Why Bernie Sanders isn’t calling it a day

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Following Bernie Sanders’ defeat in New York, many pundits are asking why he doesn’t concede the nomination race to Hillary Clinton.

They misunderstand the nature of his campaign. In the end it is not about whether or not he gets the nomination. When he started out nobody gave him a dog’s show. It has always been about building an insurgent movement against the way the super-rich control American politics, including both the Republican and Democratic parties.

As Harry Cheadle put it, Sanders’ continuing campaign will mean “at least Democrats in the remaining states will have a chance to voice their displeasure with Clinton’s hawkishness, the donations she has received in the past from Wall Street, or simply the whole political system she represents.” Cheadle commented that “revolutions take a lot longer than one presidential campaign.”

Clare Foran wrote in the Atlantic that “Sanders has inspired his followers to lay the groundwork for a political movement that will last far beyond the current election. He has shown that it is possible to shun super PACs and still bring in massive amounts of money from small-dollar donations. He has started to cultivate a new generation of political leaders who share his politics by fundraising for progressive candidates in less prominent races.”

Whether that movement remains channeled through Democratic Party, or independent of it, has yet to be determined. The Democratic Party machine has been pretty united in its opposition to the Sanders’ insurgency. In that respect Sanders getting 42% in the New York primary was pretty good. Clinton, a former New York senator, had the endorsement of virtually every New York politician, and all of the newspapers.

Young people flocked to Sanders’ huge New York rallies, but many subsequently couldn’t vote because the Democratic Party roll had been closed off six month previous, before they had become politically engaged. Others disenfranchised by the party’s New York rules were the registered independents. In other states they were allowed to vote, but not in New York. In earlier primary races the independents had gone strongly for Sanders.

We in New Zealand have a vested interest in Bernie Sanders continuing his campaign. Among other things it puts pressure on Hillary Clinton not to backtrack on her opposition to the Trans-Pacific partnership.

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Anyhow, the race for the Democrat nomination is not over yet. But whatever the result the Sanders campaign is rolling on, bringing thousands of new people into politics every week.

10 COMMENTS

  1. “many pundits are asking why he doesn’t concede the nomination race to Hillary Clinton”

    Why is Bernie not succeeding to Clinton?

    Simply cause he has courage and believes we need real change just not the usual centre right policies of war & peace and bankruptcy.

  2. Great post.
    There’s another good article on this by Kshama Sawant (the socialist Seattle councillor) on this.

    “What came to be called The Battle of New York has served only to further expose what millions of people in the U.S. are becoming painfully aware of – the Democratic Party primary is rigged in favor of the establishment.”

    “That’s why my organization, Socialist Alternative, and #Movement4Bernie are petitioning Bernie to continue running through November as an independent or on the Green Party ticket with Jill Stein“.

  3. The thing that will interest me and many others is whether Bernie will endorse Hillary. I do feel he may not as the movement he has created will pretty much die out should he endorse her. All the voter suppression in NY made me very angry not to mention in Bernie’s hometown of Brooklyn where up to 120,000 voters were denied their right to vote. Best of luck for Bernie taking on 5 States tomorrow. Here’s hoping he takes them all. I have never despised the Clintons so much after following Bernie’s campaign. Her blind supporters infuriate me even more. “I’m with Her” – what sort of ludicrous tagline is that anyway?!

  4. Bernie won 49 counties to 13 for Hilary in New York state. Clinton took the three “biggies” of course including the Bronx and Queens, bar the dodgy electoral practices and exclusion of independents he may well have won.

    But yeah, it would be fatal to a new movement if he endorsed Clinton at the convention. Kashma is on the right track suggesting Bernie go independent or Green rather than let all the good work fizzle out.

  5. In principle Bernie does not endorse Clinton nor what she stands for, so as an honest man he can’t endorse her without loss of credibility.

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