A Long Haul

by Deacon Blues

The American electorate faces a long slog this summer, as the two parties' presumptive nominees become clear, and a collective sigh of disappointment takes hold. On the Democratic side, with Bernie's announcement last night that he was now focusing on the convention and making the party's platform as progressive as possible, and today's news that he is stashing his bucks and cutting staff, the only real question is whether or not he and his supporters actually join the party to fix it from within, or continue the assault as a hitchhiker from outside, taking Hillary down along the way.

On the GOP side, it's hard to see what is more pathetic: Ted Cruz thinking his gambit to name Carly Fiorina as his running mate makes them both presidential instead of pretenders, or Donald Trump's preening as a foreign policy leader loathed by our allies but loved by Vladimir Putin. And it's laughable to hear Trump smear Hillary while he himself is being dragged into a fraud trial by those he bilked at his Trump "university." I said this months ago, and I'll say it again: Hillary should mock Trump.

Party leaders should also challenge Sanders and his supporters to come inside the party and push for their "revolution" while helping it. Having millions of dollars and thousands of young supporters is laudable only if his "revolution" evolves into change from within. Sitting on the outside and throwing rocks at a party that gave you a vehicle for your revolution, without actually voting for the party's nominee and contributing to the party's improvement and progressive challengers makes you nothing more than a destructive hitchhiker.