An editorial in Sanders’ home state paper makes a case that Sanders should not run. While I do not agree with much of the editorial, their tell is revealed with this paragraph:
That no-nonsense approach and his politics are endearing to many. But it is as extreme, on the other end of the spectrum in its policy elbow-throwing and idealism, as what we face today from the right in their standard bearer, Donald Trump. www.timesargus.com/...
This statement (bold above) is false equivalency to the extreme. There is simply no equivalent on the left to the extreme right in this country. None.
Sanders’ did have a huge victory in 2016. It was not the nomination, but it is his influence on the Democratic Party, and specifically Democratic voters. He pulled the curtain back on the machinations of the DNC and grip that big money had on the Party. He said openly what most regular people have long understood from their our own experiences, that Washington does not work for the working people, but serves the rich. And while in the primary Bernie pulled his punches semantically, yes, he was calling out Hillary and many, many other elected Democrats.
It was not Hillary’s message that carried our candidates to office in the 2018 blue wave. It was largely Sanders’ message and the desire for progressive policies from within the Democratic Party base that fueled the turnout as much as it was the disgust with Trump.
Bernie has already mattered, a lot. He opened many people’s eyes and inspired them. So did Hillary, particularly with women. The 2018 wave was lifted by both of them, and that trend needs to continue through 2020.
As it stands today, the Democratic Party has a long list of potential presidential contenders, exactly the opposite of 2016. But unlike 2016, Sanders will not have a monopoly on his message; numerous expected candidates will be, in effect, continuing the advocacy of Bernie’s 2016 message. Sanders should build on this fact, not for a second candidacy, but to continue to steer the Democratic Party to better serve the wants and needs of the vast majority of citizens.
Bernie’s time is not 2020, it is 2019. If Bernie does not run but instead uses his voice in advocacy for ALL THOSE candidates who now express the facts, principles and values of his message, if he does that, then Sanders’ policy goals will have their best chance of being enacted. The best time to do this is before primary season. The best time for him to do this is when Sanders can make it clear to every Democratic hopeful that their best chance of connecting with the majority of voters is through full throated advocacy of progressive positions.
Bernie is in best position to set the stage for 2020. Obama and his Third Way backers are not going to go quietly as long as the door is open, and by using 2019 to whip up Democratic voters’ demands for progressive results that door can be closed before the primary is really underway.
Should he run, the public’s perception of Bernie will not be what it was in 2015/16 when he was rightly perceived as giving a Democratic voice to many liberal and progressive Democrats for whom the Democratic Party no longer seemed to respond to. Instead, Bernie’s voice will be one of many with similar messages, which in and of itself is a huge improvement for our Party, but in doing so Bernie will lose the opportunity to remain the messenger of the bigger story throughout the year leading into the primary.
If Bernie does run, he be perceived as him wanting the country to like Bernie wants it to be, and he will diminish those Democrats who would labeled as pretenders to Sanders issues. If Bernie does not run but instead uses his voice in advocacy for ALL THOSE candidates who now speak to the facts, principles and values of his message, if he does that, then Sanders’ policy goals will have their best chance of being enacted.
Sanders is no longer a lone voice, and he is largely responsible for having shifted the Democratic agenda. Few politicians have done what he has done with so little help from their (yeah, I know) Party.
But as long as there are those who characterize Sanders’ positions like this:
But it is as extreme, on the other end of the spectrum... as what we face today from the right in their standard bearer, Donald Trump.
then what we need more for 2020 is for Bernie to push the issues, not himself, through out 2019. In doing so, Bernie’s message will turn up the pressure on the 2020 field of Democrats and ensure that no Third-Way Corporate candidate emerges from a crowded field or a brokered convention.
Sanders wins when his agenda succeeds, and it will succeed as long as Democrats will unite behind it.
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