The Rebel
“It is absolutely necessary that rebellion find its reasons within itself, since it cannot find them elsewhere. It must consent to examine itself in order to learn how to act.”
-- Albert Camus; The Rebel
One of the areas where those of us supporting Bernie Sanders could benefit from discussing is how we call each take additional steps to advance our cause. Clearly, one of the most important parts of the Sanders revolution is the Democratic presidential primary. We are doing good, up to this point, and have reached the point that we can step it up to the next level.
I do not hesitate to discuss grass roots’ strategies here on DU:GDP. Although I do not believe that many of the forum’s Hillary Clinton supporters read my Ops, that isn’t a factor. As a matter of fact, it would be good for our party as a whole -- indeed, the nation -- if more of our friends who support Hillary were getting more people out to the voting booths on primary days. We all benefit from a large, active electorate …..just as the republican party benefits from the lowest possible voter turn-out.
I’m not concerned that republicans read the Democratic Underground, as Rush Limbaugh recently documented on his hate radio show. And, perhaps especially in primary seasons, it’s possible that a few “trolls” will show up, to try to stir the pot here. I know that a few journalists, including those doing research for the cable television news shows, read DU. More, there are community members who, as supporters of a specific candidate, then contribute to other blogs on the internet; one recently attacked another forum member’s recent OP, then linked to it in an OP, as evidence of how “bad” some Bernie supporters are.
These things happen. And, of course, they become increasingly common, when one side is uncomfortable with how the other side is doing. Politics ain’t a pillow fight. Still, it is a shame that the levels of acrimony are such that it could very well become a factor in November. In my opinion, our party faces the very real possibility of having a split impact the general election outcome, in a manner that could approach the 1972 contest …..when our party’s establishment -- the moderate and conservative Democratic leaders -- preferred to vote for Richard Nixon rather than the party’s nominee.
Now, one of the most impressive thing that I’ve seen recently has been when, no matter the outcome of an individual state’s primary or caucus, many here make yet another financial contribution to the Sanders’s campaign. That’s huge. It is, of course, the millions of “small” donations from common citizens, that allows Bernie to compete with a campaign financed by Wall Street.
Though many may not have the resources to donate money to the campaign, either on a regular basis or at all, there are many other ways to support the movement. Obviously, there are plenty of others here who can recommend options that I might never have thought of. But, because I have had quite a bit of experience in grass roots organizing and activism, I thought that I’d add a few things that I think are important.
To begin with, I believe in a political program that has been largely influenced by my exposure to the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., America’s greatest socio-political theologist. He advocated the non-violent exercise of our constitutional rights and responsibilities. At times, he practiced the art of creative tension-building.
In my recent experience, in a four-county section of upstate New York, most of my efforts have centered around environmental issues. For years -- decades, really -- some of the villages, towns, cities, and counties therein haven had almost exclusively republican representation and rule. In this region, the majority of registered voters are republican; the second largest group is Independents; and last are registered Democrats. Among the Independents, there is a wide range, from tea partiers to Greens to socialist to environmentalists to libertarians.
As some here know, I’ve run a number of local candidates, by combining the local Democratic Party with the Democratic Left. And we won 80% of the elections. We elected, in one town, the first Democratic majority in office, ever.
In the one county where the long-time “leaders” refuse to break bread with the Democratic Left, and instead attempt to cut in on the republican votes instead, they continue to lose 100% of the time. Those “leaders” have endorsed the Clinton campaign.
The most urgent thing we need to concentrate energy on right now is getting voters out on primary day. There’s a lot of ways to help on this, in your state, and even those states around you. Make use of your local resources. The structure of the Sanders campaign is going to be different in various settings. What is available in a city is usually distinct from in a rural region.
Connecting the larger campaign issues with events in people’s day-to-day lives is essential. An example of that could be the poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan. There aren’t any candidates who will openly say that this situation was okay, because it saved money, while campaigning openly. But, behind closed doors, most of the current presidential candidates favor fracking, and other energy corporation operations that exploit the environment, and poison drinking water supplies. Bernie Sanders is the sole exception.
Here is a link to a report from last week, regarding the drinking water in Binghamton, NY:
http://www.wbng.com/news/local/Binghamton-schools-lead-levels-shut-down-water-sources-370093481.html?cid=facebook_WBNG-TV_Action_News
Our job is to expand the public’s awareness of the connection between this type of situation, and the current election. We present the Sanders revolution as a glass of sparkling clean water; the opposition as a glass contaminated with corporate sludge. When we do so, we can be confident that people thirsting for real change will make the right choice.
In 2012, I wrote a booklet on effective grass roots community organizing. As there are lots of new DU community members active here, I will again provide a link to it:
https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/226012/1/grassroots-handbook-for-effective-community-organizing
We are in a really good position now …..much better than we might have anticipated, or hoped for. Our opposition will continue to try to frame it as a hopeless battle. This is because, by and large, they have lost hope for a better future for everyone. Our mission is to keep hope alive, and to spread it across this nation.
Peace,
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
Looking forward to getting home.
Thanks for the thread, H2O Man. 
LOVED the clean glass of water metaphor, and so appropriate in this context literally as well as figuratively. Thank you so much for posting this very inspirational post.
I hope younger and newer forum members will read, take note, let it perculate and use it as a primer/template/tutorial/organizing tool.
Thanks again!
You know I'm a big fan. 
