Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
What the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mega-rallies are really about
The two progressives are bringing energy to a party that has been exhausted and furious in the second Trump era.By Holly Otterbein and Brakkton Booker
03/26/2025 05:55 AM EDT
Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are striking a chord.
The socialist firebrands have been criss-crossing the country, attracting some of the largest crowds of their careers. Their rallies are bigger than any other events currently being held by Democrats, and party figures of all stripes are taking notice.
To progressives, it’s nothing short of a revival. And many Democrats, including those with ties to the party establishment, are just breathing a sigh of relief that they might finally have found a rallying cry in the face of the GOP’s all-out control of the federal government.
“I’m so proud and so excited by every Democrat at every single level who is getting out there,” said Malcolm Kenyatta, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee who has criticized Sanders in the past. “This is not left versus right. This is about flight versus fight.”
Sanders’ advisers said that two-thirds of people who registered to attend his recent events have never come out to see him or donated to him before. Progressives view it as a new opening to pull the party in a more populist direction.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/26/what-the-bernie-sanders-and-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mega-rallies-are-really-about-00249753
The leadership must change as well as the political platform.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

What the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mega-rallies are really about (Original Post)
Passages
Wednesday
OP
JoeOtterbein
(7,816 posts)1. K n R....
....thanks for posting!
usonian
(16,784 posts)2. It was always about the rich. GOP hid it behind racism.



Dems marginalized progressives to please big donors. And paid the price, losing labor, middle class, and young people.
PEOPLE ARE REVOLTING

Oligarchy is easy to explain.

More fun stuff here:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219770873
Passages
(2,393 posts)3. Going all the way back to Reagan...yep.
They would crucify Eisenhower today, he was the last one standing for unions in the GOP.
snip
Reagan launched a broad attack on unions by breaking the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) strike, emboldening capital to attack unions through a series of devastating assaults at companies like Greyhound, Phelps Dodge, Massey, Caterpillar, Bridgestone/Firestone, and International Paper. The attack on labor was bolstered by a recession with high unemployment, which was explicitly engineered by the Federal Reserve to weaken the bargaining power of unions.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/ronald-reagan-donald-trump-labor-unions-election-2024
Thank you for the link!