Sanders could use a boost, too. “In the big scheme of things this a blip, but the perception is that the Democratic machine is trying to tilt this election to the point that people who support an alternative candidate are being silenced”. In the first Democratic debate, he explained the basic idea that a Democratic socialist finds it fundamentally wrong that “the top one-tenth of 1 percent in this country own almost 90 percent – almost – own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent”. He combatted cynicism, fear and despair. He reinvigorated democracy. He transformed the country.
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Nearly everything [Roosevelt] proposed was called “socialist”.
“Does anyone here think I am a strong adherent of the North Korean form of government?” Roosevelt’s push for Social Security, a minimum wage and the 40-hour workweek, Sanders said, were all attacked as “socialist” threats to the American way of life.
Bernie Sanders reiterated his campaign theme again today at Georgetown University. Yet as you all know, all of these programs and many more have become the fabric of our nation and in fact the foundation of our middle class.
The Democratic presidential candidate has always been the only member of Congress even remotely self-associated with the word “socialist”.
So let me define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what democratic socialism means to me. He rarely holds fundraisers and has scorned the Super PACS funding his competitors’ bids. People are not truly free when they are unable to retire with dignity.
– Reform corporate lobbying and campaign contribution laws.
Sen. Bernard Sanders on Thursday made a passionate defense of democratic socialism and forcefully denied that his political platform is a radical one, instead casting it as the logical next step in establishing the kind of America envisioned by past leaders such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. And it builds on what Martin Luther King, Jr. said in 1968 when he stated,”This country has socialism for the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor”. It builds on the success of many other countries around the world that have done a far better job than we have in protecting the needs of their working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor.
Sanders, who answered questions submitted by students, said he understands that “some people are uncomfortable” with the word “socialist”.
‘Is this a radical socialist idea?
“I don’t believe in a few foreign ‘ism, ‘ but I believe deeply in American idealism”, he said. The country is becoming more diverse, and Republicans are being left behind.
Sanders also spent a significant part of the final sections of his speech discussing his stance and strategy on ISIS, and he used the opportunity to express skepticism of intervention and make the case for a robust multilateralism. “I do believe in private companies that thrive and invest and grow in America, companies that create jobs here, rather than companies that are shutting down in America and increasing their profits by exploiting low-wage labor overseas”.
Anticipation for Sanders’ was running high at the Jesuit university.
The latter portion of the senator’s statement was drowned out by cheering. For Sanders, the mechanics for this are self-evident, so he didn’t spend much time on them.
“It is clear that the United States must pursue policies to destroy the brutal and barbaric ISIS regime, and to create conditions that prevent fanatical extremist ideologies from flourishing. But we can not – and should not – do it alone”.
“Our response must begin with an understanding of past mistakes and missteps in our previous approaches to foreign policy”. My vision is not just making modest changes around the edge. “The speech that he’s giving today has the potential to be one of those defining moments of the 2016 presidential campaign”, said Mo Elleithee, a veteran Democratic political operative who now runs Georgetown’ Institute of politics, which sponsored the event.
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The address included a reference to what a few Democrats view as Clinton’s inevitability.
