Why is Bernie Sanders appearing on 'Ellen'?
Bernie Sanders is set to appear on 鈥淭he Ellen DeGeneres Show." It鈥檚 true 鈥� the white haired, slightly angry presidential hopeful from Vermont taped an interview on Wednesday with host Ellen DeGeneres for her popular syndicated show. He even traveled to Los Angeles to do it.
Sanders鈥檚 seriousness contrasted with DeGeneres鈥檚 affability 鈥� sounds like talk segment gold, right? And it kind of was. Senator Sanders came out dancing to 鈥淒isco Inferno鈥� 鈥� a 鈥�70s track that features the lyric, 鈥渂urn, baby, burn,鈥� which can be inferred to mean 鈥淏ern, baby, Bern,鈥� 鈥� get it? Or maybe we should say he came out making coordinated with different music he was hearing in his head.
Sanders seemed to enjoy it, though, so the whole thing came off without him looking silly.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e dancing Bernie, that鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� said Ms. DeGeneres.
鈥淭hank you for the very positive energy you provide to the American people,鈥� said Sanders in response.
He and DeGeneres then went through a fairly quick summary of the economic basis of his campaign 鈥� the growth of inequality and so forth. Sanders said he鈥檇 never run a negative campaign ad. DeGeneres said the Democratic debate was more civil than its GOP counterpart. They traded an awkward amalgam of fist bump and handshake. DeGeneres called it 鈥淭rump-like鈥� and insisted they do it right.
DeGeneres asked which Republican candidate Sanders would pick to be stranded with on a desert isle. Sanders chose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
鈥淗e鈥檚 used to the sun,鈥� he said.
The biggest laugh came when the host asked Sanders if he鈥檇 ever been in handcuffs, and he replied, quickly, 鈥測es."
At first the Vermonter didn鈥檛 quite get the humorous response 鈥� perhaps he thinks 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey鈥� is about a retiree bus trip.
鈥淲hen I was protesting at a civil rights rally, I was arrested,鈥� he explained.
鈥淥K, he鈥檚 calling it a 鈥榗ivil rights鈥� thing,鈥� said Ellen.
You can watch the whole episode for all the details. But we鈥檙e actually interested in a meta question: What was Sanders doing on 鈥淓llen鈥� in the first place?
He鈥檚 not a normal politician, after all. In the past he鈥檚 gotten angry at reporters who asked what he considered frivolous questions, such as whether he has an opinion on Hillary Clinton鈥檚 hair. It鈥檚 no knock on DeGeneres to point out that frivolity is her substance. She comes at things from an angle. She challenged Michelle Obama to a push-up contest. Her show is not exactly the 鈥淣ews Hour鈥� with couches.
We can think of two reasons why this might make sense for Sanders. One is obvious: The audience for 鈥淓llen鈥� skews female, and Sanders needs to attract more women voters. He鈥檚 competing with Mrs. Clinton, the potential first female president, and she does better with members of her gender than he does. Her net favorable rating among Democratic women voters is 57, according to Gallup. Sanders鈥檚 is 34.
Among male Democrats, their favorable ratings are about equal, at 44 percent.
The second is slightly less obvious to those of us who think about politics all day (though probably not to you). Sanders just needs to be better known. Compared with Clinton, he鈥檚 obscure to the electorate at large, and popular entertainment talk shows are one of the few places where politicians can appear in front of a mass US audience not predisposed to think about Wall Street regulation.
He鈥檚 doing better in this regard. Sanders is now well-known to 60 percent of Democrat voters, , up from 49 percent in July. But Clinton is well-known to over 90 percent of Dems. So Sanders has some catching up to do. If his 鈥淏ern Baby Bern鈥� dance video goes viral, it would help.
