I Support Bernie Sanders Remaining an Independent

[Tom Rinaldo]

I say that not only as a registered Democrat who votes Democratic every year, but also as a Democratic Party official, which makes me about as much of a Democrat as one can be. I'm the elected Chair of our Town's Democratic Committee. I have a seat on our county's Democratic Party Executive Committee. Last night I chaired a meeting of our Town's Democratic Committee preparing for the local elections in November, and we just recruited a very solid highly qualified candidate to run for an open seat on our Town Board. She is a Democrat, and she voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 New York State Democratic Presidential primary.

At that same meeting we moved forward on plans for door knocking throughout our Town to build resistance to our newly elected Republican Congressman (ours is considered to be a swing congressional district). That is the Democratic Party in action. On that effort we are working with Democratic activists, we are working with Working Families Party activists, we are even working alongside some Green Party members (few and far between), and we are working with Independent activists (they are called non-enrolled voters around here to avoid confusing them with members of the Independence Party).

Gallup has been ruing a poll for years that asks: “In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent? “ On March 17 2017 26% said Republican, 42% said Independent, and 30% said Democrat. Those figures bounce around a little, but since Gallup started running it in 2004 the relative order remains fairly constant. More almost always answer Independent than Democrat.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/15370/Party-Affiliation.aspx

A different Gallup study issued in 2014 had this finding:
“Young Americans in their 20s and 30s today share two important political characteristics -- they are the most likely of any age group to eschew identification with either party, and, among those who do have a political identity, they are the most likely, along with older baby boomers, to tilt toward the Democratic Party. “

Further on it goes on to explain the actual raw data – how young people literally self identify their political affiliations:

“These results highlight, again, the political detachment of the younger generation, with almost half of the very youngest initially identifying themselves as independents. The percentage of Americans who are independent drops at a remarkably steady rate across the entire age spectrum...

... Young Americans are more detached from the political system in general, but still tilt strongly toward the Democratic Party, particularly when those who initially identify as independents are asked to which party they lean.”
http://www.gallup.com/poll/172439/party-identification-varies-widely-across-age-spectrum.aspx

I would argue that Bernie Sanders now occupies a sweet spot among voters who profess an affinity for “liberal” values that the Democratic Party has long associated with, especially so with younger voters. The Democratic Party, essentially by definition, has a plethora of leaders. We have the DNC, we have State Democratic Committees. We have paid spokespeople, we have paid strategists, we have three ex-Presidents. We have thousands of Democrats who have been elected to offices. We have plenty of people who can make the case for being a Democrat, which is all well and good. Still the trend lines for registering as a Democrat have been running against us for year, decades actually. That is not because of Bernie Sanders, or Angus King either for that matter, who is the other Independent caucusing with Democrats in the Senate. It is because more and more people prefer to see themselves as Independents. It is a historical trend and literally registered Democrats are now a significant minority of the general public. Wishing it were otherwise does not change those facts.

Independents by definition choose not to belong to a political party. And there are more of them than there are of us. Many people value the perceived integrity of being Independent, positioned beyond the pall of partisan politics. Still, just like people who do affiliate with a political party, they vote, and it is not a stretch to say that they hold the balance of power in American politics today. Given that I think it is an asset to us as Democrats to have a self identified Independent like Bernie Sanders not only caucus with us in the Senate, the way Angus King does, but also advocate on behalf of the Democratic Party as an institution. Sanders recently said, "If the Democratic Party is going to succeed - and I want to see it succeed - it's gonna have to open its door to Independents".

I think Bernie Sanders is unusually well situated to help the Democratic Party succeed, and he is doing so. No he is not an active part of the Democratic Party apparatus the way both I and Tom Perez are. We have people for those roles. Sanders is an independent outside advocate, to other Independents, for working with the Democratic Party to help it achieve a positive vision for America. He has always done so by caucusing with us, but more recently he did so by inspiring so many to become personally involved in Democratic politics, via his own campaign for President. That is having a positive carry over to this day. I am seeing that here at the local Democratic Party level. Sanders endorsed and campaigned for the Democratic Party candidate for President. Now he is traveling around the country with the DNC Chair – the one who defeated the candidate for that position who he himself originally endorsed.

Let me go back to that Gallup quote above: “Young Americans are more detached from the political system in general, but still tilt strongly toward the Democratic Party, particularly when those who initially identify as independents are asked to which party they lean.” Bernie is helping consolidate the Democratic Party appeal to precisely those kinds of Independents by, as an Independent, repeatedly associating with us. He may not always immediately deliver new Democratic Party members to us as a consequence of his activity - though I see a strong uptick in new literal Democratic Party activism from people who were pulled into our Party because of their involvement in the Sanders run for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Bernie Sanders is making a strong case to look first to the Democratic Party for candidates to support to achieve progressive ideals.

It wasn't preordained that it would be this way. There have been growing rumbles for years that the Left in America needed a new political party to support other than the Democrats; an American Labor Party perhaps, or a reconstituted and expanded Green Party associated with a wider spectrum of issues beyond a relatively narrow focus on environmental concerns. Bernie Sanders could have spearheaded that movement. He was pointedly asked to do so. He could have become it's standard bearer running as a third party Independent – which inevitably would have resulted in a new left of center party forming in the wake of his campaign Or Bernie Sanders could have run in 2016 with the Green Party endorsement for President. Jill Stein offered him that deal and Bernie refused. Or he could have stayed out of the 2016 race all together once he lost the Democratic nomination, but instead he campaigned for Hillary Clinton, who of course Jill Stein directly opposed.

I am not saying that we need a lot more Bernie Sanders Independent types, he pretty much fills the bill by himself as a high profile advocate for Independents to look first to the Democratic Party for political representation, rather than going third party or staying at home. We are lucky we have Sanders playing that role.