I understand from reports that Bernie is thinking about ending his primary run. I hope he does. As I wrote before, his standing and influence will be enhanced not diminished if he does.

Given the novel and catastrophic times in which we live and the existential danger of a second Trump term, the country would be well served if Joe Biden on the strength of his support in the primaries so far were declared the party’s standard bearer. That would allow Biden to speak with greater volume and to a larger audience as well as pick his running mate early on.

For Bernie to stay in the hunt for the purpose of changing a party rule or modifying the party platform, presuming that the convention takes place in August in Milwaukee, strikes me as an example of not seeing the forest for the trees and of small circle thinking. The game isn’t worth the candle at this point!

The pressing imperative is to unify the Democratic Party and the broader democratic movement and turn the attention of everyone now to the overarching task of electing Joe Biden in in November.

I don’t think we should spend a lot of time cooking up clever schemes and catchy slogans or reminding others of the advantages of socialism or even expressing righteous outrage to whoever will listen to us. That’s not the challenge. The challenge is to do everything we can individually and through our social and organizational networks to force the Trump administration and Congress to marshal together and throw the full resources and weight of the federal government behind the effort to combat a spreading heath care and economic catastrophe. Each of us can do something, even if seems insignificant.

My first take — and only that — is that Elizabeth Warren, who I supported with my very small voice, and Bernie, who I would have supported had he won the nomination, misread the moods of tens of millions across the country. Or, perhaps to be more precise, their reading was only partly right.

What they missed is that people’s thinking (and again I’m talking about tens of millions) is far more complicated and contradictory than both candidates allowed for in their campaign themes, messaging, and slogans. How impactful was this misreading on primary voting? I would say a case could be made that it shut the doors of both to winning the nomination and an opportunity was lost.

This may sound a bit harsh, but both were, despite their tireless campaigning to a wide audience, guilty of small circle thinking, too closeted in their own political ecosphere.

Just watched Nancy Pelosi on Morning Joe. She was impressive and the contrast with the occupant in the White House couldn’t have been starker.

That Trump, McConnell, and the Republican right have a special and vile animus toward her is understandable. But the ill feeling directed at her on our side of the political spectrum is less easy to explain. Even where she isn’t harshly criticized, she’s damned with faint praise or dismissed as not a blue dog.

Such characterizations strike me as examples of “not seeing the forest for the trees,” insofar as they fail to mention, forget about acknowledging, Pelosi’s crucial role in unifying Democrats and the larger movement against Trump since his election, not least at this moment. All of which makes me wonder if her critics’ commitment to popular front politics is anything more than a rhetorical gesture. The substance, after all, is awol.

If Trump acknowledged the realities of covid-19 on Sunday, it is only because he concluded that if he didn’t it would impede his reelection chances.