Still feelin' the Bern.

• Author: Hightower, Jim
• Position: VOX POPULIST

The fervent prayer of old-line Democratic operatives and corporate funders is that the A Sanders Storm will dissipate now that Hillary Clinton has the nomination, allowing politics-as-usual to reestablish its grip on the system.

Here's why I think that wont happen: First, Hillary Clinton is smart, savvy, and accomplished, and she didn't come this far by ignoring important shifts in the political winds. As Bernie Sanders's tub-thumping message drew huge crowds, new voters, and a deep pool of small donors, she adjusted her wings to try riding some of the powerful thermals rising from America's grassroots.

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A career-long corporate Democrat, Clinton began sounding more and more like Sanders, sympathizing with the rising fury of working-class families. You can view her adaptations as hopeful or hopelessly cynical, but Clinton recognizes that a new power is loose on the land. She knows the same-old Bill & Barack moderate corporatism won't charge up the crowds she needs in November, so she's scrambling to tap the electric populism of the Bernie rebellion.

This rebellious spark is the true hope of a moribund Democratic Party that is backed by only 29 percent of registered voters. Far from wishing away the energetic millions who "Feel the Bern," entrenched Democratic elders should beg these hot-blooded activists to revitalize the party. In fact, a June poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that three-quarters of Democrats (including Hillary backers) want Sanders to have a "major role" in shaping the party's positions.

Think about it: While Bernie was the oldest candidate running for President, in heart, soul, vigor, and vision, he is by far the youngest. He won a stunning 71 percent of voters under thirty. He did well among women, African Americans, and Latinas. And he dominated among independents who voted Democratic. There's the future.

The grassroots insurgents who picked up Sanders and rammed him through the front gate of the Democrats' corporate bastion have shattered complacency, exposed the party's drift from democratic principles, and opened the system to the possibility of another populist moment in American history.

The second (and most powerful) reason I believe this rebellion will persevere is that it's organic. Not an artificial marketing creation...