Our Revolution descends into disarray
Much of the tension over the future of Sanders’ army stems from what happened at Our Revolution after his first campaign. When Weaver took it over in 2016, most of the staff quit in protest, including some who were opposed to his desire to raise large donations through an independent expenditure.
Then, in the 2018 midterms, Our Revolution flipped zero Republican-held House seats — a fact that moderates pointed to in the presidential primary to portray Sanders and other left-wing candidates as unelectable.
Several aides and allies believe its problems are partly attributable to the lack of a clear direction. According to three former staffers at Our Revolution, the group undertook a months-long process with aides in 2018, led by adviser Max Berger, to chart a more distinct path.
They settled on an ambitious plan: to try to take over the Democratic Party and transform it into a left-wing social democratic party. But board chairman Larry Cohen opposed the idea — believing that it was too similar to the goal of the Democratic Socialists of America — and it was scrapped.
“What we saw after ’16 was a real lack of clarity about what work people should actually do,” said Berger, who went on to join Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign.
Cohen dismissed Our Revolution’s critics, pointing to a 2020 mission plan developed with polling. It lays out three priorities: winning issue fights, building a progressive party and electing more liberals. While the organization didn’t dispute that the group unseated no Republicans in 2018, an aide said about one-third of its endorsed candidates won in the midterms.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/bernie-sanders-base-in-disarray-259514
= new reply since forum marked as read
