Not Alone, But Together: Sanders Campaign Declares Creation of 'Our Revolution'

Announcing the creation of a new organization whose mission will be to carry forth the 'political revolution' through the general election and beyond, the Bernie Sanders campaign on Monday issued a call to action for those inspired by the historic primary challenge and a message aimed at its detractors: We're not done yet.

"Bernie's said from the very beginning that no one person can alone accomplish what must be done to turn our country around. We all must do our part." --Claire Sandberg, Our Revolution

"Political pundits and the billionaire class are watching very closely to see what Bernie supporters do next," declared an email sent to supporters and signed by Claire Sandberg, who directed digital organizing for the campaign and is now engaged in the new effort. "Some of them might be tempted to believe our political revolution is toast. They want our extraordinary phone banking, door knocking, and grassroots organizing efforts to stop. They want us to get discouraged. They want to vanquish our movement once and for all."

However, she added, "We aren't going to let that happen."

Though Sanders has now endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party candidate and said that defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump should be a top priority for all engaged progressives, Monday's letter comes as the first concrete indication of exactly when (and how) Sanders will begin activating his grassroots supporters--and the campaign's on-line and off-line organizing capacity--for enacting a longer-term vision.

Calling it the "most important thing you can do today to move the political revolution forward," the email called on backers to host house parties on August 24 as a way to begin fueling the organization which will be called 'Our Revolution' - a tagline Sanders began using with effect towards the end of the primary season. The kick-off evening, according to the message, will include "a major live stream address where Bernie will talk about the specifics of what we can do as organizers going forward to fight for every single issue that drove this campaign. In order to get as many people watching as possible, we need to set up grassroots watch parties all over the country."

The idea for the new organization, as Common Dreams reported, was first announced last month ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

The campaign initially went public with the group's new organizing effort in a tweet sent earlier on Monday:

Those following the link provided by the campaign in both the email and via Twitter were encouraged to host or help organize an event on the 24th.

As individuals rapidly signed up to host events in communities nationwide, many Sanders backers on social media seemed thrilled with the news:

And as Sandberg concluded her letter: "Bernie's said from the very beginning that no one person can alone accomplish what must be done to turn our country around. We all must do our part."