Bernie

I have been an admirer of Senator Elizabeth Warren for many years, ever since she spoke here at Albany Law School some time back in the 90s. But I respected her decision not to enter the primaries to contest the nomination of Hillary Clinton. Obviously I never had to decide whether I would choose to vote for Warren or Clinton, but I came to the conclusion long ago that the candidates I liked best had no real chance of winning. So I have tried to keep my picks within the realm of the people I thought could win.

But Bernie Sanders is forcing me to rethink what to do. Simply put, the Democrats have lost much of the constituency for real, liberal, politics, politics for Americans with average incomes, politics for people who are being given the shaft by business as usual. Those folk have been part of the constituency of the Democratic Party for years. But many of them have been staying home and not voting. Or deserting.

The Occupy movement showed that there is still some life in that constituency. And it showed that American politics and Democratic Party politics can be rejuvenated. Except that it collapsed – not for lack of support but because it was never organized for the long haul.

Bernie gives hope to those of us who care about giving people real opportunity and a fair shake. He gives us a symbol we can rally around. Putting it in the political process is very different from opening a tent on Wall Street. Bernie is trolling for votes. His success will measure the possibility of returning to an America that is fair to all.

Years ago a congressman by the name of William Fitz Ryan represented a liberal district in Manhattan. His brother served on the Board of Directors of the program I worked for and commented that for Congressman Ryan, pushing Congress from the left, created opportunities for his fellow legislators to shift the battleground.

I think Bernie is in that tradition. If he can arouse the mass of us who care about each other’s fate, and arouse the many whose lives are crushed by the disinterest and hostility of those who have power and money, then Bernie can shift American politics from the rut it’s been rattling around in for several decades.

In that way, Bernie is more than a candidate. He represents a cause. He can be the beginning of a movement and an organization. The crucial thing we have to do is to take advantage of his candidacy, win, lose or draw, and build on it toward a stronger, fairer politics, and a stronger America, whose future is not limited to what may be good for a few big donors but is premised on the ways that investing in our country and its people can make a stronger, wealthier, more successful America for all of us.

Go Bernie. And may the rest of us come along, to push the campaign cart, organize for a long push, and celebrate a greater America.