A progressive version of the Tea Party movement

Will all those Bernie Sanders supporters fall in line with the Democratic Party’s selection of Hillary Clinton as its presidential standard bearer? Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner isn’t so sure.

Twelve million Americans voted for Bernie Sanders. More than 120,000 supporters gave money to his campaign.

Sanders won New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. He won 23 states in all, including Michigan. Sanders drew tens of thousands to rallies throughout the country. More than 20,000 people attended a Sanders rally in Oakland, Calif., on Memorial Day.

His campaign inspired millions in a way no Democratic primary campaign has in decades.

So what did it all mean, after all? How did Sanders change the race? How did he move Hillary Clinton? President Obama? And how could Sanders, and the movement he energized, make a difference in the future? …

… Sanders’ campaign raised more than $200 million from more than 120,000 donors. The campaign therefore has a list of 120,000 dedicated progressives. Can this list, and Sanders’ fundraising ability, be tapped for other purposes?

Not every successful candidate can turn his campaign into a lasting political force. The Obama campaign in 2008, for instance, became Organizing for America, and later Organizing for Action. Neither group had success advancing legislation. Obama was never successful in helping other candidates win (see the 2010 and 2014 elections, for instance), except by being at the top of the ballot himself.

Sanders’ post-campaign campaign could be a lot more successful because his campaign was at its heart different from Obama’s. Obama’s appeal involved rhetoric, hope and the shattering of color barriers. In short, Obama’s campaign was about Obama. Also, Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012 were largely negative — running against George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

Sanders’ enemies are more durable foes, such as Wall Street, corporate lobbyists and their defenders in Washington. His campaign is only a tiny bit about the likable grouchy grandfather on the ballot. It’s mostly about empowering the disempowered, and also about Sanders’ Democratic socialist ideology. A campaign about something bigger than the candidate can carry its strength beyond the candidate.