Even though Bernie endorsed Hillary, this is not yet a done deal. Chances are quite high\u00a0she will be the nominee, but Bernie will keep his options open all the way to the convention.<\/p>\n

This has not gone down as Hillary had planned. What should have been an easy and short glide to the nomination turned into a long, humiliating trek. While she struggled to fill high school gymnasiums, Bernie filled football stadiums. She was forced to take time off to beg billionaires for money, while Bernie took two minutes to ask\u00a0for donations at campaign events. Ever loyal to power, the corporate media maintained its blackout on Bernie\u2019s campaign. They refused to cover the massive crowds and the extraordinary, historic nature of his run. They ignored that he had turned modern politics on its head.<\/p>\n

Bernie exposes the establishment<\/h2>\n

What the media didn\u2019t see coming was Bernie outing the Party leadership\u00a0as not giving\u00a0a rat\u2019s ass about the rest of us. He\u00a0was relentless in calling out the \u201cDemocratic establishment\u201d and the \u201cmedia establishment,\u201d as servants of\u00a0the 1%. Distracted by the incestuous, never-ending DC\u00a0money game, and used to pretending to be progressive for the rubes back home, party elites were\u00a0blindsided by Bernie\u2019s spectacular success. People didn\u2019t know they were hungry for Bernie\u2019s message until they heard it, and found themselves overwhelmed and moved by his honesty, his integrity, and his humane proposals. Especially for younger people struggling to get an education and find a job, Bernie’s Democratic\u00a0socialism seemed sane and sensible. The Party freaked out. It had lost control. A rumpled 74-year-old socialist was the Democratic rock star of 2016, not Hillary Clinton, their\u00a0handpicked heir to the throne. They regrouped\u00a0and\u00a0pulled it off\u00a0with the help of local party hacks, vote rigging, scheduling as few debates as possible, and a loyal corporate media relentlessly ignoring and\/or undermining Bernie. And Yay! It worked! A damaged Clinton limped across the finish line and prematurely claimed victory.<\/p>\n

Clinton baggage<\/h2>\n

Because Wall Street and the Deep State trust her to do their bidding, the DNC put Hillary forward as the Democratic Party candidate. Claiming to be neutral they blatantly tipped the scales in her favor. They ignored her high negatives\u2014knowing both Democrats and Republicans view her as dishonest and unlikable. They ignored Bill\u2019s smarmy past, and his\/their terrible economic policies that led to the 2008 meltdown. They ignored their racism\u2014the gutting of welfare programs, the buildup of the for-profit prison system, and, in 2008, Hillary\u2019s 3 AM ads against Obama. They ignored the ravages of NAFTA. The Clinton\u2019s personal and political baggage would fill a semi. The Party picked a familiar but terrible candidate.<\/p>\n

If she is nominated at the convention, Hillary will go up against Trump in November and the polling doesn\u2019t look good. Bernie has endorsed her and agreed to campaign for her. Thanks to his integrity and tenacity, she has inherited the most progressive Democratic platform in the history of the Party. It\u2019s not everything he or we wanted, but it\u2019s dramatically better than anything she and the Party would have typed up only to forget as soon as the convention ended. By using his considerable leverage, and forcing his progressive platform on the Party, Bernie may have rescued her from defeat. If she is the nominee and genuinely runs on that platform, she may squeak out a win against Trump.<\/p>\n

A Democratic Party split?<\/h2>\n

Bernie could have deliberately blown up the Democratic Party, split it in two. But, even though the Party doesn\u2019t deserve it, he graciously offered to save it from itself. That isn’t to say that the Party won’t\u00a0split anyway. The installation of Hillary Clinton as the nominee may cause the party to implode\u2014progressives taking off in one direction and corporate shills in the other.<\/p>\n

Unlike other \u201closer\u201d candidates, and it\u2019s not clear that he has officially lost, Bernie will refuse to go quietly into the night. He plans to help elect progressive down ticket candidates, many at odds with the current Democratic establishment. He has announced that, if she is elected, he will organize his supporters to hold her feet to the fire, and to hold all\u00a0Democrats feet to the fire. She knows that and he knows that. No matter what happens, the future is going to be contentious, because the revolution Bernie started is just beginning. And we should be forever grateful to him for that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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