She's not going to win the primary, so she's not going to become an elected official. By being in the media spotlight, she's forcing a national conversation around who she is, trans issues, anti-police, anti-military, etc.

Maybe it wasn't Sanders, but the left is being mobilized in a very real way. I think his constant talk about wealth inequality, universal healthcare, etc, definitely played a part in sparking the conversation. Hell, even trump brought up some topics which were to the left of national discourse.

Someone who was facing 35 years for espionage against the military is very different from a career politician.

I don't think our representative electoral system works, and I don't think the change I want is possible under the current system of representative democracy. I think almost anything is better political action than campaigning for a candidate. However, I can't help but get excited when someone left of center gets some media attention, because consuming media and having a talk about it at work and changing ones own behavior accordingly is the extent of political action for most people.