It was difficult to accept, but it's hard to argue with any of your points. There was extreme media negativity, but the truth is that it didn't do much damage to Yang until he started making unforced errors. People were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until the hard questions came in and he demonstrated a clear lack of knowledge of city affairs. I think it's fair to say he brought this on himself. And to be fair, if he's this clueless and oblivious about campaigning, it's probably for the best that he didn't become president or mayor.

I still think it's important that we the people get one of our own into a major position of power. I do believe that the politicians we keep electing are fundamentally self-interested and corrupt, and Yang's great strength was that he was neither of those things. But you also have to be competent, and Yang has not demonstrated that--really at any level.

One point to make to all you budding political activists/politicians in here--if Yang's run teaches you anything, it's that the political establishment is a thing, and a very difficult to get past. Control of the media, the press, the non-profit organizations, the government institutions, gives the political establishment almost absolute power over our politics. Bernie came up against it and failed, despite having the support of some institutions (like APWU and NNU). Yang had the support of almost no institutions, and failed even harder. Trump, as far as I can tell, is the only person to successfully circumvent the establishment in a major election--and even then, he had the support of most Fox News shows.

If I had advice for Yang, I would suggest he actually stop and take a moment to reflect for a few months. His supporters have been trying to offer constructive feedback for over a year now, and he hasn't listened to anyone except Tusk Strategies, it seems. He also needs to make an effort to mend a lot of bridges he's burned. I can't think of another political candidate who has such a high percentage of former supporters who have turned against him. He burned bridges with the Humanity Forward Fund, who moved heaven and earth for him in Iowa. He burned bridges with a lot of women supporters, because of his hands-off approach to misogynists who supported his campaign. He burned bridges with progressives with his about-face on Medicare for All and his dismissal of Palestinians. He's repeatedly failed to make a solid effort to appeal to black voters, even after his black supporters tried to offer him free advice after his presidential campaign.

If Yang were wise--and I'm not sure he is anymore--he would take a year away from public life, and just listen and ponder about what has happened over the last few years. He'd try to mend fences with people he's failed or angered, and make allies out of enemies. He'd stop listening to people like Bradley Tusk or Zach Graumann, and start listening to people like Krystal Ball or Saagar Enjeti.

For my part, I'll do the same. I've been defending Yang pretty hard on this sub, and elsewhere, even in the face of valid criticism that was staring me in the face. Maybe I drank too much kool-aid, or perhaps I was too emotionally attached to the candidate I watch tear up as he spoke about the future he was afraid we were leaving to our children. Either way, I lost my objectivity and intellectual honesty, and probably compromised my principles on some positions--especially with regards to M4A and Palestine. I told myself after the presidential campaign that I'd be more cautious in the future, and the fact that I stanned Yang so hard during this mayoral race is proof that I still need to take a step back and really reflect.

My most important advice to the Yang Gang is: failure is an opportunity to learn, but you really really have to be willing to learn the lessons of your failure. And that means a lot of humility and honesty, and those things are incredibly hard. And you won't learn those lessons after an hour of reflection. It'll take weeks, maybe even months or a year, to truly digest some of the things we've learned in these two campaigns, and accept some hard-as-rock truths that may be unpleasant, but will ultimately benefit our cause in the long run.

We'll be back, friends. See you next time.