"Sanders plants seeds for a lasting U.S. progressive movement" by John Whitesides

Bernie Sanders' upstart U.S. presidential campaign may be headed to defeat, but his goals of reining in Wall Street, ending big money in politics and eradicating income inequality were the big winners in the bruising Democratic race.

Sanders, who started as a little-known long-shot, pushed the party and established front-runner Hillary Clinton sharply to the left during a long primary battle. Along the way, the 74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont energized young and progressive voters and prepared the ground for what his allies predict will be a lasting influence on the party.

Clinton, one of the best-known political figures in the United States, clinched the Democratic Party's nomination in a last round of state nominating contests on Tuesday. But even before her victory, Sanders began taking steps to turn his newfound political influence into an enduring progressive movement.

In the last few weeks, he has lent his influence and fundraising power to progressive congressional and state legislative candidates who share his agenda, urging his supporters around the country to donate to their campaigns.

Sanders also appointed prominent activists to the panel writing the issues platform for the party's convention in July, ensuring a strong voice in the process.

His convention delegates will push for changes to party primary rules, including letting independents vote in primaries and reducing the influence of superdelegates, the hundreds of party elites who can support any candidate regardless of voting in their constituencies, and who in this primary season have largely backed Clinton.

"I do think we are going to see real changes in the Democratic Party going forward because of Bernie. The future of the party is with the people supporting Sanders," said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, a liberal Vermont-based group that rose from Howard Dean's failed 2004 presidential bid and endorsed Sanders this time.

"He has proven the power of this message," Chamberlain said.

During the campaign, Sanders forced Clinton to tack left repeatedly on issues ranging from her support for a higher minimum wage to her opposition to the Asian trade pact and Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Sanders' progressive allies said those shifts by Clinton will be helpful in the Nov. 8 election against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has touted an anti-trade and pro-jobs economic agenda, and for Democrats in their efforts to recapture a majority in the U.S. Senate.

"When the story of the 2016 election is told, a major part of it will be that Bernie Sanders helped the Democratic Party turn up the volume on economic populism issues," said Adam Green, co-founder of the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-idUSKCN0YU10R