Sanders' backers are arguably pushing potential 2020 candidates farther to the left than had Sanders not become popular. I think single-payer as a litmus test could be somehing that impacts the race, and Sanders can get credit/blame for that: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/healthc...
Except for the shift left that Clinton's platform made in the last couple mounts of the campaign? Bernie, even after losing, move the Overton window a couple notches. Unfortunately it was too late by then.
You say that like it's some damning put-down. Of course he didn't succeed; the elites usually win. That's why they are elite. It's no shame to have tried and lost.
His organization is funding and supporting local elections and initiatives across the country. If you accept that local politics is the foundation of national politics in the US, over time he may accomplish a great deal.
He was able to have some success on his platform, which would have failed earilier. This most definitely helps with discussion later. He was able to influence a section of society enough to get into politics. He's still able to command attention when he speaks about something. He likely inspired some other folks and made it more OK to be a democratic socialist. (Unfortunately, this has worked on more detestable outlooks with this last election as well).
The aftermath of him not winning the primary influenced the election itself. Some folks voted differently than they might have otherwise and third parties were a real topic of discussion, even though no one actually thought they would win. Heck, even being able to run for president - something most citizens couldn't pull off - is a win in itself. And he did it with that message and on one of the two major parties' tickets.
Not every accomplishment involves a clear defined win or money.
Really? Bernie is the most popular politician in the country, and now billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and even the Ayn-Rand-reading Mark Cuban are promoting single payer healthcare. That's a big change.
Sure but its absurd to just assume "all non-votes were for bernie". Do the same for Christie and now he's the most popular politician in the country...
On a small scale, this election seemed to make a significant fraction of people more able to identify with what they actually believe, rather than in terms of what they oppose. And I think that will have a lot of value, long term, for political discourse.
Now, I can say with some confidence that I’m a left-wing libertarian. Before this shitshow, I don’t think I was really politically aware enough to be able to identify as anything but “anti-Republican”.
