Bernie Sanders is running on a campaign promising dramatically more left-wing domestic policies than Hillary Clinton. How will he get those policies passed when Republicans control Congress and would block even moderately liberal ones? That’s where the “political revolution” comes in. Sanders claims he can spark a massive upsurge in activism and political turnout, replacing the Republican-led Congress with one friendly to single-payer health insurance and other priorities that have historically lacked support.
So far, turnout in the Democratic primary has lagged far behind its 2008 pace, casting severe doubt upon this promise. Does Sanders actually believe it, or is it merely a thing he says to sidestep serious objections to his candidacy? Benjy Sarlin Alex Seitz-Wald reports that Sanders genuinely believes it. Sanders, reports Seitz-Wald, “wanted a win so badly in Nevada that he never wrote a concession speech, according to aides, and the night before the caucuses he said that historians would mark Nevada as the beginning of his promised political revolution.”
Some Democrats want to know if Sanders has some realistic backup plan for what he would do as president if the political revolution doesn’t come to pass. Looks like we have an answer.
