Things Bernie Sanders Is Doing Wrong

As much as my own views are close to Sander's, I have to point out several things that I believe he's doing in an undesirable way, which will eventually contribute to Hillary Clinton's election. First of all would be his claim that he's a democratic socialist. Now, what's wrong with that? Only the latter, namely socialism. It is not rare to hear accusations of Bernie being a red starred communist with the hammer and sickle stamped to his forehead. Because you don't want to live in Soviet Union, do you? Or, we've seen the success socialism had in all communist countries. Would you like the US to share the same fate?

What people fail to realize is two things. First of all, most of the communist countries during the cold war period had nothing to do with communism or socialism itself, as was described by Marx and Engels. These were simply just another tool for Stalin, Mao, Castro to impose their authority at their citizens' expense, while shamefully enriching themselves and strengthening their global power. Which by the way was exactly the opposite of what communism represented in theory and resembled more capitalism in fact than any other system. Even though they lacked corporations, the communist authorities were the rich elite, after all, while the rest of the people were at the very bottom. Communism was therefore an extreme version of capitalist exploitation. And then you have a certain amount of empty heads who excitedly point out that even Hitler was a socialist, since his party bore the name National-Socialist. I am not even going to make a comment on that one.

However, trying to explain this to the public, especially during the elections campaign, would be futile. Bernie should know this. And Bernie should know better when he decides to use the word "socialism". It might pass on the European soil, but not in America. And this is not to say that Europeans necessarily comprehend socialism better than the Americans, but simply because the Republicans will do anything to try and use it against Bernie. So, he should be, or should've been more cautious. Instead, using the term "social democracy" would be more appropriate when defining his political stance.

And this is something Hillary Clinton has recognized. You won't hear her using any terms which would label her as an extremist or a revolutionist because her political experience has taught her that the majority of Americans is not seeking for any drastic change that would lead towards the extreme right or extreme left on the political scale. Americans want the change, but not the one they don't fully understand. Bernie might be right in everything he says and stands for, but Hillary knows the mentality of her people more profoundly.

Hillary sure is doing a good job when it comes to giving credit to Obama and throwing his name out there every once in awhile (sometimes too often). Not that it's a bad thing. And Bernie does it as well, but way less than she does. The first time he noticed her trying to present herself as someone who would continue Obama's politics, Bernie should've done the same, and then some. Obama's name is not trademarked, especially when it's coming from politicians who are close to him. And using it obviously works with the majority, that voted for Obama and is satisfied with his mandate. Considering that it's the Republicans who hold the House and the Senate, Obama definitely deserved the praise. Bernie is trying to stay original, but he's forgetting one thing: this is a political race and the only way winning it is using political tools.

It's obvious that Bernie is calling for a civic revolution. I believe he's genuine in his standing up for the working class and confronting the all too wealthy corporations and their pathetic moguls. But what kind of impact is this making on the American public? The Americans are not ready for a revolution. It sounds too left-wing. And I don't see them as such. Most people voting for the Democrats are at best moderate leftists, also known as the left center. Bernie has my full support in going through with his revolutionary politics if he was to become president (although I'm not sure how much success he would have or how long he would last as POTUS). But politics has taught us that being a president and running for one are not the same thing. In most cases politicians don't lie, they're just telling you what you want to hear. This has shown to be one of the key tactics to winning the race. It all comes down to the ordinary voter. Trump is doing the same, only he's targeting the extreme right wing niche (Although Trump is not a politician, therefore also fails to recognize certain political tools which eventually could backfire on him. However, that's debatable and I might talk about it in another hub). He's also investing too much emotion into his campaign. The tone, the energy (positive or negative), the personal excitement, it all leaves an impression on the voter. So, Bernie should ask himself: Is the majority of the nation willing to see this revolution and do they understand the meaning of it? I understand he needed something to give his race a start. But I believe it's time to cool the passions a bit and handle himself in a more "political" rather than "political activist" manner.

There has been talks these days about whether Bernie should go negative in his ad campaign against Hillary. It's not an unusual thing in American politics to see this way of conducting the campaign. It is a political tool, for sure. I would even say it's a part of the American tradition (you won't see too much of it in European politics). I remember being shocked when I found out that the oppo man was a real job. And I'm pretty sure every candidate has their own oppo man. However, it's more a Republican thing. It suits them more. It does not suit the Democrats. It's one of the political tools they should not apply. If he went negative, it could spark up an even bigger demonstration of hatred and sexism towards Hillary than it already exists out there. You can hear and even read a lot of it on different social media. Hillary is getting attacked, cursed at and disrespected left and right (literally). I'm 100% positive Bernie doesn't approve of it. He's not against Hillary, he just has a different agenda. And it really should stay that way. All those who support Bernie but can't stand Hillary's guts should keep that in mind. The race between Sanders and Clinton is not a race between good and evil. Neither is it a race between two sworn enemies. So, leave the negative ad campaign to Trump and Cruz, and your chances will go up. Good luck, Bernie!