SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Supporters arrive to attend ahead of the Bernies Back rally in Queens, NY, on October 19, 2019. (Photo: Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Why Bernie Sanders Is Winning
If you want to have a successful campaign, it helps to be extremely authentic as you run on ideas and policies that are very popular with a majority of people.
Feb 26, 2020
"I'm hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight, I wonder why," said Senator Bernie Sanders during the presidential candidates' debate in Charleston, South Carolina. "A lot of the issues we'll be discussing tonight are issues that I raised four years ago."
"Raising the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour; making public colleges and universities tuition free; and finally, doing what every other major country on Earth does, guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right, through a Medicare-for-All, single-payer system," he added.
The 2020 presidential primary debates have always been largely about the ideas put forward by the independent U.S. senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
His agenda and policy proposals have dominated the discussion at each one, including at the South Carolina debate on February 25. All the rest of the candidates, including progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have spent most of the campaign trying to distinguish themselves from him. The further they get from his nationally popular positions, the more their poll numbers go down.
The week between Sanders' blowout win in the Nevada caucus on February 22 and the South Carolina primary on February 29 was no different.
Democratic politicians, presidential candidates, and pundits all tried to pounce on Sanders's willingness to reiterate former President Barack Obama's balanced comments about former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. But this Karl Rove-style red-baiting was so far over the top that the "contestants" - as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the presidential candidates he shared the stage with in Charleston - virtually knocked in the teeth their most popular former president to do so.
But these latest attacks against Sanders failed, even before before the presidential primary debate in South Carolina started. Here's how:
Earlier that day, the Associated Press (AP) Style Guide published a reminder on Twitter about how to describe Sanders' ideology. It was an implicit acknowledgement by the AP that the phraseology of the political revolution was sure to dominate both the debate and the post-debate copy.
Even more significantly, just a few hours before the South Carolina debate, former progressive presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, defending the use of the word "democratic" in democratic socialism.
"The important word in 'democratic socialism' isn't socialism, it's democratic," Jackson wrote. "In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. confided to his staff, 'There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.'"
While not an outright endorsement, Jackson comparing Sanders' views to those of his mentor, an international icon of civil rights, comes pretty close.
Democratic socialism isn't the only concept the Sanders campaign has popularized into a household catchphrase. From railing against the billionaire class and the oligarchy, to pledging to fight for the working class as "Organizer-in-Chief," Sanders' choice of words is changing the way we talk, and educating the public in ways no other candidate or campaign can.
That's why Sanders will continue to set the terms of public debate in the presidential campaign. Because state by state, no matter what Democratic naysayers call him, his ideas are popular. The day after the South Carolina debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she'd be comfortable with Sanders at the top of the Democratic ticket in November.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
David Goodner
David Goodner is a freelance social movement journalist and a founding member of the Iowa City Catholic Worker. Follow him twitter: @davidgoodner
"I'm hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight, I wonder why," said Senator Bernie Sanders during the presidential candidates' debate in Charleston, South Carolina. "A lot of the issues we'll be discussing tonight are issues that I raised four years ago."
"Raising the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour; making public colleges and universities tuition free; and finally, doing what every other major country on Earth does, guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right, through a Medicare-for-All, single-payer system," he added.
The 2020 presidential primary debates have always been largely about the ideas put forward by the independent U.S. senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
His agenda and policy proposals have dominated the discussion at each one, including at the South Carolina debate on February 25. All the rest of the candidates, including progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have spent most of the campaign trying to distinguish themselves from him. The further they get from his nationally popular positions, the more their poll numbers go down.
The week between Sanders' blowout win in the Nevada caucus on February 22 and the South Carolina primary on February 29 was no different.
Democratic politicians, presidential candidates, and pundits all tried to pounce on Sanders's willingness to reiterate former President Barack Obama's balanced comments about former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. But this Karl Rove-style red-baiting was so far over the top that the "contestants" - as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the presidential candidates he shared the stage with in Charleston - virtually knocked in the teeth their most popular former president to do so.
But these latest attacks against Sanders failed, even before before the presidential primary debate in South Carolina started. Here's how:
Earlier that day, the Associated Press (AP) Style Guide published a reminder on Twitter about how to describe Sanders' ideology. It was an implicit acknowledgement by the AP that the phraseology of the political revolution was sure to dominate both the debate and the post-debate copy.
Even more significantly, just a few hours before the South Carolina debate, former progressive presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, defending the use of the word "democratic" in democratic socialism.
"The important word in 'democratic socialism' isn't socialism, it's democratic," Jackson wrote. "In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. confided to his staff, 'There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.'"
While not an outright endorsement, Jackson comparing Sanders' views to those of his mentor, an international icon of civil rights, comes pretty close.
Democratic socialism isn't the only concept the Sanders campaign has popularized into a household catchphrase. From railing against the billionaire class and the oligarchy, to pledging to fight for the working class as "Organizer-in-Chief," Sanders' choice of words is changing the way we talk, and educating the public in ways no other candidate or campaign can.
That's why Sanders will continue to set the terms of public debate in the presidential campaign. Because state by state, no matter what Democratic naysayers call him, his ideas are popular. The day after the South Carolina debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she'd be comfortable with Sanders at the top of the Democratic ticket in November.
David Goodner
David Goodner is a freelance social movement journalist and a founding member of the Iowa City Catholic Worker. Follow him twitter: @davidgoodner
"I'm hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight, I wonder why," said Senator Bernie Sanders during the presidential candidates' debate in Charleston, South Carolina. "A lot of the issues we'll be discussing tonight are issues that I raised four years ago."
"Raising the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour; making public colleges and universities tuition free; and finally, doing what every other major country on Earth does, guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right, through a Medicare-for-All, single-payer system," he added.
The 2020 presidential primary debates have always been largely about the ideas put forward by the independent U.S. senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
His agenda and policy proposals have dominated the discussion at each one, including at the South Carolina debate on February 25. All the rest of the candidates, including progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have spent most of the campaign trying to distinguish themselves from him. The further they get from his nationally popular positions, the more their poll numbers go down.
The week between Sanders' blowout win in the Nevada caucus on February 22 and the South Carolina primary on February 29 was no different.
Democratic politicians, presidential candidates, and pundits all tried to pounce on Sanders's willingness to reiterate former President Barack Obama's balanced comments about former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. But this Karl Rove-style red-baiting was so far over the top that the "contestants" - as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the presidential candidates he shared the stage with in Charleston - virtually knocked in the teeth their most popular former president to do so.
But these latest attacks against Sanders failed, even before before the presidential primary debate in South Carolina started. Here's how:
Earlier that day, the Associated Press (AP) Style Guide published a reminder on Twitter about how to describe Sanders' ideology. It was an implicit acknowledgement by the AP that the phraseology of the political revolution was sure to dominate both the debate and the post-debate copy.
Even more significantly, just a few hours before the South Carolina debate, former progressive presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, defending the use of the word "democratic" in democratic socialism.
"The important word in 'democratic socialism' isn't socialism, it's democratic," Jackson wrote. "In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. confided to his staff, 'There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.'"
While not an outright endorsement, Jackson comparing Sanders' views to those of his mentor, an international icon of civil rights, comes pretty close.
Democratic socialism isn't the only concept the Sanders campaign has popularized into a household catchphrase. From railing against the billionaire class and the oligarchy, to pledging to fight for the working class as "Organizer-in-Chief," Sanders' choice of words is changing the way we talk, and educating the public in ways no other candidate or campaign can.
That's why Sanders will continue to set the terms of public debate in the presidential campaign. Because state by state, no matter what Democratic naysayers call him, his ideas are popular. The day after the South Carolina debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she'd be comfortable with Sanders at the top of the Democratic ticket in November.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.