

How Bernie Sanders turned himself into a serious presidential contender The crowd of mostly Georgetown students, packed into the university’s Gaston Hall, cheered loudly throughout his lengthy speech, which also touched on how he would address ISIS and a broader foreign policy.Īt one point Sanders brought up King’s assessment that “‘This country has socialism for the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor’” as part of a broader strategy aides said was to show his ideas are hardly foreign.

Opinion: Is democratic socialism the right path for America? Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, said that the Vermont senator worked “intensely” on this speech over the last few days and took personal ownership of it. After a bump in the polls in late summer, Sanders has recently fallen behind Hillary Clinton. It had long been promised, but the campaign pushed it back a few times, leading to some speculation that Sanders might can the idea altogether. The speech, which amounted to a more precise explanation of the same points he has made in his upstart presidential bid, was a key moment for the Vermont senator. And It is time that we did.”īernie Sanders’ ‘democratic socialism’… in 2 minutes It is a vision that we have not yet achieved. “That was Roosevelt’s vision 70 years ago.

“In other words, real freedom must include economic security,” Sanders said. Sanders said the inequality in the United States mirrors the same gap between wealthy and poor that Roosevelt fought during the Great Depression and that Roosevelt faced the same claims that his programs were “socialist.” But he also wanted people to know that is very much not “socialism.”

Sanders spent more than an hour at Georgetown University, largely explaining that his definition of “democratic socialism” is identical to the same fiery populist points he’s been making throughout his campaign. Thursday in a long-awaited speech in which he argued that “democratic socialism” is no different than many things already woven in the fabric of the nation. Bernie Sanders tied himself to Democratic hero Franklin D.
