Excerpt: "On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said that 'in virtually every instance, what I'm saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people,' which is a bold claim for someone who has been broadly labeled a 'socialist' candidate in Democratic camouflage."



If you consult the polls and not hyperbolic political labels, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has broad appeal among Americans. (photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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Like It or Not, Sanders' Socialism Is Mainstream

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

n Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said that "in virtually every instance, what I'm saying is supported by a significant majority of the American people," which is a bold claim for someone who has been broadly labeled a "socialist" candidate in Democratic camouflage.

But it makes this a good time to consider whether that term is being applied accurately in the early innings of this 2016 campaign, rather than as a pejorative to dismiss Sanders' ideas.

Because so far, the Senator is showing the electorate that a rejection of this "socialism" – the concept, not the brainless epithet – is something that most voters would probably find unthinkable.

And if you consult the polls, Sanders' claim is not only right, he is positively mainstream.

He has made income inequality a central theme, and he wants to revamp the tax system so that the wealthy pay a larger share. Check and check: Gallup reports that 63 percent call wealth distribution unfair, and 52 percent favor heavier taxes on the rich.

He is scathing about how big money has corrupted politics, and 61 percent of agree that Citizens United should be overturned. That includes 71 percent of Republicans who want to limit campaign contributions.

He wants to reduce student debt, at a time when 79 percent believe that education is no longer affordable for everyone, and 82 percent support creating low-cost loans for education.

He believes government should be proactive to reverse global warming, which is consistent with 71 percent of Americans, while 48 percent of Republicans say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who fights climate change.

He also endorses a $15 federal minimum wage and believes that Wall Street banks should be shrunk, two concepts that poll very well.

Even the term "socialism" doesn't poll like it used to, because younger voters believe Sanders is espousing a broader social rights agenda. The 18-to-29 bloc even finds socialism (36 percent) almost as favorable as capitalism (39 percent).

Or perhaps they just know that socialist precepts, in large part, represent the civic and cultural foundation of our nation.

Consider: Many things we take for granted today were conceived by leftist coalitions that included Socialists and other Progressives, such as the eight-hour workday, women's suffrage, Medicare, and Social Security. Some were used as the platform for Eugene Debs' bid for the White House a century ago, though back then they called it "social insurance."

Labor rights, decent work conditions, and paid maternity leave were in large part socialist ideas, too, some championed by a Socialist congressman from the lower East Side named Meyer London.

And civil liberty was an ironclad tenet throughout our history – as long as your skin wasn't a tint darker that the majority - but when we interned Japanese Americans in 1942, one of the loudest objections was voiced by the prominent Socialist of the time, Norman Thomas.

The old memes have metastasized in the media, however, which is probably why Sanders doesn't get much attention. But clearly, 3,000 people didn't show up to see him in Minneapolis last week because they wanted to see a crackpot.

Steve Hendricks of the Columbia Journalism Review put it best: "For not going with the flow, and for challenging Hillary Clinton. . . .Sanders' entry into the race was greeted with story after story whose message – stated or understated, depending on the decorum of the messenger – was, 'This crank can't win.'"

Maybe that's true, but this crank's ideas resonate with a sizable majority of Americans. And for that reason alone, he deserves to be heard.