Photo by: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

Proponents of a progressive political ideology often say, “The establishment is against Bernie” or “Corporate America will stop Bernie from moving forward.” Naturally, progressives are inclined to extend this mentality to why the Democratic National Committee (DNC) actively works to undermine Bernie Sanders. The reality, however, is that it is much simpler than that: A Bernie Sanders Presidency means the immediate and forceful end of the DNC as we know it today.

While the rationale behind the establishment and corporatist arguments against Bernie Sanders are undoubtedly true (his political platform would drastically hurt them financially), they are not as swift and direct as what Bernie Sanders could do to the DNC once elected president. A little known fact which, sadly, most Americans are unaware, is that a sitting president has significant control over his or her party’s national committee.

A sitting president can fire the sitting chair of the party’s committee, and hire one that aligns closer to his or her principles. According to Boris Heersink, Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, “This power is a holdover from an earlier era when the national committees were largely responsible for organizing the full presidential election campaigns.”

Furthermore, this presidential power over the party’s committee extends to allow the sitting president to not only appoint party chairs but also to replace them if their views do not align with those of the sitting president.

In short, this means that a Bernie Sanders presidency would result in a complete overhaul of the DNC. If elected, Sanders could appoint a progressive chair to the DNC, allocate DNC resources to support progressive candidates in congressional mid-term and general elections, and actively change the internal dynamics and structure of the DNC to promote a more progressive platform. If Bernie Sanders is president, the Democratic party essentially becomes the Bernie Sanders Party, and that is why the DNC is terrified of Sanders’ forward momentum in the primaries.

While Sanders’ progressive policies may take time to implement on a larger scale, relative to the DNC, Sanders’s control over the party will be immediate. In turn, a progressive upward spiral will form, with the new DNC actively supporting candidates who hold progressive views, leading to a rapid influx of progressives entering Congress after the mid-term elections in 2022.