Hi Mother Jones readers, I'm Tim Murphy, a national correspondent covering politics.
I’ve been to a lot of Bernie Sanders rallies over the years, but I’ve never been to anything quite like the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” I attended last week in Arizona. For months, rank-and-file Democratic voters have been simmering with discontent over their party’s response to President Donald Trump’s second term. They’ve watched Senate Democrats fold on Trump’s budget, and seen House Democrats who did fight back get scolded for a lack of decorum—even as Trump and Elon Musk take an axe to public institutions and the livelihoods of people who depend on them.
Sanders usually gets good numbers for his events, and I expected to meet a lot of supporters. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was going to be there too—and she was sure to be a draw. But in Tempe and Tucson, I found something else, too: A whole lot of people who weren’t Berniecrats, but were pissed off at Republicans and the Democratic leaders who had promised to have their backs. They wanted to fight back, and to show they were expecting more from the opposition. And this was where the fight seemed to be.
As the 83-year-old senator told me after the event, the new Trump era has offered the clearest possible demonstration of something he’s been talking about for years: The rise of an American oligarchy. But it’s also exposed a fault line within the opposition that’s less about ideology than tenacity. The choice, Rep. Greg Casar of Texas told me, is between "fighters and folders." The rallies, which drew nearly 87,000 people across three Western states, were designed to embolden the former, and send a message to the latter: Stop Trump—or voters might start going after you, too.
I hope you'll give my full piece—which was just published—a read.
—Tim Murphy
