I am a Biden supporter, and described why back in September. I’ll be voting for Joe when the Ohio primary rolls around in a week, and I hope he wins the nomination. I still believe that in addition to having positions with which I agree, his candidacy offers the best chance of defeating Trump.
But no other Democrat, and none of our candidates, is my enemy. And we have had candidates that stand out in different ways. Bernie is one of them and he has run a great race so far, so I thought I would pause and describe what I like about Bernie.
1. Consistency. Bernie is the only candidate — the only one — who has been absolutely consistent in his positions. When he says something he means it, and he’ll tell you the same thing the next month or the next year. Other candidates tailor their message depending on with whom they speak, or pivot on their positions as things change. This is an unfortunately reality in politics. Bernie doesn’t, even when he knows what he’s saying might be controversial. In that way he could be described as the most honest candidate who has ever had a serious shot at our nomination.
2. Passion For the Forgotten. Bernie has the most passion for people in our society who have lost out on (or never had a chance for) the American Dream — a basic middle class lifestyle with a modicum of economic security. I hear it loud and clear every time he speaks, and in a way I think he’s motivated the other candidates with his message and moved the overall debate in the right direction.
3. He Motivates New Voters. Even though the youth vote hasn’t turned out so far in the numbers he had hoped, it’s clear that Bernie has motivated whole groups of new voters to pay attention, and that some of them are voting. These by and large are voters that wouldn’t have been involved in the political process at all absent his influence. Bernie’s efforts have resulted in millions of young people focusing for the first time on how politics work, and how their lives are affected by what goes on in Washington. I don’t think most of those people will stop paying attention any time soon.
4. He Pushes Big Ideas. As I’ve mentioned previously, I believe incrementalism offers the best chance for meaningful change. As an example I think adding a public option to the ACA, with subsidies to keep it affordable when needed, has a better chance of eventually becoming law than Medicare for All. I’m not here to debate this point since it’s been heavily debated already. My point is this: it’s usually the case that meaningful incremental change doesn’t occur unless someone is exerting pressure for radical change. Incremental change becomes the compromise. The original ACA was a great example, since it covered tens of millions of people who lacked coverage, even though it was not the solution sought by those favoring single payer. In several areas like healthcare, climate change and financial regulation, that pressure for radical change is coming from Bernie. It may well be the case that Bernie’s efforts lead to improvements in the lives of millions of people, even if the way those improvements occur is not exactly how he envisioned.
5. He’s a Good Person. I’ve read a lot of criticism directed toward a subset of Bernie’s supporters, but I’ve never seen him personally treat anyone poorly. To the contrary, his debate performances, interviews, town halls and other communications are, from my perspective, conducted honorably. When he attacks an opponent, the areas he speaks to are “fair game” from the political perspective. And even when he’s attacking a primary opponent, he’s couching the attack with an acknowledgement that if he doesn’t win he’ll support the winner, correctly pointing out that any Democrat is vastly better than Trump.
So that’s it. I think there’s a lot to like about Bernie. Even though I’m supporting Biden, if Bernie ends up with the nomination I would not be at all hesitant or disappointed to vote for him. As a country we could do have done a lot worse.