The Democratic presidential field is shaping up into a one-on-one contest, at least at this early stage of the race. While Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley, and Lincoln Chafee are all now official candidates, none of them has managed to either distinguish themselves much or garner much of any voter support. Which leaves Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders as the only two candidates capable of pulling in double-digit polling numbers among Democratic voters. Well, to be absolutely accurate, there are three Democrats who routinely manage this feat, but so far Joe Biden hasn't indicated whether he'll run or not. For now, it's Hillary versus Bernie, and the next few weeks could considerably sharpen up this contest.
I say this for two reasons. The first is that Hillary Clinton seems ready to come out of her shell. She's about to do her first interview with the national media, having previously only given local media interviews. More importantly, perhaps, she's also about to get a lot more specific about her economic agenda. More on this in a moment. The second reason I'll be closely watching the next few weeks is that Bernie Sanders is finally getting some media attention of his own. They can't ignore him any more, since he is pulling in the biggest crowds of any candidate running (from either party). Something is quite obviously happening out there, and some in the media are beginning to actually admit this fact (albeit reluctantly, and often dismissively).
Let's take Sanders first. In just about every presidential election cycle, the media anoint at least one Democratic candidate to be ridiculed as being some sort of extremist. "Oh, look at the crazy Lefty!" the media will condescendingly say, followed by some version of: "Isn't he adorable?" Part of this is what might be called the Very Serious People Club in Washington, which counts as its members pretty much all of the politicians who accept massive amounts of corporate donations, as well as deep political thinkers like television anchormen (yes, that was sarcasm). Anyone espousing even mild anti-corporate views is blackballed from this club, of course.
In years past, the role of "amusing Lefty with no chance" was assigned (by the "we go to the right cocktail parties" crowd in D.C.) to Howard Dean, John Edwards, and Dennis Kucinich. Think it's a coincidence that you can't read a mainstream media article about Bernie Sanders without some snarky comment about his hair? This is nothing more than playground taunting, as evidenced by the fact that they'd be making just as much fun of Sanders even if his hair was perfect. Remember what they said about how John Edwards spent too much money on his haircuts? It doesn't really matter, good or bad they'll find something superficial to use as a focus for their ridicule. Of course, I should point out that this isn't limited to just Lefty candidates, the media will also routinely do this sort of thing to frontrunners (think: Hillary, pantsuits).
I see Bernie's hair as being significant for a different reason, personally. Because by focusing on Bernie's hair the media are really admitting (without even realizing it) that Bernie isn't all that charismatic a person. Perhaps I should use the word photogenic instead. Sanders definitely does not look like someone Central Casting decided "looked like presidents should look." Mitt Romney was probably the best example of what I'm talking about, although there certainly are others. By explicitly pointing out how different Bernie looks from this image, the media are really admitting that there's got to be something else about the man to draw such large and enthusiastic crowds.
I keep hearing the phrase "Bernie's the real deal" coming from Democrats these days. Sanders doesn't just talk the talk, he has also walked the walk -- for decades. He authentically believes in pretty much everything he says. Most of what he says reflects positions he's held for a very long time. And the key point the media is so far still mostly missing is that Bernie's issues are what is causing his surge in popularity. People like Bernie not because he has perfect hair but because of what he believes and what people think he'll fight for as president. Most of Bernie's issues poll incredibly well among Democrats and even admirably well with the public at large.
Now, at this point, some would make the comparison with Hillary Clinton. Clinton has so far not been very specific on economic issues, with the exception of pay equality for women and raising the minimum wage (although even there she's not yet matching Bernie's call for $15 an hour). Hillary's webpage has a lot of gauzy feel-good talk on making the economy fairer for the middle class, but when you brush aside the buzzwords, there's not a whole lot of "there" there. What would President Hillary Clinton do to actually change things? It's hard to say, at least from just reading her campaign website. She'd "stand up" and "fight" -- but for what, really?
But this is a little unfair to Clinton. It's a criticism of the pace she has chosen for her campaign, which is always a fun thing for pundits to write about. Clinton has chosen a very gradual rollout for her agenda, and I for one am willing to wait a couple more weeks to see what specifics she's going to support. Her campaign is apparently focused right now on gun control, and they say Hillary's going to lay out her economic plans in the next ten days or so. As I said, I'm willing to wait that long to hear what her economic agenda will be.
Clinton will likely preview some of this in her upcoming interview. What she has to say may wind up surprising some folks, in both the Democratic voting base and in the media. Perhaps by waiting an extra few weeks, Hillary has avoided taking stances which are either too weak or too strong. She's obviously aware of Bernie's rise in popularity, so she'll be looking very closely at the biggest applause lines Bernie's been using in his speeches. This is all part of the predicted "move to the Left" which Bernie Sanders was going to force on Hillary Clinton. But by waiting, Hillary's now got the opportunity to take a strong stand on a few issues that she might not have, if Sanders hadn't run.
Both Sanders and Clinton have an opportunity to speak directly to the Lefty base next week, as the Netroots Nation conference gets underway in Phoenix. Eight years ago, almost all of the Democratic candidates for president showed up to court the thousands of bloggers and activists at Netroots Nation. Who will show up this year? Clinton could build some very valuable bridges by doing so, even if she might occasionally get booed for not taking strong enough positions. Sanders, of course, might get the loudest cheers of the entire conference -- perhaps even louder than Elizabeth Warren's speech.
Bernie Sanders represents a movement in American politics. Calling it "populist" or even "socialist" doesn't really accurately describe it, either. Sanders represents what a lot of people believe -- that politicians from both parties rarely (if ever) actually address issues that directly affect Main Street. Congress can bail out Wall Street in a matter of hours, but it takes years (decades, at times) to do something simple like raising the minimum wage. You can be cynical about this and label it "What's in it for me?" politics, but that's what most politics indeed can be boiled down to, in one way or another. And somehow, both major political parties love to make vague and sweeping promises using lots of buzzwords, but when it comes to actually passing legislation to change people's lives, they fall woefully short. Enter Bernie Sanders, and his platform. Bernie is telling people "this is precisely what can be done for everyone, and this is how I'll do it." Compare this to the platform of every other candidate running, and it's pretty easy to see why the crowds are flocking to hear Bernie.
Can Bernie Sanders ride this wave all the way to the presidency? I have no idea. I mean, it'd be a wonderful thing to see happen, but I truly have no idea of whether it is within the realm of the politically possible or not. If he continues to pull in record crowds and his poll numbers improve to the point where he's beating Clinton in key states, then it'll be a lot easier to believe Bernie can go all the way. If the media ever start taking his ideas seriously, a lot more people could hear about Bernie's agenda items. But Clinton is still a force to be reckoned with, and she's about to lay out her own economic agenda. If Hillary matches Bernie on most of the issues, will it cause a shift of support back to her? This is why I began this article by saying the next few weeks are going to be mighty interesting in the Democratic field for president. Sure, it's more fun to watch whatever craziness is happening over on the Republican side, but the Democratic race is going to get a lot more substantive in the next few days.
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