As we move toward the 2016 presidential election, it is critical that those who embrace progressive values turn their energy to the defeat of Donald J. Trump. I know that millions of Americans who were inspired to support Senator Bernie Sanders are disappointed. But nothing is more important now than the defeat of Donald Trump. As we move forward into the future, the movement generated by Bernie Sanders must and will continue to shape American politics and American government. But, at the moment, it is time to take a deep breath and do what is truly essential for our nation.

I know well the feeling of disappointment and disaffection that many Sanders supports are now experiencing. In 1968, I was a passionate supporter of Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. I was crushed by the assassination of Senator Kennedy, by the horrendous police riots at the Democratic National Convention, and by the nomination of Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. Although Humphrey had a long track record as a liberal, particularly on civil rights, his association with and defense of Lyndon Johnson poisoned him in the eyes of my generation.

As a consequence, many Kennedy/McCarthy supporters, feeling bitter and disillusioned, sat out the 1968 presidential election. “Nixon v. Humphrey? Who gives a damn,” was a common refrain. That was a grievous mistake. Richard Nixon won the election by a razor-thin margin of less than one percent of the vote. Although he won the Electoral College by a slightly larger margin, a small shift in the popular vote in a handful of critical states would have given the election to Humphrey.

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