The metamorphosis of the Sanders campaign into a sustained movement is underway, and has been quietly building for more than a month. I hope it’s successful in building on the campaign’s momentum of Bernie’s campaign to promote the issues he championed and to get the pernicious influence of big money out of our politics.
By John Cassidy
Sanders had a point. As I’ve noted before, he has expanded the political space and put issues like inequality and political capture front and center. He isn’t just another Democratic politician—he is the tribune of a progressive movement that emerged from the antiwar demonstrations, the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon, the nationwide effort to boost the minimum wage, the outrage over the Citizens United ruling, and the general disenchantment with money politics. When Elizabeth Warren declined to enter the Presidential race, Sanders stepped in, running an insurgent campaign that conveyed a clear message and relied on small donations—more than eight million of them. “We showed the world that we could run a strong national campaign without being dependent on the big-money interests whose greed has done so much to damage our country,” Sanders pointed out.
Even establishment Democrats concede that Sanders ran an impressive campaign, forcing Clinton to move left on issues like trade, Social Security, and the Keystone pipeline. But what now? The primary season ended last week.
Some progressives like Ben Cohen (a Sanders supporter) are suggesting that Bernie should shift his focus to the upcoming congressional primaries.
Progressives want Sanders to remain force in congressional primaries
By Ben Kamisar
Ben Cohen, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream maven-turned-progressive advocate and Sanders supporter, told The Hill that Sanders was “excited” about the prospect of continuing to campaign for progressive candidates when the topic came up during a Vermont meeting with his inner circle last week.
“There’s a very conscious realization that this movement needs to encompass local elections and state elections. We essentially need to build the farm team in local and state elections,” he said.
“He’s already begun that broad-based national campaign on the congressional levels by throwing his support to these various candidates.”
Sanders supporters are gathering in Chicago to chart a path foweard.
Bernie Sanders Die-Hards Gather and Try to Look Past November
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR
Mr. Sanders’s advisers say that before he throws his support behind Mrs. Clinton, he is seeking assurances that she and the Democratic Party will embrace some of his ideas. Much of his speech was devoted to urging his followers to continue fighting for causes like universal health care, free public college and an end to fracking, regardless of who wins the general election in November.
That happened to be the theme of the gathering this weekend, which was called “The People’s Summit” and drew thousands of people to McCormick Place, a large conference center in Chicago. Against a backdrop of Twister games, Lego sculptures and beanbag throwing contests, they talked about pushing progressive ideals.
The event, which was organized by National Nurses United, a labor union that campaigned heavily for Mr. Sanders, featured discussions about how to encourage like-minded people to run for local offices and to push groups to work together on issues like racial justice, income inequality and electoral changes.
Sanders Supporters Seek Ways to Keep ‘Bernie’ Movement Alive
By PETER NICHOLAS
A theme of the conference is that the movement that propelled Mr. Sanders doesn’t need him to endure. The victories he notched in 23 contests demonstrate a public appetite for the liberal solutions he put forward, participants said. A new goal, they said, is finding a fresh crop of candidates who will push for the policy changes Mr. Sanders championed, including a government-run health-care system and free tuition at public colleges.
Mr. Sanders shares that aim. In his online address on Thursday, he urged his supporters to run for elective office and reverse a tide of Republican victories at the state and local level. His campaign said that within 24 hours of the speech nearly 7,000 people signed up on his website to get more information.
If anything, the conference-goers see the Democratic Party as an obstacle to the sort of candidate recruitment they believe necessary. Many would like to see a new party emerge, believing the Democratic Party structure is incapable of closing the gap between rich and poor or raising wages.
Mr. Sanders, too, wants changes in the way the party does business...
Some here advocate that the Democratic Party take a punitive approach to Bernie Sanders both at the convention and subsequently in the Senate. That isn’t going to happen. So it high time give all of those ugly vindictive fantasies a rest.
Sanders Doesn't Have to Grovel to Get a Big Convention Speech
By Ed Kilgore
Now it’s reasonably well-known that it’s difficult to get a Thursday night prime-time convention speech if you are fighting the putative nominee tooth and nail on Wednesday. But no one really thinks Sanders is going to be doing that. And even if he withheld a formal endorsement to the last minute, it’s not like convention schedulers are the prisoners of earlier decisions. At the Democratic Convention in 1988, a host of party poohbahs, including future presidential nominee John Kerry, were bumped from the schedule so that Jesse Jackson could endorse Michael Dukakis before prime time ended. If Bernie is willing to say the right things at the right time, he can take his sweet time making the commitment to say them.
The truth is that Clinton needs Sanders more than Sanders needs Clinton. If he’s willing to make a robust speech for HRC in Philadelphia, he will be conveyed to the podium in golden chariots or perhaps a litter carried by Goldman Sachs partners. And if a few powerful Democratic governors or Members of Congress get bumped from the schedule to make way for the vanquished candidate, that’s how the cookie un-crumbles.
Those who think now is not the time to incorporate some of the ideas the Sanders campaign is putting forward into the party’s platform, and make some reforms to the way the party does business, need to be cognizant of the probability that many of the young activists advancing these goals represent the future of our party. We shouldn’t dismiss them to run up the score of a winning team, we should welcome them with open arms. Who knows, one of these young activists might be running for President 20 years from now.
Our party’s future?