What a difference an endorsement can make.

Bernie Sanders said from the get-go that he would endorse whomever became the Democrat nominee. Promise made, promise kept. The trouble is that Hillary Clinton is not yet the Democratic Party’s choice. She’s still just the presumptive nominee.

She’s ahead in pledged delegates determined by the primary contest, having 2,205 to Sanders’s 1,846, but short of a needed majority of 2,383 to actually cinch a guaranteed victory. The 713 unelected so-called superdelegates remain officially unpledged, regardless of being repeatedly reported as having already committed to Clinton. No matter how well Sanders did, he was always behind the eight ball of a vast, and vastly misrepresented, superdelegate “endorsement.” Despite Hillary’s premature crowning by the mainstream media, from Iowa and New Hampshire onward, up or down, win or loose, state by state throughout the primary/caucus gauntlet, nothing is yet official.

There’s still been no collectively determining convention, no “rolling roll call” by state delegates. No actual vote has taken place regarding even pledged delegates, let alone the superdelegates’ privileged ability to ultimately decide whom the party hangs its hat on going up against Trump’s unpredictable run at the Oval Office.

Hillary Clinton was the establishment’s choice coming out of the starting gate against a small field of contenders thought of as no consequence and welcomed as trappings feigning an actual competitive race, a semblance of Democratic choice being alive and well. All was going as planned. The established order’s heir apparent, the status quo’s champion-in-waiting, was an all but done deal.

Then something funny happened on the way to the coronation. The peasants decided that they would actually challenge the grand design and rally behind someone whose agenda concerned something more visionary than party fealty and personal ambition. Rather than campaign venues carefully sized to appear crowded with faithful Clinton supporters, unexpected record breaking turnouts overflowed whatever events Sanders’s grassroots organization envisioned. Finally, the mainstream media couldn’t ignore what was being disseminated on social media. Hillary Clinton was being given a very excellent run for her money.

Campaigning on an agenda defiant of the big money influence welcomed by Clinton’s bid for the highest elected office, Sanders’s small individual contributors out-financed Hillary’s predominantly corporate war chest.

Ultimately, however, it remains a small group of Democratic leaders and elected officials that wield superdelegate control over the party’s final choice for its nominee to the general election.

Some might define that as an oligarchy, the very term Bernie Sanders has made synonymous with all that undermines our freedoms. Power held by the elite few dominating over the common good. The concentration of wealth into the hands of a rarefied privileged class that’s becoming an ever smaller percentage of the population. A rigged system that alienates and marginalizes, causing a third to one-half of the electorate to forgo participation.

One would think that in an election year where “oligarchy” has become a political dirty word to so many, especially those innocent to the game, the DNC might at least make some attempt to create the illusion of a truly inclusive participatory process instead of openly gaming the outcome they’ve bet upon. One would think they would magnanimously allow all players to continue in competition until the allotted time ran out, rather than insisting that one coach prematurely throw in the towel because any possible victory is held as statistically unlikely and trying of DNC patience.

Sanders’s supporters have invested much time, money and a great deal of idealism in bucking the system to forward a truly egalitarian vision of politics. The Democratic party process should be a fully democratic one, not a calculated charade of participatory governance.

Whether or not Hillary Clinton is ultimately victorious against Donald Trump doesn’t depend on the Democrats being in lockstep this week, or even next week, but truly unified heading into the general election battle this fall.

A legitimate nomination process, respectful of those whom created a groundswell of new activism within the party, would have given needed time and accommodation to those still hopeful of a David against Goliath victory over the DNC and the GOP.

Instead of truly honoring Sanders’s amazing achievement, and despite Sanders’s own claim that his revolution has created “the most progressive Democratic platform ever,” the party establishment has made as few concessions as possible. Standing next to Sanders as he capitulated to a preconvention endorsement, Hillary beamed and nodded at each of his many progressive talking points and specific solutions. Unfortunately, the actual platform only gives the nod to mostly half measures. $15 minimum wage? Conceded. Reining in of Wall St.? Somewhat. Opposition to fracking or the TPP? No way.

Those that so ardently Feel the Bern are now experiencing the slow burn. Instead of welcoming impassioned new blood, the DNC opts to risk permanent bad blood and defections to third party candidates.

Endorsements are all about sincerity and timing.

Sanders’s endorsement of Clinton has already made a great difference in increasing voter support for Jill Stein. “I’m With The Other Her” is a bumper sticker sentiment well worth considering.

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Gary Anderson lives in Bath.