The race is not to the swift, but that's the way the smart money bets.

For those of us who support Bernie and identify ourselves as Democratic Socialist or "very liberal," it is time for some contingency planning. Bernie's candidacy has always been a long shot. The "smart money" may bet on the long shot if the stakes are right, and they are. But the "smart money" also considers alternatives.

Bernie has said he intends to stay in the race until the convention. That's because his objectives were always larger than winning the nomination or the presidency, and that's why many of us support him. For the same reason, it is imperative that we support the Democratic Party nominee very strongly even if she is Hillary. The larger objectives of Bernie's campaign will not be advanced but undermined by opposition to the Democratic Party nominee, even passive "stay-at-home" opposition.

If we do not support the Democratic nominee, two things can happen, and both of them are bad.

First, the Republicans might win. I need not explain why that is bad.

Second, the nominee might win without our support. Now, there is a section of the Democratic Party that wants to dump the left, making the DP a centrist party. They think they can win without us, and they would rather win without us, for very rational reasons. As the political theorist William Riker observed years ago, it is better to win with 50.01% than to win with 70%, since if you win with 70%, the benefits of winning have to be divided more ways -- less per member of the winning party. For the nominee -- if not Bernie then Hillary -- to win without us would be a success for that tendency, a bad result for America.

Here then is my thought. If indeed Hillary wins, we should be out from the first with a strong (but of course critical) organization of Democratic Socialists for Hillary. Democratic Socialists of America have been committed for a couple of generations to supporting Democratic nominees, so no doubt they will this time around, but I am saying we need something new that would be committed to bringing Bernie supporters, Occupiers, and -- yes, by damn -- Black Lives Matter activists to support a Democratic nominee whatever doubts they may have about her.

It is unfortunate that, with the exception of New York State, third parties are not allowed to endorse the candidates of other (major) parties. A Democratic Socialist Party that would endorse the nominee of the national Democratic Party would allow the left to send an unambiguous message, and to make it clear to the national Democratic Party that they cannot win without the left. Perhaps those laws should be challenged -- after all, we Democratic Socialists are deprived of the opportunity to vote in the presidential election -- but that will not happen, so make no mistake: we must not only vote for the nominee of the Democratic Party, but support that person strongly and visibly as Democratic Socialists.