The Rutland Herald (Vt.), April 30:
Sen. Bernard Sanders will announce today that he plans to run for president. He is the first candidate to take on Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, though never before in his long career has he identified himself as a Democrat. He has been a party of one, known by all as Bernie, a democratic socialist who has been denouncing the excesses of corporate America since even before his election as Mayor of Burlington in 1981.
Voices on the left are welcoming Sanders into the race because they believe Clinton is too closely tied to Wall Street and is too hawkish in foreign policy. Sen. Elizabeth Warren remains the darling of Democratic progressives because of her record as a critic of Wall Street, but she has said she will not run, leaving an opening for Sanders.
Until now the press has treated Sanders as something of a joke”“ a far-out figure in a rumpled suit with limited familiarity with a comb. That he is a Jew from Brooklyn who became a socialist senator from Vermont is quirky enough to amuse the cognoscenti. He is 73-years-old, which is old to run for president, even if his rhetoric is like that of an angry young man. Ronald Reagan was 69 when he ran in 1980.
Still, Sanders has found that his rhetoric about economic inequality and the corrupting influence of money in politics is striking a chord. The Great Recession and the crimes of Wall Street have given added resonance to Sanders’ language about corporate abuse. Growing awareness of economic inequality and the decline of the middle class has aligned many voters with what Sanders has been saying for decades.
Clinton is aware of the voter mood. She launched her campaign in Iowa speaking of how the deck was stacked against ordinary citizens and how she wanted to be their champion. Her defenders say she has been a champion of ordinary people all her life. But unease still prevails on the left because of the corporate-friendliness of her husband’s presidency and the big money associated with the Clintons’ foundation and Hillary Clinton’s corporate speaking engagements.
Clinton has said that Elizabeth Warren serves the useful purpose of holding her feet to the fire. Now that will be Sanders’s job. It will get more difficult for him once he becomes a candidate.
Sanders’ strength is also his weakness. He is an ideologue whose view of the world has been static for many years ”“ he has been called the Ron Paul of the left. Thus, he is consistent and clear in his message. He doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t cater to special interests. He doesn’t shade his meanings. He doesn’t try to spare the feelings of sensitive corporate executives who grow faint when they are called fat cats.
The weakness of the ideologue is that he is humorless, lacking in nuance. He always says the same thing and has a simple answer for everything. The issue of free trade is one that divides Democrats, and Sanders, predictably, lines up with unions and workers in criticizing the looming Trans-Pacific Partnership. The trade deal may be good for corporations, but it may also be good for America and the Pacific region, a notion Clinton will have to try to explain in her campaign.
Vermonters have always viewed Sanders as their own unique phenomenon. He has been popular among progs and woodchucks alike, who like that he tells it like he sees it. As the idea of Bernie as president sinks in, however, even his loyal supporters in Vermont may doubt that Bernie has the personal and intellectual constitution to become a credible candidate for president. On the Republican side, there is a long list of lesser candidates, but Sanders will be running against Hillary Clinton, a formidable public figure with a real and substantial record of accomplishments. There are likely to be several other Democrats in the race. Sanders has broken the ice, showing the way for Martin O’Malley, James Webb and perhaps others to give Clinton a run for her money.
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