Joel Stein paints an incredibly sympathetic portrait of Sanders, painting him as a genuine true believer whose political tenures have been marked by equitable successes that benefited all his constituents, not just the rich and powerful.
Moreover, Sanders is portrayed as someone who's serious about politics and economics, knowledgeable and passionate. One investment firm CEO who likes Sanders ("President Sanders will make Wall Street more competitive") says "I think he understands monetary policy. That great harangue he gave Alan Greenspan [in 2003] shows that. He probably has a better understanding of the financial industry than Ben Carson does. He may have a better understanding of how capitalism works than Donald Trump does." This is consistent with many of the socialists I know, who spend a lot of time thinking about economics — albeit heterodox economics — and gain a great fluency with economic thinking as a consequence.
My favorite part is where Stein discusses Sanders' answer to the question, "what he would say to reassure the Bloomberg Businessweek readers who work on Wall Street, or have millions of dollars, or run a hedge fund, and might be afraid he wants to tax them back to the Carter Age?"
Sanders puts down the manila folder containing his talk, which he delivers without a TelePrompTer. "I'm not going to reassure them," he says. "Their greed, their recklessness, their illegal behavior has destroyed the lives of millions of Americans. Frankly, if I were a hedge fund manager, I would not vote for Bernie Sanders. And I would contribute money to my opponents to try to defeat him." Then the only socialist ever elected to the U.S. Senate goes back to working on his prepared remarks.
Each night before a speech, he futzes with it, agonizing over the lines even though it's essentially the same speech he's given for four decades, the word "Rockefellers" replaced by "Kochs." It's a message that isn't all that different from that of Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected during a time of great inequality. In 1936, running for reelection, Roosevelt spoke at Madison Square Garden: "We know now that government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred."
Why Bernie Sanders Doesn't Want Your Vote
[Joel Stein/Bloomberg Businessweek]
(via Mitch Wagner)
(Image: Bernie Sanders, Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA)
