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[JDPriestly]

14. Nothing is certain. Democrats should not count on Hillary.

Bernie will make a great president.

She ran in 2008. Everyone thought she was a shoo-in. She made a mess of her candidacy.

Why should it be different this time?

Hillary gets good poll numbers because everyone thinks of her as "the" Democrat. The country wants a Democratic president.

Wait and see what happens in the primary and in the debates.

Bernie is steady. He is on the side of ordinary working people.

I went to a meeting this weekend, a retreat. I saw a number of my old friends. These are folks now in their 50s and 60s. (I am older.) Their lives were ruined by the 2008 bank crisis. Lost homes. Lost jobs. Lost businesses. And now, lost marriages in several cases. All of them blame themselves. I don't. I blame the banks.

The bankers have not been called to answer. They were bailed out. My friends made fewer mistakes than the bankers did. My friends were not bailed out.

There are millions of Americans like my friends. (I have been luckier than they so this post is not about me. It is about people I care about.)

Bernie has a message of hope for them. He believes in protecting Social Security and Medicare and creating jobs by repairing and rebuilding our infratstructure.

And, by the way, Bernie voted against war in Iraq, not once but twice. Bernie is clear in his opposition to the TPP and other similar trade agreements. Bernie supports single payer healthcare. Bernie supports a small tax per trade on certain Wall Street transactions. Bernie opposes the NSA collection of data on all Americans as it is being done as well as other violations of our privacy and civil rights. Bernie has strongly supported racial equality, gender equality and same sex marriage and human rights.

Bernie's views on the issues are my views.

Bernie's views on the issues are the views of a lot of Americans.

Hillary voted for the Iraq War Resolution. Where she stands on other issues we do not yet know?

She is supporting gay marriage and civil rights. She and Bill were in the White House as union membership remained low and our economy went into a boom that was destined to bust.

We need a president with better judgment that the Republicans and better judgment than the third-way Democrats like Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Maybe we Democrats will this once choose Sanders and set our country on a good path. Maybe not. But I hope we will.

We have nothing to gain by endorsing Hillary early in the campaign. She may or may not be the strongest candidate at this time. I don't think she is. There are a lot of problems with her life, her views and her candidacy.