We need to discuss Sanders & the long term harm he will cause American politics because of his inability to lead his supporters in any significant, positive manner.

There are some basic truths in politics. Progress is hard to achieve. It takes consistent pressure. And voting. 1/

No progress in history has been easily won. Or been perfect. Progress is ugly, slow & hard work.

We needed a Civil War to end slavery. The New Deal, Women's Suffrage, all came at the expense of POC when originally passed. Even American democracy, won by the revolutionary war, 2/

it excluded everyone but white men. But it was progress because it was white men, non white male landowners. A huge increase in who was allowed to vote. And it was a step in getting us to where we are today.

Fighting for a More Perfect Union. And we will be fighting forever. 3/

New Deal excluded blacks. Social Security came first, then Medicare. FDR interred Japanese Americans and refused Jewish Refugees. LBJ moved civil rights tremendously, but waged the Vietnam War.

There is no perfect politician. Including Stein, Sanders, Ralph Nader, nobody. 4/

In politics, compromise is how things get done. Compromise. Sanders & co have painted compromise as conceding but it's not. We elected moderate dems in 2018, and we have the power to impeach the president. We settled for ACA & 17 million Americans now have free Medicaid. 5/

There is another way progress happens, sustained activism & pressure. Debs running for president from jail. Millions of people marching in the streets for Civil Rights, to end the war in Vietnam. It takes years to do this. Decades. And it's never perfect. But it's progress. 6/

Now, I know people's lives hang in the balance. Every day without universal healthcare is lives lost. POC, women, poor people, LGBTQ community, all of us continue to be marginalized while we wait for change. Change which is slow & change which is imperfect. And leaves some out 7/

But here is the deception - the choice isn't between slow change & perfection. The choice is slow change or regression. The forces of the status quo, of turning back the clock, are ever present & are fighting us at every turn, backed by wealth & power, refusing to give it up. 8/

If we have a revolution, we lose lives. We risk losing it all. Revolution in Iran brought the Ayatollahs. Revolution today causes us to lose life & opens up chaos to be exploited by forces who will promise stability & lead with brutality, eating up out freedom in the process. 9/

Do the young people following Sanders understand this calculus?

Because Sanders does. His political career is built on compromise (with the NRA, among others). He himself says change will not be easy and will take millions of people in the streets. Protesting. (And, voting.) 10/

Most of us are older & more politically knowledgeable. We know he doesn't mean it when he touts ideological purity. He's using populist language to get elected. In fact, we have an inkling that a more progressive message & progressive pressure at the top might move the needle 11/

There are two sides of getting progressive legislation passed. One, yes, is the bully pulpit, Obama not starting negotiations by compromising. LBJ passed Civil Rights by using the bully pulpit.

But the other reason we don't have a more progressive ACA is the Senate. 12/

The public option died in the Senate bc we did not have enough progressive Senators to pass it. Not enough political pressure from constituents. Opponents had health care lobbyists. We did not counter it. We did not march or protest. Sanders did not pressure his colleagues. 13/

The reason we have ACA at all is bc the people of San Francisco elected a progressive, capable, historic Speaker of the House to push it over the finish line.

Is Pelosi perfect? No. Is she Progressive? Yes. Progressive means progress. Not perfect. Bc no politician is perfect 14/

The progressive path to victory is twofold: choose the candidate closest in ideology & move them left. Look at the language of AOC & even Rep. Omar. Every responsible progressive politician is saying the same thing. Preserve the present & move it left, or risk losing it all. 15/

And this is where Sanders failed. He did not prioritize voting. Nor protesting. Nor calling your Senator. He prioritized a movement supporting himself. And without a President Sanders, no M4A. Although the truth is even with President Sanders, it would likely still be no M4A. 16/

The reason it didn't matter that he eventually supported Clinton & why he's being denounced by his supporters now is bc he's been selling the language of revolution only to maneuver to pragmatism. It seems like selling out. The truth is, moving candidates leftward is progress 17/

And he turned an entire generation of voters off from doing the hard, imperfect, slow work of achieving this progress. But it is the only way to actually achieve progress.

Sanders' youngest & most committed supporters are taking their ball & going home. Or primarying Warren 18/

An entire generation of Americans will believe progress is impossible, the establishment always wins & even their savior will give in.

We could've had a progressive nominee, even Sanders if they simply voted. Instead, we got disengagement & that is Bernie's ultimate failure. /19