
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.
"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, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. 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. The final deadline for our crucial Summer Campaign fundraising drive is just days away, and we’re falling short of our must-hit goal. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
"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.
"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.