I wish I could sit down with every progressive who's pissed about Sanders losing the nom to Biden and pessimistic about the future, and tell them a little story about a commonwealth called Virginia.

In the 2017 Virginia gov primary, a Sanders-backed candidate, Tom Perriello, lost to an establishment Dem. Progressives were not pleased. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ralph-northam-wins-democratic-virginia-primary_n_59406e07e4b0d3185485b45f

Fast-forward 2 years, and "moderate" Ralph Northam just signed into law the most progressive suite of legislation in the history of Virginia. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/11/virginia-governor-ralph-northam-signs-bills

Is this what lies ahead for the U.S. if Biden wins? Not necessarily; it'll depend on who controls Congress. In Virginia, Dems control both houses of the legislature.

But I think it goes to show that even establishment types can, and often do, make huge progress toward achieving progressive policy goals.

Moral of the story: even if you don’t love Biden (and I don’t, not really), don't sit out the general election just because your preferred candidate isn't on the ticket. If that's what Virginians had done, we'd be in a far, far worse place right now. /fin