Bernie Sanders has a chance, and that’s more than anyone ever gave him credit for. His supporters should capitalize on the hope he’s helped inspire even as they continue to fight back against the “It Can’t Be Done!” narrative that the Democratic Party and it’s mainstream media cohorts deploy in the hopes of halting his momentum.

Four years ago, no one took him or his supporters seriously. He was mocked as a fringe candidate that never had a shot at winning the nomination or the presidency, and his supporters were filed away as a rabble-rousing bunch of sexist, white Bernie Bros more interested in flinging online shade than at effecting genuine political change in America.

Today, it seems likely that he will win the Democratic nomination and face Trump in the general election. Furthermore, he has shown that he has what it takes to build a diverse coalition of supporters, far surpassing the predictions of both the pundits in mainstream media and his rival candidates.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense should feel inspired by Sanders’ lightspeed entry into American politics. Prior to 2016, the mere idea that someone could propose a policy as revolutionary — and as necessary — as a Green New Deal would have been laughed off the stage.

But there’s something more at stake than the potential victory of an underdog.

The Democratic primary — and the general election that will follow it — is about what values the United States government will choose to uphold, defend, and advance in the coming decade and beyond.

As of right now, the current administration — largely a product of the failed system of neoliberal, capitalist policies that have formed the American political context these past few decades — has revealed with the utmost clarity every crack in the foundation of our nation’s bedrock.

We have seen a billionaire — in the form of Michael Bloomberg — come out of the woodworks and literally buy his way into our election process, with very little contestation from senior members of the Democratic Party.

It is only a brave, small few— people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Nina Turner, Rashida Tlaib, etc. — who consistently call out our corrupt government and stand firm against repeated waves of hatred and bigotry.

Everyone else seems content to watch the Democratic Party flounder as it’s collective identity is lost.

They can’t seem to make their minds up. Should they be a party of the people — as Sanders would help make it — or will they cling incessantly to the notion that they can preserve a failing system that prioritizes the needs of the wealthy elite over everyone else?

The fact of the matter is this: without Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Party stands little chance at defeating Donald Trump, an even smaller chance of creating the enthusiasm necessary to bring about a much-needed change in our political system, and a damn near zero chance of being relevant over the next four years.

Donald Trump and the current iteration of the GOP have capitalized upon hatred and fear-mongering to mobilize their base. Without someone that can rally the energy of American voters so that we once again believe in hope and change, it is likely that the situation will get far worse before it gets better.

We need someone who not only believes in such things as compassion and empathy, but who also possesses a record that proves it.

Bernie Sanders is the only person running who fits the bill.

America has a chance this election season.

We can reset our political system, returning power away from oligarchs and back into the hands of working, everyday citizens, or we can watch as our nation becomes even more corrupt, more anti-democratic, and more prone to elitist control.

Whether or not a Sanders administration could feasibly pass every item on its agenda is less important than what that administration could accomplish in terms of redefining American politics and the values it chooses to enshrine.

For the past few decades, our political institutions have shifted ever-more rightward, to the point in which the current Democratic Party is almost indistinguishable from the GOP of decades past, and the GOP of today is so far off the deep end that it is becoming dangerous to the health and well-being of democracy itself.

Long gone are the days when FDR-style politics permeated the mainstream, and people believed in such things as an “Economic Bill of Rights.”

Instead, we are told to believe the same, age-old lies that profits come before people, that megalomaniacal billionaires are essential to the functioning of our representative Republic, and that to believe too much in the possibility of change is to make of oneself a fool.

Well then, where are all the fools?

If Bernie is a fool, count me in the fool-club.

To me, the choice is clear: watch as our democracy slips further away into the hands of would-be tyrants and the deranged circle of financial backers that pull their strings, or revitalize America by choosing the candidate that stands the best chance at reigniting the belief that we can, at the end of this long, nightmarish period of American history, choose to course correct.

It’s about more than one man at this point or even one party. It’s about what this nation will choose to adopt as it’s guiding principles in the coming decades.

That choice will have world-wide consequences.

We can’t afford to choose wrong.