Political Life After Bernie: Where I was, Where I’ve Been, and Ideas for Moving Forward

Before Bernie Sanders’s campaign, I was essentially a social democrat. I wasn’t exactly fond of capitalism, but I couldn’t see life beyond it. I was so tied to the systems as they were formed that, like many people, I simply believed that we had to simply change some faces around within those institutions, and everything would be right as rain. I was very sympathetic towards the Democratic Party, and completely swallowed the narrative that they were the Thin Blue Line between us and Republican Hell. I voted for a straight Democrat ticket both times I voted, and I wasn’t happy about it, but I thought I also didn’t have much of a choice. When I did hear about Sanders in May of 2015, I brushed him aside as another Obama-like figure; someone who was all platitudes and words with nothing to back them up. Who cares?

In early August, though, I was bored and lurking around a forum I frequent. I still don’t remember why I decided to check out the Bernie thread. Perhaps it was because it was so long, and so well-liked. There must’ve been something to it! As I soon learned, there was in fact quite a lot to it. The people there were mostly very nice, the atmosphere was light and relaxed, and people were all united to help this long-shot of a political candidate out, even if he lost the first two states and dropped out. Who cares? We’re having fun! That attitude was what drew my interest, but what sealed the deal for me was two videos I found on Youtube: the first one was a rally in Madison, Wisconsin. I had never actually heard Bernie speak before, and was surprised and amused to hear that Brooklyn accent come out of him. He sounded almost like an old guy I’d come across walking down the street in Rhode Island (even if the accents do have their differences), and admittedly that was a kind of comfort. Along with that, it was just fantastic to hear him rip into Scott Walker. I’d never heard a politician call someone out like that and actually sound sincere about it.

That video was great, but the one that really signed me onto Bernie and his campaign was a video of a speech he made in 1985 in a display of solidarity with Nicaragua and the Sandinistas (through a “sister city” program). Here was this guy with ridiculously foofy hair and clothes that hung off of him, with a Brooklyn accent so thick you could cut it, making an impassioned speech against US Imperialism and militarism. When you transcribe it — which I did — it seems very rambly and a little disjointed, but when you hear it, something happens. His delivery had a near-theatrical quality to it, even in its imperfections, and you could tell just how angry and frustrated he was at our government and its priorities. It was that video that made me believe that this was a guy who meant business. I hopped entirely on board.

As I followed the campaign closely, I quickly realized something was off. Yes, he was running against the most well-known Democrat in the country, but other people had run against Hillary Clinton before without much issue. Bernie, on the other hand, was either flat out ignored by the media or treated poorly. On top of all that, he was also wasn’t treated well by the party he chose to run with. More than 400 superdelegates hopped on board the Clinton campaign before anyone else was even running, and barely any ever switched to Sanders later on. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party, limited the number of the debates to six and scheduled them in awful time slots. It was hard to believe that there could have been any other motive for that besides suppression of any opposition to Clinton (who I soon learned was an absolutely horrible warmonger of a politician, not just someone who was a bit unexciting). Then, of course, in December, there was the whole data breach debacle that caused the Sanders campaign to lose access to their data for a few days. The Campaign had to sue the Democratic Party to get that access back. Imagine having to sue your own party! Those actions, along with many others, caused me to quickly lose trust in the Democratic Party. Sanders, too, made sure to drive that point home. The political system is corrupt! The campaign finance system is corrupt! Politicians are beholden to corporate donors, not to us! We had to make sure to not only win, but vote out everyone who supported that system.

For the longest time, I believed left entryism into the Democratic Party was possible, even though the party itself had a lot of problems. I piled all those problems onto the “Clinton Democrats”, assured myself that there were progressive democratic politicians out there, and had hope for the future. Eventually, though, because of the Democratic Party response to Sanders and his supporters, I grew less and less convinced that it was a realistic plan. The only superdelegate to support Bernie in New Jersey was forced to step down from his position of Democratic Party Chair, and a Clinton Democrat took his place. The ‘Establishment’ Democrats treated Bernie delegates with disdain, dismissal, and abuse at state convention after state convention. During Democratic Platform meetings, ‘Establishment’ Democrats voted down proposal after proposal: even ones they nominally supported. If I was Bernie, I’d feel angry and betrayed. As his supporter, I certainly did. I grew increasingly disillusioned with the party as a whole, and with our political system as a whole.

Perhaps Bernie does feel angry and betrayed. If he does, though, he does not show it. Not anymore. He and his campaign are pretending that the Democratic Platform, which refuses to acknowledge the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which refuses to see climate change as a serious threat, which refuses to denounce the TPP, is The Most Progressive Platform In The History Of The Party. He is set to endorse Hillary Clinton later today in New Hampshire, the first state he won (and won by a landslide). I remember celebrating that night with my friends and being excited for the future. Everything seemed possible. Now, that state will be the place where Sanders kisses Clinton’s ring. I can’t lie and say that doesn’t sting. Why endorse now, when the Convention is just a week or two away? Why not wait until then? It costs a fortune to go to the Convention and you have 1850 delegates or so who want to support you. Why immediately make their trip worthless?

Chris Hedges, who I agree with on many points, subscribes to the belief that Sanders was an intentional “sheep dog”: a pied piper of sorts, leading millions of naive voters into the Democratic Party, the “place where movements go to die”. I don’t believe that narrative. For one, it treats voters rather cynically. Sanders voters tended to be pretty informed folks. They skewed young, certainly, but young isn’t the same as stupid. For another, if he was an intentional sheep dog, why wait so long to endorse? Why continue the campaign after 3/15, the date where all of the establishment was calling on him to concede? Why call Clinton “unqualified”? Why attack her — rightfully — on her toxic policy ideas? In my opinion, the “intentional sheepdog” theory just does not hold up. So why endorse? Why contain your movement within the Democratic Party, a party I now know could never be the future for any revolutionary movement? He was an Independent for years: why the sudden switch? I suppose you’d have to ask him if you want a real answer. His ideology certainly became more neutered with each year he held public office — he was definitely a socialist in the 70s and arguably one in the 80s, but not so anymore — and that, along with his own cynicism (which he likes to think doesn’t exist), likely has something to do with it. Either way, his motives are not the important thing here. What we as leftists must focus on is what WE can do, now that many of his supporters have been alienated.

I believe, first and foremost, that it is up to us to give Sanders supporters new direction, purpose, and motivation. I understand that many leftists are rather annoyed by Sanders supporters and scoff Bernie off as a wholly negative influence, but the truth is, a good number of people actually discovered leftism because of all of this. Many Sanders supporters — even the most partisan — understand at the very least that there are many problems with our political system. However, they attach all those problems to “Establishment Democrats” or “Clinton Democrats”. I did the same thing at first: I believed it was “a few bad apples” instead of the party as a whole. One of the things we have to do is help Sanders supporters realize that the problems within the Democratic party are structural. There may be some good individual Democrats, but the party as a whole is dedicated to upholding the status quo for the bourgeoisie. They do it in a more “civilized” and “diverse” way than the Republicans, but in the end, the result is the same. The poor remain poor, the rich remain rich, and our country continues to invade poorer countries to exert our power and steal their resources. Beyond that, there have been attempts throughout history to try and reform or “infiltrate” the Democratic Party. None have stuck, and the Party has simply co-opted leftist messages and transformed them into something palatable for the ruling class. We must kindly and patiently educate Sanders supporters about all of these things, and we also must resist any Sanders campaign member or surrogate that tries to convince us that we’re “splintering” or “neutralizing” the movement or being a “distraction”. We are not the distraction. In fact, I would argue that trying to get anything “revolutionary” done within the Democratic Party is the true distraction.

Secondly, in giving Sanders supporters new direction, we need to give third (and fourth…. and fifth…. etc) parties a special focus. Depending on one’s ideology, one supports different third parties. Socialist Alternative endorsed the Green Party’s Jill Stein, for example. Other people might believe PSL’s Gloria La Riva is a better candidate to support. Either way, our focus shouldn’t necessarily be on specific parties yet. Rather, our focus should be on making third (etc) parties viable and powerful. At the moment, it is nearly impossible for third parties to hold any influence at any level of government. We need to brainstorm possible solutions to this problem, and organize around them. Eventually, our goals should be to create stronger third parties that are connected to their communities, and — most importantly — to get rid of “first past the post” style elections entirely. Of course, different schools of ideology have different end goals. However, I believe that these are still good steps to take, and that we can all unite around these general causes. The future, as we all know, does not lie with the Democratic Party. It does not lie with a singular person’s ideas. We must organize as soon as possible, while peoples’ anger and frustration is still fresh, in order to propel the movement beyond Sanders and his sinking ship. If we don’t, we risk losing any progress to mass apathy and despair. We cannot allow that to happen.

Thus, I leave Sanders supporters with one last message that may sound a little familiar: don’t accept the status quo. Don’t let the Political Establishment or the Establishment Media dictate the parameters of your ideas. Think big, not small. And, most of all: don’t lose your sense of outrage.