The Revolution is Happening Around Us

A recent HuffPost headline reads "Democrats Fear Bernie Sanders Is Turning Voters Against Them" - going on to say "State Democratic parties are ticked off that Bernie Sanders is characterizing fundraising arrangements they have with Hillary Clinton’s campaign as corrupt"

But that's not the real story.  The real story is that the parties are becoming less and less relevant.  On the Republican side, a complete outsider has just locked up the Presidential nomination - despite the best efforts of the party establishment to stop him.  On the Democratic side, the "Party of the People" has long stopped representing "We the People" - instead becoming largely a "brand" and providing fund raising and get-out-the-vote efforts for establishment candidates.

But... more and more fund raising is either direct, or via organizations like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America; which also now provide training and organizing for grass roots volunteers.  More and more folks are "independent" - ignoring fund raising by party channels, and registering with one party or the other solely to vote in primaries.  This new collection of organizations, as well as self-organizing campaigns like that of Bernie Sanders, are absorbing what few functions parties used to perform.

The only things left - and they're big ones - is the lock that the 2 major parties have on election processes, and on rules & leadership positions in Congress.  That's where we need to focus our attention next.