The headline is the title of an opinion piece in the NY Times by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
neither the Democratic Party establishment nor the mainstream media really understand his campaign. That’s because it disregards conventional wisdom in politics today
Speaking at the Sanders kick-off rally in Brooklyn, Shaun King described Sanders as an “activist impersonating a politician”. That is an apt description of the senator and the reason Sanders campaign is nothing like a conventional presidential campaign. Sanders campaign did not start in the 2016 election cycle, it started back when he was being dragged off in handcuffs in Chicago in the 60’s and it hasn’t ceased for a moment since.
Sanders has been working for decades to build a mass movement from the ground up for radical change. He never lost faith and kept his eyes on what was in the interest of the many, not the privileged few who financed campaigns or what was politically convenient. His current presidential election campaign is just a means to that end.
Much of the media, though, has been stuck in 2016 and has missed the ways that the Sanders campaign has transformed into a tribune of the oppressed and marginalized.
Bernie’s bottom up campaign is like an iceberg. Only the tip shows up in the media ‘politics as reality show’ circus. Sanders supporters are discounted and marginalized, the “not-likely voters”, the young, teachers, nurses, blue collar and service workers. The media will only understand the scale of this movement after the iceberg sinks the unsinkable Titanic.
Mr. Sanders is the top recipient for donations by teachers, farmers, servers, social workers, retail workers, construction workers, truckers, nurses and drivers as of September...
Mr. Sanders is also the leading recipient of donations from Latinos...
Mr. Sanders is the favorite candidate among black women aged 18 to 34. Only 49 percent of his supporters are white, compared with 71 percent of Warren supporters. Perhaps most surprising, more women under 45 support him than men under 45.
The capture of governments (conservative and liberal) worldwide by the wealthy few has resulted in “reforms” that have created an unsustainable bubble economy, accelerating grotesque income inequality, a destroyed middle class and a planetary environment on the brink. As a result, people across the globe have lost faith with the institutions and parties they have traditionally relied on. We are seeing very dangerous political volatility and social instability that we have not seen since the 1930s.
If we are going to save the country, the economy, the planet and democracy — don’t look to the status quo politicians who created this mess. It will take politicians with a vision for revolutionary change backed by a mass movement to create that change.
No one can predict the future, but I’d say Bernie’s odds are a lot better than the media would have you believe and Bernie is no longer a lone voice in the wilderness. We now have a whole generation of activists and young elected officials who have picked up the torch and are marching alongside Sanders.
I would encourage anyone who is on the fence to give Bernie another look.