Winning the nomination could be challenging at this point, but Sanders's ideas have staying power even beyond 2016
A specter appears to be haunting American liberalism — the specter of democratic socialism. As Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) continues to pick up surprising victories across the country, decisively winning Washington state, Alaska, and Hawaii over the weekend, it is becoming clear that his brand of democratic socialism (what some might simply call social democracy) is not a passing fad, but the future of Democratic party politics. While he may not win the 2016 nomination, he is winning the hearts and minds of Democratic voters and Independents. And with his growing popularity, particularly among millennial voters, it has not been surprising to see some liberals dusting off red-scare tactics from the ash heap of history.
In January, for example, Clinton allies prepared a dossier to paint Sanders as a Soviet-sympathizing communist, while her surrogates have been vocal about his “radical” left-wing politics. “[Republicans] can’t wait to run an ad with a hammer and sickle,” said Missouri Senator and Clinton supporter Claire McCaskill, while Clinton surrogate and former Republican attack dog David Brock spoke plainly: “He’s a socialist… He’s got a 30 year history of affiliation with a lot of whack-doodle ideas and parties.”
With this red scare in the air, it was only a matter of time until a leading liberal decided to remind everyone that “socialism” and “Marxism” have produced some of the most brutal and repressive dictatorships in the world. And last week, as President Obama was making the rounds in Cuba, New York magazine columnist Jonathan Chait did just that in his article, “Reminder: Liberalism Is Working, and Marxism Has Always Failed,” in which he opines that liberalism “has never been stronger than now.” Considering that economic inequality is at 80-year highs, Washington is controlled by monied interests, union membership is at historic lows, and American healthcare, though the most expensive in the world, is ranked at the bottom of the developed world, it’s an interesting time to be so optimistic about New Democrat liberalism.
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