Welcome to The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin Magazine.

My name is Daniel Denver, and I'm currently broadcasting from my friend's walk-in closet in New Orleans in the midst of my book tour.

These are difficult weeks. Something so incredible seemed to be in our hands, but now feels like

it's slipping away. I spent countless hours since New Hampshire, helping to mobilize canvassers in Massachusetts,

hoping that a big win there would drive Elizabeth Warren from the race.

Indeed, I hoped that running up our poll numbers before Super Tuesday might even force Warren

to drop out ahead of Super Tuesday. After all, what sort of politician

would risk losing their home state, particularly a politician like Warren, who already suffers

from mediocre approval ratings and represents a state with a propensity to elect moderate Republicans.

But Warren stayed in harming a left candidate with a movement behind him and a real shot.

And then, when she finally did drop out, she refused to endorse.

For that reason, Warren will forever be remembered on the left as a destructive figure.

This is no knock on Warren voters.

The politics of voter scolding deplorables is bad politics. I want to win voters over. That's the point. But the politicians who those voters support and their high-profile supporters are entirely fair game for criticism. That's what politics is about. But while criticism is

fair game and maybe even cathartic, my point in discussing Warren here is practical. I've long

believed that best case short term, the Sanders Socialist Left, must govern in

coalition with the Liberal Left represented by Warren.

We on the Socialist Left don't have the power to govern on our own, not even close.

This situation, though, is clarifying. What we have learned is that many progressive liberals

will stand with the establishment when confronted with a movement that demands transformative

change. That's not a good thing. It's bad. But it does clarify the magnitude of power

that the left must build.

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