The Berniecrats’ Agenda
Claire Lau (my wife) had the idea for the San Francisco Berniecrats just after the primary in May of last year. Like so many young Americans, Bernie’s run for 
president was unlike anything we’d experienced in our lifetimes. An American political leader ran on a platform of altruism, virtue, and populism, and changed our concept of what we could demand from our politicians. He didn’t just shift the Overton window, he hit it across the park. Claire knew then that Bernie had come to unite and embody a cluster of previously disparate progressive desires. Say the name “Bernie Sanders” and everyone from the gas station attendant to the college professor has an idea of the platform: economic and social equality.
By June 2016, our friends who’d worked so passionately for Bernie were fractured and lacked direction. Over the previous year, we’d been running fundraisers and organizing for Bernie in the Bay Area, and knew there was a community with energy and potential. Claire wanted a way to reunite and refocus us on our common goals, but she sought a vessel that could weather the ups and downs of campaigns and tough elections. We were inspired by groups like the Harvey Milk Democratic Club and San Francisco Tomorrow, which had brought their communities together for decades around the issues that resonated with them, and became major forces in influencing policy. The SF Berniecrats would be the nucleus around which our comrades could gather.
Over a short seven month period, we formed a group, wrote and ratified bylaws, elected an executive board, filed to become a nonprofit, debated and voted on endorsements for the November elections, raised funds, printed and distributed 12,000 voter guides in San Francisco, organized canvassing and phone bank events for our endorsed candidates, helped to form the Reform Democrats ADEM slate, organized for the ADEM election, and won an unheard-of majority of the seats in both San Francisco districts.
We now have over 100 active members and are setting our ambitions for 2017. Three issues will dominate our actions; infiltrate the California Democratic Party, push statewide medicare for all healthcare, and change the way that housing stock is viewed in the city.
Our recent wins in the January ADEMs are integral to our influence in the state Democratic Party. Over one weekend, former Bernie delegates and Berniecrats won a majority of elected assembly delegate seats in the California Democratic Party. The actual voting power of these seats is not significant; we only amount to one third of all party votes, after appointed seats and the seats of elected officials are factored in, but its the way that we’ll use these seats that matters. We are going to radically redefine the role of an assembly delegate.
We’re about to begin a statewide experiment in radical democracy. In each assembly district of California, the elected Berniecrat ADEMs are organizing our own town halls. We’re inviting the public for an open discussion about what the Democratic party should be. Should we continue to represent the interests of corporations and the 1%, or will we value the needs of the average people? You already know the answer. We’re going to film these meetings, broadcast them live over the internet, and document what the people say. We’re creating our own media, our own narrative. Then we’ll deliver that message to the Democratic Party with an ultimatum: defy the people’s will at your own risk.
Medicare-for-all healthcare – a long shot for the entirety of my life, could become a reality in California. The Democrats had blocked the Healthy California bill for years, in an attempt not to undermine the ACA (and certainly at the request of private insurers). Now, the ACA is likely to unravel in short time, with no functional replacement and a dangerous situation for CA lawmakers in which large portions of the state could lose their health coverage. The political winds have shifted, and by mid-February we’ll have a bill introduced into the state senate. The SF Berniecrats, our statewide allies, the nurses union, and countless others will be partnering to capitalize on this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Locally, there’s no question that housing is the greatest concern. Discussion of the housing crisis has been locked into the same argument between private construction and affordability for too long, but once again the political climate has changed, and we intend to change the topic. What if we said that housing is a right in San Francisco? What if we demanded the public financing of public housing? What if we ran our own ballot initiative to create a fine on vacant buildings and real estate speculation? These are ideas that would garner wide public approval, regardless of their feasibility. What if we took a decidedly socialist turn with the conversation? After all, it’s our city.
The SF Berniecrats meet from 6:45-8:30 on the first Wednesday of every month at the Park branch library, and can be reached at sfberniecrats@gmail.com.
…Benjamin Becker
(co-chair of SF Berniecrats)
