US Senator Bernie Sanders
I am not saying Senator Bernie Sanders is going to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary and then go on to become President. I’m not saying he can’t either… this is not that kind of post. I am seeing something happening here that may be more important than winning elections… he is framing the debate. Let me explain below the orange socialist cloud...
Many here know there is a concept known as the Overton Window, for those that don't, in simple terms it means that certain ideas and principals that lay on the outside extremes of current mainstream thinking tend to push the entire conversation in that direction and suddenly become more acceptable and over time become the norm. Sanders has slammed the Overton Window hard to the left, earning catcalls from the media and his detractors for being a socialist (which he embraces) or an extremist. His stances on income inequality, taxation, universal healthcare, and affordable (if not free) education may sound like radical ideas in this country, and compared to the half measures delivered by both parties over the last few decades are radical. Keep in mind none of what I listed are in any way radical in most of the rest of the world, particularly Europe. Even “conservative” politicians in England for example would never advocate for a for-profit healthcare system that abolishes their current single payer (scary socialist) system that would get them laughed off the political stage. Once people begin to understand these “extreme”, “socialist” ideas and slowly begin to embrace them the current concepts of healthcare, education, and yes even increased taxation for the immensely wealthy, start to look far less radical and far more acceptable.
So what is it I am seeing that makes me think Sanders will be successful in his campaign for a radical overhaul of our current political system? Currently the evidence is anecdotal… The growing crowds in red states such as Arizona and now Texas point to a paradigm shift. I don’t believe he can or will convert large crowds of Republicans to vote for him, but I do think he will grab a few… what I see happening in red states is not a conversion of the convinced, but an awakening of the fed-up non-political types. To this point no candidate in past elections, even the charismatic Obama, has been able to wake the sleeping giant that is the 40% of americans that don’t vote at all. I have a feeling that Sanders may be that candidate that can wake them up and get them out to cast a ballot. Why? Because he is genuinely different and definitely genuine. They guy has no aires about him… he seems to really care about the country, really care about the middle class, and as history (20+ years in the Senate) has proven, Sanders is not for sale. He isn’t a rich man, he refuses big money donations from corporations and PACs… he practices what he preaches. His no bullshit persona and populist stances play well on both sides of the aisle of the voting electorate. As Gov. Howard Dean (also of Vermont) said on a recent appearance of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “I’ve seen this for forty years…People underestimate him……I remember my last election after I did civil unions and I got clobberd …and in a certain part of the state that always votes conservative, Bernie Sanders got every vote that my very conservative opponent got…..He has a tremendous appeal to ordinary working people who feel like they’re getting screwed.” Host Joe Scarborough went on to say that one of his conservative friends told him out of nowhere: “You know, I like that Bernie Sanders guy…I like everything that he says…because unlike everybody else, he’s for the common guy.”
So Sanders may not be able to overcome the massive money disadvantage he is at… and there is a chance that his name recognition will never reach Hillary proportions and he may lose the primary election, but once the debates roll around, don’t be surprised to see a lot more of him on your TV pushing his “radical” ideas of what America should be. If that happens, he will have succeeded in changing the national conversation, and frankly I’m excited at the prospect. Feel the Bern!
Crossposted at Fifth of State. Stop by and say hi on my new blog!