In 2016, at the age of 20, I proudly cast my first vote in a presidential primary for Senator Bernie Sanders. Since then, his movement, with the help of Elizabeth Warren, has shifted the Democratic party to the left and brought the concrete needs of the American working class to the forefront of our politics. It has been awe-inspiring to watch the movement achieve such grand victories in just a few short years. As it stands today, Joe Biden is bound to become the 2020 Democratic nominee. While the progressive left grieves the disappointment of Elizabeth Warren’s exit and Bernie’s departure to come, it’s crucial that we give Joe a chance. After all, Joe Biden would be the most progressive Democratic nominee in history.

Joe Biden’s 2020 platform is far more progressive than the Obama platform he campaigned on 12 years ago. Even Hillary Clinton’s 2016 platform seems archaic compared to the ideas Biden is proposing. The working class will benefit greatly from a Biden Administration. He supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15, getting rid of abusive non-compete clauses, removing rules in contracts that prevent employees from discussing pay with each other, and banning companies from identifying low wage workers as “managers” to deny them overtime pay. Beyond our borders, Joe advocates new international trade rules that “protect our workers, safeguard the environment, uphold labor standards and middle-class wages, foster innovation, and take on big global challenges like corporate concentration, corruption, and climate change.” To list just some of the most progressive aspects of his platform:

Raise top corporate income tax rate to 28% (from 21%)

Elizabeth Warren’s bankruptcy plan

Expand the Affordable Care Act to insure more than an estimated 97% of Americans

Bernie’s “college-for-all” bill

Ensure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050

The point being: Joe is not your grandfather’s “moderate.” He has proposed a series of very progressive policies even Barack Obama wouldn't co-sign as President.

Joe Biden’s extraordinary comeback and consolidation of the Democratic base is a reflection of his broad appeal. Many incumbent Democrats, along with new Democratic hopefuls, are running highly competitive races in purple districts. With Biden at the top of the ticket, they don’t have to distance themselves from socialism or contrast themselves from their party leader. The Blue Wave of 2018 that replaced Paul Ryan with Nancy Pelosi was won by Democrats in the same “moderate” lane as Joe Biden. While Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Mayor Pete, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, and Beto have their unique differences, they (and their supporters) all have an ally in Joe. The Biden campaign does not pose the risk of appearing ideologically extreme, so the coattail effect will work to their benefit.

(Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Bernie’s argument was that he will bring in a new coalition that usually stays home on Election Day. Over the past month, the primaries have given Bernie Sanders ample opportunity test his theory and allow Democratic voters to decide whom they were willing to get behind. Bernie Sanders did not supply the historic turnout he promised. Bernie himself said the nomination should go to the candidate with the plurality of pledged delegates going into the Convention, since that number represents the strongest coalition to compete with the Republicans in November. At the time he said that, before key swing states states had cast their ballots, a Sanders plurality seemed plausible. Joe Biden’s sweeping victories and continued momentum since then has changed the likelihood of that outcome dramatically.

The next president will be decided by two overlapping constituencies: black voters across the board and suburban voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. They have spoken, and they’re ridin’ with Biden. This election is a race to 270 electoral votes, a House majority, and a Senate majority. At the end of the day, politics is for power. Joe Biden with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate will secure more victories for progressive causes than Donald Trump with Republican majorities. This is the Democratic primary and the Democratic party has spoken through the democratic process. Joe Biden is our guy.