Is Bernie a red?

Democrats would be insane to nominate Bernie

. . . . if Democrats hope to hold the presidency in November, they’ll need to hold their noses and nominate Clinton.

Ultimately, I expect that’s what Democrats will do — because as much as they love Sanders, they loathe Donald Trump more. 

It seems more evident each day that Republicans have lost their collective reason and are beginning to accept the notion that Trump will be their nominee. 

And I doubt Democrats will make an anti-immigrant bigot the president by nominating a socialist to run against him.

That's his hot button, I guess.

But it's not mine and it's not even his own main point.

This is true, but less true every day as Hillary's supporters have begun going after him pretty hard.

Opponents have been attacking and defining Clinton for a quarter-century, but nobody has really gone to work yet on demonizing Sanders.

But this is silly, since those Americans aren't voting for any Democrat.

Sanders, explaining that much of what he proposes is happening in Scandinavia and Germany (a concept that itself alarms Americans who don’t want to be like socialized Europe), answered vaguely: “Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of people on the top – that’s my definition of democratic socialism.”

This gets us there.

But that’s not how Republicans will define socialism – and they’ll have the dictionary on their side. 

They’ll portray Sanders as one who wants the government to own and control major industries and the means of production and distribution of goods. 

They’ll say he wants to take away private property. 

That wouldn’t be fair, but it would be easy. 

Based on his announced agenda and admitted commitments and views, so far, yes, such accusations would be unfair.

Unfortunately, we are in no position right now to say they would be untrue.

If Dana M sincerely fears such attacks shouldn't he and other like minded journos be asking Bernie right now for his views on socialism, the real thing rather than "socialism" as he defines it?

Why not ask him about nationalization of major industries, what old time American Socialists used to call "the commanding heights of capitalism"?

Nationalizations in the US, in Venezuela, in South Africa, or even a restoration of real socialism in China?

And why not ask him, while they are at it, about the claims of Americans and American companies against Cuba for uncompensated nationalizations there from the early days of Castro's rule?

How else can they, responsible journos and servants of the public's right to know and pillars of democracy as they are, insure that Democrats don't actually but unwittingly nominate a socialist?

Socialists don’t win national elections in the United States.

Absolutely right, but for all we know right now, even after reading every word that Dana M has to say, that point is irrelevant.

Bernie isn't running as Eugene Debs, though he admires the man, and his platform isn't Debs's.

So the socialism part of this is an unfounded bogey, but all the same Milbank's dire warning might be right.

Sanders accepts it, but are Democrats ready to accept ownership of socialism, massive tax increases and a dramatic expansion of government? 

If so, they will lose.

Ron Chusid sees things otherwise and argues Bernie's electability.

And he rightly warns that there is much risk in nominating a woman who might at any time be indicted.

But it is entirely possible that Bernie is in fact a more vivid red than any American politician outside of Cuba.

And there is much risk, too, in nominating a man who might at any time be outed as an admirer of Hugo, Fidel, and Che.

Who is Bernie Sanders, after all?

All his life, when people asked him that he could have said "I'm a social democrat," but he didn't.

He said "I'm a democratic socialist," and that's a species of socialist, though he would immediately launch into the vague feel-good stuff democratic socialists of the Michael Harrington/DSA era always said about socialism and about themselves.

His hero was and is Gene Debs, an actual socialist.

He has always been much admired by the DSA and the admirers of Michael Harrington.

And like many others on the left regarding clashes of the Cold War he often supported an anti-American, pro-communist position.

By the way, in the Fall of 1967 Harrington's The Other America was required reading for entering freshmen at Holy Cross College, along with Camus' The Plague and Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth.

I can't even imagine what their freshman will have to read this year.