Real Democrats?

My Twitter feed is full of establishment Democrats and their supporters telling me that Bernie Sanders is not a "real" Democrat (or whatever) and is bad for the Party. They seem to want some sort of pledge to only support "real" Democrats. Many of these tweets are quite hateful and full of denial about the 2016 election, but let's put that aside for now. (Full disclosure: I voted for Hillary Clinton in both the primary and the general election. Further disclosure: I am now a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.)

Well, I am willing to make a deal with these folks. As soon as I see and hear a "real" Democrat speaking as persistently and as forcefully as Bernie Sanders does about

• Medicare for All
• Job guarantee
• Free college tuition
• Income inequality
• Opposition to our support for the catastrophic war in Yemen
• $15 minimum wage
• Other progressive issues

That is when I will gladly support such a "real" Democrat.

In the meantime, they can stop insulting us that this is some kind of personality Bernie cult. (Actually, some of these tweets suggest a Hillary cult to me.) It's about POLICY! Progressive policy. That is the person I will support. I hope the Democratic Party recognizes that the future lies with a progressive agenda, not the Third Way or some other tiresome tack to the right.