The New York primary felt like a sucker punch to Bernie supporters like me. Bernie and his army of voters—mainly young, but also working class unionists and many poor people—had overcome double digit polling deficits like New York before to stage a surprise victory. Huge rallies in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Upstate led optimists like me to believe another upset was in the works.
Then election day arrived.
Clinton racked up a 16-point victory at the polls, netting 31 pledged delegates in the process. The math was never impossible for Bernie to win, but it was always difficult. And it’s not impossible now, but it is more difficult than it has ever been.
It needs to be said that the superdelegate strategy that his campaign has implied Bernie might pursue in order to win at a contested convention is complete bullshit.
Fuck the superdelegates. That’s not what an anti-establishment campaign is about, and it wouldn’t even work anyway.
If participating in the Democratic primary will be worth it at all for an independent socialist like Bernie, then he needs to fight like hell at the convention to eliminate superdelegates so that democracy is expanded for primary voters in future contests, not use them to secure a nomination he hasn’t won.
Regardless of the outcome of the Democratic primary, and it is looking increasingly likely that we know what that outcome will be, there are some lessons to be drawn from the contributions Bernie’s campaign has made. I want to go here beyond the important, but superficial, fact that he has engaged nonvoters and excited young people.
First, Bernie’s rhetoric popularized the notion of a revolution against the economic and political establishment, especially, but not exclusively, for young people in this country. It is now okay for progressives and radicals in this country to say things like, “we need a revolution,” or “I believe in socialism.” That’s no small thing.
Second, the fact he has stayed in the race this far has helped illustrate impediments to democracy. From the reactionary nature of the superdelegate, who has a vote at the nominating convention worth thousands of primary and caucus goers, to the fact that more than one hundred thousand voters were suspiciously purged from voter lists in Brooklyn, his campaign has helped to shine a light on obstacles to democratic participation.
Third, and it is unclear if Bernie himself has come to realize this yet, his campaign has taught us that a revolution cannot be achieved by running in a Democratic presidential primary. It cannot be achieved by running in any party’s primary.
A revolution is not about a single campaign. It is about building a movement so that no matter who is in office—even Donald Trump, God forbid—they cannot shove a reactionary agenda down the people’s throat. A revolution is about that movement going a step further and overthrowing the entire political and economic establishment and replacing it with real democracy and equality for all.
Finally, his campaign reminded us that we the people—the poor and oppressed, the great working class of this country—are the revolution.
Bernie’s campaign, and it is not quite over yet, could not have existed 10 years ago. That’s because 10 years ago, Occupy had not yet stood up to focus the dialogue in this country on economic inequality.
Ten years ago, Black Lives Matter had not yet challenged the entire racist criminal justice establishment.
Ten years ago, the Fight for $15 had not yet mobilized the multinational working class into the streets to win unprecedented increases in the minimum wage in cities and states around this country.
Standing on the shoulders of these and today’s other great movements, Bernie’s campaign has indeed helped to open the door to revolution. It is up to us to walk through that door.
It’s not Bernie or Bust. It’s the People or Bust.