I thought maybe I could get most everyone here upset with me

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Also, in addition to what marylandblue wrote...

We work to mitigate against the power that wealthy interests have in the way that common people always have, we organize. The Union movement of course has always been Exhibit A in that regard. Powerless as individuals, but collectively mighty. And that even included money, good old union dues added up when pooled. Until Big Labor raised most American's standards of living to the point where many no longer felt Unions served a need, Big Labor largely funded the Democratic Party (granted that is an oversimplification.)

The Sanders campaign did create a nationwide pool of activists willing to make regular monthly pledges to the cause, enough to raise as much money as the more standard base that Hillary Clinton largely drew from (yes of course Hillary had many small donors too - but not to the same extent.)

And then we need to network and economize, we must rely on real grassroots efforts to spread a message that costs many millions to pay for via ads. They use wealth to create the fiction of a grassroots movement - as in astroturfing. We need genuine grassroots moments that don't rely on wealth.