The sheepdogging started early

Four years ago, even after it was clear he wasn't going to win the nomination, Bernie Sanders waited until the Democratic National Convention to give a full public endorsement to Hillary Clinton. CNN noted there appeared to be little chemistry between the two. (That said, Black Agenda Report said in 2015 his entire campaign was an intentional sheepdog. See three paragraphs below.)

This year? Took him less than a week after leaving the race to endorse Biden. And, some Twitterati are saying there's more chemistry, which means that if anything, Bernie will be a MORE enthusiastic sheepdogger this time.

Of course, he wrote a book about the fine art of sheepdogging in 2017. (Note that the board of directors of Our Revolution is all people who will fall in line to sheepdog.)

That said, long before Bernie's sheepdogging double-dip, it was a fine Democratic art. Like Denny the Dwarf Kucinich. Or fake lefty Howard Dean. And before them, Jesse Jackson (who surely got some inner-city walking around money for it).

It happens outside Prez races, too. Team Indivisible sheepdogs, and was founded to sheepdog, for Dem Congresscritters.

And, with Bernie officially endorsing Biden, the "Bernie party protest" idea peddled by Socialist Alternative and Kshama Sawant, besides being hypocritical already yesterday, is DOA today. And the Democratic Socialist of America roses? Not endorsing Biden? Big whoop. Will you go beyond Bernie and call on people to Vote Green or not? Or sit on your hands? Or, more grudgingly, follow Bernie into the land of sheepdogs? (After that blog post of mine, last week, when Bernie "suspended" his campaign, Sawant and SA doubled down on the hypocrisy. (And the stupidity.)

Update: The sheepdogging has continued since then. When the New York Democratic Party cancelled the primary over coronavirus concerns, who sued? Andrew Yang, not Bernie Sanders.  Sanders later jumped on that bandwagon, but it was just Yang originally suing.

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But, sheepdogging isn't just a candidate issue. It's an opinion media issue, too.

The Nation will sheepdog for Biden, count on it. John Nichols, for example, has a history of DSA puff pieces but hates Greens. As does the mag in general.

Jacobin, which saluted the centennial of the Revolution 2.5 years ago, will nonetheless, albeit reluctantly, sheepdog. Dunno about a further left site like In These Times.

Aaron Maté, per his appearance on Jimmy Dore, is already sheepdogging. That's funny and hypocritical at the same time. I'll be checking the other allegedly outside the box stenos on Twitter in days and weeks ahead.