Photo / Betty “Faye” Toto
LOS ANGELES — The Sanders campaign hired me. However, I had worked for Bernie Sanders long before the campaign started.
The grassroots importance during this campaign cycle and the previous cycle is what uplifted Bernie Sanders. It was the people. The organic creativity and the clear commonality, of families in need, between the candidate and his supporters is what energized this campaign. The campaign was a festival, a community gathering. At the rallies it was not what was onstage but the people in the audience that mattered most. When the audience saw ordinary people coming out of their comfort level, it was extraordinary. This organic connection between the voters and the candidate continued to build the social justice atmosphere. The embrace of the single payer bill inspired people to throw their support to Bernie. He didn’t win but we’re going to take this and run with it.
The Bernie Metro Squad consists of everyday, ordinary people. We learned dance steps; we wore goofy hats. At the West Hollywood Pride Parade many wanted selfies with us. People were feeling the energy of the campaign. Similar things happened during the People’s Rose Parade when people along the parade route joined us for the entire six miles of the parade.
We started as “Feel the Bern” in the San Fernando Valley. People who came out were Latinx, African American, many were over 65, and there were many high school students who campaigned for Bernie. At Pierce Community College they formed Students for Bernie. These kids witnessed their parents’ struggle. At the College they would table for Bernie every week and were successful in petitioning for a voting center at the College.
The next steps for many in the campaign are to start working on mutual aid such as working at food banks and making masks for medical personnel. There are some hard feelings about the elections. Many are not prepared to work for Biden with the same intensity. These Bernie supporters didn’t support Bernie’s campaign because of his personality but because of his platform. The facts are that Bernie didn’t take money from corporations, and worked for years on the issues we all believe in and wasn’t an insider. Biden isn’t this.
Betty “Faye” Toto is a member of the Bernie Metro Squad.
