I was pretty aghast and despondent with the Super Tuesday primaries back in March, 2020. Bernie Sanders was on fire after winning New Hampshire and Nevada earlier in February, and things were looking good on March 3 when he swept California, Colorado, Utah and Vermont. But then something bizarre happened, Joe Biden, who before March was trailing practically everybody in the Democratic polls, suddenly was the front-runner after Super Tuesday, carrying Massachussetts, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Maine and Tennessee. I was aghast, how did that happen? I thought Bernie was going to do it this time, his campaign was in full swing, and even after suffering a heart-attack on the campaign trail, he was back at it, traveling all over the country, speaking and spreading his message of change and reform. In January 2020, his campaign raised $25 million, more than any other Democratic candidate, including Joe Biden. After Super Tuesday and when Bernie announced that he was dropping out of the race, I felt somehow betrayed and let down by the Democratic party. Bernie’s platform calling for Medicare For All, the expansion of Social Security, a $15 minimum wage, free and affordable college, the rich paying their share in taxes, the Green New Deal, improving the VA system, worker’s rights, the protection of LBTQ rights, to name just a few, were widely supported by the public and especially among young voters. But after Super Tuesday, like a popped ballon, everything deflated and went “pfffft” for me. I felt betrayed and angry with the DNC, and I was furious with all of those old Dems in Washington.

I campaigned for Bernie in 2016, and was dissappointed but not surprised by the DNC shutting him out, the callous remarks from Hillary regarding his limited qualifications to be president, her backers paranoia about his “socialist” ideas, not to mention her more recent comment in March that “nobody likes him.” It’s clear that the establishment Democrats “poo-pooed” Sanders as a viable candidate during the 2016 primaries, and according to DNC emails, top Dems tried to undermine him with voters, and even took steps to derail his campaign. I felt Bernie was “rail-roaded” by the Democratic establishment, and as a life-long Democrat, I felt betrayed. It was as if Bernie was the red-headed step-child with those crazy “socialist” ideas of affordable healthcare and education, a liveable minimum wage, and ending socialism for the wealthy in the form of corporate bail-outs for companies who only turn around and re-invest in their stocks, leaving their employees behind. It was no secret that the DNC establishment wanted to keep the status-quo, not to rock the boat, not to lose those potential “swing voters” who may abandon the GOP and vote Democrat. So, after a week of mourning, I got over it, and grudgingly voted for Hillary, and the only reason I did was because the thought of a former TV reality show star and failed businessman as president did not sit well with me.

Not to my surprise, Hillary lost to Trump, and I again slipped into disappointment and dismay. The last four years has been a roller-coaster ride of such an array of emotions for me, that I wonder if I’m going schizo. A pandemic first denied and grossly mishandled by the White House and the resulting astronomical unemloyment not seen since the Great Depression, the rolling back of environmental protections, the attack on civil rights, Ukraine, the Mueller Report, tales of money-laundering, Ivanka’s trade deals with China, the appointment of some 200 anti-abortion conservative justices, Russians meddling in our elections, voter suppression, Stormy Daniels, boogaloo boys, anti-maskers screaming expletives on social media, the death of Goerge Floyd, and the list goes on and on. And now intelligence reports say that Russia paid bounties to have American troops killed in Afghanistan, and Trump knew about it. It’s like a really bad soap opera where at every turn, another skeleton falls out of the closet. We have a demogogue as a president, a supine GOP, and a disorganized and timid DNC. As Trump, Barr, Miller, and certain representatives in Washington chip away at the Constitution and our rights as Americans, our Democracy is indeed in danger. Things have gotten “real.”

I campaigned again for Bernie’s 2020 run, and I’m as dissappointed as any Bernie supporter, but I was happy to hear that his opponent in the primaries, Elizabeth Warren, embraced and supported many of his ideas. So Bernie people, “Bernie Bros,” I understand your despair, I understand feeling helpless against the entrenched attitudes of incumbent Democrats and the DNC, I understand that voting for another PAC-receiving, middle-of-the-road establishment Democrat is the last thing a Bernie supporter would want to do. I understand young voters who feel they’ve been let down by Democrats in DC, they’re drowning in student debt, making less than their parents, and can’t afford the exhorbitant cost of health insurance. Many Bernie supporters have disavowed the Democratic Party, and some electoral politics all together. I feel you Bernie people, I’m one of you, and I understand both your frustration, anger and dismay. It’s true that Joe appeals to older Dems, and he’s a “comfortable” choice for those voters, promising to restore our nation to something akin to the Obama years. But that’s not possible. Our nation has been transformed permanently, by factors both in and out of our control. What was considered “normal” is no longer a reality, and we cannot return to the old platforms and platitudes that the Democratic Party is known for. This I why we musn’t lose hope, because like it or not, Bernie has succeeded in transforming the Democratic party.

Back in 2016, when Bernie was campaigning, his Democratic opponents scoffed at his “ridiculous” plans for Medicare For All, expanding Social Security, student debt forgiveness, free college and Medicare For All. They all cried “socialism,” or “It will never work, how naive!” Fast forward to the 2020 campaign, where discussions about Medicare For All, student loan forgiveness and a liveable minimum wage were no longer taboo, but openly discussed during the Democratic debates. Bernie’s ideas took hold, and they weren’t seen so “crazy” after all. And now with COVID-19 taking it’s toll, Bernie’s message of universal health care has come to the fore, and no longer balked at as in 2016.

We should also note the increase of progressive Democratic candidates in Washington. For example the election in 2016 of four progressive Democratic women, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, nick-named “the squad.” Just last week in Kentucky’s Senate primary, progressive State Rep. Charles Booker trailed by less than 10 points behind DNC establishment favorite Amy McGrath. In New York, Jamal Bowman defeated 16-term Democrat incumbent Eliot Engel for a seat in the NY Congress. Bowman ran on such progressive platforms as the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and recently joined BLM protests. Mondaire Jones triumphed over a crowded primary field in the 17th District to become one of the first openly gay black men ever elected to the NY Congress.

Sure, Joe Biden is an “establishment” Democrat, he might as well be a Republican some say, but in recent months, he is starting to embrace progressive platforms first proposed by Bernie. As COVID-19 ravages our citizens and the economy, Joe wants to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60. This was clearly an overture to Bernie supporters, but I’ll take it, it’s a start. Biden supports a federal minimum wage of $15, and Joe’s student-loan forgiveness plan would forgive borrowers who earn up to $125,000 a year who attend community college or four-year public colleges and universities. Also, Joe proposes changes to Social Security that would increase benefits, especially for low earners, while raising more revenues from higher-earning workers. Sounds pretty “Bernie” to me. And let’s not forget that Joe has pledged to appoint a minority VP, and the top runner (as of this blog entry) for this position is the pragmatic, progressive Democrat Kamala Harris.

So, with our Democracy on the line on November 3rd, I ask all you Bernie supporters out there, all you “Bernie Bros,” and “Bernie Sisters,” to consider voting for Joe. I concede that he’s not my first choice, but as we see his campaign mature, his platform is looking pretty “Bernie” to me, and with any luck, we’ll have a Democrat in the White House come January, 2021, as well as a flipped Senate and a blue House. And, with the wave of progressive and minority candidates winning seats all over the US, I am hopeful that the Democratic party is evolving into something bold and new, and there’s no turning back. We can thank Bernie for that, because he has changed our party for the better.