MY GRATITUDE IS AS DEEP AS THE SEA

God bless America, God bless the world.

6pm on Saturday was the deadline for filing as a Democrat running against Kamala Harris for the nomination for President. We did everything possible to stand for a blitz primary, an open convention and so forth. Yet the way the rules were made there truly was no way, Kamala’s momentum was in full swing, and all we could have done is create noise.

As I’ve made clear from the beginning, I was in the race to create fundamental change, yes – but not as a chaos agent or metaphorical bomb thrower. Things being what they are – including the fact that defeating Donald Trump has always been and continues to be the goal that most matters - it was time to let go.

To those of you who have contributed to my campaign – as a voter, volunteer, or donor -  I salute you and I thank you.

For years I’ve been intrigued by Gandhi’s message that “politics should be sacred.” On both my campaigns for President, I saw things that convinced me it could be that way: people entering the political conversation not only with their heads but with their hearts, not with anger but with love, willing to look beyond artificial divides, honoring the truths of our history, bringing the fullness of themselves to the process, and harnessing all those things for political purposes.

I saw it. I felt it. I know it’s possible.

Ultimately, of course, I did not build the campaign that could achieve it. Some of the responsibility for this lay with others; I never encountered the corruption and lack of ethics I saw lobbed against our campaign. But I take 100 percent responsibility for what we did and did not achieve; if I’d done this or not done that, been smarter here or savvier there, our ship still might have made it to harbor.

What matters most to me now, however, is not what we didn’t achieve but what we did achieve; and we achieved a lot. There were moments too numerous for me to describe where I know without a shadow of a doubt that we shed light in the darkness of confused minds, inspired hope in the spirit of hopeless citizens, and motivated people to get involved and stay involved until justice shall be done.

Staying involved is what I will do, and I’m sure you will as well. Anything we experience can be grist for the mill, and as we transition away from campaigning I will do everything possible to contribute as best I can to the emergence of a better world.

I believe most Americans feel as I do: that America can do better. And one day we will. We’re a nation in process, as we have always been. And while these are very turbulent times they are not without the seeds of a new beginning. Those seeds lay in our hearts, and they will bear fruit if we water and nourish them.

For those of you who are asking, “What should we do now?” the answer is to do whatever is in our hearts. What lies there is not mere symbolic power. For myself, the more I read about former President Trump’s proposed policies, the more I hear his words and ponder them in my heart, the more I believe our most urgent task now is to make sure he does not return to the White House. That conviction is what will determine my vote on election day.

That which brings likeminded people together in service to a more beautiful world is a significant bond of affection. For the honor shown me this last year by my supporters, my gratitude is as deep as the sea.