Bernie Sanders’ bid is over—it is time to move on and help other progressives

By SJ Otto

Many people are now telling Bernie Sanders it is time to quit the race for president. He has no chance of winning. Joe Biden has the upper hand and there is no way for him to win.

A real important reason for such a move is that there are a lot of progressive Democrats trying to win elections, on various levels, city, state and federal government.

While many of us have supported Sanders for many important issues, all long we have a long term strategy to change this country. Many of us have joined Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) to try and move this country for enough to the left, we can get away from the stifling conservatism that has strangled this country since the election of Ronald Reagan.

Progressives such as Amanda Marcotte are calling for Sanders to pull out of the race and back some of the progressives running for election. The mainstream news media has tried to make it look like electing progressives and socialists as a lost cause. But the progressives in this country are starting to make some progress.

For example in Marcotte’s latest article for Salon, “Bernie needs to step back and let other progressive leaders flourish — especially women,” she pointed out:

“There was a major progressive victory in the Chicago suburbs, as Marie Newman finally ousted Rep. Dan Lipinski, a conservative Democrat who inherited the seat from his father, Bill Lipinski, and has been in the family since 1982.” 

This was one of several examples Marcotte found of progressives moving against Democrats who have no reason to get any support from either left-wing or progressive people. Marcotte makes the argument:

“For years, Sanders and his supporters have asserted that his candidacy is about building a movement, and is much more than cult of personality around Bernie himself. Sanders has even gone so far as to adopt the slogan, "Not Me. Us," complete with ads emphasizing the belief that this is a collective push towards a progressive future.”

There is a time to move on and this is that time. So far I have found few reasons to back Joe Biden. He is pure establishment and has so far, made no promises that he will change this country. The sole reason for voting for him seems to be a hatred for the present President Donald Trump and to prevent the pain of real change. Trump has messed up this country, but it was messed up before he took office. Many of us want a change in the medical establishment. My wife and I are hit hard by the diabetes medicines we have to buy each month. None of that will improve with Biden. He has offered us no change. We are being bled dry by medical insurance companies, who seem to feel they have a right to profit off of our illnesses. A lot of working people oppose Medicare For All simply because they don’t know what to expect and they are afraid of losing what medical care they have. A lot of poor people are left out of the system all together. They will suffer under Biden. Politicians as Biden are corrupt and afraid to go against the medical insurance companies. He is a corporate politician and he knows being on the side of corporations is more important to him than supporting the common working man.

In all seriousness, I can’t encourage people to vote for Biden. If they truly hate Trump enough that any replacement will do, then they are free to vote that way. As for myself I am suggesting, as is Marcotte, to get out and support true progressives who will actually help us change this country. We have allowed far-right politicians to keep dragging us further and further and further to the right, year after year. Some of the changes these politicians have brought us include insane laws that have made gun ownership a sacred right more important than common sense. 

For the rest of that article click here.