Brainwrap wrote a piece on Christmas worrying about a young Sanders fan he met who was lost even on some basics about how our political system works. It prompted a long comment from me, which I decided to repost as my first diary:
I'll get to the young man you helped out, but it will make more sense if I start with your quoting onislandtime's good explanation of why you prefer Clinton: "If I were hiring an inspirational speaker, I'd hire Bernie. I'm hiring an executive who will have to work in a hostile environment, so I am hiring Hillary." I think both qualities are invaluable in a president, but more importantly, I think Sanders is better qualified than Clinton to work with a difficult Congress. Not because he knows "where all the bodies are" (although he has been in Congress longer than Clinton, so you could argue he even has an advantage there). Effectively navigating the "sausage-making" process as you describe it is important, but only to the degree that we have business as usual. That stuff will inevitably be part of the process, but I think...
Sanders has a better chance of getting things done in a hostile Congress because central to his campaign is its advocacy for what he is constantly referring to as a "political revolution." What he means by this isn’t anything new in politics, or in America. It's just a term he's using for what we all have seen or at least read about, as peak moments for the social and political movements that have risen and fallen and evolved over the centuries — or really, millennia!
In this town hall from December 23, Sanders acknowledges the power of such movements in general and in the past, and calls out today's movement for a $15 minimum wage as one that has created the space for politicians to talk about and begin effecting a change that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. We can all feel it now — a raise in the federal minimum wage has finally become a downhill battle. It will still require a lot of hard work, but the only role that "sausage-making" will have is as part of the haggling over how big the raise will be, and making sure it is indexed to inflation. (So that we don't have to mobilize a whole @*#! movement again on this particular issue!)
In another Iowa town hall back in October, Sanders talked a bit about what he will do to support such movements, such as telling Congress they are negotiating with us, not him, and making good use of the bully pulpit to bring our attention to key moments. He also gives some examples of what movements can do to hold Congress accountable, such as getting a million people coming to Washington, D.C. to press for tuition-free colleges, and organizing to vote the bums out in 2018 if necessary.
So, given Sanders' focus on getting more people involved, of course — as you found with your new political convert — a lot of Sanders’ supporters will not necessarily know how the system works. In fact, running into a lot of such folks is an incredibly positive sign! It means this strategy is working, at least so far as increasing involvement in electoral politics. This is great news no matter who you support! I already see people ask on /r/SandersForPresident asking how they can become a candidate, or find & support good candidates further down the ballot.
With follow-through from Sanders and more importantly the movement itself, a solid fraction of these newcomers will stay engaged between elections. And that will almost inevitably turn into a good bump in the 2018 mid-terms. Do I worry about follow-through? Yes. But given the energy I see among Sanders supporters, and the fact that this is a near-constant theme in his speeches, I am optimistic.
In any case, regardless of our presidential preferences, I imagine most if not all of us here believe that substantial change is difficult if not impossible without massive popular engagement. So I hope that Clinton (& O'Malley, Lessig, etc.) supporters can celebrate the Sanders campaign's massive success so far on this front, and will push their candidates to regularly acknowledge and call for such movements, and explain to us how they would support and work with our movements if they win the presidency.
P.S. The best response I can think of to running into someone who is excited but doesn’t know where to start is exactly what you did, helping them get oriented. So, thanks!