Bernie Sanders has taken himself out of the race for the democratic nomination for president. He left his legacy behind. The Vermont senator is probably tired but he can be very proud of what he achieved. He left most of the pundits, arguing about the policies on which presumptive candidate Joe Biden will have to run on this fall and the future of America’s democratic party.
All the party is focused on at this time is making sure presumptive candidate Joe Biden defeats incumbent U.S. president Donald Trump. It has little to do with any strong showing by Biden. It is more a choice of what Sanders was proposing that can carry the day. If Biden, for example, forgets a government run, universal health care system, the voters might, in turn, forget him.
It is the same with the proposed minimum wage. If there is one idea that all voters can understand, it is having a minimum wage that is also one on which people can live. Sure, the republicans can rail against this socialism all they like but voters who are motivated by the idea are more likely to vote than voters who do not care.
Biden’s greatest problem is in bringing out the younger voters. He has to motivate them with ideas not the picture of him in the White House. Much is being said about the geriatric candidates for the presidency but ideas can bridge that age gap. Besides, it is not an argument at this stage. The two major party candidates for president will both be in their 70s and it is a little late to do anything about that.
It was amusing the other day in reading some e-mail threads of conversations on the American side of my family. The writer was proposing that candidates for president should only be between 35 and 65 years of age. And here I had always considered the requirement to be at least 35 was highly discriminatory. And now they want to also discriminate against seniors?
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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