Thinking About the Election
The Real News
If there is to be a political revolution - reactionary Republicans must be removed and cautious Democrats must be replaced with outside-inside activists who understand how to make the connection between movements and policies. Pramila Jayapal is an immigrant-rights advocate who blends movement ideals with legislative skills. She was one of the first congressional candidates this year to earn an endorsement from Bernie Sanders.
Throughout the twentieth century, liberal wisdom held that "socialism" or a social-democratic political formation could not be viable in America. Future historians may look back at the 2016 Sanders campaign as a great wave that swept away this old wisdom. But that new history will be written only if activists seize the opportunity before us to build, from the enthusiasm and activism of the Sanders campaign, enduring organizations.
Elected officials operate within the parameters of possibility. Movement politics is about redefining those parameters. Whoever is elected in November - even Trump - takes office in a country percolating with organized discontent at inequality, climate change, Citizens United, police violence. That's movement politics.
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