Let’s get something out of the way. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont socialist who now appears ready to jump into the Democratic presidential race, is not a serious threat to Hillary Clinton. But at the same time, he does have the potential to cause her headaches.
Clinton finds herself in a special place as a Democratic presidential candidate. On the one hand, she’s the prohibitive favorite to win the nomination. On the other hand, her cautious and calculating nature, and coziness with Wall Street and corporate lobbyists, puts her out of touch with the populist tide that is sweeping through the party.
It was inevitable that she would face some sort of challenge from that wing of the party. Liberals had hoped that challenger would be the much more formidable Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. But now it looks likely that they’ll have to settle for Sanders.
The danger for Clinton is that Sanders represents a strong contrast to her. Not only is he considered a strong voice on issues of interest to liberals — climate change, income inequality, corporate influence, single-payer healthcare — but he comes across as much more authentic.
Unlike Hillary, when he talks about how the deck is stacked against lower-income Americans, he won’t be saying it as somebody who earned six-figure speaking fees and who will be collecting mountains of money from the top 1-percent.
A few weeks ago, Sanders provided a taste of what a campaign against Clinton might look like.
“I’ve known Hillary Clinton for many years — and I like Hillary Clinton very much and clearly this is a very capable person,” Sanders said during an appearance on ‘Morning Joe‘ on MSNBC.
“But she has to answer some very significant questions. Right now, coming to the floor of the Senate pretty soon, is another disastrous trade agreement called the TPP. Trade agreements have cost us millions of jobs pushed by corporate America. Where does Hillary Clinton stand on that? I’ve been one of the leaders in trying to oppose the Keystone Pipeline and say that climate change is one of the great global crises that we face. We’ve got to rapidly move away from fossil fuels. Where does Hillary stand on that? In terms of Wall Street, I believe we’ve gotta break up these giant banks. They’ve got just too powerful. Where does Hillary Clinton stand on that? But the bottom line is, we need people to stand up to the billionaire class and their economic and political power.”
Clinton wants to capture the hearts of millennials, continuing the successes that defined Obama era. But she’s going to face problems inspiring them in the same way. Sanders, despite his age, has the ability to develop a cult following on college campuses, where students tend to be more idealistic and prone to contrarianism.
Even though Sanders won’t give Clinton a real scare, his doggedness and credibility with the Left could expose Clinton’s inauthenticity. And given his obvious weaknesses as a general election candidate (as a self-described democratic socialist who will turn 75 by Election Day), and the fact that his candidacy will largely be treated as a joke in many quarters, to the extent he does gain traction, it would raise embarrassing questions about her vulnerability as a candidate.
