Benin Bryant, well written article. This is certainly a wake up call to the moderate left and a lack of imagination to realize that the “Bernie thing” has legs. Of course now the moderate wing is left with Biden, who is not a greatest candidate — or just possibly Bloomberg. It now appears that Bernie is on track to win the nomination.
Bernie Sanders represents something to be anxious about. While he deserves credit for pointing the finger at issues in urgent need of attention (such as general inequality, failures in our healthcare system and the cost of housing), his solutions are either wanting or bad solutions. What is particularly worrying, is that Bernie reaches for the top down approach in solving all these problems. That is an expensive and clumsy way to go. Also it can introduce corruption — something that he is an opponent of.
Bernie is dismissive of much that have made you and I prosperous — particularly, trade and the markets (within the US and internationally). You enjoy your laptop and MEDIUM precisely because of this flow of capital and goods. Bernie is unconvinced of this value (twice turned down the free trade agreement with Mexico and was vehemently opposed to TPP). He sees little interest in the rest of the world, but we need those relationships to address climate change (and the private sector). This is not incidental stuff as it directly relates to our standard of living.
Bernie is a brilliant campaigner but unfortunately a poor politician. A successful politician builds consensus with a majority of people and not just with those in his camp.
