AN OPEN LETTER TO BERNIE SANDERS
From Michael McKee and Eric Stenshoel
January 27, 2025
Dear Bernie Sanders,
Yesterday we received your email amplifying your recent warnings about the looming oligarchy in our country. At the bottom was an appeal for a small contribution that began with the statement: “Over the coming weeks, Bernie is going to be engaging in the struggle to determine where we go from here.”
We have both now made this contribution to Friends of Bernie Sanders and we have agreed to your request for a monthly contribution. We will urge our friends and colleagues to do the same.
As a gay couple in New York City who organized a local committee of volunteers to support your 2016 campaign for President, and who supported you again in 2020, we have once more contributed to you because we believe that you are uniquely qualified to provide guidance to the many people who are still working for substantive change.
We share the sentiment of your email message that the movement forward must be built upon “a progressive agenda that is based on the principles of justice and compassion, not greed and oligarchy.” In the last decade we have proudly contributed funds not only to your campaigns but also to political organizations on the left, such as Our Revolution, Justice Democrats, and MoveOn. But in the wake of Trump’s election, we are now being bombarded daily with financial appeals from dozens of organizations claiming that they will beat Trump and Trumpism.
The immediate question for us is which, if any, of the existing or new organizations claiming to be leading the movement for change actually merit the support of all of us who share your vision.
We long ago gave up on the national fundraising arms of the Democratic Party and, given its feckless embrace of corporate power, we would expect that this movement should be independent of the party. We need candidates who are willing to unapologetically embrace the call to tax the rich and support programs that would make a difference to the working class, like Medicare for All and social housing. Let the Democratic Party rejoin the movement rather than pretend to lead it.
We are eager to do what we can to promote your program of education and organization in anticipation of the 2026 election. It is imperative that the opposition take at least one house of Congress away from the GOP and begin building more power at the state and local levels. There is a lot of work to do and time is already short.
We know that there are other progressive voices but, right now, you are the one with the breadth of experience, independence of judgment, and wisdom necessary to unify us. We look forward to your guidance.
Eric Stenshoel
Michael McKee