Will Bernie Sanders lose his moment?

Nick Salvatore, the biographer of Eugene V. Debs, wrote that the popularity of the great American Socialist leader in the early decades of the 20th century “rested upon his ability to articulate and symbolize something of the severe dislocation experienced by all Americans in the transformation to industrial capitalism.”

Bernie Sanders’ appeal bears a striking similarity to his political hero’s.

The free-spirited Brooklyn native from Vermont, however, confronts very different political choices than those faced by Debs, who consciously and proudly worked outside the framework of the two-party system.



[...] this election, Sanders ran independently of the party, but he often enjoyed its tacit support.

Sanders stands in a tradition of leaders and activists on the American left who, since the days of Franklin Roosevelt, have seen the Democratic Party as a vehicle for egalitarian purposes and have sought to build a strong progressive bloc inside the party.

Given the threat posed by Donald Trump to so many of his own values, Sanders also has a moral obligation to help Clinton win this election.

[...] Sanders has been effective in influencing the writing of the Democrats’ 2016 platform, and Clinton’s forces, by past standards in these matters, have been remarkably accommodating to his wishes.

The drafters also declined to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but its silence represented deference to President Obama, whose administration negotiated the trade deal.

The risk is that he will lose his moment because some Clinton partisans already see a more centrist campaign as the best way to win over millions of middle-of-the-road voters who find Trump abhorrent.