(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
It is still early in the nomination race ahead of the US presidential election 2016. At the time of writing, Republicans have 17 hopefuls offering circus to the people, while Democrats are far more glitzy. "Everyone" has long thought that it is obvious that Hillary Clinton will be the Democrat candidate this time – so obvious that potential challengers hesitate to get on the field.
Except Bernie. Bernie Sanders, Independent Senator from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's more radical outposts. Bernie, with roots in the student movement of the 1960s, self-proclaimed social democrat and with clear examples in the Northern European political landscape. When he was running for election as senator for Vermont in 2005, full backing from the Democrats was central. He won the Democrats primary election, then declined the nomination and instead voted as independent – without other Democrats as opposing candidates. (It was done with completely open cards – maybe it was something as paradoxical as a purely political game?) He won the election with 65 percent of the vote, and in 2012 he was re-elected with a support of 71 percent.
On rising course. So with long political momentum, as mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989, congressional representative from 1990 to 2006, and lastly as the country's third most popular senator, Sanders declared in April this year that he was in the fight for the Democratic nomination for presidential election. When the announcement came, Hillary Clinton had a 62 percent support against Sanders' 5,6 percent, and the general opinion both in the media and among most people was that he would remain a marginal candidate without any real winning chance. That he would influence the conversation and turn the center of gravity in the Democratic nomination process to the left was and is obvious, and the candidacy was met with great cheer by the more progressive part of the electorate. But then and there were still few who really thought he would have a great deal to stand against Clinton in terms of support.
But then things happen. It comes a day that Clinton has used his private email address in the official context of his time as Secretary of State, and this appears to be the little scandal that will not go away. More serious for Hillary is perhaps a lack of popularity. She has an undefined factor that irks people against her, and not many people actually like her. She is respected, even admired, and there is a fairly broad consensus that she is qualified for the position, but the cheer is far in, at least for now. And since Sanders announced his candidacy in April, the numbers have changed dramatically. In the last poll (CNN's mid-August poll), Clinton stood at 47 percent against Sanders' 29 percent. One thing is for sure, and that is that Sanders hits something.
R-word. On Saturday, August 22 there was a meeting of Sanders in Charleston, South Carolina, in a region that is both ideologically and geographically distant from what is considered Sanders' core area. Since the meeting was announced a couple of weeks before, they had to switch locals twice due to increased expected attendance. Around 3150 enthusiastic spectators came across what seemed to a Norwegian to be a rather solitary scene, mostly because it was so much the memory of more homely conditions.
The first thing that meets us as we arrive at the congress hall this cloudy Saturday night is a stand for The Socialist Workers Party, which is probably the closest to a communist party in the United States. They sell socialist literature and a subscription to the newspaper The Militant (12 weeks for five dollars – you can't say you can't afford it!), And their own candidate for the presidential election stands by and gives an interview. The security measures to enter the hall are minimal: You have to give your name and address and put a sticker on your chest, but that's all.
In the vestibule, there is a table selling election campaign material: posters, stickers and t-shirts. Homemade banners hang in the background, colored with care.
It just becomes even more clear how many steps the United States has taken back over the last few decades, especially within the conservative population.
Then inside the hall: A tense assembly, well behaved and quite subdued. The normality factor is high. The meeting takes place in North Charleston, where the distribution of whites and blacks is almost 50/50. Here, at least 90 percent of the white people are in attendance, a fact that becomes even more conspicuous when you know that more than 90 percent of the black population is traditionally voting democratically. Music is played over the speaker system to bring the mood – as we come in, it's Bob Marley. Later, just before the speeches begin, the mood with James Brown and I Feel Good!
But the most peculiar to this Norwegian is basically the speech itself. Sanders is firmly rooted in Northern European social demo-
Croatian tradition, so solid that just about everything he stands for, is regarded as consensus areas in Norwegian politics. He begins with a vow that politicians do not work for most people, that he is tired of establishment politics. One has to settle the greed in business and the political system is corrupt.
And then comes the drop itself, this word that is thrown out with delight and provocation, much like a three-year-old who says "bawdy": "Revolution!"
"We need a political revolution!"
Sanders also emphasizes that no other candidate will say exactly that: We need a political revolution!
And of course you are right in that, we think, because the United States really needs a political revolution, now that the power of money prevails and buys influence wherever possible, but there is still something a little childishly defiant, or maybe a little more teenage rebellious, about its use of this word in this society that is so terrified of communism. For it is not an armed revolution he calls for, far from it, on the contrary. And really, revolution is a pretty innocent word, it just means upheaval. And we need that, no doubt, after Citizens United who confirmed that corporations are like a person, and everyone can cash in as much money as they want for political purposes. Of course.
The R-word comes several times during the hour the speech lasts, without it feeling more common the fifth time than it did the first, because we know where we are. Although the Socialist Workers Party stands outside.
Welfare. But the audience is included. The atmosphere is great, it is cheered over the slogans that come like pearls on a string, this land belongs to us all! The high level of child poverty shows that something is fundamentally wrong, and the billionaires cannot continue to dig everything. He has numbers to offer, and they are heavy and compelling. He mentions that the United States is alone in not guaranteeing medical care to everyone, and defies what it calls Single Payer System, that is, a public health service. He draws lines between youth unemployment (which is high: 33 percent among whites, 36 percent among Hispanics, 51 percent among blacks) and the prison population, which is the highest in the world. He talks about a 40-hour working week earning a far better than a life below the poverty line, and calls for a doubling of the minimum wage (which is currently only $ 7,25 federal, and has been quiet since 2009 – even whether some states have set it higher). He talks about equal pay, about maternity leave and women's right to birth control. He demands sick pay and paid vacation. He wants to secure the democratic rights, so that anyone over 18 will be able to exercise their voting rights without being hampered by creative inventions. One person, one voice. He speaks to ordinary people, and he does so in a very direct and artful way. There's no reason not to believe him – he speaks with conviction, and you know he's not bought and paid. Sanders is a real commodity.
And of course it is not what he says that appears to be lonely. None of this is particularly radical; these are rights that have largely been fought for in Europe long ago. Of course, as Europeans, you have to blink an extra time, because it is only so clear how many steps the United States has taken back over the last few decades, especially within the conservative part of the population. Nixon was far more radical than any of the seventeen presidential candidates we have on Republicans now.
But the fear of communism is still strong here, and the daily language fails. Sanders is a self-proclaimed Social Democrat (democratic socialist), but what most people – and perhaps especially the opponents – hear is a socialist who is synonymous with communist. God forbid.
But some hear, and some perceive the nuances, and many more have heard of Sanders and have been carrying some of his message these past few months.
And it was sold out for t-shirts as we walked.
Blade is a freelance journalist.
bente.klinge@gmail.com
