Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders repeatedly states that he can’t change the country alone. Sanders, speaking at an event in Iowa early in the campaign season, said that the uncomfortable truth is that no president can change the country without the support of millions of Americans.

“That is why what this campaign is about is saying loudly and clearly: It is not just about electing Bernie Sanders for president, it is about creating a grassroots political movement in this country.”

The grassroots political movement has begun, just as Sanders called for, and like all grassroots campaigns, networking has been paramount to its current growth. “Bernie Democrats” are being recognized online in databases, on websites, and with the help of social media accounts for the purpose of making sure that political figures who endorse Sen. Sanders for the Democratic nomination end up in the seats they are striving for.

One database on a webpage entitled “Bernie for Everyone” that appears on David Thomas Engineering explains that these politicians “are either currently serving, serving and up for re-election, or a candidate seeking election.” The compilation of Sanders’ supporters includes individuals running at the federal, state and local levels of government.

The data compiled comes from a continuously updated database that, according to David Thomas Engineering, is maintained by Expats for Sanders. The database of candidates supporting Bernie Sanders also includes a listing of each politicians’ important election dates and specific notes recognizing the Sanders-supporting politicians’ significant individual contribution to the political revolution or the new Progressive movement.

For example, Tim Canova in Florida is running against Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the head of the DNC who has been at the center of significant controversy this election season as Sanders’ supporters have accused her of showing favoritism to Sanders’ competitor for the Democratic nomination. The database also notes Tulsi Gabbard’s major contribution to Sanders’ growing momentum. Gabbard resigned from her position as second-highest leader within the DNC so that she could promote Bernie Sanders’ campaign. The former vice-chair of the DNC currently represents Hawai’i in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A database is also maintained on the website of The Berniecrats Network that lists politicians that have said they endorse Bernie Sanders or support Bernie Sanders’ political revolution. On that database, individuals who have been added within the last week are highlighted in green. Bernie Sanders’ supporters are using this color-coding as a tool to quickly spot newcomers, thank them on social media, support their campaigns, and often even donate to their fundraising efforts. This database includes memes, video endorsements, websites and links to the individuals’ Twitter accounts.

EndorseBernie on Twitter features hundreds of memes recognizing various candidates and public figures who have openly endorsed Bernie Sanders for the sole purpose of sharing the Sanders support on social media.

Of course, EndorseBernie has also created memes created to help compel other political figures to endorse Sen. Sanders and join his political revolution.

Another website called Sanders Democrats features an interactive map, so that people can easily find political candidates and figures who support the ideals represented by Sanders’ platform just by clicking on the image of their state.

In February, the Washington Post declared that the revolution was not going well, saying most candidates running at that time were “a disorganized, underfunded group of little-knowns and political novices, including many who jumped into races with very long odds.” Of course, the same was said of Sanders last spring. Senator Sanders joked in a speech last spring that he fantasized about one day getting 3 million individuals to donate to his campaign. At the time, it was just a fantasy, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Sanders’ supporters have already given the campaign $6.5 million from 2 million individual donors.

[Photo by: Gage Skidmore | Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0 | cropped]