Please Oh Please Run For President, Bernie Sanders
Earlier this month, Bernie Sanders told The Nation's John Nichols that he is "prepared to run for President of the United States," and now we are treated to a reminder of how awesome that would be every time we read a new "who besides Hillary" item. It is like an It Gets Better Project for socialists.
It doesn't matter at all that Bernie Sanders has little chance of becoming president. A serious Sanders run would act as a year-long opinion poll: "Should Democrats advocate for policies that will make the country better even if some people who run large financial institutions don't like these policies?" If Sanders can push Hillary even half as far left as Santorum/Gingrich/Cain/Bachmann/Perry/FOX pushed Romney to the right, we might actually be able to vote for her in the general without risking injury to our mortal souls.
Because Sanders is an actual socialist and most deep-pocketed donors are not, it will be interesting to see how he might fund his campaign. OpenSecrets says he has more than $4 million on hand -- enough to make a decent splash in the early primary states -- and draws support from unions and the "retired" industry, which is, what, Epsom salts and bird feeders? Liberal Super PACs should also consider throwing some support his way if only to show their own supporters that they aren't Hillary's tools.
The main reason for this post is to tongue bathe Bernie Sanders, who is excellent. But the secondary reason is to tell everyone that we need to make sure Bernie Sanders runs. Here's where his head's at now:
am I talking to people around the country? Yes, I am. Will I be doing some traveling around the country? Yes, I will be. But I think it’s premature to be talking about (the specifics of) a campaign when we still have a 2014 congressional race in front of us.
He's asking us if he should run. We need to be yelling at him -- "Yes! Run! For the love of Eugene Debs, run!"
If Bernie Sanders runs, Wonkette promises that we will ask you to design a Bernie Sanders coffee mug or t-shirt for us, then we will ask you to buy the mug or t-shirt.
Follow Alex on Twitter for all the latest begging Bernie Sanders to run for president news.
[ The Nation / National Journal / itgetsbetter.org / opensecrets.org / iowacaucus.biz ]
Is that a serious question? Especially since the actual choice would likely be between Bernie and Jeb?
Well, I'm likely to be in the minority here, but let me just say FUCK, NO.
I was an adult Democrat in 1980, and my enduring memory of Teddy Kennedy is what an asshole he was to crater any chance that Carter had of being re-elected. Now, Reagan may well have won in any case, but Teddy's alienation of the liberal Dems from supporting Carter made the deal a fait accompli. And this brought us Reagan, and, I might mention, Tony Scalia. And all that jazz. And, for that matter, the fucking DLC, which was the only visible way to break the Republican hold on the White House.
Scalia and Thomas look like they're going to live through Obama's second term. It's really important that the next President be a Democrat, however centrist, just because of the SCOTUS appointments.
I am an old fart. So perhaps I am advocating "minimum damage" as superior to "maximum advantage". Maybe so. I suggest that we should take a long view, recognize that the demographic changes in the US are, in the long run, favorable to the liberal cause -- and then not do shit to fuck up in the short term.