Okay, so my politics have swung like a pendulum since reaching adulthood back in 2008. I voted socialist in my first presidential election. In 2012 I voted Libertarian. In 2016 I held my nose and voted Hillary, and then did so again in 2018 with the state-level Dems.

As it stands today, I am what the media derisively refers to as a "Bernie Bro" (I prefer Bernard Brother, thank you very much). In actuality, Bernie is the compromise candidate I, and many others on the left, were offering to the Democrats. He was our olive branch to the Establishment that would work towards the bare minimum of what we want. Instead, the DNC and many older voters moved heaven and earth to make sure Joe Biden got the nomination instead. As a result, a LOT on the left have already said they will not vote in November.

As of now, the Biden Brigade on social media has spent an inordinate amount of time scolding and shaming every Sanders supporter they can find, telling us that we need to vote for the candidate that has REPEATEDLY gone on record as being completely opposed to everything we want, and who has explicitly prioritized the interests of the billionaire donor class. "If you don't vote for Biden, you're voting for Trump!" they sneer, "If Trump wins a second term, it's YOUR fault!"

It does not have to be this way.

Here's the thing: It is possible for Joe to earn some of the progressive vote, and Joe's sure as Hell gonna need it if he wants to win. Right now he and his supporters are banking on Republicans crossing over, but partisan inertia is gonna suck them back into place just as it did in 2016. Best case scenario is a very narrow Biden win by no more than a couple points.

So to all the Biden supporters huddled around telling each other that us Bernard Brothers are unreasonable and can't be negotiated with, I'm gonna make a pitch to you. Below is a non-exhaustive list of things that Joe Biden and/or his campaign could offer to us. I'm going to be low-balling. These all fall WAY short of what I - a democratic socialist - want. But if Joe tackles even a few items on this list, then I won't feel as awful checking his box.

1. Authorize the release of his Senate records kept at the University of Delaware. <- This is the only one that is pretty much mandatory. You know which documents I'm talking about, Joe.

2. Commit to converting Medicare into a public option, and lay regulatory groundwork towards standardizing insurance billing and reigning in pharmaceutical price gouging.

3. Expand student debt forgiveness, and commit to exploring ways to reign in price inflation in higher ed.

4. Extensive aid packages to assist and develop rural communities.

5. Copyright and patent law reform.

6. Propose a carbon tax.

7. Repeal FOSTA-SESTA.

8. Expanding housing vouchers.

9. Increased funding for Amtrak, and revive the high speed rail proposal. <- Given Joe is a hardcore railfan, this one's probably the most realistic.

10. Repeal Trump's tax cuts, remove as many of his appointees as possible.

11. Open a dialogue with civil rights groups to address the issue of police brutality and race relations in the US.

12. End the War on Terror.

13. End the War on Drugs.

14. Increase Social Security and SSDI benefits.

15. Commit to a living minimum wage indexed to inflation.

16. Appoint Bernie Sanders to the cabinet. <- Preferably HHS or HUD.

17. Balance the ticket leftward by selecting a progressive running mate. <- Elizabeth Warren and Stacey Abrams would both be acceptable, even if they're not preferable.

18. Commit to abolishing private prisons.

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, presented in no particular order aside from as they came to me off the top of my head. The bottom line is that if Joe agreed to even just a couple of the things on this list (plus #1, of course), I and many other progressive-to-socialist voters would vote for him. Sadly, I will not be holding my breath that he does any of this.