Bernie Sanders for President Strategy Memo. FAIZ SHAKIR, CAMPAIGN MANAGER.

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This election needs to be about so much more than beating Donald Trump.

It is a mistake to think that this election is simply about beating one man — an aberration of a president — and that everything will simply return to “normal.”

The reality is that “normal” in our country before there was a President Trump still meant an immoral lack of healthcare, unlivable low wages, rampant corporate greed, a racist criminal justice system, and a corrupt political system.

So, no. It is not enough to just defeat Donald Trump. Returning to “normal” is not acceptable. Here’s how we can do much, much more than that.

Below, I give you a preview of our strategy to win the Democratic nomination, defeat Donald Trump, and transform our country. This is what it will take. 

People Trust Bernie to Fight

When it comes time for campaigning, a lot of politicians tend to make big promises to voters, and then if they win, actually do what their biggest funders want them to do. It’s no secret that those are often at odds with each other.

There will be several people in this election who can point to polls that they may be able to defeat Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders has a lifetime of consistency on the biggest questions of our time: fighting for Medicare for All, taking on corporate power, fighting for racial justice, solving climate change, and making our country more fair for more people.

You know that Bernie believes in these issues to his core. There’s no question. He’s going to stick to what he believes.

Deep Investment in Organizing

Having slick television ads alone is not going to win this election, and it’s certainly not going to help pass Medicare for All. The way to truly transform our country is by organizing our communities from bottom to top.

We need to be out on the doors and on the phones, speaking with our friends and neighbors and classmates and coworkers. We need to build a movement of people who are deeply invested in this work, and our campaign needs to invest in that movement.

If we want to win, it will require all of us together. And we think that together, our campaign is the best situated to organize the kind of movement that has never been seen before.

Empowering Our Supporters 

This is your campaign, working in your communities, speaking with people you know. You are eager to get to work, and you know how we can win.

Already, our organizing kickoff brought together 60,000 people at 4,700 events who immediately got to work contacting voters. We unveiled our voter contact app, called BERN, that lets anyone start organizing their communities. No other campaign comes close to doing that ... yet.

The work to win the election and to transform our country needs to be organized by people who want to make it happen. 

Accountability to Our Movement

I may be the campaign manager of Bernie 2020, but this is not about me. It’s not just about Bernie, either. It’s about all of us. And because of that, I think it’s critically important that our work during and after this campaign is based on accountability.

We’re going to do what we think is necessary to win, and we also need to do what is necessary to keep our movement strong.  

Continuing the Political Revolution

The most dangerous mistake that we can make is thinking that our work is done after Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

No person in the world — not Bernie Sanders, and no one else — could possibly be able to implement our agenda simply by winning the election. 

What We Need

So that’s our strategy to win the nomination, defeat Donald Trump, and transform our country. It’s about standing up for what’s right. It’s about fighting the political, financial, and corporate establishments. It’s about working together in our communities. And it’s about building a lasting movement.

In solidarity,

Faiz Shakir
Campaign Manager

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