So why aren't more Americans -- and notably more Democrats -- feelin' the Bern?
Yes, some of it is certainly due to the recent, ultra-polished debate and EGhazi performances turned in by the dynastic Democratic machine mega-star and 8-year nomination front-runner Hillary Clinton. To those pitch-perfect PR turns we can add centrist vote-grabber Biden's no-can-run announcement, and yesterday's Iowa poll Bernie bloodbath becomes fairly explicable.
But even before the last few weeks, Bernie was the longest of long shots.
And again, it's not just because from the get-go, he was always grumpy, rambling Bern Quixote tilting at the Sort Of Green Giant, the glitzy multi-billion-dollar Wind Mill Hill (100% clean natural gas-fueled artificial wind farm).
This he was. But that's not what is breaking his lance. Let's see what is...below!
As we all know so well, Bernie is running a classic class warrior campaign. It's the economy, stupid, as a man who thought himself great once was told by his speechwriters to say long ago. And today more than then, that economy is ravaging the dwindling middle class, producing income and wealth disparities not seen since the Gilded Age and...
But I digress. So Bernie is running as a social(ist)(y)(esque) d(D)emocrat trying to craft an sustain a movement that could retake the organs of power and put them to the service of the many rather than to the few.
Sounds nice. It draws a crowd. It excites the left. But that's about it. Why?
1). Americans do not see themselves as "liberal" on economic issues.
Most Americans, and most Democrats, view themselves as moderate or conservative on economic issues. Now, mind you, by and large, they don't understand economics. On specific questions, they may provide answers far more left of center than expected. But only 19% of Americans and 33% of Democrats and Democratic leaning voters say they are liberal on economic issues. On economics, Americans and Democrats alike, in large majorities, wish to believe themselves moderate or conservative.
So when Bernie runs a campaign exclusively on class insurrection, his natural ceiling among Democrats tops out around 33% or so. Getting higher than that would require a consummate salesman who possessed powers of seduction, rhetoric, and communication. These are not Bernie's forte. Preaching to the lefty choir isn't enough.
2). Black voters don't know who Bernie is, and don't like his message.
Many black voters in many parts of the country are still fairly unfamiliar with Bernie. And what they have seen so far has not been inspiring. If a non-black candidate hoped to dethrone Hillary as the overwhelming favorite of African Americans, said candidate MUST have been plugged in to Black Lives Matter, racial injustice, the school to prison pipeline, and black culture overall. From day one. You can't just show up and talk about jobs. Or class war. Or how you marched with MLK. It's not the 1960s anymore.
Further, many in the media have also noted that black voters, while reliably Democratic, simply do not skew to the far left of the party in their economic views. They tilt Obama more than they tilt Cornel West. Winning them over to a more leftward course would be difficult, and can't be done just by showing up at a few black campuses and giving your same old stump speech.
Bernie was condemned here by his long, fine career representing one of the whitest and left-est states of the union. It's probably asking too much for someone with his trajectory to shift gears on a dime and spontaneously generate the ability to resonate with black audiences. But that was always his only chance, barring a very unlikely implosion by Hillary.
So where does that leave the (economic) left in America? As always, in search of a Presidential candidate adept in the powers of persuasion, and strong enough not to sell out to the powers that be milliseconds after themselves attaining personal power. Obvious bonus points would go to candidate who was non-white, non-old, and/or non-male.
No such candidates are now on the horizon. No real institutions exist to develop or season such candidates. Ouch. Rather than obsess about the Presidency, then, the Left is best served to keep on keeping on, trying to better the world as best we can, however we can. But should we wish in the future to save our country and perhaps the planet, we should try to learn from the flaws of Bernie's campaign. Sanders Leftists must learn to think, talk and act differently. We won't succeed until and unless we learn how to build a popular coalition featuring left-wing economic principles. We have a lot of work to do.