A common refrain I hear from Hillary Clinton supporters is that even if the country could somehow muster the will to put Bernie Sanders into the Oval Office, nothing would ever get done because Republicans would block Sanders’ ultra-liberal policy proposals at every turn. Admittedly, I understand where these people are coming from. For people who think the government can and should play a more active role in bettering people’s lives by ensuring health care as a right for all citizens, making college universally affordable and reigning in the power of the wealthiest Americans to control the political process, Sanders is exactly the person upon whom we should bestow the presidency. On the other hand, for those in Congress possessing wildly different notions of what government should do on behalf of the people, i.e., Republicans, a Sanders win on 2016’s election night would undoubtedly presage a precipitous drop in legislative productivity.
Sanders has explicitly acknowledged this, however, arguing that unless there arises a grassroots movement of citizens working to pressure their elected officials to help carry out his policy goals, it will be virtually impossible to surmount the power of politicians and their wealthy backers bent on staving off progressive reform and making sure that the country continues to operate on behalf of the moneyed elite. As to whether or not this political revolution of which Sanders speaks is possible, I really don’t know. Seeing that tens of thousands of people have routinely packed stadiums to hear the senator, initially dismissed as without a hope in hell of achieving the nomination, fills me with hope that another progressive era in America could actually await on the horizon and that it’s no longer political anathema to suggest that democratic socialism, as Seth MacFarlane remarked at a Sanders rally in Los Angeles, “can and should coexist” with capitalism.
I certainly felt that a political revolution was possible the night this summer when I saw Sanders speak right here in Madison when, to a record-breaking 10 thousand attendees, he delivered a message of social, economic and political justice so electrifying I, for once, found hope that control of our incredible, imperfect country might yet be wrested from the hands of the wealthy few.
In thinking about the likelihood of Sanders getting his policy objectives through the dilapidated sausage factory that is our country’s legislative process, I can’t help but wonder to what extent liberal partisanship even matters to Republicans. Given that they’ve effectively taken on as their mission an unwillingness to work with President Barack Obama on principle, I can’t imagine how Hillary Clinton, perhaps alone among people more despised by Republicans than Obama, could retain any hope of getting things done if she were to win the presidency. If what it took to incite the ire of Republicans was to suggest universal health care and tuition-free public universities, Obama wouldn’t need to worry. Seeing how Republicans have balked at even the most commonsense of reforms under Obama’s tenure, however, I’m led to believe that just because Clinton isn’t bandying about extolling the virtues of democratic socialism, Republicans wouldn’t be any less averse to her ideas.
Herein lies the necessity of citizens standing up and demanding of their politicians an effort to implement progressive reform because, unless this were to happen, neither Clinton nor Sanders could realistically move towards meaningful change. Coming from someone who’s opted to defy Clinton supporters and hold fast to the idea that full-blooded progressive ideals could yet be attempted once more in this country, here’s hoping that it’s Sanders for whom we may eventually stand.
Elijah is a junior majoring in communication arts. What challenges do you think Sen. Sanders faces in this election and beyond? Please send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
