Bernie Sanders's First Presidential Run Catalyzed the Modern American Socialist Movement
Source: Branko Marcetic. "A Decade After His First Presidential Run, Bernie Isn’t Alone." October 2, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign fundamentally transformed American politics by making socialism mainstream and acceptable, pointing to the explosive growth in DSA membership, socialist politicians elected nationwide, and increased public support for socialist candidates since 2016. He credits Sanders's authentic, plainspoken style and his strategic linking of socialism to the popular New Deal tradition as the model that today's socialist politicians like AOC and Zohran Mamdani have successfully followed.
Conclusion
The American left's current relevance, growth, and institutional power would not exist without Bernie Sanders's first presidential campaign a decade ago.
Premises
- Before Sanders's 2016 run, socialism was politically marginal: DSA had only ~6,000 members in 26 chapters, almost no open socialists held elected office, and only 59% of Democrats (and less than half of independents) would vote for a socialist.
- Within five years of Sanders's campaign, dozens of open socialists won elected office at every level of government, DSA grew to over 55,000 members in 150+ chapters, and support for socialist candidates among Democrats rose to 74%.
- The timing is not coincidental: 97% of DSA's current 120,000 members joined after 2016, with most joining after Sanders's second run and AOC's election, showing a direct causal link to Sanders's campaigns.
- Sanders succeeded where previous left-wing figures (like Kucinich and Gravel) failed because he combined genuine ideological conviction with a 'normal,' credible, non-jargon-laden communication style that resonated across partisan lines.
- Sanders provided a replicable rhetorical and political model—rooting socialist ideas in the New Deal tradition and plain-spoken, class-focused messaging—that subsequent socialist politicians (AOC, Mamdani) have successfully adopted and refined.
- There are now more than 250 socialists holding elected office nationwide (up from a handful a decade ago), including city council majorities/pluralities, state legislative caucuses, and soon-to-be mayors, demonstrating durable institutional gains traceable to the movement Sanders catalyzed.
Assumptions
- Correlation between Sanders's campaigns and the growth of socialist political power implies causation rather than both being driven by independent factors (e.g., 2008 financial crisis, rising inequality, social media organizing).
- The rhetorical and stylistic qualities Marcetic attributes to Sanders (authenticity, plainspokenness) were the decisive variables in his success, rather than circumstantial factors like timing or his specific policy platform.
- The current prominence of self-identified socialists in office represents genuine ideological commitment and durable power rather than temporary electoral success or rebranding of pre-existing progressive politics.
- The New Deal framing strategy was uniquely effective and is generalizable as a lesson for future socialist politicians.
- The decline of 'moralistic' and jargon-heavy left rhetoric in figures like AOC is a direct result of absorbing lessons from Sanders's campaign style, not independent political evolution.