Bernie Sanders on Democratic Socialism, Elizabeth Warren and the Media
By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
15 June 19
The Vermont Senators campaign is still trying to find its rhythm but its
message is clear
If it seems like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is fighting for his
political life amid a series of negative articles, it might be because he
always is. The Sanders campaign is grounded in a principle that an absence
of controversy would be the real indication of trouble.
Its not a cliché: Sanders is always, literally, embattled, among other
things because his version of politics is a battle, a zero-sum clash of
economic interests in particular. The way he fights is unique, says his
campaign manager, Faiz Shakhir. He goes to Walmart and confronts the CEO
over wages. He goes and stands with striking McDonalds workers directly.
The latest brush-fire, a series of negative articles trumpeting a poll surge
by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as the latest indication of
Bernies oft-predicted demise, is just par for the course.
Sanders this week gave a major address, explaining why he calls himself a
Democratic Socialist. He did this in 2015, and after much discussion this
spring it was decided he needed to do so again.
Speaking at George Washington University, Sanders described his campaign as
a continuation of FDRs legacy, specifically the so-called Second Bill of
Rights, as enumerated in the 1944 State of the Union Address. He plans on
releasing an Economic Bill of Rights that will essentially provide
government guarantees for a living wage, affordable housing, health care and
a complete education. Echoing a famous line by Roosevelt, he talked about
his confrontations with corporate interests.
They are unanimous in their hatred of me, and I welcome their hatred, he
said, to cheers.
Unlike the last election, when the policy difference between himself and
opponent Hillary Clinton was so great it scarcely needed explaining, Sanders
in 2019 is running in a much-altered Democratic Party environment. In part
due to his own efforts in 2016, and in part due to a growing movement driven
by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others, hes now chasing the
nomination in a field full of candidates expressing varying degrees of
support for policies once considered radical: Medicare for All, a Green New
Deal, free college, even a guaranteed income.
This is an accomplishment on the one hand, but also a complication: How does
Sanders stand out now in a political landscape that (policy-wise, anyway)
has made wholesale moves in his direction since 2016?
In an odd way, Sanders defines his campaign by the negativity it attracts.
Other campaigns that might talk the talk on issues like climate change cant
be taken seriously, Bernie Sanders tells me in a phone call from Washington,
D.C., unless they frontally confront the fossil fuel industry. If youre
not embattled, youre not real. In this vein he derides the middle
ground platform of someone like current frontrunner Joe Biden, which
Sanders says antagonizes no one, stands up to no one, and changes nothing.
Asked why he chose this week in particular to give an address on Democratic
Socialism, Sanders says the motivation was twofold.
The first is to try to move this country away from an austerity policy, he
says. We must recognize that economic rights are human rights. People are
entitled and I underline the word entitled to a decent job that pays a
living wage. Theyre entitled to health care. Theyre entitled to a complete
education, to affordable housing.
He goes on to elucidate probably the biggest difference between himself and
Warren.
In the words of Roosevelt, he says, the Republic at the beginning was
built around the guarantee of political rights. But he came to believe that
true individual freedom cant exist without economic security.
Its time to guarantee economic rights. [FDR] said this 80 years ago.
Warren and Sanders have nearly identical critiques of how screwed up
American capitalism has become in the global economy age. The main
difference is that while Warren seems to want to fix the problem by
re-invigorating those original political rights, Sanders wants to take what
he calls the next step into guaranteeing economic security.
I ask him about the headlines of this week, and how he would best
characterize the difference between himself and Warren, whom he describes as
a friend. He answers by describing how he came to his decision to run.
I thought long and hard about this, he says. My wife and I thought about
it for months and months. We talked about it more than we ever talked about
anything else. Wed be sure of one thing on Monday, then Tuesday it would be
different.
He pauses. I reached the conclusion that Im the strongest candidate to
beat Donald Trump, but that wasnt all. I wouldnt just have to beat Trump
the goal would be to create a movement to fundamentally transform the
country, so the future wouldnt be threatened by later Trumps, either.
Sanders then explains that the only kind of candidacy that could succeed now
would be one like his own. It wont work, he says, unless you have the
courage to take on the very powerful special interests that are entrenched
and wield so much influence. If you want to fix the climate change problem,
you cant do it unless you frontally confront the fossil fuel industry. You
want to rebuild the infrastructure? You have to take on the 1-percent, get
them to pay their share.
I believe from the bottom of my heart my approach is the only way, Sanders
says. The middle of the road approach isnt going to cut it.
I asked him if hes settled into a psychological strategy for dealing with
the media negativity, which seems relentless. Specifically, did he ever
think about taking the Trump approach, and embracing the negative media,
turning it to his advantage?
He laughs, but only a little.
Its hard, he says. My views on the press are nothing like Trumps. I
dont believe that the media is the enemy of the people. Theyre not
terrible people, its not fake news there are a lot of great reports in
the New York Times, we use their work every day here on the campaign.
But, he says, at the end of the day, the media work for huge
multinational corporations. And as you know youre one of the few who does
know anyone with my agenda is going to attract a lot of opposition. I
mean, last time, I think in a day or two, we had 16 different negative
stories in the same paper [the Washington Post].
As for finding a new way to handle it, psychologically, I think were
getting there. I think were figuring that out.
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