Barring some unforeseen catastrophes, the well-greased campaign of Hillary Clinton is closing in on the Democratic nomination, while the “insurgent” campaign of Donald Trump rolls toward the nomination for the Republicans. As he has always said he would, Bernie Sanders will endorse Clinton, at the same time that he steps up his attacks on Trump.

For tens of thousands of Sanders’ supporters, a major question is what forms will Sanders’ push for Clinton and against Trump take. More specifically, will Sanders’ efforts lead to strengthening left efforts in the future as his bid for the Democratic nomination falters?

According to Politico and the New York Times, a small, anonymous group of experienced Sanders staffers and volunteers has circulated a three page document proposing that “…Sanders get out of the presidential race after the final burst of Democratic primaries on June 7, and concentrate on building a national progressive organization to stop Donald Trump.” (Gabriel Sanders, “Sanders allies plot post-primary war on Trump”, politico.com, 5/11/2016).

The document as cited by Politico points out that a “large cadre of young, newly political Sanders supporters sees rejection of Hillary and the Democratic Party establishment as core to their identity.”  Through the organization envisioned by the document, the disgust of such people would be funneled away from Clinton, and towards Trump.

If that were all that the proposed organization did, it would neutralize much of the good left energy which the Sanders’ campaign has focused and helped to generate. However, if the organization respected leftists’ perspectives and enabled the to deepen their work, without requiring incorporation into a a corrupt Democratic machine, it could be a positive development.

By the way, such an organization would require funding by large donors, as Sanders’ base of small donors seems to be fairly tapped out.  This exigency creates obvious tensions with independent left participation, yet some kind of pact is at least conceivable between leftists and progressives (actually more or less principled leaders of left and progressive organizations) on the one hand, and wealthy donors from the Clinton camp on the other.  The latter might realize that they need to tap into the popular anti-establishment mood which has helped propel Trump’s campaign to victory on the Republican side, and fuel Sanders’ surprisingly successful challenge to Clinton among Democrats.

For what it’s worth, a spokesman for the Sanders’ campaign denied that Sanders or anyone he works which has seen the document, which is titled “After Winning on June 7th Bernie Sanders Should Suspend his Campaign and Launch an Independent Organization to Defeat Donald Trump.”  (June 7th is the date of the final Democratic primaries.)  Moreover, the spokesman dismissed the document as “totally irrelevant…. We could care less….”  (Yamiche Alcindor, “Bernie Sanders Supporters Propose ‘Mobilizing Voters’ to Beat Donald Trump,” New York Times, 5/12/16).

Does this mean that Sanders is leaning toward merging his efforts into full support for Clinton wholly within the Democratic Party?  If so, that would be a major blow to left activists and supporters who viewed his campaign as a golden opportunity to remake society for the better.

 

 

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