On a gorgeous fall day and surrounded by changing trees, a group of Bernie Sanders’ most ardent supporters held a political bonfire for the doomed Trans-Pacific Partnership outside the US Capitol building.

“RIP TPP!” the group chanted at the rally, organized by National Nurses United. Trump had opposed the TPP during his campaign. His electoral victory is an effective death knell for the trade deal and has given progressives’ their first major victory since the election left the Democratic party in shambles.

Nina Turner, one of Sanders’ most vocal supporters during the primary, teased the crowd before his arrival: “I’m still feelin’ a little somethin’, somethin’ … Some like it hot baby. ”

“I’m feelin’ the Bern!” someone shouted back.

In the distance, someone spotted a shock of white hair bobbing towards the stage, setting off a wave of raucous cheering.

The famously grumpy senator barreled through the crowd, flanked by aides and a crush of reporters who struggled to keep pace. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who spoke at the rally, reached out to embrace Sanders, who didn’t slow his stride, nearly dragging her with him.

Sanders swept to the stage to wild cheers. Two young women waved a banner that said “Bernie” and many in the crowd sported his campaign T-shirts, buttons and stickers. The revolution, it seemed, had reached Capitol Hill.

“I’m not here to blame anybody, criticize anybody, but facts are facts. When you lose the White House to the least popular candidate in the history of America, when you lose the Senate, when you lose the House and when two-thirds of governors in this country are Republican, it is time for a new direction for the Democratic party!”

The crowd cheered and applauded, melting into a familiar chant: Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

“No – no, no. It’s not Bernie,” the senator said, waving his finger at the crowd in protest. “I appreciate your love and it’s mutual … but if there’s any message I have today it is not Bernie, it is all of us today.”

Trump won the election by managing to sway disaffected white working-class voters in key states, many of which Sanders won in the primary.

It’s been a whirlwind week for the Vermont senator. Since the election, he has been a frequent face on cable news. He swept through New York earlier this week to promote his new book, Our Revolution. In many ways, Sanders has emerged from the party’s devastating loss as the face of the party’s future.

On Wednesday, the Senate minority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, rolled out the party’s new leadership team. In a testament to his growing influence within the party since challenging Clinton for the presidential nomination, Sanders joined the Democratic leadership team as chairman of outreach.

That a lifelong independent is playing a key role in rebuilding the Democratic party is a sign of just how strange Washington DC has been since the American people elected Donald Trump as president.

Moumita Ahmed, 26, who volunteered for the Sanders campaign in New York, said she had no doubt that the senator would have won had he been the Democratic party’s choice. But Ahmed, who wore a red shirt with Sanders’ face and the text: “Hindsight is 2020”, is not looking backward.

“Right now is the time for everyone to unite and not necessarily ponder what-ifs but what can we do moving forward to ensure that what happened in the primary never happens again,” she said. “We tried the establishment. That didn’t work. Now more than ever we need a strong left.”

Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Over the course of the last week, Sanders has aggressively inserted himself into the brewing ideological battle over the party’s future. Sanders, along with a number of progressive lawmakers, has endorsed Representative Keith Ellison, a liberal organizer from Minnesota, for chair of the Democratic National Committee. He is pushing the party to work with a Trump administration on issues of trade, infrastructure and pay equity, while vowing to vehemently oppose bigotry, racism and xenophobia.

“I think that the president-elect has got to understand that many of the things that he said during the campaign, the ideas that he brought forth are terribly offensive, and frightening to millions and millions of people,” Sanders said on Fox News Radio on Thursday.

“This is a man who was the leader of the so-called “birther movement” trying to undermine the legitimacy of our first African American president. And I think he has to say to the American people, ‘you know what, I’m sorry. I said things that I should not have said. We are one country, we have got serious problems, and we’ve got to go forward together.”

Sanders has joined more than 120 Democrats in demanding Trump rescind the appointment of Stephen Bannon, the white nationalist media executive, who the president-elect recently named chief White House strategist.

Sanders exited the stage and a mass of supporters lunged forward to try to capture a photo of the senator striding back to the Capitol. Revolution by the Beatles played softly in the background.

Original Post: https://www.theguardian.com/bernie-sanders-rally-democrats-capitol-hill-trans-pacific-partnership