How Bernie Sanders Can Still Win

All is not lost, and your "revolution" is as strong as ever. If you play this right, it will keep growing. We have the power to take this country back, in a real, and sustained way. The problem here is, that Mr. Sanders isn't leading your revolution.
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Bernie Sanders still has a shot. A big one. A shot at being one of the most important leaders of our time. A true revolutionary, perhaps changing the world and our entire democracy. It will not be as President of the United States.

I know that many of you are still holding out for a Claire Underwood moment on the convention floor, but that's Netflix folks...it isn't going to happen.

If Mr. Sanders were to have some huge last minute coup d'etat that changed the hearts, minds and votes of the pledged super delegates, it would have happened already. During the time when he was winning states, he did not collect any super delegates that defected the Clinton camp. Zero. Not one.

He has lost his bid for the presidency of the United States, guys: it's over...and he knows it.

To string his supporters along, is not only misleading and giving false hope, but it is dividing the party, holding you all as ransom demand, and using you as currency. The man I once publicly supported, sent money to, have written beautiful things about, and have spent time with, has turned into a power hungry politician, who cares about advancing one thing: himself. I will go one step further, and say that he is in fact, a bully.

Hillary Clinton is our nominee, like it or not. Math is not an opinion.

Secretary Clinton is ahead by more than three million people in the popular vote as well, and she just won California. So lets put a lid on it.

But wait! Please hear me out.

All is not lost, and your "revolution" is as strong as ever. If you play this right, it will keep growing. We have the power to take this country back, in a real, and sustained way. The problem here is, that Mr. Sanders isn't leading your revolution. He is slowly revealing, that his agenda, is himself. Don't kid yourself that these closed door meetings with Clinton and Obama aren't to advance one thing: Bernie Sanders.

Otherwise, let me ask you this: If this were about truly changing the country, why isn't Mr. Sanders directing his army to fight for things that we can actually still change? Like House and Senate seats? Why isn't he asking his supporters to make some noise about our still empty Justice Scalia Supreme Court seat? A true leader...leads. These are things we can still change.

It seems the only thing that Bernie Sanders is asking his supporters to do, is to continue to fight for Bernie Sanders. For a presidential bid, that is over.

Again, for those of you who will say "It ain't over 'til it's over...lets go all the way to the convention floor" I take a deep sigh, and say...why? To divide this party more? There will not be a big Hollywood moment on the convention floor. There may be a ruckus, disruption, hissing, booing, and yelling when they nominate Hillary Clinton, but Bernie Sanders is not going to be the nominee.

Is that what we want? More in fighting? Why? To prove a moral point? To spew more hatred and vitriol at the only chance we have of holding this country steady with a Democrat in office rather than the alternative, Trump?

I know that many of you have hard feelings about Secretary Clinton. Everyone has their personal reasons, I will not debate them here, the past, quite frankly, right now, given our options...is a waste of time.

Here is reality:
In November we have two viable candidate choices: Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Period.
A vote for Jesus, Jill Stein, Mitt Romney, or Ronald Reagan, is a vote for Trump.
No vote, is a vote for Trump.

You have every right to do as you please. I respect that, and I deeply respect your passion, and fight. Please don't stop. I want real sustained change too. I will fight alongside you.

Bernie Sanders has NOT lost...yet. Although the longer he keeps at this, the deeper the poison sets in. Soon he will have lost his one real chance, at changing the world and going down in history as one of the greatest revolutionary leaders in America...but not like this.

He is gradually losing people like me. People who believed in his message, and believed in him. He is asking you not to row this boat to shore together, but rather to put more holes in it to prove a point, and to make us beg him to come rescue us. That's called power hungry narcissism.

Well, I won't allow that, and I will not cave to any sadistic demands of begging you to vote for Hillary or demands to "win you over". I won't even ask you. I will have more respect for your intelligence, see you as a progressive peer and brothers and sisters in this fight. Then I will row hard enough to do the work of four people if you choose to sit on your hands on election day. I will fight to get us to shore, so that we can build a better America together once we are there.

See you're fighting the wrong fight at this point. We are where we are, and now we need to focus on the alligator closest to the boat. That is Donald Trump. He must be defeated. We will deal with the rest later, as we continue to movement build.

I don't care about how you feel about Hillary, she sent my little brother to Iraq. I was not happy about that. That is the past, and I am not about to lose the one shot we have of keeping the progressive ball moving up the field.

I can see no other reason now for Sanders to so defiantly fight for a job and not concede, other than ego, loving the crowds, and self advancement. He is using his supporters as currency: don't be fooled.

Sanders has done a phenomenal job of organizing. His supporters have been so passionate, so fierce, so creative, and worked so very hard. Honestly, I applaud you guys, and know that your heart is in the right place. Mine is right there with you. You ran a much better campaign than Hillary has.

I know that you want to change this country, this system, and you know what? You're right. The system MUST change in order for us to have a functioning democracy again. However, real leaders offer solid solutions and give the people in their "revolution" a plan of ACTION. They don't just encourage fights and disruption, although a little disruption is a good thing...they also offer a real plan. I have not seen any of this with Mr. Sanders.

Mr. Sanders has said that real change starts from "the ground up". He is right. I would like to add that leaders do not create revolutions...revolutions create leaders.

I truly believe that Bernie has been a great catalyst for inspiring people and waking us up. I believe that his messaging has been critical. Bernie has been and can continue to be, a major movement builder, if he could just get out of the way of his own political ambition, personal demands, and ego.

From this "revolution" that is just beginning, a leader, perhaps a person who is even reading my piece right now...maybe it's you...will arise.

I can also however, promise you one thing: this revolution dies on election day if Donald Trump becomes president.

Free college, slaying billionaires, and income inequality will be the least of your worries...we will be hitting the streets fighting to regain our basic civil rights. Hitting the streets that is, if we are even permitted to. Protesters will be arrested...and not in the cute "I just got released an hour later and have a selfie to prove it" way...they may be locked up as political prisoners, and as a writer, I may no longer be able to write pieces like these anymore.

Think I'm being outrageous? Ask yourself what you thought when that reality game show host announced he was running for president a year ago. We all laughed. He is now a heartbeat away from choosing our Supreme Court, and having the codes to start wars. A hot headed, inexperienced, racist, sexist, wants to criminalize choice and sue journalists, game show host, may very well be our next president.

What's that? You won't let fear dictate your vote? Well, you should be afraid, because this--my friends, is the new reality.

The decision is yours: Four years of moving the ball up the field and movement building, or a complete new world order in a country you will no longer recognize. I hope you choose well.

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