He's a "no I WON'T sit down and shut up" guy, and there's been a need for that.

He's got nearly thirty years experience in the U.S. Congress, counting both houses, and connections to some of the most innovative progressive thinkers of our era. His campaigns have built up a considerable reservoir of potential leverage- call it nuisance value, call it grassroots power, call it ideological nous, whatever floats your boat.

As of last night, he had accumulated a fund of potential leverage that would have given him unprecedented momentum and influence in the direction of our next Democratic Congress and Administration.

But it looks like he's been in the bubble too long. I don't know whether he's in denial, or he's willfully miscalculating. But his "fight to the last ditch" stance is not only going to make a less-than helpful contribution to America's efforts to overcome the existential crises threatening us (especially his beloved 99%), it's squandering the very real chance he would otherwise have had to negotiate stronger progressive directions for a new Administration and Congress.

And I'm grieving that.

I know other voices will negotiating those directions. But Bernie could have brought so much leverage to combine with those voices.

Now he's at risk of creating more than a little backlash that might even impede that progress.

I wish he'd make other choices.

But clearly, he won't.

sadly,
Bright