A Radical Argument: Bernie and the Conventional Wisdom
By: Matt Szimanski
Tags: Democrats, Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders, 2020 Presidential Race, Politics

It can often be difficult to tell exactly what Democrats, as a political entity, are looking to achieve. In an institution as large and inclusive as the Democratic Party, that’s understandable to an extent. Democrats want to expand health care, but how much is a matter of constant argument. They support stricter gun laws, but whether that takes the form of increasing background checks, banning assault weapons, or something else in between is an ongoing debate. On the whole, the diversity of thought is a good thing, but I cannot deny that being a Democrat sometimes feels like being a member of your own opposition party.

That’s why it is rare to see Democrats as united as they are around their main goal for 2020: the end of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The exit polls for New Hampshire showed that Democrats, by a 2–1 margin, prefer a presidential nominee who can defeat Trump over a nominee who “shares their values,” a position that has been reflected in numerous other polls since 2017. Democrats are as united as they ever were in their priorities: get rid of Trump first, sort out the rest later.

So given that Democrats are so intent on finding the perfect nominee to end Trump’s reign of terror, it only makes sense that the current front runner for the nomination is…Bernie Sanders?

How did that happen?

Members of the Democratic establishment are asking themselves that same question as they bang their heads against the wall trying to find a way to alter the course of the race. They need the nominee to be someone electable, darn it, and the conventional wisdom of American politics dictates that there is no way a 78-year old Jewish democratic socialist is going to become president.

And yet if there are only two things we should have learned as a country since 2016, they are that the definition of “electable” is not what we thought it was and that the conventional wisdom of American politics took the last train for the coast years ago.

As a Democrat, I find myself firmly in the “defeat Trump first, ask questions later” camp. While I am personally in the progressive wing of the party, with Senator Elizabeth Warren as my top choice and Senator Sanders as a close second, I’ll vote for anyone with a “D” next to their name in November because the threat Trump poses to our republic is just that profound. And there was a stretch of time not that long ago where I found myself embracing the idea of a Joe Biden candidacy just because the conventional wisdom held that he was the one best positioned to beat Trump.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, that line of thinking is falling apart. And I am beginning to believe that the path to victory in November comes from the most unconventional of candidates.

Sure, there are numerous arguments to make for why Bernie Sanders is not the right candidate in 2020. He’s pushing 80 years old. His positions on some topics may be too extreme even for some liberals. His platform might turn off moderate voters. He is another old white guy in an almost unbroken line of old white guys looking to run an increasingly diverse country. It’s a compelling argument, but it is also one we heard just a few years ago. Which leads me to this question:

Just three years after a septuagenarian party outsider with a hardcore base of supporters and views that were dubbed as “too extreme” won the presidency, why is it so hard to conceive of it happening again?

I am not comparing Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump; you would be hard-pressed to find two more different individuals personally or politically. But I do think Democrats can take a lesson from Trump’s victory in 2016. Those of us opposing Trump back then were told time and again that the energy surrounding his campaign (and there was and is undoubtedly an energy, even if said energy recalls Nuremberg circa 1934 a little too closely for comfort) was just the result of a vocal minority and that it wouldn’t translate into the kind of support needed to win the presidency. Yard signs and rallies, we were assured, don’t equate to votes. We all know how that turned out.

Trump’s supporters are still energized and will continue to turn out en masse to support him. If there is to be any hope of stopping him, Democrats are going to need to respond in kind, countering Trump’s hate and vitriol with an inspirational movement. And whatever you think of Bernie’s platform, you cannot deny he provides the inspiration in spades. His rallies are like rock concerts even when The Strokes aren’t opening for him, and his message of inclusion and equality have clearly struck a chord with many Americans, especially younger voters that make up the most progressive and diverse generation in our nation’s history.

So while Bernie Sanders is not the safe choice for the Democrats in 2020, I would argue that is not a bad thing. After all, look at the last 20 years of presidential elections in this country. Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton were all considered the prudent, moderate choices of the party establishment. None of them claimed the presidency. The only Democrat to actually take the White House in this century was the party outsider who overcame the objections of the Democratic establishment with a relatively progressive platform, an inspirational message, and a small-donor-funded movement that energized the liberal base. And when Barack Obama won, he did it with what is still easily the biggest electoral college landslide we have seen since 1996.

Defeating Donald Trump before he can finish destroying the institutions of our government is going to be simultaneously the most difficult and most important political task Democrats will face in a generation. Given that, it is totally understandable that members of the party are stressing about who can get the job done. The conventional wisdom of American politics would point them as far away from Bernie Sanders as is humanly possible. But to my fellow Democrats I would simply ask: when did following the conventional wisdom last work out well for us?