Lauren Justice
Supporters cheer Bernie Sanders during his presidential campaign speech at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Many Democrats I know feel about Hillary Clinton the way I do about carry-out food on a Tuesday evening. It’s fine. Okay. Nothing wrong with it.
In contrast, Bernie Sanders packed in 10,000 people at the Alliant Energy Center on Wednesday night. He claims it’s the largest crowd any presidential candidate has mustered so far, and, unless you count the companies and celebrities lining up to disassociate themselves from Donald Trump, that’s probably true.
What goes on here? Well, a lot of stuff. For one thing, Sanders, while not exactly a fresh face (he’s 73), is not nearly as well known as Clinton and hasn’t been through the many episodes of the Clinton family soap opera. New is always more exciting.
Second, he sounds (and, in fact, is) different from your typical politician, while Clinton is every bit the prototype pol. Gruff and straightforward, Sanders answers questions directly and often snaps at reporters who ask questions he feels are dumb. Clinton dissembles when she encounters a topic she wants to avoid, and rather than snapping at reporters she doesn’t like, freezes them out.
Sanders once identified as a Socialist and now is an independent U.S. senator, though running — to his great credit — as a Democrat. There’s nothing Democratic primary voters love more than somebody who will take on the Democratic establishment. If you look up “Democratic establishment” on Wikipedia, there are 10 pictures of Hillary Clinton.
Then there’s the genuiness factor. Sanders does not seem to be trying to be something he’s not. Clinton spends months huddling with aides calculating how to appear more genuine. So, she announces her candidacy and then tells the world that she’ll get in a van and drive to Iowa (with a couple of aides and Secret Service agents) to emphasize how Middle American she is. She even stops at a Chipotle near Toledo and orders herself a chicken burrito salad. If you told me the Clinton camp had polled on what she should order at the restaurant, it would not surprise me.
Which brings us to the final difference: the issues. Actually, here there’s not that much difference. Both candidates are talking about income inequality, though you could argue that Clinton is emphasizing it more now precisely because of Sanders.
Still, issue for issue I doubt you’d find much daylight between them.
Except this: Wall Street. Sanders puts the big banks squarely in the middle of his sights, even introducing a bill in Congress to break them up. The Clintons have always been cozy with Wall Street, relying on it to help fund a part of their campaigns. If Sanders turns out more crowds approaching this size, you may hear Clinton mouthing some of the same tough-on-big-money rhetoric, but it will be hard not to suspect that she’s winking and crossing her fingers while she says it. “Give me the chicken burrito salad and a side of hedge fund regulation.”
Let’s be honest with ourselves. The chances that Bernie Sanders will be the next president are worse than the chances that the Brewers will win the World Series. (For those of you not following them, the Crew is a mere 21 games out of first place as I write this.) Meanwhile, I’d rate the chances that the next president will be Hillary Clinton at about 75%.
And, in truth, the woman is prepared for the job, probably better prepared than any president in recent history, even more than her husband at the time he took office. She’s not especially inspiring, but competence is often boring.
In the meantime we have Bernie Sanders to give us a glimpse of another kind of politics, one that is less contrived, more direct and more liberal. It will be fun while it lasts.
