I think all Dems can probably agree that Bernie Sanders is right on the big issues of our day:
1. Wall St. needs to be reformed
2. Free trade needs to work for American workers
3. The social safety net needs to be expanded
4. Our tax code and defense budget need to be changed to support the 99%
That's the agenda Dems want to see pursued, so, that leaves us with the idea that despite being right on the issues, Sanders cannot win - something I have heard a lot of people say here at DKos.
I wouldn't be so sure of that.
Ask yourself this: what happens if Sanders wins Iowa, or comes in second, and then goes into New Hampshire where his base of support is right next door in Vermont, and he wins New Hampshire?
If he wins Iowa, he will have quieted much of the "he can't win" crowd and if he wins New Hampshire, out right panic will ensue.
Can he win Iowa? His first week fundraising and campaign sign up numbers speak to real grass roots traction. Today, I am going to guess that Sanders has raised $5 million, maybe more, after a week of fundraising. And he is at 200,000 campaign sign ups.
So yeah, he can win Iowa. And if he does that, he can certainly take that momentum and leverage his Vermont base to take New Hampshire.
Then we go to South Carolina where Sanders' Wall St and Free Trade reform agenda will certainly resonate with textile and mill workers who have seen NAFTA hollow out their middle class living standards.
Between now and Iowa, it seems to me that the distinction between Sanders and Clinton will boil down to this:
What good is progressive social legislation and economic legislation that helps around the margins, if you still live in a country where the 1% dominate and the 99% are getting poorer and poorer?
Wall Street and Free Trade are the heart of the American economy - if you don't reform those, you still have rising inequality and declining living standards.
So while HRC's agenda can open doors for many, those doors lead to a world that is not as promising as it should or could be.
Will HRC reign in Wall St? Does she support breaking up the Big Banks?
Does she support reforming free trade so that it works for American workers?
Does she support expanding social security and expanding medicare and improving on Obamacare? And cutting the defense budget and raising taxes on the rich to support this?
Because if she doesn't, then it seems, HRC is set to keep America on a path of status quo, of rising income inequality and degraded quality of life for the majority of people.
That is not to say I would not vote for HRC should be be the Dem nominee - I will.
But, Dem voters should want to know how serious HRC is about taking on the issues at the heart of America's problem of inequality and declining living standards.