OK, there was
once an American national candidate by the name of Ralph Nader. When it came to character, he wasn’t my
cup of tea. But talk about political leanings, and there was plenty in
Ralph Nader that reminded me of my Canadian heroes: Tommy Douglas, David Lewis
and his son, Stephen. Now, along comes this guy by the name of Bernie Sanders.
And, lo and behold, after twenty-seven years in the United States, I’m finally
feeling political again … Or at least am hearing ideas from a political
candidate that, gulp, remind me of Tommy, David and Stephen. Sanders wants to
represent the Democratic Party as its presidential nominee. (Sorry, Hillary.)
Here are 10 reasons why I’m feeling differently as the presidential campaign
warms up, with the first Iowa Caucus set for Feb. 1, 2016:
- Bernie cut his political teeth decrying the shame
of oligarchic inequality
- He feels the media are not to be trusted (Yours
truly excepted, of course.)
- As a true progressive, he harkens back to the days
before the only authentic Democrat was a centrist Democrat
- Bernie was one of the first on the left to
mistrust welfare-killer, high-finance facilitator, and
jail-poor-people-and-hassle-parasites parvenu Bill Clinton
- He regards as his ideas mentor his older brother,
LARRY
- Before embracing politics, Bernie was a carpenter
- He’s not a fan of campaigning
- Bernie didn’t own a suit when he was elected
mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and was flat broke when he entered Congress
- Like me, in 1985, he traveled to Nicaragua to
support the Sandinista revolution. Unlike me, he was dubbed a “Sandernista”
and met with leader Daniel Ortega. Burlington and Managua became sister
cities
- He played a tiger’s butt in puppet street theater
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