On the day evidence came out that the DNC was "in the tank" for Clinton and actively opposing Sanders, Hillary Clinton chose Tim Kaine as her VP pick. Kaine is in favor of de-regulating banks (as of this week, he was arguing that "Too-Big-To-Fail" was an unfair designation for the nation's biggest banks!), in favor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Hillary was for until Bernie forced her to say she was against it. (Aside: Her Democratic Platform people all voted for it - you'd better believe Hillary wants the TPP to pass, a key vulnerability in Trump’s favor.)
This is political suicide. Hillary Clinton just made very clear that if the Republicans are happy becoming a fascist caricature, she'd love it if the Democrats could take over the Republican's old job of sucking up to Wall Street. That may seem unfair, but that is the image that you will be cast in by your opponents, and you have done all you could to arm them with this rhetorical angle. (Aside: Where are those speeches you promised us numerous times? You'd better believe we'll never see them.)
Hillary Clinton does not understand the threat Donald Trump presents, and she does not understand the threat that knuckling under to the most grotesque economic policies imaginable yields a significant advantage to Trump's campaign. He can now claim Clinton's entire campaign has been deceiving the nation on trade with enough credibility to sway value-centric voters. (Aside: Didn't Bernie Sanders prove that the average American is AGAINST this sort of behavior? You'd better believe she learned nothing.)
In essence, it boils down to this: Hillary is not a sinking ship, she is under-water and dragging the nation down with her. It is NOT too late for the#Superdelegates to do what they supposedly exist for. When the candidate selection process is not fair (it is clear that it was not), when the presumptive candidate is permanently scandal ridden (#DNCLeaks might touch on#ClintonFoundation - and then what? More FBI?), and when the presumptive candidate is absolutely weak (Trump 43%, Clinton 42%, meaning she is only trailing Trump by one point!), the Superdelegates that made this election unfair from the start by putting their thumbs on the scales now have one chance to save their party as well as their country from certain doom. (Aside: Bernie Sanders consistently polled +15 against Trump in average. You'd better believe he would crush Donny Boy with ease.)
#Democrats, please, nominate Bernie Sanders. He may not be our last and only hope to beat Trump, but the alternatives are all less positioned to unify the party, less capable of reaching out to the disaffected voters you'll need to beat the Neo-Fascist in the race, and less simply scripted for this moment. (Aside: Donald Trump accepted an offer to debate Bernie, then backed out because 'it wouldn't be right.' You'd better believe it was really, "Donny, you'll get your assed kicked by that guy if you are dumb enough to go on stage by him. Don't you dare.")
I know it would break with many conventions.
Please do it in spite of the difficulty.
Jesse Pohlman is a writer from New York, and is still aggrieved about the 90,000-or-so ballots thrown out following an un-democratic voter-roll purge. His website is His website.