Bernie Sanders’ Picket Line Stop Takes On Hillary Clinton — Can A Socialist Win In 2016?
Bernie Sanders’ picket line stop in Iowa may have provided a poll number boost when compared to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 polls, but can a democratic socialist actually win in America?
In a related report by the Inquisitr, even Deez Nuts has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president.
According to the Des-Moines Register, Bernie Sanders’ picket line stop provided support for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union local 100G. In the early evening, Sanders picked up a sign and joined the crowd in a march across the street from a corn processing plant.
“I want you to know being out on a picket line and standing with workers is something I have been doing for my entire life,” Sanders told the crowd. “I did when I was mayor of the city of Burlington, did in Congress, did it in the Senate. This is what I do.”
The president of local 100G, Chris Eby, said his organization appreciated Bernie Sanders’ picket line stop, but they do not specifically endorse Sanders’ 2016 campaign.
“You’re going to see today he doesn’t just talk the talk,” Eby said shortly before Sanders arrived. “He’s going to come out and join us and walk the walk.”
According to CNN, Sanders says Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign needs to start walking faster since Sander’s poll number are catching up.
“I think what they know is that four months ago, when I entered this race, if you look at the polls, I was in 3 to 4 percent,” Sanders said. “[The] vast majority of the American people didn’t know who Bernie Sanders was, they didn’t know what my ideas were, and in [the] last few months, we have amassed huge amounts of enthusiasm and huge amounts of energy. So obviously, I think the secretary’s people are getting nervous about the energy and enthusiasm our campaign is bringing forth.”
According to a RealClearPolitics average of 2016 polls, Bernie Sanders poll numbers now stand at 25 percent, while Clinton still commands a sizable lead with 49.2 percent. But Sanders has never hidden the fact that he supports a form of socialism, which is largely associated with the failed USSR. Can a self-described socialist actually became a U.S. President today?
According to VOA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst economics professor Richard Wolff claims that the word socialist is not feared by younger Americans. In fact, Wolff argues that some millennials actually embrace the term.
“For people 30 years of age and younger, saying, ‘Bernie Sanders is a socialist’ cuts exactly no ice,” Wolff explained. “It’s useless. It doesn’t persuade anyone. Those battles are now two or three decades old. For young people, this is barely known history.”
Bernie Sanders’ picket line stop fits his definition of democratic socialism, which he claims “is about is having a government which reflects the interest of ordinary people rather than what is currently the case, the billionaire class.” As part of these views, Sanders endorses universal health care, state-funded college education system, and higher worker benefits and wages.
But Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign can only win if the term socialist does not haunt him at the polls. As it turns out, 47 percent of Americans now claim they would vote for a socialist, which is quite a bit of change in itself.
[Image via Getty Images]
