On June 7, primary elections of states including California, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, and New Mexico were held. Bernie secured two states (Montana and North Dakota) while rival Clinton took the other three. With only Washington D.C. as the final primary, soon we’ll officially know the nominees for both parties.With Hillary Clinton declaring herself the (at this time still unofficial) nominee for the Democratic Party, it has left many Bernie supporters feeling a little down, wondering if this is the end of his presidential journey. Some have even gone as far as to say Sanders’ campaign was a complete waste and doomed from the start. The 74 year-old energetic powerhouse has nonetheless jumped from state to state winning over college students and other millennial voters. Sanders was even endorsed by a list of celebrities, including but not limited to Miley Cyrus, Danny Devito and Sarah Silverman.
Still, some have questioned how a campaign largely popular with the younger generations could ever make it as far as it did. After all, a campaign that has endless memes wouldn’t normally be taken too seriously. Sure, Bernie memes and fan art are all over the internet (who can forget #BirdieSanders?), but the presence of endearing support from Bernie’s enthusiastic fans on social media has launched an impressive movement way beyond the 2016 campaign trail.
#ThankYouBernie was trending on Twitter the night of the June 7 elections. Thousands of people thanked Bernie Sanders for what he contributed to what many consider to be an awakening of political interest and concern among younger generations.
“The political revolution isn’t over until the issues are won. #ThankYouBernie for making these issues crystal clear to all,” said Kim Horcher. The People for Bernie account tweeted, “#ThankYouBernie for last night, yesterday, and the past 40 years.”
A press release on June 8 by Bernie 2016 noted that Sanders said, “What this is about is millions of people from coast to coast knowing that we can do much, much better as a nation … Our fight is to transform this country and to understand that we are in this together, understand that all of what we believe is what the majority of American people believe and to understand that the struggle continues.”
With many already standing behind Clinton’s potential Democratic nomination with the #ImWithHer hashtag, people have been interpreting the “struggle” as the last chance to outnumber Clinton’s delegate count. A number of media sources have already embraced Clinton as the first woman nominee and soon to be President. But the “struggle” Sanders speaks of is not necessarily his own campaign for the presidency, but rather the pursuit of an America that many are demanding, one that Bernie vowed to strive for in his speeches and rallies. While Bernie couldn’t possibly accomplish all of his campaign promises if he was elected president, what he did accomplish — as the Millennials for Bernie account noted, “[Bernie] was only the spark. This political revolution is just the beginning. We are taking our country back! #ThankYouBernie.”
