OK. Granted. I’m a worrier. I worry about my kids. I worry about the Red Sox bullpen. I’m 74 years old, and I’m still worrying if I’m brushing my teeth correctly. But recently my trepidation factor (TF) has reached a critical level, and my health care professionals are quite concerned.
To put it succinctly, I’m worried about Bernie Sanders and his decision to run for president again. To be more accurate, I’m also distraught about the future of the valuable ideas and standards he brought to the political stage in 2016.
I was an avid supporter of Mr. Sanders during his last campaign. I was constantly trying to explain to Hillary fans that she could not win. I provided incontrovertible evidence that Bernie was the anti-Trump. (One reason might well be is that he was brought up playing stickball on the streets of Brooklyn, and could more than hold his own with a bully from Queens!)
I am well aware that as long as Bernie Sanders is in the race I will back him, but I worry that his star has flamed out. Yes, he has recently raised a record amount of contributions (from small donations) in a very short period of time, but here are a few of my concerns. Please let me be wrong.
First, why in the world would he call himself a “Democratic socialist?” Isn’t there someone on his staff with some brain cells functioning? To label someone a “socialist” in this country, especially when our populace elected someone like Donald Trump, is tantamount to calling him a “Pinko-Commie-Bolshevik”! It’s just like asking to hear the sonorous tones of “Tail Gunner Joe” repeating — “Are you currently, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?” Couldn’t one of his brilliant aides come up with something like “Democratic reformer” or “Democratic progressive?”
Second, I am old enough to remember the ‘52 and ‘56 debacles pitting Dwight D. Eisenhower against Adlai Stevenson. Adlai was just too intelligent and erudite to communicate with the electorate. Ike was a war hero, not presidential timber. He played a lot of golf. (Sound familiar?)
As I sat watching the first TV coverage of a presidential election with my family on our 12-inch Dumont, I remember my mom’s comment, “This is the beginning of the end.” How prophetic. (I still have an “All The Way With Adlai” campaign button.)
My overwhelming fear, however, is that Bernie and all that he stands for, will vanish into oblivion. Stevenson was more thoroughly trounced in his second campaign than in his first. It would be a shame to see Bernie join the ranks of such notables as Harold Stassen, Eugene V. Debs, William Jennings Bryan, and Ralph Nader. Their names have become synonymous with futility and comic relief.
Sanders, and more importantly his ideas, are too good for that end. No, he is not perfect. How anyone in this day and age could have repeatedly voted against the Brady Bill, as he did, is incomprehensible — even if he does come from Vermont. But, his positions on education, health care, and international affairs are inspiring.
Might not Bernie Sanders be held up this year as one of the party icons who could rally the electorate to vote for a young rising star? Many of his ideas, which were once considered radical, have since entered the mainstream and have been embraced by many Democrats and even some Republicans.
Finally, I still believe that Bernie Sanders is the best person to lead our country. I just worry that his time has passed. I’m a worrier. My TF numbers are dangerously high. I hope I’m wrong, for my heath’s and our country’s sakes.
Jon Kahane lives in Westhampton.