By
Nitya Chakraborty
At long last, Bernie Sanders has
announced his decision to seek the Democratic Party nomination for the second
time to fight against the incumbent United States President Donald Trump and in
the process he has galvanized the movement of the forwarding looking masses of
America who have been eagerly looking at him for leading the change in the
White House in the November 2020 Presidential elections. Bernie was defeated by
Hillary Clinton in the 2016 elections run up for nomination of Democratic Party
but he ignited a new fervor in the ranks of the Democratic Party in the course
of his campaign and his agenda became the core demands of the other senior
leaders of the Democratic Party many of whom like Elezabeth Warren and Kamala
Harrish are already in the fray for Democratic nomination.
Sanders, 77 launched his campaign on
Tuesday in a radio interview in his home state Vermont followed by an email to
his millions of supporters. Decrying the Republican President Trump as a
racist, fraud and sexist, Sanders has promised to transform the U.S economy and
society for creating a government based on the principles of economic, social,
racial and environmental justice. Sanders made his agenda popular during 2016
election campaign and by now, his agenda has been hijacked by other candidates
who are also influenced by Sanders socialist policies. In fact, President Trump
in his recent state of the union message mentioned that US is again facing the
threat from socialist forces who want to convert US into a Venezuela. Sanders
has replied that his mission is to build an America based on equality in every
sphere including gender, race and colour and he will implement the programme
for building an economy for 99 per cent of the people.
His message said that “Three years
have come and gone. And, as a result of millions of Americans standing up and
fighting back, all of these policies are now supported by a majority of
Americans. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision
that we fought for”. His second bid has caused panic in the Republican camp.
The Republican National Committee said in a statement that Sanders is a self
avowed socialist who wants to double your taxes so the government can take over
your health care. The vast majority of voters oppose his radical agenda just
like they are going to oppose all 2020 Democrats who have rushed to embrace it.
But for the working masses of America, he is a hero as his constant campaign
for a minimum wage of US$ 15 a hour has become the national agenda and many of
the Democrat run states have implemented this.
The Republicans as also some of the
Democrats who do not want Sanders have mentioned of the age factor. He will be
78 in September this year and if he wins the Presidential elections, he will be
79 then and after the first term, he will be 83. They are arguing whether such
an old person, can be given the responsibility of holding President’s position
of a country like America. But Sanders supporters say that he is absolutely fit
now and he has been addressing meetings and rallies on a regular basis. Sanders
himself replied to these doubts by saying” we have to look at candidates you
know, not by the colour of their skin, not by their sexual orientation or their
gender and not by their age. We have got to move toward a non-discriminatory
society which looks at people based on their abilities, based on what they
stand for”.
While, a very large sections of the
progressives are backing Sanders, there are some people in the Left who argue
that Sanders should not stand himself but should back someone like Elizabeth
Warren or Kamala Harrish who will implement his agenda. But Sanders supporters
including the leaders of the Communist Party of USA mention that there can be
no real replacement of Sanders right now. For instance, Bhaskar Sunkara, Editor
of leftwing magazine Jacobin says Bernie is not just a progressive democrat, he
has a different base and appeal. He is greater than the sum of his policy
positions. Sanders has a different approach to politics than other potential
Democratic primary contenders like Elizabeth Warren. Sunkara believes that
among the left democrats, there is no one who has the same appeal with swing
voters and those in rust belt states that Trump used in 2016 elections to sneak
into the White House.
Right now, it is just the beginning
and the campaign gathers momentum, the other candidates of the Democratic Party
belonging to once Left will have time to ponder whether they will withdraw at a
later stage to ensure that Sanders remains the only candidate of Left to take
on any powerful centrist candidate like former vice president Joseph Biden who
might get support of former President. For the Left in USA, this is the most
opportune time to get their candidate selected for Democratic nomination defeating
any other candidate from the centrists. This opportunity can not be missed and
for ensuring that at a later stage, the Left candidates must agree on one and
in Sanders, the possibility of a consensus is best.
In fact, many analysts have observed
that if Sanders would have been nominated in 2016 as the Democratic Party
candidate, he could have defeated Trump in November elections. With his
well-oiled campaign machinery, dedicated cadres and highly popular programme,
another chance has come to the Democratic Party to nominate him this time to
defeat President Trump. For Bernie Sanders, this is the final opportunity for
giving a new Deal to America. (IPA
Service)
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