Bernie Sanders and the Fight for A Better America: How the Progressive Agenda Persists
On Apr. 8, 2020, Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont, more affectionately known as Bernie, officially dropped out of the presidential race. Following a slew of victories in the early primaries, such as winning California, and narrowly losing by a singular delegate at the Iowa caucus to Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Bernie appeared to be defeating the odds. A Democratic-socialist was in serious contention to be the Democratic party’s 2020 presidential candidate. America was finally “feeling the Bern” that had been swelling since his original run for the White House in 2016. March’s Super Tuesday brought this momentum to a halt as former Vice President Joseph Biden, Jr. rocketed to the forefront of the race, quickly receiving endorsements as his competitors dropped out of the race, effectively securing his position as the Democratic nominee.
As his official run for office fizzled out, Bernie Sanders proudly declared that “While this campaign is coming to an end, our movement is not.” And that’s exactly what the legacy of the Sanders campaign has left behind. Head in hands, young progressives admitted defeat in the face of a safer, more digestible candidate, but the fight for more radical ideologies isn’t over. A lack of endorsements for Sanders from the Democratic party was merely a roadblock in a campaign driven by everyday people. Donating to a politician never crossed my mind until emails flooded my inbox asking for just a few dollars to maybe, just maybe, change the future. Transparent denouncements of the country’s failures to its people instilled a fighting attitude and a sense of urgency.
The national prominence of a candidate like Bernie Sanders speaks to the need for change that the young people of the United States so desperately crave. We are a new lost generation. Subject to school shootings, the rapid progression of climate change, an ever-rising wealth gap, and living in the only wealthy, sizeable country to not offer universal healthcare, Millennials and Zoomers have been continuously failed by a system that pretends to offer us all a ladder to success if only we try hard enough.
A New Yorker article entitled “Reality Has Endorsed Bernie Sanders” points to the Trump administration’s failures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent disparities that have persisted throughout the pandemic. Columnist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes of the over forty million poor people throughout the United States who have been continuously forgotten and further deteriorating through downtrodden economic cycles. A persistent rise in housing prices, a stagnant, unlivable minimum wage, and the growing expense of simply being alive has tarnished the idea of an attainable American dream. The government is punishing its own people for peaceful protests; gross abuses of power persist throughout Capitol Hill, and a burgeoning distrust in our leaders has left young people clamoring for someone who can empathize with, or even relate to, the average American’s struggle.
Politics have never been sexy. It is an unfriendly domain filled mostly with grey-haired men pushing seemingly archaic policies and philosophies. But unprecedented times call for an unprecedented change in the status quo. The fight for progress endures even in the wake of a potential Sanders presidency. Founded in the 2017, the Sunrise Movement demonstrates the power of a revolution spurred by young people, many who supported Bernie in the 2020 primaries. Despite being officially founded only three years ago, the Sunrise Movement has garnered media attention through organized strikes, sit-ins, and protests. The group notably held a sit-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office with the aim of stopping Democratic members of the House of Representatives from accepting donations from the fossil fuel industry and encouraging their support for the Green New Deal. The organization’s goal is “to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process” in conjunction with this Green New Deal.
Intentionally named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s original New Deal, the legislation aims to rebuild the job force in the United States while simultaneously concentrating on solutions to climate change. The Green New Deal was first introduced in 2006 by the Green New Deal Taskforce which sought a commitment to 100% renewable energy by the year 2030, free college, and universal healthcare. It grew in popularity following the 2016 election and in early 2019, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey created their own Green New Deal resolution, calling for similar policies from the original bill along with a focus on improving the minimum wage and curbing monopolies. The Green New Deal has become a key piece of progressive politics — and a disturbance to conservatives that maintain that the economy would crumble in the face of adopting more eco-friendly policies. President Trump has repeatedly tried to weaponize support from the Democratic party for the proposal into a disastrous threat to America. Yet, members of Generation Z and Millennials persist in their demands for the U.S. government to adopt these necessary policies.
Young progressives’ pleads for environmental protections, socioeconomic equality, and adequate, accessible healthcare have led to increased public support for politicians championing these policies — particularly on social media. Senator Markey and Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortez have risen to the mainstream alongside their party’s unofficial eldest radical, Sanders, through their younger audiences. In August, Teen Vogue highlighted the feverish support for Markey’s campaign across social media, dubbing him the “favorite of Gen Z voters in the Massachusetts Senate race” and partially attributing his momentum to this modern appeal to younger folks. Ocasio-Cortez, often shortened to “AOC,” also boasts a large audience on social media platforms such as Twitter where her vocal followers provide feverish support and her haters deliver vicious attacks. She has become an essential part of the progressive picture, often championed alongside Sanders, who she has dubbed her tio. AOC also emphasized the continued fight for a better America as she seconded Sanders’ official nomination at the Democratic National Convention, pointing to the growing need for the candidate’s policies — particularly in the age of a COVID-19 pandemic. This desperation has led some Democrats towards more leftist candidates throughout the 2020 election cycle.
Democratic-socialist candidates Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri claimed primary victories over more traditional party candidates. The “Squad,” made up of Representatives Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib, all prevailed in their respective state primaries in their 2020 re-election cycles. Democratic socialism and socialism are polling more favorably than ever among Millennials and Gen Z, and figureheads like Bernie Sanders continue to rally support around the ideas believed to be so ardently in need of change. The people of the United States must grow to accept a recent idiom of Senator Markey’s that implores citizens “to start asking what your country can do for you.”
While some of the Biden campaign’s more centrist-leaning promises like increasing police funding and continuing fracking feel a mere skeleton of a dramatic political shift, young progressives still must bow their heads at the voting booth and cast a ballot for the former Vice President. The DNC denied our lost generation a chance at a 2020 candidate who promised a different future in the face of despair and disparity. Yet, the real battle lies outside of the party’s shortcomings. American democracy is desperately clinging to its roots in the face of a President who refuses to promise a peaceful transfer of power; we live in a divided country threatened to be torn apart at any given moment. In order to sustain the movement thrust into the mainstream by Bernie Sanders, we must do the proverbial “settling for Biden.” In dire straits, pride must be set aside. The battle may have been lost, but the war can yet be won. The United States’ problems will not disappear merely with a Biden presidency. First, must come a Trump defeat; next, the revolution.
