Bernie Sanders' plan for world domination starts to take shape in Atlanta
Any of the issues, he's ahead of everybody else'
More than 130 supporters packed the new bar of Manuel’s Tavern on Sunday to start building a grassroots network for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, the perpetually ruffled and outspoken socialist who’s running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
One by one, men and women signed up to volunteer, pick up literature, and snag a free button reading “Bernie, y’all” and “Bernie 2016.” Surrounded by signs saying “people and planet before profit,” the supporters ate, traded names, and discussed the 2016 election before co-organizer Daniel Hanley, a local activist, led a call-and-response chant to kick off the event.
“Show me what democracy looks like,” he shouted.
“This is what democracy looks like,” the crowd responded.
“Show me what a movement looks like,” Hanley said.
“This is what a movement looks like,” the group yelled.
Sanders has served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as Vermont’s sole congressman (and an independent) before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and winning re-election in 2012. Prior to heading to Washington, D.C., he served as mayor of Burlington, Vt., throughout the 1980s.
Throughout his political career Sanders has been known as a champion of progressive issues such as helping the working poor and protecting the environment. His competition for the Democratic nomination includes former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, U.S. senator, and media-anointed frontrunner.
“On all of the issues, he’s the most progressive candidate in the Democratic Party that we’ve had in decades,” says Milt Tambor, a labor and housing activist and member of the Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America. “You want to talk about student debt, fixing infrastructure. You want to talk about reform, taxing corporations. Any of the issues, he’s ahead of everybody else.”
Lydia Kay Kennedy-Vogt, who came to the meeting straight from work, says she’s voted for third-party candidates for most her life but will be casting a ballot for Sanders.
“It’s important for us to start a grassroots campaign,” Kennedy-Vogt says. “He doesn’t have the support of corporations. He doesn’t have the relationships.”
The 53-year-old Poncey-Highland resident says she — and her husband, a Republican — are drawn to Sanders’ campaign because he’s genuine and passionate about issues that matter. The issues she cares most about are the influence of money in politics, income inequality, and the U.S.’ involvement in “perpetual war.”
Kennedy-Vogt called Clinton a “great woman” who has worked hard for her country, “but she represents a lot of what is wrong with Washington.”
Event organizers stressed they were not part of the official Sanders campaign but wanted to start laying the groundwork for a grassroots movement.
“The problem is that mainstream media treats him like an outsider and not someone to take seriously,” Tambor says. “Once the crowds keep coming and you see that passion that people here have, that tone will change.”
The crowd was overwhelmingly white but spanned multiple generations. For nearly every gray-haired Atlanta liberal activist, there was a college student. Judging from the group’s Facebook page, the work didn’t end yesterday. Activists are sharing breakdowns of counties to target.
MADSA will host a socialist public forum on June 21 from 2-4 p.m. at the Decatur Recreation Center. Topics include “Economic Justice and Bernie Sanders” and “Expanding Bernie’s Campaign Agenda: Racial Injustice and Police Violence.”