I was a Bernie Sanders supporter in 2020. I think he would have been a terrific and transformative president. It was not to be. It is obvious that the rank-and-file of the party--as well as the insiders--preferred Joe Biden. I was happy to vote for him in November and I am very glad he was elected.
So now what? It's obvious that Biden has reached out to the Bernie wing, which is a good thing. Whether that actually leads to progressive action remains to be seen. There have been both pluses and minuses.
Among the pluses include a few pretty good cabinet appointments and more empathy and transparency in the Covid response. And also just the general temperament of the White House.
As a leftie, I also see the negatives: disappointment at the timidity on issues like student debt and minimum wage. And now the bombing in Syria barely a month into his administration.
Having said that, my goal is to try to stay as mellow as I can about it. I knew going in that there would be plenty of disappointments with Biden, just as there were with Obama. But it's too easy to get sucked into the Twitter outrage at the latest disappointment (most recently the call for the blood of the Senate Parliamentarian).
Take a deep breath, choose your battles and your allies well. If you're a progressive you knew that Biden wasn't going be a savior or anything. For now, take some comfort in some of the smaller things and keep pushing, unashamedly, for the bigger things that we know are needed.
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