Bernie Sanders in Dallas July 19, 2015

You know the story. Polls are giving Hillary Clinton a huge advantage over Bernie Sanders. On Daily Kos, Hillary Clinton is catching up to Bernie in Kos’ straw polls. The vast majority of endorsements are going to Hillary Clinton. The media… well, to be frank the media minimizes, subtly mocks and downplays Bernie Sanders seriousness as a candidate. The general consensus seems to be that Bernie Sanders has hit his ceiling.

I’m not worried and I would like to share why.

Brief background: I’ve been a volunteer/activist for Democratic campaigns since Kay Taebel ran for State Representative against Kent Grusendorf in the late 1980’s. And I haven’t quit since. I have not done it all but I have done a great deal: envelope stuffing, blockwalking, phonebanking, voter registration, helped run the polls (JOB FROM HELL), block captain, precinct chair and on and on. Campaigns I have volunteered for (that I can remember): Kay Taebel (State Representative), Ann Richards (Governor), Bob Kreuger (U.S. Senate), Martin Frost (U.S. House of Representatives) for 3 different re-election bids, Gen. Wes Clark (Presidential Primary), Kerry/Edwards (Presidential), Barack Obama (Presidential) 2 times and now Bernie Sanders.

I have never seen a campaign like Bernie Sanders ever before.

My first Bernie Sanders campaign event was when he came to Dallas in July. I contacted the BernieSanders.com website several times offering to volunteer and heard nothing but was still planning to attend. Two days before the event I got a call from Laura N., a campaign staffer – they were swamped with volunteers she said, would I be interested in being a team leader at the event? Sure, no problem. So myself and about 12 new friends became team leaders. We were trained the night before the event.

The morning of the event we met the other 80 or so volunteers. Training them was fast because the crowds were coming. I helped run the clipboard team and was really, really impressed with the 20 or so people who worked to get information from attendees.

Turnout was – well, nuts. The main room held 5,000 so we know that many showed up. But the spillover room would hold another 5,000 and was what, 1/3 to ½ full? So 6,000 to 7,000 showed up?

The Bernie campaign had 1, count ‘em, 1 paid staffer at the event. And a consultant. That’s it. Two people on payroll for the whole event. EVERY OTHER PERSON RUNNING THE EVENT WAS A VOLUNTEER.

Fast forward to August – Bernie has made the decision not to pay the fee to get on the Democratic Primary Ballot in Texas. He’s going to get on the ballot by getting the signatures of interested voters. If he succeeds, he will be the first Presidential candidate to do so since 1984 when Jesse Jackson did so.

But why? Why do it the hard way? Much to everyone’s surprise, money has not been an issue for the Sanders campaign at all.

It is a strategic decision. My experience gathering petitions is that for every signature I got, I talked to three other people who did not know who Bernie Sanders was. We’re targeting events which would generally have a receptive audience: Pride parades, Democratic club meetings, farmers markets, etc.

We’re evangelizing. We are spreading the word in the most effective way possible: human to human.

Last Saturday we had a Bernie Sanders meet up in Dallas, Chaired by David Sanchez, North Texas Coordinator for Bernie Sanders.

David Sanchez, North Texas Coordinator for Bernie Sanders

Oh, you didn’t know? Bernie has paid staffers in Texas. PAID. STAFFERS. IN. TEXAS. Jacob Llmon is our State Director, David Sanchez is our North Texas Director and I believe there is someone for South Texas but have been so focused on my area I did not catch the name.

We had about 200 people show up at the meet up in the building where we have the North Texas Office for Bernie Sanders. That’s right, we have an office.

Turns out Bernie has a problem in Texas. His problem:

81,000 Texans have gone, on their own initiative, to BernieSanders.com and offered to do volunteer work for the campaign. Over 10,000 of those are in Dallas.

We have to get all of these people plugged in and working for the Sanders campaign! We have to train all of these people! What a great problem to have.

We also got updates on the petitions to get Bernie on the ballot. 8,238 signatures in hand, well on our way towards 15,000.

Where are we gathering signatures?

Austin

Dallas

San Antonio

Houston

Denton

Bryan (YES, BRYAN TEXAS, HOME TO A&M)

Fort Worth

McAllen

Texarkana

Beaumont

Bastrop

Kerrville

Lubbock (Yes, really, we’re in Lubbock!)

Tyler

Each signature has to be a registered voter. So we have teams of other volunteers looking up voter ID’s to verify that the person who signed is registered. Estimates are that we have spoken with 60,000 people about Bernie Sanders in the process.

Only 5k signatures are needed to get on the ballot; we already have that many verified.

What is next for Bernie in Texas after getting on the ballot?

Phone calls – we have 850,000 phone calls to make.

Outreach to people of color and other minority groups. My 30 person North Dallas team has homework: each of us is to find one event/location/ group for Latinos, African-Americans, Asians, Muslims, LGBT and we are going to get our of our (mostly) lily-white comfort zones and meet with these people. I’m contacting a local mosque and looking for a way to reach out to the very large Vietnamese community in my area. We have four Spanish speakers in my group, one native, one excellent and two passable. I have plans for those guys. They are going to be busy. My little group has no African-Americans – yet. Not too surprising for North Dallas.

Here’s what I’m trying to say.

Our candidate, Bernie Sanders, talks about a POLITICAL REVOLUTION. This is what he means. Bernie Sanders is the real deal. He is investing in people. This is what the campaign is all about. People reaching out to other people; white people going into Latino and Black neighborhoods and getting to know their neighbors. Working together for a larger goal.

Don’t believe me? Here, do me a favor, go to BernieSanders.com and put in zip code 75042, that is a Dallas area zip code, and look at events in the area.

Now, go to HillaryClinton.com and do the same thing, same zip code.

The closest Hillary Clinton event to the Dallas Metroplex (6,954,330 live here) is in Waco… 1.5 hour drive away.

For Bernie Sanders, it’s about 90% ground game . I’ve never seen a Democratic candidate this active, this far out from the election IN TEXAS. Never, ever, ever.

Yes, this election is an uphill battle for Bernie. Yes it will be difficult. Yes, he faces many challenges. Yes, Bernie is at a disadvantage in this political system.

But he has a secret weapon: US.

Bernie Sanders can win this thing. Now, let’s go do it.

A challenge to my fellow Bernie Sanders supporters on Daily Kos: what did you do for Bernie today? So far I’ve organized a debate watch party, agreed to speak at the Preston Hollow Democrats about ending gun violence, and updated the North Dallas for Bernie spreadsheet to reflect the special skills/training of its members. Tonight I’m going to be sending emails organizing petition gathering in Dallas for this weekend. If all you have done is snipe at Hillary Clinton supporters on Daily Kos then, IMO, you have done zip, zero, nothing, nothing, nothing for Bernie Sanders. In fact you have hurt Bernie Sanders. Because the day the primary ends, you will need EVERY SINGLE HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER TO VOTE FOR HIM IN THE GENERAL ELECTION. And if you have decided you will not vote for any other candidate but Bernie Sanders in the general election, you’re useless to me. We aren’t electing a messiah. We are starting a political revolution, a movement. It does not begin and end with one man. If you don’t get that, you fundamentally misunderstand what Bernie Sanders is trying to do. Now if you’re serious about supporting Bernie and not just posting memes, we could use your help: Volunteer.

Saturday’s meeting.