There is a reason why Sen Sanders’ campaign caught fire this election season. That reason is this. He is the first candidate to run on the core principle that the Era of Reaganomics must come to an end.
But that message has been lost in our Byzantine and overly-long campaign season. Months of bickering have brought us to the point where we’re arguing over specific proposals (college funding, single payer) or, worse, over nonsense (some Clinton/Sanders supporter somewhere said something asshatish).
We’ve lost sight of the big picture. If ever the adage “failing to see the forest for the trees” applied it is to this campaign. The forest is American society and it is sick. The disease is fed by Reaganomics.
Sen Sanders is the first candidate in 35 years brave enough to advocate raising taxes back to pre-Reaganomics levels. That’s his message. His message isn’t college funding, it isn’t health care reform, it isn’t busting up the banks. The message is, Reaganomics is killing us so it is time for Reaganomics to end. The various proposals mentioned above are examples of what can be done once we address the root problem.
For 35 years both major parties have supported Reaganomics. The Republicans of course support it with religious fervor. But the Democrats implicitly support it too. Even President Obama has not addressed it directly. As best, the Democratic Party tries to nibble at the edges. When it is at its best.
There are millions of Americans who get this. So in 2016 when at long last a Presidential candidate comes along and takes up this standard they rallied to his side. Just as in 2010 the tens of thousands of Wisconsinites who got it rallied to Madison to oppose Gov Walker. These people see the forest. These are the people who want to fight the disease,
So if you’re perplexed about why the Sanders campaign isn’t gong away, if you’re wondering why the his “Revolution” refuses to die off, the answer is to be found in putting an end to the “Reagan Revolution”. This system must come to an end. It will come to an end … someday.
The only question is how much more pain will be suffered between then and now.