At 83 years of age, Bernie Sanders is nothing short of a legendary political operator. He has been making headlines again over the past few days due to the support some of his rallies have been gaining on his anti-oligarchy tour. To still be drawing crowds and delivering such politically charged fighting talk is inspirational.
While some people might respond by saying, "Well, Trump is 78—look at what he's doing"—sure, whatever. Fine. Knock yourself out. Trump is not a proper politician in the way Sanders is. At any stage of his political career, has Trump given rallying stump speeches from the back of a pickup truck to thousands of supporters? Of course not. The guy is a phoney businessman—he isn't even in the conversation.
I think this is why Bernie is so good at garnering support—he simply isn't like other politicians, whether they be Democrats or Republicans. He is able to communicate exactly what is wrong with the US for so many people, and he does so in such an endearing way. In times like these, people look to figures like Bernie for guidance and leadership—they look for a light at the end of the tunnel, or at least someone who can lead them to it. I can't understand why the Democrats don't see how effective a party-wide application of Bernie-style politics would be.
Electorally, it would be superb. Quite clearly, the messaging the Democrats have been using has disengaged people. Look at how Trump communicates—yes, it's horrible, but it works. MAGA found a communication strategy that completely overwhelms the Democrats and speaks to a lot of disenfranchised people who want to hear someone tell them things are going to get better. The Harris campaign (albeit started at extremely short notice) felt like it was trying to communicate with middle, upper-middle, and upper-class folk who are well-educated and often think they're a bit above others as a result. For those familiar with the term, it targeted centrist dads and their social groups. These are not the people the Democrats need to win over! By and large, these people would have always voted blue, so why attribute an entire campaign to them?!
For all its flaws, the Biden administration did a great job with infrastructure investment initiatives—this is what should have been campaigned on! This, along with the economy, which grew significantly under Biden.
Now is the time to mobilise the Democratic Party around Bernie-style leadership and policy. It would be so much more effective if it didn't have the DNC working against it the whole time. With Bernie Sanders' campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, running for DNC Chair, this is a real possibility. The time for sweeping change is now—it is far more achievable during a period of political and economic instability like the one we are currently experiencing.
