It is true that many believe that Bernie Sanders is unelectable. They will use the “socialism” trope to demolish him. The thing is, if he is the nominee and Democrats lean in, based on people’s polled wants, I cannot see how he could lose.
Matthew Rozsa’s piece in Salon is a must-read. It is not too long and is worth a full read. Below are a few excerpts you can read now but check out the full article.
Quit saying that Bernie Sanders can’t win — he may be the most electable Democrat running in 2020
Too many of Sanders’ opponents are running on an unproven narrative that he’s not “electable.” Do better, DemocratsI don’t know whether Bernie Sanders should be president. But if the argument is about “electability,” a case exists that Sanders is not merely electable, but may be the most electable Democrat running right now. Democrats who want to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 should not assume that Sanders is a politically risky choice — even though that is the conventional wisdom — and instead look dispassionately at the arguments for and against his supposed electability.
More than mere fairness is at stake here. Donald Trump, who represents a grave danger to the United States and the world. His initiatives on global warming and immigration, his economic and foreign policies and his personal corruption are all existential threats to the survival of the free world, as well as severe moral crises for our country. If he is to be defeated, the Democrats must look at whether each of the leading candidates — former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sanders — has a realistic argument for how they could win.
Advertisement:That argument exists for Sanders. It’s possible that, as Fox Business Network host Trish Regan told me in March, he’s simply too far left. Many people make that same argument, from the axiomatic position that a leftist or socialist is inherently unelectable. Yet when I reached out to assorted political experts to get their thoughts on Sanders’ electability, I found more complex responses.
Before contacting these people, I identified five hypothetical arguments suggesting that Sanders is the most electable candidate. He has rebounded a bit in the polls since recovering from his recent heart attack, and is currently at or near the top in both Iowa and New Hampshire. His supporters are enthusiastic and will vote for him no matter what, which could lead to higher turnout for him in both the primary and general elections. Voters may care less about ideology than character, which could give Sanders an edge if he is perceived as compassionate and sincere in contrast to the opportunistic and shallow Trump.
If Trump shifted the Overton Window (that is, the frame of what is considered acceptable in mainstream political debate) in 2016, it’s entirely conceivable that Sanders could do it again. For that matter, Sanders’ ideas aren’t even that radical in the first place; they’re basically an updated version of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which got him elected four times. …
If Americans stopped being indoctrinated by a media designed to have each of us vote solely to ensure the success of an entitled few, we would definitely get ahead. We should all lean into the policies people say they want and elect the president that represent them.