As I write this the polls in New Hampshire have been closed for 2 1/2 hours. There will probably be more to write tomorrow morning, but I wanted to share my thoughts tonight.

Every four years political parties choose their candidates but in reality only two parties really matter: Democrats and Republicans.

Clearly the Republicans will nominate President Trump and frankly I feel no need to cover his campaign, only because it’s a fait accompli.

But the Democratic field doesn’t give us a path forward. Months ago we expected that Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would dominate.

Bernie has done well in both Iowa and New Hampshire but I think many of us were surprised by the poor showing of Joe and Elizabeth. And I’ve been pleased by the success of Pete Buttigieg.

Pete has limited political experience and he’s openly gay and I recognize that many Americans don’t see him as a viable candidate. But I do. As a moderate Democrat I don’t want us to become socialist and I don’t want a revolution. I just want someone who will reverse the damage of the current administration and give us a path forward to care about the young, the elderly, the poor, and the sick. I want someone that knows we were all once young, we (hopefully) will all be elderly, we may someday be poor, and we will all be sick.

Tonight we learned that Democratic candidates Andrew Yang and Michael Bennet have suspended their campaigns. It’s not a surprise and I’ve been waiting for them and others to suspend their campaigns. For those of us who haven’t voted it’s hard to see the candidates we support drop out, but that’s what happens.

As a Californian I recognize that Nevada and South Carolina will make their choices before I can but I hope that my ballot on March 3rd will give me viable candidates I can support.