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AOC and Bernie: Don't Get it Twisted: Bernie and AOC Know It is About Us, Not Their Careers [1]

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Date: 2025-03-21

34,000 people showed up for Bernie and AOC in a deep red part of Colorado. Mind-blowing.

Of course, part of this intense interest in the radical duo is a result of the yawning political vacuum left by the GOP, who are doing their best to hide from the coming political shit-storm they have created by their craven service to a toxic and dangerous regime.

And sure, part of it relates to the fact that the moribund, risk-averse lawyers in our party leadership are not exactly rising to the occasion. I can’t entirely blame the more cautious among the Democratic caucus— they are not natural activists. As I said, many of them are simply lawmakers. Pelosi and Jeffries are vote counters, cat herders, NOT firebrands. I’m not saying they don’t have an important role; I am simply saying rallying the masses is not their strong suit. In fact, If the party brain trust was smart enough, they’d consciously put their fighters ( such as AOC, Crockett, Bernie, Raskin etc) out front. But that is another story for another day...

Now, AOC and Bernie both are similar in that they have proven to be experts at building people power. They always rely on small donors ( no bigwigs, no corporate $$ speech) when they run for local office, and attempt serve their constituents with a selfless zeal and seriousness that is rare. Which is why they keep getting elected, and why their sincerity and popularity ( whatever you think of their overall ideology) is apparent to even some of their detractors. Moreover, they see their presence on the stump as (what used to be called) “agitators,” or what are more often referred to today as “organizers.”

Organizers in the context of trade unions for example, are about harnessing collective power to win a contract or execute a labor strike. So too, the duo is using their rhetorical skills to get the masses hopeful, engaged, and on the same page, helping to push the electeds and the establishment toward doing the right thing, and focusing the people’s will regarding the unprecedented constitutional crisis and corruption infecting our government. After all, in a sense, WE are supposed to be the damned government as voiced through our representatives.

Seeing it another way: AOC and Bernie do not want to be THE de facto leaders of the resistance. At least not in some cynical limited electoral politics, kind of way. I see people responding to Bernie giving speeches with a kind of suspicion and a quip about how “he cannot win the presidency.” This is missing the point. I don’t think Bernie gives a crap right now about being president. Likewise, I don’t think the senate is on AOC’s mind.

As Bernie Sanders says: “it is not about me, it is about us.” It is about building a movement where other leaders, organic leaders from the grassroots, can step forward and take action in our own communities, ultimately building and linking these smaller clusters of resistance, into vast networks and coalitions big enough to create a political tipping-point. I think we should encourage this (and the effort from Tim Walz) and anyone really who is willing to step up and fight. Because this is what it will take to turn this madness around. All of us acting together.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/21/2311835/-AOC-and-Bernie-Don-t-Get-it-Twisted-Bernie-and-AOC-Know-It-is-About-Us-Not-Their-Careers?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

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