Tonight I organized an Illinois for Bernie “Unhappy Hour” (via Zoom Conference), as a forum for fellow Bernie supporters to share how they are feeling about Bernie dropping out of the presidential race, and to begin to talk about our future as a movement. It was really great to see everyone’s faces… and folks had so much to say that I had to finally cut the call off after 2 hours!
It was interesting to hear the range of emotions people are struggling with, as well as the wide variety of ideas folks have for moving forward. People mentioned joining organizations like: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Our Revolution, United Working Families and other local independent political organizations. They talked about the importance of running for office and strategies around that. I, along with a couple others, talked about the great potential we see in the Poor People’s Campaign: a National Call for a Moral Revival. And some said the most important thing we can do right now is push for Medicare for All, especially given where we are at with the coronavirus pandemic.
There were no right answers, and there is no “right way” to grieve. But it always feels good to come together with like-minded folks to share and commune.