Mark Shields (my favorite pundit): Bernie Sanders Deserves Space and Respect

[cali]

You're Bernie Sanders, and you'll turn 75 on Sept. 8. You are gruff and, even your greatest admirers concede, no charmer. The Wise Guys sneered when, barely 12 months ago, you began your long-shot presidential campaign. The polls were discouraging. Hillary Clinton was the preferred candidate of 65 percent of Democrats, while only 3 percent backed you. But on that first day, you, the unyielding critic of Wall Street banks and of the destructive influence of big money in the nation's politics, made a pledge: "We're going to build a movement of millions of Americans who are prepared to stand up and fight back." Promise made; promise kept.

One year later, you are one of three presidential candidates still standing and the only one whom the nation's voters uniformly rate favorably. In every major poll, you — not Clinton — decisively trounce billionaire developer Donald J. Trump, the almost certain Republican nominee. And yes, while raising nearly $200 million — mostly in small contributions — you have continued to best Clinton in the May contests, winning Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon and losing only Kentucky.

Now is the time for the alleged leadership of the Democratic Party to give Bernie Sanders the respect he has earned and the space and time he deserves, not to try to strong-arm him into prematurely bowing to the inevitability of a Clinton nomination.

It's enough to make you wonder whether any of those prominent Democrats trying to pressure Sanders have any idea of how painfully public and publicly painful it is for a candidate to end a presidential campaign. The late Bob Strauss, a legendary Democratic Party chief, understood: "It takes a lot of guts to stick your neck out and run for any public office. But the thing that's tougher than announcing for office is withdrawing from a race, because when you drop out, you are saying that you are quitting and that you're beaten."

I was forced to take note of Sanders' remarkable impact on the 2016 campaign when, in August 2015 — some 15 months before Election Day — he was able to draw a crowd of 27,500 into the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena after attracting, in the preceding two days, throngs of 28,000 and 15,000 in Portland and Seattle, respectively. These crowds did not come to see some celebrity-personality with his own network show or some charismatic spellbinder put on a performance. It was the message of Bernie more than Bernie the messenger that would fill halls all year from Manchester to Fresno. To the American royalty of hedge fund oligarchs, that message was blunt. He did not trim or truckle: "You can't have it all. You cannot get huge tax breaks when millions of kids go to bed hungry. ... You cannot hide your profits in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. You will pay your fair share."

When the campaign does end, there are no more cheering crowds to lift your tired spirits, no more cameras, microphones and reporters to record your every thought, no Secret Service agents to part traffic and make your life easier. Bernie Sanders may not yet appreciate what he has become in the past year. He will not return to Capitol Hill just a better-known, more recognizable senator. Sanders has become the established leader of a national movement of millions dedicated to fighting economic inequality and special privilege. The Democrats, to win in November, are going to need Bernie Sanders much more than he needs them. It would be smart to give him respect and space.

https://www.creators.com/read/mark-shields/05/16/bernie-sanders-deserves-space-and-respect

[Autumn]

1. Wow just WOW

K&R

[NWCorona]

2. Mark is a vet!

[cali]

3. I know. I love Mark Shields.

[NWCorona]

7. Yup!

He is always someone I look forward to listening to. A voice of reason and respect.

[SusanCalvin]

4. My thoughts, better expressed than I could.

[highprincipleswork]

5. This is incredibly moving for me. I love Bernie, I don't just like him. And I admire him mucho.

[Skwmom]

6. The message and the messenger are intertwined. People believe Bernie because of his record. There

is not another Democrat that can come close.

[Quixote1818]

8. Great article but I have my doubts Sanders is driven by the spotlight

For his entire life he has been driven by his integrity and desire to help the less fortunate and those without a voice. He is staying in to put pressure on the Democratic Party and use his leverage to get as many of his ideas on the platform and also build his movement in every state.

[cali]

9. He isn't and I don't think Shields is saying that at all

[Quixote1818]

14. Your right, I missinterpreted part of it on the first read

I misinterpreted the part about what it would be like with no more cheering crowds as though that was what was motivating him. It wasn't saying that.

[reformist2]

10. Sorry, Mark. No can do. Bernie doesn't fit in with the Dems new corporate-friendly branding.

[Armstead]

11. Not NEW corporate friendly banding-- Just more of the same

[senz]

12. Shields is talking about Bernie dropping out. What's so great about that?

Stay in, Bernie. All the way to the convention.

Win the upcoming primaries. Win California!

You represent us, Bernie. Don't let anyone talk you into dropping out.

We need you. Stay.

[jwirr]

13. Thank you Mark. At least you are still speaking the truth.

[AtomicKitten]

15. He reminds me of a time when politics wasn't so toxic. Such a pleasure to read this.

I wish everyone here understood it's policy, not the politician. I have an Elizabeth Warren 2016 bumper sticker on my desk. Bernie deferred to Elizabeth saying they would run on the same message and platform. When Elizabeth declined to run, Bernie stepped up and became the standard-bearer of a progressive vision of America. His campaign has changed the paradigm in a profound way. I think many people feel it. There's no going back. And who the hell would want to anyway? We will most likely see a Trump vs. Clinton bombastic insult-off (oh god kill me now). I'm just going to pull up my lawn chair, with margaritas and snacks, and tailgate the general election.

[cali]

16. I know, right? It is a wonderful piece.

[benny05]

17. K & R

Mark Shields remembers a time when the Dem party worked for the working class and the struggling.

[apnu]

18. Yes Bernie does.

What Bernie has done is amazing. He's come out of seeminly "nowhere" with very low probablity of success and made a real national campaign in this primary. He's brought in a lot of new blood to the Democratic party and they've brought energy in spades. He's done better than anybody, including himself, I think, imagined.

Bernie's millions of votes and delegates clearly show there is a passion and a drive on the Left that's waiting to be tapped, wanting to be tapped, and the Democrats would be fools to turn their backs on all that.

Sure they could make a go with the same old, same old, but why? Bernie and his people are here and they're ready to go. Why fight with one hand behind your back?

Bernie certainly deserves space and respect. He deserves a spot at Philly and an important place in the national campaign for the general election. Bernie and his people have earned it.