How Bernie’s Rallies Can Become a Mass Movement

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have ignored the advice of Democratic thought leaders to “roll over and play dead.” Thank God. Their anti-oligarchy mass rallies have brought out record-breaking numbers, testifying to a widespread popular desire to resist Musk and Trump.

Filling the void left by Chuck Schumer and his cowardly ilk, Bernie and AOC are becoming leaders not just of leftist activists, but also of the Democratic Party's mainstream liberal base. The hard question now is how to harness all this energy into a movement capable of actually defeating Musk, then Trump.

Team Bernie has already taken major strides in this direction. It’s not just that the “Fight the Oligarchy” tour has energized ordinary Americans and spread a resonant anti-billionaire, pro-democracy message. These events also have had a concrete strategic focus, as one of Bernie’s advisors explained online: “For those asking, yes these [rallies] are tied to action. All have been in or near GOP-held swing districts and we are following up with specific actions to pressure their Member to vote NO on any Medicaid cuts or billionaire tax breaks—or else face electoral consequences.”

This is all essential. But Bernie and AOC could take an additional step: ask all rally attendees to become organizers. The fate of our country depends in part on channeling the excitement of these events into an escalating, mass-based campaign.

To generate the scale of resistance necessary to win, attendees not only need to take action like signing a petition or attending an upcoming protest, but also get dozens of their co-workers, friends, and neighbors to do the same — and not just once, but as part of a sustained, escalating effort. In other words, plug us into organizing.

High-attention moments like big rallies can be used to directly onboard everybody looking to fight back. General appeals to get involved locally aren’t enough. People need specifics and next steps.

To be fair, the fact that “Fight the Oligarchy” rallies haven’t yet made such organizing asks isn’t really the fault of their hosts. It reflects the weakness of a too-timid US labor movement and a too-small, too-fragmented Left. There have been lots of actions since Trump was elected, but they’ve been relatively uncoordinated and small-scale. If we had already succeeded in galvanizing a cohesive movement capable of attracting fence-sitters, AOC and Bernie would very likely be boosting it.

But the reality today