Democratic-nominee hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders has sparked an almost intensely impressive response from Left-leaning individuals and organizations in the last few months. His casual use of the word ‘socialism,’ presented not only as a positive term but as a self-description, has won the hearts and minds of many of the Left who had become enraged by the disappointing presidency of Barack Obama. Sanders touches on many of the issues consuming the American political discourse taking arguably centrist positions on areas of modern life in the United States other politicians purposefully ignore: income inequality (Sanders speaks in the language of the 99% vs the 1%), police brutality (Sanders openly supports expansive police reforms), and gender equality (Sanders supports abortion right, closing the pay gap, and gay and trans rights). The most impressive part of Sanders’ campaign, however, is his ability to take on (if only in the most minor ways) the ‘billionaire class’ and run on almost entirely small donations. However, no matter how exciting it may be to hear these positions come out of the mouth of a major presidential candidate, we have seen this trick before.

As with previous “Bernies” we have had in this country (Jesse Jackson, Denis Kucinich, Barack Obama), the most obvious clue that Bernie Sanders is no true man of the people, much less any sort of revolutionary figure, is his decision to run on the Democratic Party ticket. Sanders has for years now said that Wall Street and the ruling class buy off Congress and other political institutions; he said the United States is becoming “an oligarchic-form of society.” Occasionally, he has even thrown some venom towards the Democratic Party themselves, but never much. We know that the two-party system is a purposeful fraud to keep hidden the mind-boggling similarities between Democrat and Republican positions on economics. When Sanders announced he would run in a corporate election, no matter how much small-time money he receives or what his current rhetoric may be, he has decided to play by the rules in place. By running as a Democrat, Bernie Sanders has embraced the system regardless of what edges he wishes to trim.

This is usually the part where those on the Left blinded by the false promises of “elected revolution” begin mentioning that Sanders was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and has championed many a progressive cause throughout his career. Credit is given where credit is due: Sanders does in fact have what may be the best record in Congress, but that is far from a compliment. There are glaring issues with Bernie Sanders’ political record. Sanders has, while officially being an Independent, voted with the Democratic Party nine times out of ten. He supported Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Barack Obama each time they ran for President despite whatever criticism he may have made of them before. Bernie Sanders has been endorsed and supported by both Hillary Clinton and Obama before they were presidential candidates. Sanders also supported the initial placing of sanctions in the mid-90s on Libya and Iran (illegal and cruel sanctions that led to lasting instability in both countries) as well as supported Bill Clinton’s illegal invasion of Kosovo at the end of the millennium.

Honestly, the real issue isn’t why Bernie Sanders isn’t a Leftist as he claims; the issue is his place within the Clinton-Democratic electoral strategy. Hillary Clinton has been predicted to be the next President of the United States since she lost to Obama in 2008. Clinton, like Obama, has set herself up in a way that attempts to pander to the growing Left-wing dissent and disillusionment and still run the American Empire as it always has been. She is a classic Neo-Liberal. She seeks more austerity for our country (like what is going on in Europe at the moment) in order to prolong the inevitable destruction of our economic foundation by the ruling class (the Republican Party as a rule seems to desire the speeding up of the process) whom she works for. But unfortunately for Clinton, Obama’s conservative policies have radicalized several fragments of the American Left, the same policies Clinton openly wishes to continue. Hillary Clinton knows she can’t win the liberal vote unless those fragments are brought back into the electoral fold and then handed over to her as part of the classic “Look how scary the Republicans are so vote for me!” tactic used by every Democratic Presidential nominee. This is where Bernie Sanders comes into play. Sanders’ long history of supporting the Democratic Party has come to fruition. He has claimed that if he is defeated in the primaries he will support Clinton for the nomination. Anyone that actively champions him as our only hope after knowing this has already given up.

Recent spats with Black Lives Matter and the BDS Movement have shown the true colors of Bernie Sanders. Dr. Cornel West often refers to Barack Obama (the last liberal savior) as a “Rockefeller Republican in black-face.” We can apply the same criticism to Bernie Sanders. Sanders is a Capitalist in Socialist clothing. He is no revolutionary by any sense of the word. Even if Sanders managed to snag the nomination from Clinton (which judging by the crowds he has been recently attracting isn’t terribly far-fetched), he would pull the oldest trick in the book: running to the Left in the primaries then sliding Right for the general election. How many times must we Americans be fooled by the same trick before we pull the wool from our eyes?