Guest Op/Ed: It's Time for Bernie to Help Unify the Democratic Party

I have liked Bernie Sanders ever since first hearing his thick Brooklynese on the radio last summer. As he outlined policy after policy that I believed in, I was amazed. When I saw his rumpled suit, looping hands and frayed hair, the authenticity and honesty of what he believed stood out to me.

I believe that Bernie is right on income inequality, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, universal health care and universal free college. His complaints about unequal media coverage and a biased super delegate system were also true. How could it not be? The parent company that owns CNN was actually one of Hillary’s biggest donors. But last night effectively ended the primaries.

However, when California voted on Tuesday night, I brought my four year old daughter to the TV to watch Hillary Clinton’s historic speech and to witness the moment. After all of the math, it became impossible for Bernie to recover. If he had run the table, or even run the table but lost New Jersey, or if super delegates began defecting from Hillary to Bernie – any of these would have justified, to me, Bernie continuing. But the losses, especially the California loss was the end.

Bernie is my Kennedy. Yes, his un-dynamic, authentic but plain delivery of a real liberal message made him my Kennedy. I had always wanted a Kennedy to believe in for my generation, with a populist left-of-party message. But none of the previous candidates of the left had fulfilled that for me – not Dean, not Nader, not Tsongas. He is my Kennedy because he believed in the right things and his rumpled authenticity was as attractive as any Kennedy’s prose could be.

I believe Bernie’s movement can yield at least two important results. First, I believe he has awakened a slumbering liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He has made it popular again to be a liberal ideologue. As a Democrat, I have always wanted an ideologue who would unflinchingly be a liberal, in the same way that Reagan was unflinchingly and unapologetically a conservative. The second result has to do with the Hillary Clinton we will see as President.

I have admittedly never been a fan of Hillary. To me, she seemed far too calculating and poll driven. I never really got the sense that I knew what she stood for. Likability is important for a candidate for the Presidency, to wit - Reagan, Bush and Bill Clinton all had likability in spades. Obama too, to an extent. But last night Hillary delivered her victory speech not with a raised voice, but with a lowered and confident tone. She seemed to honestly pay homage to Bernie and the ideas his movement embraced. She seemed likable and genuine. Bernie's positions, which have pushed the Democratic Party to the left, are now popular and less controversial. Bernie may have given Hillary the political cover to embrace some of the more liberal policies which may already have been in her heart. If Hillary embraces and champions many of those policies as President, the impact will be profound.

It also cannot be understated that last night was a historical moment for women and girls everywhere. That loud crash you may have heard, was a huge chunk of the glass ceiling coming down. And that’s good for the country. Good for Hillary – she earned it. She was a Capitol Hill lawyer, First Lady of Arkansas, First Lady of the country, U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, two-time candidate for President. She has, certainly, paid her dues. My Knight has done his job well, too. If he gathers his movement and joins with Hillary based on mutual respect and agreement on certain issues, his movement stands a better chance of being co-opted by the party.

Co-option does not mean ignored; co-opted means the issues get the attention they deserve. It means a seat at the table. I believe Hillary will be a better President because she has had my guy nipping at her heels reminding her and everybody what the Democratic Party should be about. I believe the next step for Hillary and Bernie is to talk about the issues that the 45.4% of the delegates who support Bernie can be included in the platform and consider how they can work together for the rest of the election and, more importantly, how they can work together after Hillary is sworn in.

And when Hillary and Bernie combine forces, can you, for a moment, imagine a Clinton-Sanders-Clinton-Schumer 1-2-3-4 legislative punch? I can. But, for now, it is time for my rumpled Knight to exit the stage.

Bernie, we have all won.

Richard O’Brien is a former Florida Democratic Party Executive Board Member and former Manatee County Democratic Party Chairman. He is currently Academic Director of the Foreign Policy Immersion Program at Georgetown University.