Many people have been asking the same question recently, “what is next for Bernie Sanders’ progressive revolution?”
There are a few different things going on, and there has been some disagreement in the Bernie Sanders community about how to proceed. However, one thing that is certain is that Sanders supporters remain united in their determination to fight the establishment and build a better America.
In May, Sanders announced that he will rally his supporters around a a worthy new goal — transforming Congress.
The Guardian reports that Bernie Sanders’ campaign will continue to support people at grassroots level in the fight against big money.
“We’ll pool resources across the U.S. to beat big money.”
Bernie Sanders WILL Create Organizations To Build Of His Progressive Platform. #StillSanders https://t.co/IH8TfV0fdf pic.twitter.com/8eWopXtHxw
— #DisclosureIsNigh ????? (@relombardo3) July 30, 2016
The Brand New Congress project has gotten a lot of attention. That project was formed when a number of former Sanders campaign staffers got together and vowed to work to change the corrupt Congressional establishment.
“Congress is broken. 80% of Americans agree. Its decisions are driven by a handful of wealthy individuals, it is incapable of working together to enact real change, and its members spend too much time dialing for dollars.”
These Bernie fans have a powerful vision and a clear goal to elect a new Congress that works for the people. This ambitious group of Sanders supporters is not holding back — their aim is to replace Congress “all at once.”
“Trying to win each congressional seat one-by-one is impossible. So let’s replace Congress all at once. Our plan is to recruit and run 400+ candidates as a single, unified campaign with a single plan.”
To achieve this, the group is looking for congressional candidates who share the same values as Bernie Sanders. The plan is to support those people and help them get elected. Ultimately, the group hopes to “elect Bernie Sanders-like candidates in at least 100 different districts in the next two years.”
This month, USA Today reported about three other projects. The first, the Sanders Institute, is an awareness-raising organization founded by Sanders.
“The Sanders Institute will help raise awareness of enormous crises facing Americans.”
The second project, the Our Revolution political organization , was founded to “help recruit, train and fund progressive candidates’ campaigns.” A third, still-unnamed organization will play a role in campaign advertising.
Bernie has said that he hopes the progressive message will continue to spread throughout the country.
“If we are successful, what it will mean is that the progressive message and the issues that I campaigned on will be increasingly spread throughout this country. The goal here is to do what I think the Democratic establishment has not been very effective in doing. And that is at the grass-roots level, encourage people to get involved, give them the tools they need to win, help them financially.”
Time reports that Bernie Sanders fans “wept, raged and marched against the machine, questioning Clinton’s nomination,” when Hillary secured it. Many called “for the political revolution to continue” and declared Bernie a traitor for endorsing Hillary.
Nevertheless, a large majority of Bernie Sanders supporters are expected to vote for Hillary Clinton. The Time report states that “nine out of ten Sanders supporters say they will support Clinton in the fall against Donald Trump.” The remaining Bernie fans will either “sit out the election [or] vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.” The report also claims that “many may be disillusioned by politics” following Bernie’s failure to secure the nomination.
Nancy Kim, a California delegate, expressed disappointment about Bernie’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Kim said that the movement Bernie has built will now fight on without him, as he has, in Kim’s opinion, proven himself a friend of the establishment.
“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” scoffed the former Bernie supporter.
“It’s not about Bernie, it’s about the movement. It’s about us, it’s not about one man. It doesn’t matter what he thinks. We’re not going to give in and bow down to the Establishment.”
Vocativ reports that a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters are now throwing their support behind the Green Party’s Jill Stein.
“Jill Stein, the Green Party’s candidate for president, is enjoying a boost in popularity on Reddit and Facebook as disillusioned fans of Bernie Sanders consider their options, now that Hillary Clinton is the Democrats’ official nominee.”
Not everyone thinks Jill Stein is good news. Slate argues that Stein is “an awful torchbearer for the left,” with some “deeply unrealistic” policy ideas and muddled views.
“Even by the standards of protest candidates, [Jill Stein] is an absolutely awful torchbearer for the far left. She’s a Harvard-trained physician who panders to pseudoscience. She mangles pet policy issues. And her cynical retelling of the past eight years has nothing to do with the reality of recorded history.”
As Sanders supporters migrate to Jill Stein her numbers on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit explode > https://t.co/ddcjc6V4r0 #Demexit #GoGreen
— The Progressive Mind (@Libertea2012) July 29, 2016
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]