The Political Utility of Feeling the Bern

[Donkees]

BY MEAGAN DAY
11.19.2019

Excerpt:

One piece of information in particular stands out: Bernie Sanders supporters are the most devoted of the bunch by far.

The passion of Sanders supporters is why his campaign just became the fastest in history to reach the four million contributions mark — padding his campaign coffers, despite the fact that he’s the only candidate whose campaign doesn’t solicit money from rich donors. The top employers of his small donors are Starbucks, Amazon, and Walmart; their top occupation is teaching. All of this indicates that Sanders has a much larger army of ordinary, working-class people who are ride-or-die for his campaign than any other candidate.

We’ll see what effect that enthusiastic support base — and the calls they make, the doors they knock on, and the conversations they start in their communities and immediate social networks — will have on actual vote totals in the coming months. Whether it can overcome the mainstream media’s negativity toward and stubborn neglect of the Sanders campaign, as well as the influx of wealthy donor money aimed at propping up alternatives, remains to be seen.

The upshot for now is that, as candidates jockey for front-runner status, Bernie Sanders has a trick up his sleeve: his supporters don’t just favor him, they believe in his campaign. If enough of them take to heart his slogan, “Not Me, Us,” they may give his opponents a run for their money. And if Sanders wins the nomination, that devoted and enthusiastic support base, with months of volunteer experience under its belt, will be crucial in defeating Donald Trump.


Democratic presidential candidate and senator Bernie Sanders smiles at a Democratic presidential forum on Latino issues at Cal State LA on November 17, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama / Getty Images

https://jacobinmag.com/2019/11/bernie-sanders-2020-presidential-campaign-polls-democratic-primaries