Brendon, Dr. Stein’s offer to step aside for Bernie reinforced the male chauvinistic attitude that women should relinquish positions of power and curtail their own ambitions in favor of men. While this move may have been a calculated effort to curry favor with Bernie’s primarily male supporters, her actions were detrimental to the cause of advancing gender equality.

Thought experiment: Would Ralph Nader ever under any circumstances have deferred the Green Party nomination to a Bernie-esque populist candidate? It’s difficult to imagine a man setting aside his ambitions for another man. Therein lies the problem.