Bernie’s list of 5.2 Million donors and activists, which has freely given $189 Million dollars in tiny donations, is the Holy Grail for the DNC and non-profits across the nation according to the Politico article, The desperate scramble for Bernie's secret weapon by Gabriel Debenedetti and Darren Samuelsohn.
Bernie Sanders shows no sign of dropping out of the presidential race anytime soon, but the vultures are already circling over his email list — perhaps the most coveted and valuable catalog of potential voters and donors in the Democratic Party at the moment.
The slathering over this Mother Lode of a List is illustrative of the profound misunderstanding of the nature of the Political Revolution that Senator Sanders’ presidential candidacy has launched by those who appear to be so out of touch with the American people that they persist in their belief that 2016 is just another election, unremarkable and subject to ordinary forces.
“There’s this view among the Washington consultant class that these members are an ATM and you throw some words at them and they’ll give you money no matter what,” said Neil Sroka, a former Obama 2008 campaign aide now working as communications director of Democracy For America, which has endorsed Sanders. “Everyone in the Democratic Party is going to want Bernie Sanders’ seal of approval and a chance to share their message with the people on his email list.”
The most cognitively dissonant belief is that the Clinton Team could squeeze any benefit from The List of young liberals--”the group she’s struggled to reach for months”. In the unlikely event that Team Clinton did get access to the list and sent out an email soliciting donations, the resultant unsubscribe tsunami might just break the internet.
The second most cognitively dissonant belief is that this list can be purchased from the one candidate in this election who has run with the slogan NOT FOR SALE. No amount of money or influence peddling will move Bernie to sell us out.
Who are these 5.2 Million people who have such an outsize influence that political operatives are salivating over? Perhaps this Gallup poll gives us a clue to their makeup.
Gallup Poll of the makeup of the Democratic Party, demonstrating a significant downward trend in conservatives and moderates and an upswing in liberal adherents.Is the Democratic Party leadership willing to exclude this burgeoning progressive wing of the party? Secretary Clinton may win the nomination; however, Senator Sanders owns the future of the party because of his overwhelming support from the youth of this nation. The DNC may be temporarily powerful; however, they cannot make themselves immortal nor can they change the minds of youth who view climate change, income inequality, and corporate control of politics as anathema to a real democracy.
A Future To Believe In.Despite the ravening coveting of The List on the part of the DNC leadership and other actors, Senator Sanders is committed to continuing his race to allow the democratic primary process to play out so that every single voter who wants to cast their ballot--not just for him but for the progressive platform he represents—has a chance to be heard. There is power in that.
Some Sanders backers have higher ambitions for the list and cringe at the idea some of their fellow Democrats are eyeing it in pure dollars-and-cents terms.
Erich Pica, head of Friends of the Earth Action, said such partisans don’t “understand what Bernie is creating, nor do they value, I think, the deep activist commitment that the Sanders campaign has been able to organize over the last year."
“It’d be a shame if the list and fundraising capacity was used for the short-term transactional nature of presidential politics,” he added. “There’s something greater there that needs to be used for generational change."
Even if Senator Sanders is not the Democratic nominee, he is not going away. Even if our candidate is not elected as the party nominee, we are not going away. There is clearly a generational change afoot that will not be going away.One thing that Washington DC respects is power and influence. The List and the Political Revolution that it represents are powerful and will be a player. Whatever Senator Sanders eventually decides to do with The List, it and the political revolution it represents will be around long after the election of 2016.
#NotMeUs