The Democratic Party spent two entire primary cycles treating Bernie Sanders like a wasp at a picnic, swatting at him with rule changes, establishment muscle, and coordinated candidate dropouts. They did everything short of hiring a skywriter to spell out "Please Go Away" over Burlington. And now, after the Biden era, the Harris campaign, and what can only be described as a series of increasingly creative ways to lose elections, the party is watching that same socialist climb right back to the front of the line like nothing happened.
Mark Halperin noted on his podcast this week, as USA Journal reported, that the toughest thing to do right now in Democratic politics is stop a socialist from becoming the presidential nominee. He ranked Sanders third on his current 2028 list, above AOC, above Kamala Harris, and said he could move Sanders to number one if current trends hold. An 84 year old man who honeymooned in the Soviet Union and has been delivering the same stump speech since the Kennedy administration is now considered one of the Democrats' most viable options. You have to admire the consistency, if nothing else.
Halperin's reasoning is that Sanders' biggest liability, his age, is offset by the fact that he still looks and acts like someone with the energy to campaign. Which is apparently a notable achievement after the last elderly nominee Democrats put forward.
The broader picture is what makes this interesting. DSA candidates recently won primaries in New York and Colorado. The progressive caucus published a resolution promising to kill the filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, and federalize elections the moment they regain power. Gavin Newsom, who is nominally the frontrunner, is under active DOJ investigation and reportedly cannot bring himself to clearly oppose socialism on camera. Josh Shapiro, the supposed moderate alternative, has according to Halperin's reporting "failed to put a stake in the sand against socialism." So into the vacuum walks the guy who has been saying the same things about income inequality since before most of his supporters were born.
Sanders has name recognition, a grassroots fundraising machine that is already built, strength in Iowa and New Hampshire, and a base that genuinely believes he was cheated twice. He also has the consistent message advantage that comes from never once updating your platform across six decades.
Halperin summed it up this way: "But what Bernie Sanders is, and the reason why, if things stay on this trajectory, I'll probably move him to number one, is he's against the establishment. He's against the status quo. He's against business as usual. And he's for specific things to address income inequality and healthcare insecurity. And that is who the Democrats will nominate in 2028. Someone who has a vision for those things."
So the party that spent a decade trying to stop Bernie Sanders may end up nominating Bernie Sanders. The man would be 87 on inauguration day. Politics is truly the only profession where your colleagues try to destroy you for years and then hand you the keys because they ran out of other ideas.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
Mark Halperin noted on his podcast this week, as USA Journal reported, that the toughest thing to do right now in Democratic politics is stop a socialist from becoming the presidential nominee. He ranked Sanders third on his current 2028 list, above AOC, above Kamala Harris, and said he could move Sanders to number one if current trends hold. An 84 year old man who honeymooned in the Soviet Union and has been delivering the same stump speech since the Kennedy administration is now considered one of the Democrats' most viable options. You have to admire the consistency, if nothing else.
Halperin's reasoning is that Sanders' biggest liability, his age, is offset by the fact that he still looks and acts like someone with the energy to campaign. Which is apparently a notable achievement after the last elderly nominee Democrats put forward.
The broader picture is what makes this interesting. DSA candidates recently won primaries in New York and Colorado. The progressive caucus published a resolution promising to kill the filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, and federalize elections the moment they regain power. Gavin Newsom, who is nominally the frontrunner, is under active DOJ investigation and reportedly cannot bring himself to clearly oppose socialism on camera. Josh Shapiro, the supposed moderate alternative, has according to Halperin's reporting "failed to put a stake in the sand against socialism." So into the vacuum walks the guy who has been saying the same things about income inequality since before most of his supporters were born.
Sanders has name recognition, a grassroots fundraising machine that is already built, strength in Iowa and New Hampshire, and a base that genuinely believes he was cheated twice. He also has the consistent message advantage that comes from never once updating your platform across six decades.
Halperin summed it up this way: "But what Bernie Sanders is, and the reason why, if things stay on this trajectory, I'll probably move him to number one, is he's against the establishment. He's against the status quo. He's against business as usual. And he's for specific things to address income inequality and healthcare insecurity. And that is who the Democrats will nominate in 2028. Someone who has a vision for those things."
So the party that spent a decade trying to stop Bernie Sanders may end up nominating Bernie Sanders. The man would be 87 on inauguration day. Politics is truly the only profession where your colleagues try to destroy you for years and then hand you the keys because they ran out of other ideas.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
