Plenty of fodder here for the Bernie-haters to rejoice over.  

I just finished, and was distinctly unimpressed, with Crashing the Party, a short read by one of Bernie's key people in 2016.  It conveyed a contempt towards dealing with "technocratic" details over policy proposals, and nuance generally (you're either a Bernie supporter or an establishment/corporate Dem--there is no grey), and a penchant for score-settling even while denying as much and usually not mentioning names of individuals.  It was written at what felt like about a 2nd grade level.  It was embarrassingly insular and naive in failing to see any apparent legitimacy in any differences of viewpoint or actions coming out of the Clinton camp. 

Clearly it was not written for and with people like me in mind (admittedly probably very small in number), who are highly sympathetic to many parts of Sanders' project and to him even while maintaining criticisms and disagreements with his program and approach.  I thought the book was generally just very light on content and did not deliver on its implied promise to focus on where Sanders and the movement he has inspired goes from here, at anything more than a superficial level.  There is almost no evidence of reflection.  The one exception is an acknowledgement that the campaign might have done a better job, earlier in the process, of connecting with concerns of people of color.  That would be an understatement in my view.  From my standpoint the Sanders campaign had far more to say and advocate that would help address many of the major issues impacting people of color in our country than the Clinton campaign.      

I am, on the other hand, impressed by some (not all) of the fellows on the staff of the Sanders Institute.  Stephanie Kelton, notably, has real technical chops and the Sanders crowd really needs more such folks if they are going to maximize their influence over policy agendas and outcomes.  Not all of the pushback they get is from people hostile to the main outlines of their project.  Some of it reflects legitimate disagreements and sincere and completely appropriate questions, which they should be at pains to listen and respond to responsibly in lieu of just throwing rocks at people.  The best part of Crashing the Party was the introduction by Adolph Reed, whose work I am looking into more.

Bernie Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination in Vermont — but he won’t accept it if he wins. The move makes it virtually impossible for another Democrat to seek the party’s nod.

The famously independent senator... officially announced Monday that he would seek a third term in the Senate this fall. He also said that he’ll pull the same maneuver that he did in his 2006 and 2012 Senate races: Running as a Democrat, declining the nomination when he wins and then running as an independent.