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Bernie’s Movement Moves On Bernie’s Movement Moves On
(about 11 hours later)
Philadelphia — Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign is officially over, yet his supporters have not fully accepted defeat. PHILADELPHIA — Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign is officially over, yet his supporters have not fully accepted defeat.
Throughout the week, a vocal faction of the Sanders delegation successfully drew attention to itself at the Democratic National Convention — protesting outside the Wells Fargo Center, booing prime-time speakers inside the arena and at one point staging a walkout.Throughout the week, a vocal faction of the Sanders delegation successfully drew attention to itself at the Democratic National Convention — protesting outside the Wells Fargo Center, booing prime-time speakers inside the arena and at one point staging a walkout.
But beyond the political theatrics, people who devoted their time and energy to the Sanders campaign say they’re just getting started. As Mr. Sanders has said many times over the past month, “the movement continues.”But beyond the political theatrics, people who devoted their time and energy to the Sanders campaign say they’re just getting started. As Mr. Sanders has said many times over the past month, “the movement continues.”
“It was important to me to know that I could run a good campaign, in which I carried the banner and carried the ideas that meant a lot to millions of people,” Mr. Sanders told The New Yorker’s Margaret Talbot in an interview last year. “It wasn’t about losing personally or not doing well. It was about carrying the banner for family and medical leave, for a massive jobs program, for climate change, for campaign-finance reform.”“It was important to me to know that I could run a good campaign, in which I carried the banner and carried the ideas that meant a lot to millions of people,” Mr. Sanders told The New Yorker’s Margaret Talbot in an interview last year. “It wasn’t about losing personally or not doing well. It was about carrying the banner for family and medical leave, for a massive jobs program, for climate change, for campaign-finance reform.”
In the end, Mr. Sanders ran more than a good campaign, he ran one that upended almost all of the political establishment’s expectations. Over the past year and over the past week, Mr. Sanders’s supporters have brought long-submerged elements of progressive politics to the forefront of political conversations. They may not be happy, exactly, with what happened in Philadelphia this week. But they are not just going to boo, or wear neon T-shirts. They are committed to carrying that banner for progressive change.In the end, Mr. Sanders ran more than a good campaign, he ran one that upended almost all of the political establishment’s expectations. Over the past year and over the past week, Mr. Sanders’s supporters have brought long-submerged elements of progressive politics to the forefront of political conversations. They may not be happy, exactly, with what happened in Philadelphia this week. But they are not just going to boo, or wear neon T-shirts. They are committed to carrying that banner for progressive change.
On Monday, a group called Democracy Spring organized protests against the convention all week, starting with a big march outside of the Wells Fargo Center in the sweltering heat. Thousands of people came to rally and chant; protesters held up signs; paraded a blocklong inflatable joint down the street; parents brought their kids along for the spectacle; people got in shouting matches over megaphones; and, as with any political event where cameras might be present, the Westboro Baptist Church was there. The scene demanded attention, and news outlets happily provided it.On Monday, a group called Democracy Spring organized protests against the convention all week, starting with a big march outside of the Wells Fargo Center in the sweltering heat. Thousands of people came to rally and chant; protesters held up signs; paraded a blocklong inflatable joint down the street; parents brought their kids along for the spectacle; people got in shouting matches over megaphones; and, as with any political event where cameras might be present, the Westboro Baptist Church was there. The scene demanded attention, and news outlets happily provided it.
Later that evening, after the oppressive heat segued into a thunderstorm, I met up with Molly Grover and a friend at the Las Vegas Lounge in downtown Philadelphia. Ms. Grover is a leader in the group Women for Bernie, and had taken the bus down to Philadelphia from Ithaca, N.Y., for the week. We were all drenched from the downpour outside, and seemed to be the only ones even vaguely interested in watching the Democratic convention’s proceedings taking place five miles away. We ordered beer and grilled cheese, and settled into a booth to watch the speeches.Later that evening, after the oppressive heat segued into a thunderstorm, I met up with Molly Grover and a friend at the Las Vegas Lounge in downtown Philadelphia. Ms. Grover is a leader in the group Women for Bernie, and had taken the bus down to Philadelphia from Ithaca, N.Y., for the week. We were all drenched from the downpour outside, and seemed to be the only ones even vaguely interested in watching the Democratic convention’s proceedings taking place five miles away. We ordered beer and grilled cheese, and settled into a booth to watch the speeches.
Since we’d last spoken in June, Ms. Grover, 30, had gotten to meet Mr. Sanders in a small clutch of supporters in upstate New York. She said she was interested in running for office, but wanted to figure out where she planned to settle down first. At the meeting, she talked to another woman who was planning to run for City Council in Rochester, N.Y., and discovered they had already corresponded over email. “You could be her campaign manager!” Mr. Sanders told her.Since we’d last spoken in June, Ms. Grover, 30, had gotten to meet Mr. Sanders in a small clutch of supporters in upstate New York. She said she was interested in running for office, but wanted to figure out where she planned to settle down first. At the meeting, she talked to another woman who was planning to run for City Council in Rochester, N.Y., and discovered they had already corresponded over email. “You could be her campaign manager!” Mr. Sanders told her.
On TV in the Las Vegas Lounge, Senator Al Franken and Sarah Silverman — a comedian who supported Mr. Sanders in the primary — came onstage in another attempt to show party unity. Mr. Sanders’s vocal delegates in the audience booed. “To the Bernie or Bust people, you’re being ridiculous,” Ms. Silverman told them.On TV in the Las Vegas Lounge, Senator Al Franken and Sarah Silverman — a comedian who supported Mr. Sanders in the primary — came onstage in another attempt to show party unity. Mr. Sanders’s vocal delegates in the audience booed. “To the Bernie or Bust people, you’re being ridiculous,” Ms. Silverman told them.
“Wow,” Ms. Grover said. “Sarah sold right out there, huh?”“Wow,” Ms. Grover said. “Sarah sold right out there, huh?”
“That was pretty awkward,” her friend said. “You have to affirm the movement!”“That was pretty awkward,” her friend said. “You have to affirm the movement!”
On Tuesday, Ms. Grover invited me to a women’s speak-out event at a church downtown that was organized by the social justice group Global Women’s Strike. Inside the church meeting room, miniature windmills and origami birds hung from the vaulted ceilings, the stained glass casting a sepia light over the room. At the front of the room, a rotating set of speakers sat at a folding table to air their concerns on military intervention, water pollution in Flint, Mich., police brutality, indigenous rights. To the side, two young women noted agenda items on large pads of paper in marker on an easel.On Tuesday, Ms. Grover invited me to a women’s speak-out event at a church downtown that was organized by the social justice group Global Women’s Strike. Inside the church meeting room, miniature windmills and origami birds hung from the vaulted ceilings, the stained glass casting a sepia light over the room. At the front of the room, a rotating set of speakers sat at a folding table to air their concerns on military intervention, water pollution in Flint, Mich., police brutality, indigenous rights. To the side, two young women noted agenda items on large pads of paper in marker on an easel.
The event’s attendees skewed older and much more local than the protest on Monday did. Here were people invested in the unglamorous work of coalition building — activists on the left who had been around before Mr. Sanders announced his presidential campaign, and who will stay involved long after November.The event’s attendees skewed older and much more local than the protest on Monday did. Here were people invested in the unglamorous work of coalition building — activists on the left who had been around before Mr. Sanders announced his presidential campaign, and who will stay involved long after November.
The event received the fraction of the attention of the protests, but was more indicative of where Mr. Sanders’s movement intends to go from here: not in the streets, demanding action from others with witty signs, but in stuffy church annexes and meeting rooms across the country, doing that action themselves.The event received the fraction of the attention of the protests, but was more indicative of where Mr. Sanders’s movement intends to go from here: not in the streets, demanding action from others with witty signs, but in stuffy church annexes and meeting rooms across the country, doing that action themselves.
The event did attract some of Mr. Sanders’s supporters from out of town, though much fewer than the protests did. Yamina Roland, a Sanders delegate from Fresno, Calif., said she was disgusted with the first night of the convention, and exhausted after a long primary.The event did attract some of Mr. Sanders’s supporters from out of town, though much fewer than the protests did. Yamina Roland, a Sanders delegate from Fresno, Calif., said she was disgusted with the first night of the convention, and exhausted after a long primary.
“This has been over a year of my life that I subjected my 6-year-old to,” she said. “It really is a revolution, and we’re not going to just let that go.”“This has been over a year of my life that I subjected my 6-year-old to,” she said. “It really is a revolution, and we’re not going to just let that go.”
And so she was here, learning more about how to stay involved after the convention ended. A young woman with a translator went up to the table at the front of the room to speak about environmental activism in Honduras. She was Laura Zuniga Cáceres, the daughter of Berta Cáceres, an environmental and indigenous rights activist in Honduras who had been shot in March.And so she was here, learning more about how to stay involved after the convention ended. A young woman with a translator went up to the table at the front of the room to speak about environmental activism in Honduras. She was Laura Zuniga Cáceres, the daughter of Berta Cáceres, an environmental and indigenous rights activist in Honduras who had been shot in March.
“That’s Berta’s daughter?” Ms. Roland gasped. Her eyes welled up with tears.“That’s Berta’s daughter?” Ms. Roland gasped. Her eyes welled up with tears.
Berta Cáceres’s story has become well-known among Mr. Sanders’s supporters. Before her death, the activist criticized Mrs. Clinton’s role in United States policy toward Honduras. Sanders supporters have cited Ms. Cáceres in their own criticism of Mrs. Clinton. The young Ms. Cáceres was in Philadelphia to call for the United States to cut off military aid to Honduras until the deaths of her mother and other activists are fully investigated. Later in the hallway, Ms. Roland gave Ms. Cáceres a hug and tearfully expressed her condolences for her mother’s death.Berta Cáceres’s story has become well-known among Mr. Sanders’s supporters. Before her death, the activist criticized Mrs. Clinton’s role in United States policy toward Honduras. Sanders supporters have cited Ms. Cáceres in their own criticism of Mrs. Clinton. The young Ms. Cáceres was in Philadelphia to call for the United States to cut off military aid to Honduras until the deaths of her mother and other activists are fully investigated. Later in the hallway, Ms. Roland gave Ms. Cáceres a hug and tearfully expressed her condolences for her mother’s death.
Also at the women’s organizing meeting on Tuesday was Louise Hanible, a longtime activist with the group Philadelphia Citizens in Action. You could tell she’d been to countless organizing meetings like this one before, in other poorly air-conditioned rooms, doing the unglamorous work of coalition building that often falls to women of the movement. She told me that people inspired to action by Mr. Sanders’s candidacy have to “get on the bus,” and stay on it.Also at the women’s organizing meeting on Tuesday was Louise Hanible, a longtime activist with the group Philadelphia Citizens in Action. You could tell she’d been to countless organizing meetings like this one before, in other poorly air-conditioned rooms, doing the unglamorous work of coalition building that often falls to women of the movement. She told me that people inspired to action by Mr. Sanders’s candidacy have to “get on the bus,” and stay on it.
“A lot of people vote people in, have a group and then they disband,” Ms. Hanible told me. “Don’t come up with an excuse that you can’t get on the bus. Get on the bus! I’m 76 years old, and I will continue to get on the bus until the day God calls me home.”“A lot of people vote people in, have a group and then they disband,” Ms. Hanible told me. “Don’t come up with an excuse that you can’t get on the bus. Get on the bus! I’m 76 years old, and I will continue to get on the bus until the day God calls me home.”
She later added that she thinks Mrs. Clinton would do a good job as president, but activists should continue to “hold her feet to the fire.”She later added that she thinks Mrs. Clinton would do a good job as president, but activists should continue to “hold her feet to the fire.”
Ms. Grover took the bus back to Ithaca on Wednesday, disappointed but unbroken. She said that while she was “angered and ashamed” by the D.N.C. email leak, she was “extremely proud of the grass-roots energy that we were able to whip up.”Ms. Grover took the bus back to Ithaca on Wednesday, disappointed but unbroken. She said that while she was “angered and ashamed” by the D.N.C. email leak, she was “extremely proud of the grass-roots energy that we were able to whip up.”
“There is no doubt that we strongly influenced the Democratic platform; Bernie’s policy ideas are all over that document,” she wrote in an email. “Bernie helped people in this country awaken to the sources of their pain, and we are not going back to the apathy and immobility that we felt in years past.”“There is no doubt that we strongly influenced the Democratic platform; Bernie’s policy ideas are all over that document,” she wrote in an email. “Bernie helped people in this country awaken to the sources of their pain, and we are not going back to the apathy and immobility that we felt in years past.”
“Everyone is aware of the immensity of the work that is ahead, but we welcome the challenge with eagerness and passion,” she added.“Everyone is aware of the immensity of the work that is ahead, but we welcome the challenge with eagerness and passion,” she added.
That challenge will remain in the coming weeks, months, and years. It’s up to Mr. Sanders’s newly activated supporters to decide if they’ll stay on the bus after the cameras are gone.That challenge will remain in the coming weeks, months, and years. It’s up to Mr. Sanders’s newly activated supporters to decide if they’ll stay on the bus after the cameras are gone.