For the past decade, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been running for president, urging him to either plan a run for the president or adopt progressive policies more than former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
But now, Democrats find legal and fundraising institutions under attack from the Trump administration, and their basic voters are furious at Congressional leadership and the popularity of a lower generational party, so progressive progress looks at the outlook for the future after Berny.
Sanders, 83, is a campaign politician with a large base of dedicated supporters. The question is, who will lead the network he built from scratch to the next presidential election and beyond?
Interviews with nearly 20 progressive Democrats about the future of the left revealed factions who are looking at the ideas Sanders is defending. It reduces the power of billionaires, increases the minimum wage, focuses on workers' light-shapes, and is the core of the next generation of mainstream democratic politics.
There is little agreement on who will emerge to guide progressives into the post-Sanders era, but virtually everyone interviewed said there is one clear leader in the job. He is the representative of New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
And Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez spent three days on a “Combodia Oligarchy” tour last week through Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. In Denver, they drew 34,000 people. That Aide Sanders said he was the biggest crowd of his career. Neither of all that diagonally mentions the nature of the torch paths of their trip, and in an interview, Sanders refused to answer questions about whether 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez would inherit his mantle. However, the subtext of their travels is clear.
She's the following – if she wants it.
“Alexandria has done an extraordinary job at home,” Sanders said. “You can't sit down, you can't get tired of despair. You have to get up and fight back against every way you can and get involved.
Ocasio-Cortez 3 options
Ocasio-Cortez, who refused the request for an interview, has not said anything publicly about her political plans. Several people who said they spoke with her told her that she was far from making a decision.
However, there are three clear options for the fourth term lawmaker.
She can focus on the house. She will become a well-respected and respected member of the Democratic Caucus and will try to become committee chair if Democrats regain their majority in next year's midterm elections.
She was able to run for the seat that Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a minority leader. Or she could have sought the presidency in 2028.
(Ocasio-Cortez is also meditating on dropping out of politics, people who spoke to her said, which seems less, given her long-term advice Thursday will be joining the crowds in North Las Vegas, Nevada, in the fight against the Trump administration.)
Her obvious complaints with Schumer heated long-studded conversations about whether she might run for his seat in 2028, after making the GOP spending bill pass on the green this month.
Those who worked with Ocasio-Cortez in the campaign to advocate anonymity to discuss private outreach said that after Schumer's vote, they were flooded with calls from Democrats, not just Democrats, after encouraging people on the far left to consider Congress's future and senior offices.
“She's not looking for something to jump to, something to next, or something to next, for the simple reason to jump to that,” said former New York Jamal Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez's political ally and friend. “When everyone says 'speed up', that's when it's time to actually slow down. ”
He added: “You have to breathe in. That race for the US Senate is three years away. Let's govern a little.”
Ocasio-Cortez also has extensive conversations with family allies such as Maryland's representative Jamie Ruskin, whom he spoke to her about his own deliberations about whether or not he would run for the Senate. Prior to last year's election, Ruskin decided to stay in the House and hand over the Senate race, which he was a heavy favorite.
The Senate provides a big megaphone for politicians, Ruskin said, but he believes he can achieve more policy goals at home.
“We are in a moment of crisis, and crisis is always the moment when new leadership speaks to the moral and political orders of the time,” Ruskin said. “This crisis could be the end of some people's political careers, and it could be the beginning of some people's political careers.”
2028 left jockey
Sanders' mantle is, at least in part, the question of who will come to mind in the next presidential election, and who will surely come.
In some respects, the jockey is already clear.
“In my view, I don't think there's a standard bearer or two standard bearer or three standard bearer for progressive movement,” said California Democrat Ro Khanna, who spoke to the 2028 presidential campaign. “We're going to see the beginning of a new, progressive era, looking at successive progressive candidates.”
Of course, there is a deep division in the party as to how far the Democrats on the left have to go.
But some argue that today's Democratic tensions have stopped focusing on the types of ideological conflicts that characterize the major races of 2020.
For now, at least for now, these Democrats say the debate is about how and where to draw the line against the world's wealthiest figures, President Trump and Elon Musk.
Several mainstream Democrats, including Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, Illinois Gov. Tim Waltz, and himself a billionaire, have been attracting attention from progressive activists due to their fierce gender shift to the Trump administration.
“The biggest division among Democrats is between those who want to stand and fight and those who are dead,” said Rep. Greg Cassal, a Texas Democrat and chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “We need more leaders from the Democrat Stand and Fightwing.”
Empire State leader Daniel Brecker had called on Schumer to stand aside as a minority leader, but said he saw Ocasio-Cortez as a “party future” with some promising path.
However, she questioned the country's willingness to elect women in 2028.
“Sadly, I think it probably needs to be a very safe white person,” she said. “I feel bad saying that. The wound is still very painful.”
How anger drives democratic politics
When Trump first took office, his liberal energy was solid with Sanders.
By the time the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race began, several candidates were rushing to embrace Sanders' heathcare and other issues goals, despite most successful candidates in the 2018 midterm elections adopting a more moderate stance. Biden, the party's final candidate for 2020, also took a more gentle tack.
Now there are signs that the infuriated constituents have regained their strength to guide elected officials. Anger for Schumer and Senate Democrats last month prompted a futile display against Trump's appointment of cabinet. Democrats, who host town hall events aimed at holding Republicans accountable for Trump's agenda, find themselves faced with a liberal pushback that they can't change the country's course.
Some progressives said the country needs to be guided in a new direction. He said there is a sustained effort to demonstrate both public opposition to Trump's agenda and support for liberal alternatives.
“After the murder of George Floyd, you saw a massive pour,” said Minnesota Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison. “We saw a lot of people making statements about police accountability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and once the movement settles, they are ready to put it all back together.
“So there's a lesson there. The lesson is you have to stay on the street.”
