Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Why Bernie's Revolution Has Just Begun
________________________________________
Why Bernie's Revolution Has Just Begun
By D.D. Guttenplan [1] / The Nation [2]
March 18, 2016
Well, we'll always have Michigan..
A week after Bernie Sanders stunned pollsters with a victory that nobody
predicted, lifting his campaign-and his supporters' expectations-those hopes
came crashing down to earth yesterday with defeats in Florida, Ohio,
Illinois, and North Carolina. Hillary Clinton's late-breaking win in
Missouri gives her a clean sweep on a night that was meant to mark the turn
in the tide for Sanders, who poured time and money into Ohio, where Clinton
took every big city on her way to a convincing 14-point victory, and
Illinois, where Sanders hoped to profit from dissatisfaction with Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a longtime Clinton ally. Though voters did punish Cook
County prosecutor Anita Alvarez for her handling of the police shooting of
Laquan McDonald [3], favoring challenger Kim Foxx by a margin of 2 to 1,
Clinton carried Cook County by a comfortable 8 points.
Yes, it's true that the rest of the primary calendar is more favorable to
Sanders-who has won more states, garnered many more votes, and has a larger
share of the delegates than any of the Republicans challenging Donald Trump.
Whose presumptive grasp on his party's nomination is denied almost daily by
the same media who have been burying Sanders [4]-when they could be bothered
[5] to write about him-from Iowa onward. We never said this was going to be
easy-or a fair fight [6].
Hillary Clinton has always been the favored candidate of the party
establishment. And unlike 2008, when the powerful Cook County portion of
that establishment broke for Obama, a favorite son, this time the
establishment remains unified in the face of the Sanders insurgency. Which
would be reason enough for Sanders to carry on his fight all the way to
Philadelphia, even if it really were mathematically impossible for him to
win the nomination-a point we are still unlikely to reach [7] before
California votes on June 7. The strength of Sanders's challenge, and the
enthusiasm of his supporters, have already pulled Hillary Clinton off dead
center on police violence, trade policy, access to education, and making the
wealthy pay their share of taxes.
As long as he stays in the race, and stays true to his beliefs, Sanders will
keep winning those arguments, even if Clinton's willingness to steal her
opponent's best ideas-and even some of his best lines [8]-help her to win
voters who will be crucial in defeating Trump in November. Turnout remains
the Democrats' Achilles' heel: In Ohio, where Trump came second, he still
got more votes than either Democrat. Clinton herself seems to get this, and
yesterday declined [9] to endorse calls for Sanders to drop out. Any other
course would leave Trump in sole possession of the media for the next four
months.
Speaking of the Donald, it also seems odd that while his impact on the
Republican party is endlessly analyzed, almost nothing has been said about
the way Trump's likely nomination has influenced Democratic primary voters.
My own guess is that fear of Trump probably carried Clinton over the line in
Illinois and Missouri.
Keeping Clinton from reverting to a neoliberal default isn't the only reason
for Sanders to stay in the race-or the most important. As Sanders has always
said, his aim is "a political revolution." Winning the nomination would be
nice, but is neither necessary nor sufficient to bring that about. Building
a nationwide, durable network of mobilized, active supporters prepared to
keep working for universal healthcare, a living wage, ending Wall Street
welfare and America's endless wars-including the drug wars-in numbers great
enough to Occupy the Democratic Party and take it back from its corporate
funders is absolutely crucial. So, too, is the difficult work of stitching
together movements like #BlackLivesMatter, Fight for 15, immigrant rights,
climate justice, and voting rights into a coalition prepared to march
together, vote together, and transform our politics-and our country. Yet
that is the task we face.
Are the odds against us? Of course. That's what it means to live inside a
rigged system. But remember where we were only a few months ago. With each
primary victory-and each close call-Sanders shows us our own strength. With
each packed rally we see the claim that socialism is un-American exposed as
a lie, that a world where no one starves, healthcare is not rationed by
wealth, and energy companies aren't allowed to rape the earth for profit and
leave the rest of us to take the consequences is not only possible but
popular.
Why cut off that momentum? Especially when, as Daniel Cantor of the Working
Families Party points out, Sanders actually keeps getting stronger:
"Bernie's North Carolina performance was 15 points better than his South
Carolina performance last month, and 5 points better than his Virginia
performance two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the margin in Cook County, Illinois,
is half of that in Wayne County, Michigan."
So we fight on-to July, November, and beyond. For the nomination, so long as
that remains a possibility. For our country-which may in November face as
stark a choice as any in our lifetimes. And for our future, which is far too
precious a prize to abandon for the sake of a few thousand votes.
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
[11]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-bernies-revolution-has-just-begun
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/dd-guttenplan
[2] http://www.thenation.com
[3]
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151124/archer-heights/laquan-mcdonald-vide
o-shows-police-shooting-him-16-times
[4]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/upshot/sanders-campaign-will-travel-on-but
-path-to-victory-is-all-but-blocked.html
[5] http://tyndallreport.com/comment/20/5773/
[6]
http://www.thenation.com/article/six-lessons-for-bernie-sanders-from-the-sou
th-carolina-primary/
[7]
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470473679/why-both-the-democratic-and-republic
an-races-are-probably-going-to-june
[8]
http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/clinton-adopts-sanders-rigged-economy-in-debate/
[9]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/15/clinton-urge
s-n-c-supporters-not-to-stay-home-even-if-polls-show-her-leading/
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Why Bernie's
Revolution Has Just Begun
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Why Bernie's Revolution Has Just Begun
Why Bernie's Revolution Has Just Begun
By D.D. Guttenplan [1] / The Nation [2]
March 18, 2016
Well, we'll always have Michigan..
A week after Bernie Sanders stunned pollsters with a victory that nobody
predicted, lifting his campaign-and his supporters' expectations-those hopes
came crashing down to earth yesterday with defeats in Florida, Ohio,
Illinois, and North Carolina. Hillary Clinton's late-breaking win in
Missouri gives her a clean sweep on a night that was meant to mark the turn
in the tide for Sanders, who poured time and money into Ohio, where Clinton
took every big city on her way to a convincing 14-point victory, and
Illinois, where Sanders hoped to profit from dissatisfaction with Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a longtime Clinton ally. Though voters did punish Cook
County prosecutor Anita Alvarez for her handling of the police shooting of
Laquan McDonald [3], favoring challenger Kim Foxx by a margin of 2 to 1,
Clinton carried Cook County by a comfortable 8 points.
Yes, it's true that the rest of the primary calendar is more favorable to
Sanders-who has won more states, garnered many more votes, and has a larger
share of the delegates than any of the Republicans challenging Donald Trump.
Whose presumptive grasp on his party's nomination is denied almost daily by
the same media who have been burying Sanders [4]-when they could be bothered
[5] to write about him-from Iowa onward. We never said this was going to be
easy-or a fair fight [6].
Hillary Clinton has always been the favored candidate of the party
establishment. And unlike 2008, when the powerful Cook County portion of
that establishment broke for Obama, a favorite son, this time the
establishment remains unified in the face of the Sanders insurgency. Which
would be reason enough for Sanders to carry on his fight all the way to
Philadelphia, even if it really were mathematically impossible for him to
win the nomination-a point we are still unlikely to reach [7] before
California votes on June 7. The strength of Sanders's challenge, and the
enthusiasm of his supporters, have already pulled Hillary Clinton off dead
center on police violence, trade policy, access to education, and making the
wealthy pay their share of taxes.
As long as he stays in the race, and stays true to his beliefs, Sanders will
keep winning those arguments, even if Clinton's willingness to steal her
opponent's best ideas-and even some of his best lines [8]-help her to win
voters who will be crucial in defeating Trump in November. Turnout remains
the Democrats' Achilles' heel: In Ohio, where Trump came second, he still
got more votes than either Democrat. Clinton herself seems to get this, and
yesterday declined [9] to endorse calls for Sanders to drop out. Any other
course would leave Trump in sole possession of the media for the next four
months.
Speaking of the Donald, it also seems odd that while his impact on the
Republican party is endlessly analyzed, almost nothing has been said about
the way Trump's likely nomination has influenced Democratic primary voters.
My own guess is that fear of Trump probably carried Clinton over the line in
Illinois and Missouri.
Keeping Clinton from reverting to a neoliberal default isn't the only reason
for Sanders to stay in the race-or the most important. As Sanders has always
said, his aim is "a political revolution." Winning the nomination would be
nice, but is neither necessary nor sufficient to bring that about. Building
a nationwide, durable network of mobilized, active supporters prepared to
keep working for universal healthcare, a living wage, ending Wall Street
welfare and America's endless wars-including the drug wars-in numbers great
enough to Occupy the Democratic Party and take it back from its corporate
funders is absolutely crucial. So, too, is the difficult work of stitching
together movements like #BlackLivesMatter, Fight for 15, immigrant rights,
climate justice, and voting rights into a coalition prepared to march
together, vote together, and transform our politics-and our country. Yet
that is the task we face.
Are the odds against us? Of course. That's what it means to live inside a
rigged system. But remember where we were only a few months ago. With each
primary victory-and each close call-Sanders shows us our own strength. With
each packed rally we see the claim that socialism is un-American exposed as
a lie, that a world where no one starves, healthcare is not rationed by
wealth, and energy companies aren't allowed to rape the earth for profit and
leave the rest of us to take the consequences is not only possible but
popular.
Why cut off that momentum? Especially when, as Daniel Cantor of the Working
Families Party points out, Sanders actually keeps getting stronger:
"Bernie's North Carolina performance was 15 points better than his South
Carolina performance last month, and 5 points better than his Virginia
performance two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the margin in Cook County, Illinois,
is half of that in Wayne County, Michigan."
So we fight on-to July, November, and beyond. For the nomination, so long as
that remains a possibility. For our country-which may in November face as
stark a choice as any in our lifetimes. And for our future, which is far too
precious a prize to abandon for the sake of a few thousand votes.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[11]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-bernies-revolution-has-just-begun ;
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/dd-guttenplan
[2] http://www.thenation.com
[3]
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20151124/archer-heights/laquan-mcdonald-vide
o-shows-police-shooting-him-16-times
[4]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/upshot/sanders-campaign-will-travel-on-but
-path-to-victory-is-all-but-blocked.html
[5] http://tyndallreport.com/comment/20/5773/
[6]
http://www.thenation.com/article/six-lessons-for-bernie-sanders-from-the-sou
th-carolina-primary/
[7]
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/15/470473679/why-both-the-democratic-and-republic
an-races-are-probably-going-to-june
[8]
http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/clinton-adopts-sanders-rigged-economy-in-debate/
[9]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/15/clinton-urge
s-n-c-supporters-not-to-stay-home-even-if-polls-show-her-leading/
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Why Bernie's
Revolution Has Just Begun
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
