If you are wondering what that headline means, you do not yet understand Bernie Sanders. There is no shame in that. Plenty of people don’t. The establishment media doesn’t, and it shows in how they have framed his entire campaign.

You also do not understand us. That’s right, US.

Bernie is running on a revolution agenda based on Progressive ideas. And the moment we Progressives, and like minded friends, caught on, we funded him, because we all want that revolution too. For all the headlines denigrating Bernie, calling things his fault, screaming for him to get out of the race… a simple fact is missed:

This isn’t all about Bernie. It’s about US. We want this just as much as Bernie does. We want him to take these ideas all the way to Philly and beyond, and while he’s doing that, we seek to do everything we can to advance those ideas. Why?

We believe they are the better ideas. That is what this campaign and movement is all about.

Now, about the media: Just about all of the framing I’ve seen, TYT, RT, and various other independent voices aside, has been in terms of the usual politician running the usual campaign with the usual goals. But that isn’t what Bernie is doing! Had Bernie done that, there would not be this movement and massive support today. Nobody, including Bernie, cares about a VP slot, or some trophy cabinet position or other. It’s not about that. Never was.

It’s about the ideas. And we want those ideas given far more consideration than they have in the past. This year is the right time too, no excuses. We recognize it is time for those ideas.

Trump is the perfect candidate for us this year! Winning this election isn’t about rushing to the center. Not this time. There isn’t much of the center even left anymore! Bernie has massive support among independent and younger voters. That’s 40 percent of the population, give or take. In addition, there is overall majority public support for our ideas, and that’s most of our party too! Where does that leave Trump? He’s gonna peak with the hard core Republican base, fall flat and hard with most everyone else, leaving us a wide open field to win in!

2016 is a historic year for Progressives! Over 20 States won, just south of a quarter billion dollars in individual donations from roughly 10 million individual contributions averaging $27 dollars, massive grassroots organizing online and on the ground, all resulting in a meaningful, competitive campaign. Had the early, small part of the campaign been just a bit more, funded a bit better, maybe just a few different choices made, we very well could have won the delegates flat out! Who honestly thought that could happen? Nobody. Not really. Not even Bernie, I suspect.

But, it really did happen! You all watched it with us. There is absolutely no denying where the future of American Politics is going, and it’s not going to the center, or the right. Americans are headed left. We’ve had enough of the income inequality. We demand health care as a basic right of every citizen. We want to break up the too big to jail and fail banks. And more! You all know the drill. Bernie has put the message out there, what? A few hundred times now. More people would understand that if he got even a fraction of the coverage that buffoon Trump did.

Who is responsible for winning over our votes? Congratulations to our Presumptive Nominee, Secretary Clinton. This isn’t on us. Not this year. We won’t hear fear and shame arguments. Not this time. Trump can be beat. We know Bernie can beat Trump solid, and he stands ready, willing and able to do exactly that. No question. Trump’s own party doesn’t even like him, and growing doubt surrounds him! Nobody even knows what ideas Trump has!

Now is the time to run like Democrats, not some tepid centrists hoping to get through on what is largely a status quo platform, or fear loss of donors, or the wrath of special interests. Trump is so obviously terrible and ill equipped to be President as to be laughable!

Democrats, running like Democrats, and that means aligned with and for things ordinary people have needed us to run on for far too long, can beat Trump. This should not even be a question. How many of us are just chomping at the bit to get in that race and win? Everybody! So let’s go and do that. Why not?

This is not the year to ask us to give up on great ideas whose time has come. We don’t have to. We don’t want to, and we know we don’t need to. Not this year. Not this time when we know we can win on them.

Secretary Clinton has a choice. She can look at this massive movement, money, excitement, and support for those ideas and make a genuine effort to champion those great ideas, or she can go run to the center in the hopes that enough Republicans will hold their nose to avoid a Trump Presidency. And it’s her choice to make. She is the Presumptive Nominee, and is telling us she’s ready to do the job. Given the massive establishment support behind her, she’s likely to win either way, and we know that. We expect her to do that job; namely, represent ordinary Americans she expects to elect her President. The Sanders campaign is all about making those ideas a reality, and that is why we are not leaving the race.

We have a fine champion in Bernie.

Bernie has performed beyond all reasonable expectations, and despite all that has transpired, continues to fight for those great ideas! Watch that speech again, and keep in mind Bernie has been at this for 40 years! Understand we have the deepest respect for Bernie and his willingness to fight for the least of us. Bernie doesn’t waver, doesn’t quit, and doesn’t back down in the face of corruption either. He takes the ideas seriously and it shows. We love him for that. We trust him too. Those 40 years matter. We know he believes in those ideas and we know he will fight as hard as he possibly can for them. Bernie is not anything but noble in these efforts, and that has inspired us. We believe in these ideas and will fight for them too.

You want our support? Show us a champion. That is what we are about. Ideas.

This choice isn’t on us, or Bernie. We can’t tell Clinton what to do, but we can tell you what we are doing and will continue to do. We are paying our own way in this open democracy, and we won a lot. We won in historic ways, and that history is just as important as the history Clinton is making right now. Anyone can run on those ideas and win, because they are the better ideas, and wouldn’t it be great to have the first woman elected President running on a historic Progressive platform? –a platform she has laid claim to many times in the past? Damn right it would, and we know that too.

Truth is, we have our champion right now and our fight continues. Bernie stands ready to beat Trump solid and win. Our movement is just beginning, and we know we can continue doing what we are doing no matter what. And since it is about the ideas, first and foremost, you must understand that is exactly what we plan to do. Join the revolution! Urge Clinton to adopt our great ideas and together we can make this election historic in so many ways! Democrats, Progressives, Independents all behind great ideas whose time has come!

The GOP won’t even know what hit them, but you can bet the American People will!

Revolutions are fought people. We didn’t start this only to stop now, bow to the massive pressure from the establishment media and politicians and call it a wrap. This movement didn’t happen for anything but the ideas, and none of it matters without those ideas.

Giving up is simply not going to happen. Nor should it! Anyone who believes in our ideas understands what it will take and is ready to go there as long as it takes –all the way through this primary and beyond. Count on it.

Forget the usual political games. There is no quick deal to be had. There is no end to the struggle we face, because the struggle and the ideas embodied in it are derived from simple, human need. We are in this to address the need! Like it or not, our government isn’t serving ordinary people well at all. There is no correlation between public opinion and policy, but there is a direct correlation between what the one percent want and policy:

To us, this is completely unacceptable! To us, this is the basis for revolution! This corruption, this influence massive special interest and corporate money has on our politics is the root cause of the growing need we face!

When you ask us to give up, get out, sit down, shut up, you are asking us to ignore millions of our friends and family, all downtrodden by this deplorable and systemic corruption. This year, of all years, there is no excuse. We simply won’t do that. We will fight!

This year, we got to see real democracy, not the usual, tepid choices. We learned this can be messy, and it can be beautiful too. This year, Americans got to dream about a fundamentally different vision of the future. And now that we have seen what is possible, giving up is not an option anymore. We know what we have to do to make it happen.

Join us! We want to win, but we want the ideas more! It is important that everyone understand that. It’s not about Bernie as a person as much as it is we see his dedication and firm resolve behind those ideas and we share that with him. We know this is the year for those ideas. We know our opposition is weak, and public support for our ideas is massive! We know we can win. We know Bernie is the stronger candidate, but we also know Clinton has more delegates and the support of the establishment too.

Berniecrats learned something this year. We learned how to be FOR something and cast fear and shame aside. We learned elections can be won on positive, Progressive ideas. And in a very real sense, we learned who we are and why that matters. You should also understand what Bernie catalyzed in so many of us just isn’t the kind of thing that is easily undone. We have seen the corruption, and it’s systemic and it must change. This does not make anyone evil or bad, but there is no denying the massive influence special interest money has on our politics today, and that influence is denying far too many Americans an economy that works for them, despite so many of them working so hard to make it work for the one percent.

Given these things, of course we are not out of the race! How can we be? To do that would be hypocritical. This is revolution! We believe in that, will fight for it, and the ideas that matter. We mean it. We are paying our own way in an open democracy, and we have every right to do that too. There is not anything at all wrong with any of it. Our cause is noble, our intent just and equitable. And the time is right!

Right now, as you read this, Progressives all over the nation are eagerly planning how we continue this revolution. This primary election is just the beginning, and we’ve said that since day one. No surprises. Not now. Not after so many Bernie events, and so many of us speaking out and to power. We aren’t about fear and shame. We know Trump is extremely unlikely to ever be President, and that means we are completely free to get after our ideas in this open democracy too. We are about the possible.

Through these and many other basic realizations, Progressives have come of age. Politics is going to be different going forward. In fact, politics have already changed! We did that together with Bernie. We know we don’t need to depend on the wealthy to win elections. And we know our ideas matter. We know we can pay our own way, and we know we can win!

Progressives are more unified than we have ever been. Our resolve has grown firm, and we now understand what real change takes. It takes revolution aimed at beating back corruption in our politics. Bernie has shown us what it takes, and he deserves respect for being the exemplary public servant he is. 40 years. That’s a very, very long time. We know we can work around Citizens United, and we intend to do that. It is time to do that. The need is now too great to ignore. The need is greater than mere incremental change can keep up with.

Set aside the fear and shame. Set aside the usual politics too. This isn’t 2008. The times are different. We are calling for a revolution. Real change. And we mean it, and that makes all the difference in the world. Set aside the usual expectations and hear us. Work to understand us, and the reward will be that greater unity, excitement, and a brighter future. We are about the possible. We are FOR things, not against, or about fear and shame.

We are embarking on a revolution!

This is the year, this is the time. We can win big. Our ideas enjoy majority public support. We can transform this great nation and secure a better, more just and equitable future for everyone!

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES — Bernie Sanders 2016