Bernie Sanders for President

Ironically, Debs, like Sanders, has been criticized from the left by opponents who viewed him as insensitive to racism.

Sanders, like Debs, could bring about genuine reform by challenging the Democrats from the left. He argues that Sanders could “win by losing.” In particular, the historian notes banking reform and child-labor laws achieved during the Progressive era, which were initially part of Debs’s agenda.

Sanders campaign cannot transform the system, but it could provide an opportunity for “socialists to regrow, organize together.” Further, he hopes it will give legitimacy to the world “socialist” and “spark a conversation about it.” From this perspective, Sanders has already won.

promise of support for the Democratic Party’s nominee

offered little real change, and instead channeled young activists into the corrupt Democratic Party. Sanders’s socialist ideals, or longtime status as an independent, seem less important than his current relationship with the Democrats. Their view, stated simply, is that Bernie Sanders is no Eugene Debs. That argument is true, but it is not very helpful today, since Debs will not be on the ballot

All of the writers I have discussed assume that Sanders will fail to win the presidency. Although the candidate is a long-shot, his quest for the presidency is not impossible.