Bernie Sanders’ ‘political revolution’ was a long shot but did hit some marks
Firebrand liberal has made his presence felt in party platform
Who would have thought, more than a year ago, that a gruff septuagenarian with unruly hair and Democratic socialist views would capture the imaginations of young people and support from more than 13 million voters in a long-shot bid for the presidency?
Bernie Sanders was at least 50 points behind Hillary Clinton in some national polls when he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in April 2015. But his call for a “political revolution” quickly gained momentum on social media, igniting a “feel the Bern” fever that ultimately drew nearly 1.5 million people to his rallies and other events across the USA.
Clinton’s nomination may indeed have been inevitable, but Sanders’ surprising star power made it seem much less so.
“He got a tiger by the tail,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, which supported Sanders. “All of a sudden, he emerges on the scene, and he became an immediate legend.”
Nearly a month after the District of Columbia held the final contest of the 2016 primary season, Sanders will campaign Tuesday with Clinton in New Hampshire, where he is likely to endorse her after weeks of pressure to do so. He has held out on his official backing, using his leverage to advance goals he laid out for his legions of supporters in an online address last month.
Among those goals: defeating presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, working with Clinton to “transform” the Democratic Party and encouraging like-mind- ed liberals to run for public office — from school boards to Congress.
“My hope is that when future historians look back and describe how our country moved forward into reversing the drift toward oligarchy and created a government which represents all the people and not just the few, they will note that, to a significant degree, that effort began with the political revolution of 2016,” Sanders said in his address.
Before last year, Sanders’ outrage over the “billionaire class” might have been captured only on C-SPAN and left-leaning news shows. His presidential run changed that.
Sanders won 22 states and 45% of the pledged delegates, and he consistently led Clinton overwhelmingly among 18- to 29year-olds. His campaign drew a record 8.2 million individual contributions from about 2.5 million donors, raising about $228 million largely through fundraising emails to supporters.
He railed against a “rigged economy” and a “corrupt” campaign-finance system. He elevated “yuge” ideas long important to liberals, including a $15 minimum wage, breaking up big banks, free public college, Medicare for all, an expansion of Social Security and a carbon tax.
Sanders’ influence became clear over the past week, when Clinton proposed expanding access to health care and eliminating college tuition for working families and when national Democrats changed the party’s platform to incorporate his ideas. Sanders said those changes make the platform the most progressive in the party’s history.
“He ran a campaign from the heart,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on MSNBC’s Rachel
Maddow Show on June 9 after she endorsed Clinton. “He took these issues, and he really thrust them into the spotlight.”
Sanders’ ascendancy surprised him as much as anyone. When his communication director told him in September that a poll showed him leading Clinton by 10 points in Iowa, Sanders stepped away from the table where he had been sitting, caught his breath and whispered, “Jesus.”
“We didn’t have a strategy to win this when we started,” said Tad Devine, one of Sanders’ top strategists. “We were just trying to be competitive.”
As the campaign began to gain on Clinton, the focus changed to winning Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Sanders won New Hampshire, but Clinton edged him in Iowa and defeated him in Nevada. In South Carolina, the senator from mostly white Vermont couldn’t overcome Clinton’s support among African Americans.
Sanders targeted only five of the 11 states with nominating contests March 1 and won four. A surprise win in Michigan and a string of seven victories in other states in late March and early April added to the momentum.
In hindsight, Devine said the campaign could have staffed early voting states sooner and more aggressively.
DeMoro said Sanders may have cost himself opportunities. He spent a lot of time campaigning in the South, despite Clinton’s “firewall” of support among African Americans. Sanders passed on an easy target by saying in a debate with Clinton on Oct. 13 that Americans were sick of hearing about her “damn emails.”
“A normal politician would have taken the easy, low-hanging fruit — the email scandal,” DeMoro said. “He wanted to have a debate on policy.”
“He ran a campaign from the heart. ... He took these issues, and he really thrust them into the spotlight.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass