Run Bernie, Run! Sanders Keeps Door Open for 2020
Bernie Sanders will be almost 80 years old in 2020 but is reportedly keeping his options open for another run at the White House in the next presidential election.
This should overjoy conservatives. The only thing that could make it better is if he shares the ticket with Maxine Waters.
Amie Parnes pf The Hill has the story:
Sanders keeping door open on 2020Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who battled Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary and created a revolutionary movement among millennials, is having discussions about running for president again. “Yes, is the answer,” said one Sanders associate who helped with the senator’s previous bid, in response to a question about whether the Independent senator from Vermont had begun to think about another run.“He thinks he’s earned the right to run again, and he believes if he would have been the [Democratic] candidate he would have won against Trump.”The source also suggested that Sanders is making his plans with other candidates in mind.“The last thing he’s going to do is step aside and let Joe Biden take it,” the Sanders associate said.
Even if the FBI’s bank fraud investigation of the Sanders is over by then, there’s a distinct possibility that Bernie’s presence in the race for the Democratic nomination could have the same divisive effect it had in 2016.
Kylie Cheung of Mediaite notes some of the other problems a Sanders candidacy would present:
A Bernie Sanders 2020 Run Isn’t Going to Help AnyoneI personally adore Bernie and voted for him in 2016, but a second presidential run by Sanders isn’t going to help anyone.Some obvious flaws just off the bat include his age; Sanders would be 79 on January 20, 2021, or Inauguration Day, and after a Trump presidency, we would need a leader with energy and stamina that, beloved as he may be, Sanders just physically wouldn’t be able to offer. But of course, it’s not even just that.It’s widely agreed upon that the Democratic party needs to offer a fresh face. It’s not as if Sanders has many political scandals to worry about being bogged down by, but it’s a matter of reenergizing a party that’s struggling to make people show up to the polls.It’s about presenting a message that transcends the cliched “anti-establishment vs. establishment” rhetoric that dominated 2016, that wound up sowing internal warfare among progressives that splintered the Democratic party, perhaps contributed to lowering voter turnout among Democrats and, ultimately, unfairly demonized many hard working progressive political leaders.
Another factor which few seem to be considering is how many Democrats will run in the 2020 primary. With Hillary Clinton finally out of the way, there will be a much larger field of candidates willing to enter the race. Bernie will no longer be the sole progressive alternative for the left.
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