Many of the Democratic candidates are fairly new exponents of the ideas Mr. Sanders has consistently championed and refined for decades. I’m grateful most of them are espousing the fundamental fairness of our American-made homegrown version of democratic socialism, some more credibly than others. But Senator Sanders has advocated and defended his positions in argument after argument in Senate chambers and back rooms, in local town halls and on the national stage. He has refocused the national discussion. We face daily increasing, historically high inequalities of wealth and power that threaten our existence as a government by, of and for the people and the very survival of our planet. We need a strong unwavering advocate, not a less tested “fresher package” who may well talk the talk but hasn’t yet walked the walk. Senator Sanders is our best and strongest hope to uncompromisingly slam the brakes on our suicidal downward slide.