Bernie Sanders says he's not a capitalist: Does it matter?
Bernie Sanders says he鈥檚 not a capitalist. That鈥檚 on 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� Sunday, in any case. Mr. Todd asked him directly whether he was a person of the small-c capitalist persuasion, and Senator Sanders gave him a direct answer.
鈥淣o,鈥� said the Democratic hopeful. 鈥淚鈥檓 a Democratic Socialist.鈥�
Does this doom Senator Sanders鈥� presidential chances? The savvy Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post鈥檚 Fix blog thinks it does. Capitalism is a pretty popular concept in the US, , while socialism is politically polarizing. from a few years back found that 50 percent of Americans had a favorable view of capitalism, while socialism came in at 31 percent favorable, and a whopping 60 percent unfavorable.
鈥淎mericans might be increasingly aware of the economic inequality in the country and increasingly suspicious of so-called vulture capitalism 鈥� all of which has helped fuel Sanders鈥� rise,鈥� writes Cillizza. 鈥淏ut we are not electing someone who is an avowed socialist to the nation鈥檚 top political job. Just ain鈥檛 happening.鈥�
Well, we鈥檇 agree that the statement could cause lots of problems for Sanders in a general election. That鈥檚 obvious. But if we were running Sanders鈥� campaign, we鈥檇 put that noncapitalist rhetoric out of our head (or try to) and worry about dealing with it down the road.
Why? Two reasons. One is that Sanders鈥� first hurdle is winning the Democratic nomination. Only then would he face a Republican nominee who鈥檇 batter him with ads saying he鈥檚 a card-carrying Socialist.
Yes, Hillary Clinton might try that if things get close. But polls show that Democrats care less about the capitalist/socialist nomenclature than Republicans.
Sanders鈥� biggest problem for the primaries is not defining his 鈥渋sm.鈥� It鈥檚 attracting African-American voters, one of the Democratic Party鈥檚 most loyal constituencies. For instance, in South Carolina 鈥� an early primary state with a large black population 鈥� Sanders is only getting 3 percent of the African-American vote, according to . That鈥檚 abysmal.
Interestingly, as the campaign has wound along, Sanders isn鈥檛 becoming better known among minority voters, while other candidates are. Yet his name recognition is rising among whites.
Maybe there鈥檚 just something about Sanders that makes it difficult for him to communicate with minority groups on their terms, . Perhaps he can begin to solve that problem with a solid performance in Tuesday night鈥檚 debate.
The second reason why the 鈥渃apitalist鈥� comment may not doom Sanders is that individual comments, gaffes, slips, or statements generally have little effect. There are very few, if any, actual game-changers in a political campaign.
If Sanders does win the nomination, he鈥檒l have his own ads. he鈥檚 said that capitalism is a good thing in that it creates an entrepreneurial spirit and gets people thinking about new ideas; he鈥檒l probably say that again. He鈥檇 put that up on the airwaves as a counter, and then the net effect depends on campaign strength.
Look, it鈥檚 true that Bernie Sanders is still unlikely to win the Oval Office. Self-described liberal voters are a smaller force in US politics than their conservative counterparts. Democratic socialism, defined as European-style leftist politics with broad state intervention in some economic activities, would be a radical change for America.
But Sanders鈥檚 success or failure will depend more broadly on the sum of his political life, as opposed to snippets and sound bites.聽
