I tell you, Bernie Sanders may not be running as a Democrat, but at the DNC this week he played the loyal party soldier to the hilt. In his Tuesday speech, he devoted about half his 12 minutes to praising the Biden-Harris administration, quickly ran through his Greatest Hits (to a lukewarm reaction from the crowd, more on that later), and called for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East without mentioning Israel, Gaza, or Netanyahu, or uttering a single word of criticism for American policy.

But the biggest tell of all: After his customary slams at “the billionaire class,” his calls to “get big money out of our political process” and his bemoaning of “billionaires in both parties” being “able to buy elections, including primary elections,” Bernie was followed to the stage by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is not only a billionaire, but looks like what a 6-year-old thinks a billionaire looks like. I mean, just add a top hat, vest, and gold pocket watch, and he’d look right at home in a Thomas Nast cartoon. Take away the hair and you’ve literally got the Marvel supervillain Kingpin.

And for what must have been the first time ever at a Democratic convention, Pritzker got applause by boasting of being “an actual billionaire.” You want to talk big money buying elections, Bernie? Pritzker bought himself the top job in Illinois by pouring $323 million into his two campaigns for governor.

The speakers list at major party conventions is a carefully curated thing, calculated to send messages and evoke feelings and impressions in the audience. They knew exactly what they were doing when they put Pritzker after Sanders. Hell, Bernie knew exactly what he was doing when he slammed billionaires buying elections — and Pritzker knew what he was doing when he implicitly dismissed Bernie’s rhetoric.

It may have been Bernie’s last turn in the spotlight. At age 82, is he ever going to give another speech to an entire political party — let alone a TV audience of 20 million-plus? Unlikely. And In the grand tradition of a pro wrestler on the cusp of retirement, Bernie did the business — he let himself lose for the good of the promotion.

I’m not upset about it, not at all. It was the right thing to do.

The convention was aimed at two audiences, neither of which bear any resemblance to a Sanders Institute gathering. There was the crowd in the United Center, which was made up of party loyalists and delegates pledged to Joe Biden. (Hence the muted reaction.) They wanted to ride the wave of Harris-Walz momentum. They wanted to feel good about themselves, their party, and their election prospects. They were in no mood to be scolded or pushed, and they barely reacted to Bernie’s customary applause lines. Hell, Pritzker got a bigger pop for flaunting his wealth than Bernie did for slamming the Pritzkers of the world.

Then there was the TV audience — and specifically the independents and undecideds, those who may have never laid eyes on — or even heard of — Kamala Harris or Tim Walz. This was the Democrats’ chance at center stage. They gave plenty of podium time to their impressively diverse ranks, but the talk was All-American, freedom, patriotism, even football thanks to Coach Walz.

At the risk of overstatement — and maybe I’m missing something — but this is the first time since JFK in 1960 that the Democratic Party made a case for itself as more authentically American than the Republicans. Now, I’m not big on overt displays of patriotism and I’ve had more than my fill of Democrats sacrificing their ideals on the altar of centrism, but in the year of our Lord 2024 I find this both appealing and reassuring.

Thanks to the myriad offenses and undeniable ick factor of Donald Trump, patriotism is ripe for reclamation. Harris and Walz have tied it, not to aggressive militarism or law ‘n order, but to core Democratic values. In a believable, logically consistent package. It’s still early, and we’re barely a month removed from Biden clinging onto power and trailing badly in the polls, so who knows what this race will turn into. But for now, it’s all good.

Trump and the Republicans have been pushing hard on the Overton window for years. The radicalism of today’s GOP means that the Democrats, even if they’re tacking toward the middle, are the clear choice. The only acceptable choice. We don’t really know what policies a Harris administration would prioritize. We do know that it would be worlds — galaxies — better than the alternative.

Bernie knows this. That’s why he graciously took an Atomic Drop from the politician fated to win a hypothetical Yokozuna Lookalike Contest.