As Bernie Sanders gains delegates within the democrat machinery, he needs to separate his campaign even farther from the Standard Operating Procedures which democrats in leadership positions have come to expect from their leading candidates for the presidency. This separation from the SOPs is the main source of what gives his campaign whatever level of credibility it is perceived as possessing.
Sanders has repeatedly insisted that what he is trying to do is to create “a movement” and that his candidacy is not what is most important. His credibility suffers from the fact that he has chosen to campaign as a democrat because the democrat party is now primarily a party which is controlled by the same monetary priorities and manipulations as the republican party.
Both parties lead their constituents to follow campaign patterns in a manner which is not unlike a church liturgy. It is a corporate capital liturgy and Sanders has another opportunity to break the flow and focus the movement in a different direction.
Sanders needs to get his administration in order.
Choosing and announcing a running mate as soon as possible is immensely important, but he needs to take it farther. He needs to start lining up a cabinet and do it in a very open and honest manner.
The vice president and the cabinet choices need to be portrayed as more important than his candidacy itself.
The movement must begin consolidating and Sanders needs to emphasize that if something happens to him the cabinet choices must pick up and carry the movement forward.
Sanders has put himself and the movement on a tightrope. The logic of running within the Democrat machinery because it allows greater access in the primaries is again showing how that choice is also dangerous. Sanders is tolerated within the Democrat establishment but they will become even less tolerant if he chooses a running mate and shows a preference for cabinet members of whom the corporate controllers do not approve, but this is also the only way for him to increase his credibility and protect the movement.
Does he dare to seek a running mate who is an established Democrat?
Is there an established democrat who will dare risk their career by taking up his movement’s mantle?
Bernie’s number of endorsements so far by established democrat officials is very small and is indicative of the lack of trustworthiness from most Democrats.
Does he dare choose a running mate who is an outsider?
The Democrats have a history of actively working against people and groups who have offered a similar vision (as Sanders is offering) through legal and media fraudulence.
Just ask Ralph Nader – who recently wrote about the devious predatory behavior which the Democrats have used against his campaign.
If Bernie Sanders is serious, he will choose people who are young, insightful, well spoken, committed to equal justice (socially and environmentally), willing to transform the Pentagon away from the corporate arm it is, and who are a good reflection of diverse cultures.
These are not merely options.
Whoever Sanders chooses, he needs to do it immediately and he needs to be very clear that the people he chooses are his campaign as much as – or more than–he is.