Bernie Sanders Is History In Both Senses Of The Word

Bernie Sanders’ campaign watches the last grains of sand trickle down like the economics he opposes. While his bid for the presidency is toast, Sanders’ “democratic socialism” could become part of the American political spectrum.

Keith Lehrer once said, “There is no exit from the circle of one’s beliefs.”

Sanders’ circle of beliefs has never changed throughout the course of this election. Even Hillary Clinton acknowledged the venerable Vermont senator and the impact of his politics during her victory speech in Brooklyn per CNN,

“Let there be no mistake: Sen. Sanders, his campaign, and the vigorous debate that we’ve had about how to raise incomes, reduce inequality, and increase upward mobility, have been very good for the Democratic Party and for America.”

Sanders welcomed millions into the circle of his beliefs despite re-introducing socialism – or “democratic socialism” as he refers to it – back into the American political lexicon. According to RealClearPolitics, 12 million people voted for him and who knows how many more were not registered, unable to vote, or silently supporting his “revolution” as he calls it.

President Bernard Sanders will never be, but what he was able to accomplish on the campaign trail was remarkable in many ways. For one, he offered the world a view into America, which revealed the youth of this country are liberal, much more liberal than Hillary Clinton who allegedly represents the left. If pink is the new black, Sanders’ socialism is the new left which pushes Hillary closer to the center. Bernie always talked about “the top 99 percent” on his campaign trail, but the relative figure in this discussion is the 80 percent of “youth” voters and the majority of people under 50 years of age that supported the “democratic socialist.” Approximately 45 percent of the entire Democratic electorate voted for him – that’s one big circle.

The criticism against the young people that voted for Bernie is that they like the idea of free things but don’t understand how much they cost. This is obviously an unfair critique due to the fact that paying more taxes to have free public colleges or healthcare is not a difficult concept to understand. The complicated loopholes created by greedy capitalists are complicated, free stuff means people pay more taxes is not. Capitalism is necessary, greed en masse is not.

Political pundits keep referring to this election as “anti-establishment.” Is it an anti-establishment election or has the U.S. shifted left politically? Bernie’s circle seems to represent that shift. Hillary being called a centrist and Trump’s popularity given the fact that he is “left of right” also represents that shift.

I view it as a shift, rather than the conflict-inducing “anti-establishment” term. To me, it seems the far right is nearing its extinction and the far left is evolving.

The 74-year-old man and perennial politician is somewhat of a visionary, and when visionaries emerge, shrewd trend-watchers like Trump can become prosperous, and that can force old dogs like Hillary Clinton to learn new tricks.

Sanders made an impact, and he continues to fight for it. For now he is the only one who can keep the “democratic socialist” torch aflame, and given the comments CNN reported, it doesn’t seem like he’s interested in going quietly into the night even if he presumably lost to Clinton,

“I look forward to meeting with (Clinton) in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump and to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1%.”

It seems like he’s hinting at more than just supporting her from the sidelines. It seems like Sanders wants to be part of the action and continue his “political revolution” from the highest position possible.

Millions of voters remember the legend and value of the legacy of Bernie Sanders. They remember #BirdieSanders. They value the will of 30,000 people supporting Sanders at Washington Square Park. They know he stands for the little people and understand his opponent’s link to Wall Street. They’ve seen footage of packed arenas with his slogan, “A Future To Believe In,” written on large banners. They’ve heard celebrities such as Susan Sarandon, Sarah Silverman, and Killer Mike showing up on news shows and on his campaign trail to publicly support him. Photos of Sanders being arrested for standing up for civil rights issues emerged. His trip to meet Pope Francis in Vatican City publicized. Most notably, and the reason this article exists, is his ascension from basically unknown without a chance in hell to neck-and-neck with political powerhouse Hillary Clinton. He gave the former secretary of State a good fight and his vision forced her to shift on key issues that were echoed by the will of his supporters, supporters she will need if she wants to beat Donald “Bully” Trump in November.

Earlier this week, Sanders thanked a crowd in Washington, D.C., “for being part of a political revolution,” and he’s right; he did start a political revolution that spread from sea to sea and abroad. Like any revolution, it comes at a time when people are sick of the status quo. Perhaps in this situation, U.S. citizens and citizens of the world have grown weary of the petrodollar and the risk and wars associated to it, the wealth gap heading towards paralleling third world countries, college education almost unattainable for the working class, the unpopularity of war, universal health care in high demand, prisons overflowing, and the notion that maybe the juice of imperialism isn’t worth the squeeze given the mess it makes during and especially after it falls.

It will be interesting and almost exciting to see how Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialism” proposal affects the future of American politics, and if one day they become an accepted political theory that no longer requires the quotation marks that almost delegitimize it. As for the here and now, momentum is critical in the U.S. presidential election. Given the fact that Clinton felt the “Bern,” it would shock me if she didn’t take care of that “Bern,” and capitalize on the momentum he can generate by offering him a significant position if she were to be elected. Especially given the fact that she is going to face Donald Trump, arguably America’s most formidable ringmaster.

Perhaps even more interesting of a speculation is what will happen to Bernie Sanders and his theory of “democratic socialism” if Clinton does not offer him a significant role. Will he go back to the Senate and continue to fight for the rights of the people or perhaps officially drop the quotations and start the Democratic Socialist Party — if not, perhaps someone else will. For now, we wait to see what the presumptive Democratic nominee decides.

[Photo by Justin Williams/Getty Images]