Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has breathed life into a campaign season that once seemed highly predictable. In an election cycle that once appeared to be a victory lap for centrist Hillary Clinton, Sanders has offered a true challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Bernie Sanders faces a huge problem that could possibly be a deathblow to his campaign: his self-identification as a socialist. Before you hastily type a letter to the Alligator, I know Sanders considers himself a "democratic socialist," and it differs from other branches of socialism. From where I’m standing, however, he isn’t much of a socialist at all.
If Sanders really is a socialist, then he isn’t a good one. Not once in any of his speeches have I heard him quote Marx or say he will nationalize all forms of private business. The main definition of socialism, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a society "in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies." Once again, I really don’t see Sanders wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt while standing in front of a steel mill saying he will nationalize it. The only thing remotely socialist about Sanders’ views is his advocacy for European-style welfare programs, something that has existed in Europe since the end of World War II and is more or less the norm over there.
I think in the long run, Bernie Sanders’ mislabel has and will continue to cost him a significant amount of possible voters and open him up to a slew of political attacks that will prove difficult to overcome. Even at the Democratic debate a few weeks ago, Anderson Cooper made the point perfectly clear that almost half of the people in this country would not vote for a socialist. We could have a long discussion on why this is, but in short, Bernie has a lot of work to do in order to change the hearts and minds of many voters.
So what exactly is Bernie Sanders? From my understanding of his platform, Sanders is more of a progressive liberal than a socialist. His call to break up the big banks, reinstate legislation like Glass-Steagall and correct Citizens United are more reminiscent of the actions of Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt than the ideology of Karl Marx. Sanders seems more invested in a responsible free market where the government plays a much bigger role rather than having a laissez-faire-style Wall Street where underregulation eventually leads to an economic crisis. He even said during the debate he is not for a "casino-style capitalism."
Of course, this progressive wing of the Democratic Party is only now reawakening, one hundred years removed from the Progressive Era of the early 20th century until the end of World War I. This time period continues to influence the U.S. government today. Whether it was the trustbusting of monopolies, environmental conservation or increased regulations imposed on businesses, there are policy decisions from more than a century ago that still benefit us today.
Sanders’ progressive populist campaign is just the beginning of bigger things to come for the left wing in upcoming elections. The next few election cycles after 2016 will probably see the likes of Elizabeth Warren and other progressives of the party attempt to run for the presidency, invigorated by the success of Bernie Sanders’ campaign. Even if Sanders does not spark a political revolution and win this election cycle, the success of his campaign has shown there is a large market for truly liberal ideas. That is something that even Hillary Clinton would have to concede to.
Kevin Foster is a UF political science senior. His column appears on Thursdays.
