Megan and I both threw ourselves into the campaign.

We wrote this book because we think that Bernie has played this really singular role in transforming American politics.

And the fact that he lost sets the left back very significantly.

It is much worse to have lost than to have won.

But there's this kind of thinking that's emerged on some sections of the left since

Bernie suspended his campaign that is like the only truly intellectually rigorous response

to this loss is to just engage in constant self-flagellation and just whenever anybody tries to say well actually

yes we did lose but also the left is in better shape than it's been in half a century we're like

no like all we can talk about is how devastated this movement was it was all tied up in bernie

Sanders and he lost and so now we have squandered any

opportunity that we have to make the kinds of political transformations that we all know that we

need in this country and I think that is both like it's kind of politically useless I mean it

just means that you should just sit around and wallow in your grief and never emerge from it

but it's also intellectually dishonest.

It is not actually taking stock of the change political landscape that we now occupy. If you were a socialist five years ago, as I was, you were completely isolated in American

life.

You had no toehold in mainstream politics.

There was no vibrant socialist movement for you to be a part of.

There were no electoral standard bearers who you could line up behind.

Somebody pointed out to me the other day that there was a Jacobin editorial from five or six years ago

that talked about being on the left, you know, talking about theory in a way that

was like very off-putting to people, you know, the socialists who are like out and proud about

...