"The one real progressive in the race got ignored, shouldered aside, and eventually dumped."

Yep. The machine didn't approve of him. People like that have virtually no chance at all of becoming a party's official presidential candidate, because they are anathema to the system...and the media will not give them fair or equal coverage. They will be ignored, laughed at, and censored...as was the case with Kucinich. The system is right now pouring many millions of dollars into an effort in Cleveland to make sure he does not get elected to Congress again. He was quite an embarassment to the system's election process during the past year, so they've decided he's got to go.