Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post is no conservative, but even he knows Bernie Sanders is a terrible candidate for president. In a new column he points out one of Sanders’ most serious flaws. He’s incapable of talking about anything except his pet issue of economic redistribution.
Bernie Sanders’s one-dimensional campaign is hurting him badly
Sanders is — sorry Sanders people! — surprisingly one-dimensional as a candidate. When he is talking about the differences between the haves and the have nots, about the need for more economic fairness, why we need to reform the campaign finance system or work to address global warming, he is terrific. When he is talking about anything else, he is, um, not.
Sanders built a movement in the early days of the race on the passion he exudes from every pore when talking about economic inequality. The contrast between Sanders’s “people powered” campaign and the top heavy, corporate feel of Hillary Clinton’s effort was striking. And, Sanders is, without question, closer to the true heart of the Democratic party than Clinton on the vast majority of domestic issues.
The problem for Sanders is that external events changed the conversation in the race and he has been unwilling or unable to change with it. Talking about economic inequality in the midst of a national debate about gun control and national security won’t lose Sanders the ardent supporters he already has. But, it will badly hamstring his ability to grow beyond the supporters he already has in what is, essentially, a one-on-one race with Clinton at the moment.
Of course, Sanders is also obsessed with climate change but that’s not a priority for most Americans either.
