Force Ghost Sanders

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (L, rear) holds his first presidential campaign rally in Brooklyn College, New York, the United States, March 2, 2019. /Xinhua

Editor's note: Timothy Ulrich is a political writer based in Beijing. He specializes in media studies and American politics. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Joe Biden

may have pulled off a victory in Super Tuesday, but the victor of the race to be the 2020 U.S.Democratic nominee

continues to be Bernie Sanders – and his supporters.

"Not me, us." That's been the slogan for the Sanders campaign. And it encapsulates more than his plans for the White House, but what his efforts have been so far.

His campaign reported that in February, he raised a whopping 46.5 million U.S. dollars from 2.2 million donations. That's almost threetimes more than what Biden raised in that same period, bringing in 17 million U.S. dollars.

But money isn't everything, as Mike Bloomberg has found out. What's really telling about Sanders' fundraising is the number of individual donationsthat's also more than threetimes that of Biden's was as of the end of 2019.

What it comes down to is enthusiasm. I felt a similar level of enthusiasm, even as far as a small town in Elko county, Nevada,where I canvassed for Barack Obama in 2012 while I was in high school.

There was a momentum. A movement was emerging. But when Obama came into office, that movement fizzled out. Instead of enacting his campaign promises, he appointed Rahm Emanuel to Chief of Staff.

Emanuel is one of Wall Street's top recipients contributions, and quickly moved to put Goldman Sachs executives in place. The hopes of millions of voters was crushed as Emanuel continued to slow Obama's policy goalsat the heart of his campaign.

A voter arrives at a polling station in Los Angeles, California, the United States, March 3, 2020. /Xinhua

But Sanders has taken this in stride, saying "Not me, us"to indicate this is not what he'll do. But there's secondary affect this has had: It's revealing a way the political establishment can be defeated through grassroots efforts.

Now this is not an obituary to the Sanders campaign as there's still a competitorin the fight. Whether or not he gets nominated, there is a growing movement. It's a network of organizers, fundraisers, and thought leaders that will not be silenced by media criticism or establishment pushback.

We've already seen what social movements can accomplish with the Tea Party in 2009, a movement astroturfed by billionaires that rallied the conservative base, and arguably led to the election of Trump after fanning the flames of Republican rage.

And the impact of the movement Sanders is ushering in can already be seen in statewide races. Take the Blue America PAC. It is an organization that's been using the momentum of the progressive movement to support progressive or socialist candidates. The criteria for support include many of Sanders' policy goals, like the Green New Deal and Medicare For All.

So far in 2020 Democratic congressional primary races, we've seen at least threeof their candidates win – Audrey Denney (CA-01), Mike Siegel (TX-10) and Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA-50).

To use a tired reference, Sanders is the Obi-wan Kenobi of the Democratic field, saying "if you strike me down, I shall become more than you can possibly imagine."The question is if the Darth Vader in this instance, the Democratic establishment and Joe Biden, will be able to strike him down.

And as it looks now, Sanders is going to use his competitive number of delegates to keep fighting unless Biden gets a plurality. But even if Sanders loses, his force ghost will continue to guide American progressives and socialists on how to fight.

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