Seventy-six is the new 56, at least when it comes to Bernie Sanders. The 2016 presidential campaign candidate has the passion and the charisma required for anyone who wants to be president of these United States. The Independent Vermont senator ran as a Democrat and pulled in the younger voters like the pied piper of politics.
Yet, is he the one who will step into the Democratic Party’s leader shoes? Had his Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, not been a the Democratic National Committee (DNC) favorite, Sanders might well be president today.
After the DNC chair had to step down, Donna Brazile stepped into the interim role. In her new book, Hacks, she wrote:
‘The funding arrangement with [Hillary for America] and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical. If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead. This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity.’
Certainly, the DNC needed money, and Clinton is a master fundraiser, yet we wonder, “What if…”
Sanders has been crisscrossing the countryside, keep his message fresh as each party moves further to the left and to the right. He tweeted his plan for 2018 and placed the tweet on his Facebook page:
‘Here is a New Year’s Resolution I hope you will share with me. In 2018, we will not only intensify the struggle against Trumpism, we will increase our efforts to spread the progressive vision in every corner of the land.’
If Sanders has not made up his mind whether to run in 2020 or not, he has girded his loins for battle with “Trumpism.” He makes no bones about how he feels about the sitting president, calling him:
‘The most dishonest, bigoted, divisive and reactionary president in the modern history of our country.’
Sanders went on to look back over 2016 on his Facebook page:
The midterm elections are fast approaching, and Democrats need to continue the momentum they gathered from the Alabama special election. Democrat Doug Jones won the senate seat there. Yet, even though he pulled his win from an ultra-red state, Jones fought against a heavily flawed candidate.
Republican Roy Moore allegedly tried to seduce a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30’s.
Sanders showed Democrats they must use Trump as a tool to win the House in 2018 and hopefully the Senate, too. The Vermont senator called for the president to resign last month, pointing to a dozen and a-half charges of sexual misconduct.
The Vermont senator continued with his 2017 Facebook message:
Senators Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon joined with him calling for Trump’s resignation — all potential 2020 presidential candidates, according to Newsweek.
The biggest problem the Democratic Party has is a lack of a leader. It may be Sanders or any of the younger group of senators.
Sanders finished up his Facebook look at 2017. Then turned to face the future:
The Independent senator, who caucuses with Democrats and ran as a Democrat, is well past 70-years-old (76) but Donald Trump is no spring chicken (71). The sitting president has even considered aloud that Sanders will run against Trump’s bid for re-election “even if he’s in a wheelchair.” Sanders might even face former vice president Joe Biden of Delaware, who is 75-years-old now.
Sanders’ senior adviser Ari Rabin-Havt told POLITICO:
‘He is now in a very different position than he’s ever been in before. He’s just stepping into the role. Let’s be clear: He’s in charge of outreach for the caucus. So when people say he’s doing a better job of reaching out? Well, yeah, he’s doing his job. This is a new phase of his career.’
Featured Image via Bernie Sanders’ Facebook Page.
