Just yesterday, we were discussing Bernie Sanders’ failure to call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Kamala Harris couldn’t bring herself to it either. But of course, the smartest politician in the Democratic Party knows what she is doing.

I believe we need to protect families who need help, and ICE isn’t doing that. It has become a deportation force. We need to separate immigration issues from criminal justice. We need to abolish ICE, start over and build something that actually works. https://t.co/JtSN68k4Fd — Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) June 29, 2018

I know the Jacobin and Chapo crew is extremely suspicious of Gillibrand for the crime of winning an election in a conservative district on centrist principles. Evidently, the only acceptable politicians are those lucky enough to live an area when a platform of full communism leads to electoral guarantee. Me, I like a politician who learns, who says yes to my demands, and who is smarter and savvier than everyone else. From the beginning of the Trump administration, Gillibrand has learned that her best path to the nomination was to resist all Trump appointees, stand up to the bully, and outflank her potential rivals for the nomination on the left. She was the first potential candidate to support a federal job guarantee, which obviously warms my heart to no end, and now she is the first to call for the abolition of the fascist agency of ICE and start over on immigration from the ground up. This is outstanding. Moreover, with job guarantee, it started with Sean McElwee literally giving her a phone call and her agreeing with the position. Now, McElwee has also been the leading person on the #AbolishICE movement. He deserves an incredible amount of credit in shaping the progressive agenda; moreover, he’s the kind of leftist who understands the need for a big tent and to move beyond ideological hatreds. I can say this because I know him personally. Instead of getting caught up in personal beefs, he seeks to move the agenda forward. Anyway, #AbolishICE is a bit more controversial than the job guarantee. Because if Democrats have been reticent to take openly leftist economic positions in the last few decades, they’ve been really scared to take on the security state.

So Gillibrand stepping out on this is both morally and politically correct. That’s what we want. This is why I reiterate that saying Bernie Sanders is the only acceptable candidate in 2020 is just stupid. The party is moving left at rapid speed. There are a lot of people more adept at pure politics than Bernie. They are outflanking him. No one is better than this than Kirsten Gillibrand. That is why she not only remains my preferred candidate in 2020, but I feel stronger about that than ever. Plus, we need Senator Ocasio-Cortez.

Next stop: likely candidates supporting courtpacking. Let’s do this.