Democrats have a really bad habit of shooting themselves in the foot. 2016 was a disaster they weren't prepared for. This year, they let a bunch of millenials scare them to death by the use of two words: "democratic socialists". Prior to their group coming along, Bernie Sanders had identified himself correctly as a "social democrat" rather than a "Democratic Socialist." This year, he wanted "in" with the "in crowd" and began describing himself as a Democratic Socialist. Two different things, and his choosing to go with the "in crowd" of freshmen congresswomen who he believed would bring out the vote for him was a big mistake. It left him open to the Fear card, and moderate and right of center Dems had a field day with it.

That's too bad, because I agree with Bernie on most issues and think he'd end a lot of the arbitrary and discriminatory policies of our government, both in the criminal justice system and the education system. On the other hand, I also think he's too old to run for President.

Policy change in America moves at snail speed. I began writing TalkLeft in 2002 -- 18 years ago, urging changes every day in our criminal justice system and advocating for candidates I thought were most likely to be receptive to those changes. Not surprisingly, almost every one of the laws I opposed on TalkLeft was written or driven to passage by Joe Biden.

There were no reforms under Bush, and a small number by Obama (reducing the crack powder disparity from 100:1 to 18:1 is his biggest change, but really, it should be 1:1 and all mandatory minimum sentences should have been repealed).

In my opinion, this year brought the most uninspiring group of Democratic contenders in recent memory. Not a single one had the charisma needed to win a presidential election. There wasn't one I could get excited about (except maybe Julian Castro).

I put the Democrats' failure this year to nominate a unifying, inspiring, charismatic, non-geriatric candidate that Americans of all age groups can relate to squarely on the Democrats.

I don't believe Biden will bring out the numbers of voters needed to beat Donald Trump. If this country ends up with another four years of Donald Trump, Americans should hang their head in shame. Trump never have been granted a desk in the oval office. He's done nothing to earn it, he's not competent and he doesn't tell the truth. He's always been the carnival barker. In 2016, all he had to do to win was yell "Hillary's e-mail". In 2020, he'll be doing more of the same kind of tactics. He's already started, with approval from his party.

The Democrats had three years to prepare for this moment by figuring out how to effectively counter the reality TV show Trump runs from the White House. They had three years to craft an appeal to his underinformed, margainalized angry rural base. They had three years to convince America's uber-rich industry leaders that Trump was not reliable enough to pin their economic futures on him.

Unfortunately, Dems failed. We get the government we elect, and with an uninspiring, way-past retirement age crime warrior on the one hand and the carnival barker on the other, there's only the Dems to blame if the carnival barker prevails.

I'm not going to continue to vilify Joe Biden now that he has seems to have the nomination in hand. I want Trump to be gone just like everyone else. Once he actually is the nominee, I plan to only write about the consequences of re-electing Trump and the need for a Democrat-led Senate and House. But if you ask me if I will vote for Biden, the answer is a resolute "no." I will vote down-ticket only. I won't suggest anyone else follow my lead. I won't continue to make the case against Biden. But for me, voting for Biden after writing so many posts over the years about the awful crime bills he introduced or co-sponsopred and pushed through the Senate would make me a hypocrite. I don't feel the need to vote for the lesser of two bad choices when I oppose both candidates so intensely.If Biden doesn't topple Trump, I will feel sorry for America, but again, it's the Dems who will own the failure.