by @anarchyroll
There is something about the genuine article that attracts and magnetizes people.
Deep down inside, we know when we are dealing with a human being who is the real thing, and one who is an imitation/impostor. Granted, that line of thinking exists in the same world as the concept that it’s a shame to let a sucker keep their money. But people tend to know the truth in the gut if they are not having their senses bombarded with fear based propaganda.
Ten, twenty, thirty years ago what would the general perception be of a socialist running for President of the United States? How would the public react? What would the polls say?
Twenty, thirty, forty years of the masses being nickeled and dimed as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer piled on top of $475 BILLION of taxpayer money as a reward to Wall Street for causing the second coming of the Great Depression…..and all of a sudden a socialist in the White House is less much less far out or radical than any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle catch phrase.
The most successful Independent politician in United States history was Bernie Sanders ten years ago. A self identified Democratic Socialist, Sanders spent 16 years as a United States Congressman before being elected as a US Senator. People of a certain age would love to believe Ross Perot’s run in the 1992 election is the shining example of independent candidates making a splash, but Sanders has already erased all of Perot’s accomplishments outside of Dana Carvey’s SNL impression skits.
Sanders is the real thing, the genuine article. A very white male who was arrested during a 1960s civil rights protest. A socialist who says very loudly, very often that he is going to raise taxes. A leftist who makes not attempt to move to the middle regardless of how politically prudent it is to do so. A man who speaks openly of the NEED for revolution on the reg.
I personally know three people who hate Bernie Sanders and respect him at the same time. They all hate him because they are well off and know he’ll raise their taxes, they respect him because he’s authentic. Well guess what folks?
In the year 2016, in the United States of America, there are WAYYYYYY more legal voters who respect Bernie Sanders for being authentic than rich people who hate him because they know he’s going to raise their taxes.
That is why Bernie Sanders is a legit general election threat, not just a primary darling. That is why Bernie Sanders has NOT gone mainstream. Mainstream has gone Bernie Sanders.
Anarchy Journal Constitutional 