The Bernie Zone

 

Bernie SandersVermont Senator Bernie Sanders has mad it official: he’s in for 2016. Pop Quiz: Who of the following has the best chance of becoming the next Democratic presidential nominee: 1) Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders; 2) Colonel Harland Sanders; 3) The actor who played the dead guy in Weekend At Bernie’s.

The answer, of course: none of the above (and in case you’re curious about the late Colonel Sanders, he left us for the big chicken bucket in the sky almost 35 years ago).

Although Sanders, the senator, officially threw his hat in the ring during a press conference Thursday on a grassy spot outside the U.S. Capitol (that’s more interaction with the press than the party’s frontrunner), his run isn’t seen as a serious threat to Hillary Clinton’s chances. In fact, NPR’s Mara Liaison lists three reasons why Sanders’ presence could benefit Mrs. Clinton (he’s a convenient sparring partner, not a real threat, and his last name isn’t Warren).

So what to look for from Sanders? For openers, lots of bashing the wealthy (what would you expect from a candidate whose website has these declaimers: “a political revolution is coming” and “paid for by Bernie 2016, not the billionaires”).

The second thing to notice: the oddity of it all.

Sanders is 73, which would make him the nation’s oldest elected president if he were to win the 2016 election. As a self-proclaimed “Democratic socialist”, he’s also the longest serving independent in congressional history (there’s no rule barring non-registered Democrats from the party’s presidential primaries, though there’s a question as to whether he’ll be allowed on the New Hampshire ballot).

And there’s the message: without Elizabeth Warren in the race, Sanders is the closest thing the Democrats have right now to the class-warfaring people’s champion that Hillary Clinton would have voters believe she is in this, her latest political incarnation.

Now, if only Sanders can get the press to take him seriously. Take, for example, this passage from Washington Post profile last summer: “Although reporters have always been enamored of his hair — which starts to resemble Charlton Heston parting a sea when Sanders begins passionately speaking about income inequality or Social Security — and his gruff unwillingness to tell anecdotes lest you write about his personality rather than his policies, his political ambitions are rarely taken seriously. ”

What does merit serious consideration is whether the Democratic field will end up resembling something akin to the 1984 contest featuring a heavy favorite in former Vice President Walter Mondale and a lot of lesser contenders (John Glenn, Fritz Hollings, Alan Cranston, etc.).

Thanks to labor’s backing and a lot of financial help from the Democratic establishment, Mondale didn’t break much of a sweat in the nation’s first caucuses. His near-49% of the vote was triple that of runner-up Gary Hart. However, given that Hart was a distant fifth just a month before the vote, the media made the Colorado senator the night’s story.

What stood out about Hart in 1984? In Iowa, he was a fresh face for activists not exactly in love with the frontrunner — a Democrat talking about reform and innovation, in perfect contrast to Mondale’s tried-and-tested approach.

Hart would go on to beat Mondale a month later in New Hampshire (yes, the first two contests were that far apart). What came next could best be described as a intra-party food fight — or, as Republicans like to call it, “the circular firing squad.” Hart tagged Mondale as a tired New Dealer. Mondale, in turn, slammed Hart’s “new generation” persona as little more an empty vessel.

Eventually, it came to an end for Hart — on a debate stage and in these two minutes:

The question here: can Sanders, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, or some other Democrat-to-be-named-later complicate Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy with a better-than-expected showing in Iowa?

Not a performance strong enough to deny her the nomination, but at least force her to carry her opponent(s) for a few extra rounds?

 

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There are 9 comments.

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  1. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    I don’t think he’ll get the nomination, but I do think he will have a great impact on the national debate.

    • #1
  2. wmartin Member
    wmartin
    @

    Sanders actually understands immigration better than at least half the potential Republican nominees. That didn’t stop him from voting for the Gang Of Eight after some legislative kickbacks, but still…

    • #2
  3. user_2967 Inactive
    user_2967
    @MatthewGilley

    He’ll nail down the demographic that’s been pining for Dennis Kucinich’s grandfather to run.

    • #3
  4. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    He’ll become the Ron Paul of the left.

    • #4
  5. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Weekend

    • #5
  6. J Flei Inactive
    J Flei
    @Solon

    Maybe his presence in the race will allow GOP candidates to finally call out Democrats’ ideology for what it is:  socialism.

    • #6
  7. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Listen to Mr Hart and Mr Mondale in the debate talking about jobs and entrepreneurship. These guys could be Mitt Romney.  As I am fond of saying, today’s Dems are yesterday’s Commies, and yesterday’s  Dems are today’s Republicans.

    • #7
  8. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    OMG — Gary Hart sounds like a Republican!

    Take note fellas (and lady), you can’t be for entrepreneurs and win with Democrats (or in the General) in America. It’s been that way for a long time. The Left has effectively equated “entrepreneurs” with the “rich.”

    No wonder Hart didn’t get away with monkey business.

    • #8
  9. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    Bernie will do what he’s always done, which is bang the wealth inequality drum slowly.  Er, loudly, with a hammer paid for by taxpayers.  Even though the data shows that the more public-sector spending goes up, median incomes stay the same.  Captain WonderGenius seems to correlate increased taxation and spending as a way to address the hideous nature of inequality (even if, say, that inequality is actually earned, in that if I pick up a second job to earn more income, does that make the person next to me somehow less equal?).

    Bernie’s never held a real job.  He’s spent decades in the public sector telling people what they ought to do.  When pressed, his inherent bitterness shines through, and he won’t have the same Magical Shield of Clinton Power to protect him from errant questioners.  But he’ll generate interest because of the things he’s unafraid to say, no matter how horribly wrong and awful they are, and the press enjoys a free buffet to report on.

    Otherwise all they’ll have is the Pantsuit of the Day memo to read back to their audiences from some obscure bus stop in the midwest, because it’s not like Hillary, Grand Dame of the People of the United States, actually wants to talk to anybody.

    • #9
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