Bernie Sanders’ populism makes him better poised to win in November than any other candidate in the Democratic Primary.
Bernie’s policy proposals are extremely popular among the American people. Polls have indicated that 70 percent of Americans support Medicare for All, including 52 percent of Republicans. 62 percent of Americans support tuition-free college. 60 percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage and 84 percent of Americans support guaranteed paid maternity leave.
It is therefore not surprising that a Morning Consult poll has found, 11 times in a row, that Bernie Sanders is the most popular Senator in the country, with support from 64 percent of Vermonters. Yes, Vermont is a liberal state.
However, among voters nationally, polls have consistently shown that Bernie is the most popular politician in the country. A 2017 Harvard-Harris survey showed that 57 percent of registered voters view him favorably.
Donald Trump’s (dishonest) populist messaging is likely the reason he won in 2016. Trump bragged about being the only candidate to promise that there would be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and yet the 2021 budget proposal he released last week breaks this promise, as did his budget proposals for 2020, 2019, and 2018.
Trump promised to bring the troops home from Afghanistan immediately, and yet 14,000 remain there, which is more than when he took office three years ago. Trump declared “We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with,” and yet he has brought us to the brink of war with Iran by shredding the Iran Nuclear Deal, a deal by which the International Atomic Energy Agency certified that Iran was abiding, and he offered critical support for the coup in Venezuela last year.
Trump promised to renegotiate NAFTA to “get a better deal for our workers”, and yet the new deal is nearly identical to the old one (Bernie opposed it). Trump promised to “drain the swamp”, and yet his conflicts of interest number in the thousands, and he has appointed more ex-lobbyists to Cabinet-level positions in three years than Bush or Obama did in their entire 8 years in office.
The point is this: Donald Trump is a fake populist, while Bernie Sanders is a real populist. If you put the two of them together on a debate stage, my guess is that Bernie would thoroughly trounce Trump.
In order for the Democrats to win in November, I believe they will need to nominate a bold, revolutionary candidate with proven genuineness and consistency on the issues. They need a candidate who has a leg to stand on when exposing Trump for the corrupt fraud that he is.
They need a candidate who throws incrementalism and tepidity out the window and vows to fight tooth and nail for the American people. That candidate is Bernie Sanders.
Elliot Gilfix
Mount Gilead
