Sanders is still smashing the polls, despite the media’s attempts at disparaging him, which include pretending he doesn’t exist, often naming the leading candidate in polling "other". But this article isn’t about whether Bernie would win: it's about whether he’d be good for the United States.
Simply put: the best? No. The best there is? Yes.
Sanders has good policy. I’m talking Green New Deal, Medicare for All and higher taxes on the wealthy. Stuff that’s been tried before in multitudes of countries in Europe, with significant success. This is desperately needed in a country whose past leaders - dressed in blue or dressed in red - have been overwhelmingly pro-oligarchy instead of pro-people, and have done next to nothing to solve the crises of the US healthcare system and climate change.
Sanders isn't perfect, and misapplies the label of democratic socialism
It's true that he’s not the best. Sanders misapplies the label of democratic socialism to his brand of welfare capitalism. He seeks to reform the current system to something better, rather than remove the framework that allows such crises to come about. He’d rather mitigate the symptoms than hit them at the root. But this is understandable: the US has a past of sabotaging socialist revolutions globally. Imagine how well something similar would go down in its own country.
Given the state of other Democratic candidates, there isn't time to wring hands about how Sanders isn't properly socialist
However, consider the state of the nothing-politics of Biden, Buttigieg, and Warren, which are just as pandering to the same classes as the party they supposedly oppose. There isn’t time or room to wring hands about how Sanders isn’t properly socialist. You have to work with what you’re given sometimes; regardless of if he’s hiding his power level or not, the best we've been given is Bernie.
Alex Walker's piece criticising Sanders is available at thecourieronline.co.uk/why-bernie-sanders-would-not-be-a-good-president/
