On yesterday’s episode of CSPAN’s Washington Journal, Bernie fielded a call which sounded like it had been misdirected from a suicide hotline. The caller began his question, “I just wanted to state sir, that, I don’t know… I really…I give up.” What follows is 90 seconds of Bernie trying to talk the guy (& the country) down from the ledge of hopelessness. Bernie invokes his children and grandchildren as reasons to continue the struggle despite recent setbacks such as the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can be treated as individuals in terms of campaign contributions. “This is tough stuff. It ain’t easy but giving up is not an option.” He sounds a bit like my middle school soccer coach on a rainy fall day but sometimes improbable optimism is just what we need from those who lead us.

Video below: