ART BY JOSEPH MENDOZAWith the extremely crucial win in Nevada, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has greatly improved his chances of winning the democratic nomination in the 2020 race for the Presidency.
Sanders, a socialist democrat, has made his mark clear in the past decades in which he held government office with strong blue takes on all issues frequently argued upon in today’s society, including gun control, abortion and immigration policy.
Senator Sanders has already ran for President of the United States before, falling to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a tight race to the democratic nomination in 2016. With such an experienced long path, strong views and an old age (78 years) to show for it, Sanders has been long overdue to shake up Washington and become one of the few socialist Presidents to preside over America.
There are a couple of issues at hand though.
As referenced, Senator Sanders has really put his foot down and taken extremely socialist and democratic viewpoints on all issues touched upon in debates and interviews featuring himself. While Sanders has maintained a consistent reputation, Sanders must quickly realize this alienates a very large group of people on the right, with no sympathy due to his lack of moderation.
It is no secret that there is a distinct split between political views in America’s two main parties, the Democrats and Republicans. While in past decades there has been extremely conservative (George W. Bush) and extremely liberal presidents (Barack Obama), each party has offered at least some minor detail to the other party that will appeal to them and land some votes if their party truly cannot stand their own candidate. For example, it is a good assumption to make that our own president right now, Donald Trump, would not be in office if not for his volatility on many political issues. Trump has repeatedly contracted himself, gone back on promises and challenged the norm of what a true republican politician really is.
In fact, Trump stole electoral votes in the race against Hillary Clinton due to his big promises and Clinton’s former mishaps. Clinton’s inability to defend against political smears allowed Trump to seize voters, despite Clinton having more experience and arguably a better plan for America, winning multiple debates leading up to Election Day 2016.
This is where Sanders lacks, and Trump capitalizes.
Sanders must find a niche in the Republican Party somehow. It is well known that this election year is crucial to deciding policy for the next few decades, and if Sanders is serious about bringing “socialism” to America, he must find a way to steal Trump’s parties’ votes. So far, no prominent GOP candidate has announced his or her bid for the presidency. With, what seems like, unanimous backing behind Trump by the Republican party, it is imperative that Sanders can at least appeal to non-democrat voters.
Critics are quick to call out Sanders for his potentially contradictory political views, which would conflict with how he has become a multimillionaire in the top 1%. Sanders’ comprehensive tax plan will effectively “destroy” the 1%, including himself Is Sanders aware of this? Potentially. It is very possible Sanders realizes his come-up is very unfair to those who have worked just as hard as him but have not been as lucky to have the influence he gained as he rose ranks in Washington. Sanders may very well feel that socialism is what will bring wage equality to America, leveling the playing field, even if current capitalism is what brought him to wealth. Sanders contradicting his own come-up shows more character than anything. Even though he likely will not lose much if his system is put into place, Sanders fully understands this will change everything in America. His devotion to his policies is real, and his consistency in his political views must be recognized and appreciated in a world where changing your thoughts and opinion based on the tides is ever so prevalent.
Where many thought Sanders would lack, he excels surprisingly. Few have the demographic influence Sanders. . One fact that has been keeping Sanders ultra-relevant since 2016 is that he has the eye of millennials and minorities across America.
Being a white male in America has it’s obvious advantages, whether it is morally correct or not, it is true. With this privilege, comes great power to change norms in American culture, and Bernie Sanders has realized this.
Sanders has a massive following of young men and women in America in their late teens to their thirties and it shows.
Being that these age groups tend to be the most adept at spreading their theories, knowledge and opinion through technology, Sanders having these people under his belt is nothing to scoff at.
When polled more millennials in 2016 would have dinner with him over popular culture staples such as Beyonce or Kanye West.
This massive cultural influence Sanders has is what will propel him further into political stardom and potentially make him Chief of Command.
Therefore, Bernie Sanders has more than enough tools, influence and supporters to win the 2020 democratic nomination, and even the race for the White House, come November. It will not come easy, but being the front runner certainly does not hurt.
Here we go again, America.