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If you had asked me, circa 2012, if I thought I’d ever have the chance to vote for a viable socialist presidential candidate in the US, I would have laughed.
I’ve now voted twice for @BernieSanders.
I’ve now voted twice for @BernieSanders.
Bernie has done more to change the US political conversation than any other person in my lifetime. He has destigmatized the word “socialist.” He has made social democratic demands some of the country’s most popular policies. And he has minted a new model for left politicians.
I admire Bernie immensely. He shook me of hopelessness and raised my horizons.
In gratitude and in solidarity, I’ve logged many hours for the Sanders campaign and made many donations.
I’m therefore incredibly sad, if not surprised, to see that campaign come to an end.
In gratitude and in solidarity, I’ve logged many hours for the Sanders campaign and made many donations.
I’m therefore incredibly sad, if not surprised, to see that campaign come to an end.
But electing Bernie was never going to be the end. Even if he had won, the work would have continued.
The ruling class, and their allies in both political parties, will not be moved by a single electoral result. They will be moved by mass demonstrations of strength.
The ruling class, and their allies in both political parties, will not be moved by a single electoral result. They will be moved by mass demonstrations of strength.
Bernie made this point repeatedly. And the whole of the socialist tradition points toward this conclusion.
The work of building these movements continues. And, while it will be hard, we cannot doubt our growing strength. The same crises that produced the Bernie movement in the first place will sustain and nurture its successors.
Debt, precarity, unaffordable housing, lack of healthcare, stagnant wages, a racist immigration and justice system, environmental disaster, the hellish grind of the imperial war machine — all the forces that put the working-class juggernaut into motion will keep it in motion.
What matters now is that we build on the Bernie movement as quickly and powerfully as possible.
We must therefore take the remnants of the Bernie campaign and use them to build a new political party.
This party should focus on identifying and training the next generation of Bernies; ensuring that these candidates stay accountable to their comrades and supporters; and evolving the Bernie platform in response to new challenges.
To this point, we’ve been incredibly lucky that Bernie Sanders possessed immense integrity, a knack for message discipline, loyalty to his supporters, and a willingness to evolve politically. We can’t count on these virtues arising naturally in the wild.
We therefore need to transform the Bernie campaign and movement into the foundation of a new, independent, democratically-controlled, socialist political party. This party should use its resources to identify and train new leaders — like Justice Dems, but bigger and more radical.
It should institute democratic governance structures, to allow rank-and-file members to set political priorities and make strategic decisions.
It should hold candidates who run under its banner accountable to party discipline.
It should hold candidates who run under its banner accountable to party discipline.
And, as the political landscape changes, it should continue developing Bernie’s platform and strategy, asking what, for ex., comes after M4A and the GND, and how we can win not just this round but the next.
Now is the moment to act. Bernie has bequeathed us a ready-made platform. We’ve got community-funded campaign offices around the country. We’ve got trained, energized campaign volunteers with no political home. And the legitimacy of the Democratic Party is at an all-time low.
This party could begin contesting local and state races as soon as November. IMO, it should initially focus on contesting elections in Democratically-controlled strongholds where the GOP has no purchase and rural areas where the Dems have basically given up.
By focusing on races in these areas, the new party could avoid accusations that it’s playing the spoiler while maximizing the contrast between its own platform and strategy and that of establishment Dem candidates.
Bernie’s decision to run twice in the Democratic Primary was, in retrospect, pretty clearly the right one. It gave him a national profile, helped him build a national movement, and vividly exposed the shortcomings of the establishment Dems.
But, at this point, we’re strong enough that we no longer need to opportunistically use the Democratic primary structure. We can win key local and state races without the Dems’ shambling, anti-democratic structures.
From these initial wins, we can then build the credibility we need to begin contesting federal races.
Far more importantly, we can use these initial wins to start rebuilding the political networks that the Dems have allowed to rot: the party’s link to labor unions; tenant unions; social and environmental justice groups, etc.
So let’s do it! Let’s build on the Bernie campaign and sustain its momentum. We’ve got everything we need to build a new, viable political party.
All we lack is the will.
All we lack is the will.
