Democratic candidate hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders was in New York City late Saturday night to provide one of the most memorable moments of the 2016 election. He got into a shouting match with his “doppelganger” Larry David on Saturday Night Live.
Just two days after a heated debate with his opponent Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, the most polarizing figure on the Democratic side decided to try his hand in some comedy. And boy did he do a great job.
It’s not often a presidential candidate can match wits on a live broadcast with a comedic genius like David, but then again this isn’t the first time Sanders has impressed the masses.
Just last Tuesday, Sanders came up short in the Iowa Caucus by such a narrow margin that some districts had to rely on a coin toss to de- clare a winner. Even in the slim defeat, Sanders still managed to emerge from the caucus as the big winner, for his 49.6 percent to Clinton’s 49.9 percent was a statement that Sanders is legit and is gaining important momentum.
Compared to where his campaign for the White House started about a year ago, Sand- ers has gone from a virtual long-shot to a real threat to snatch the Democratic ticket away from the former first lady. While his highly lib- eral “democratic socialist” views have existed for decades, it is now in the most crucial of times that this polarizing man has finally com- manded the attention of the American people. His presence and political stance even had the politically charged hip-hop artist Killer Mike singing his praises at a rally he held in Mike’s hometown of Atlanta.
Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Pep- pers, even penned an essay with Rolling Stone magazine vocalizing his support for the senator from Vermont.
“The concept of politics itself is of absolute- ly no interest to me,” Flea said in his essay. “The
concept of human beings caring for one anoth- er holds great interest to me. I care about the welfare of people… The candidate who actu- ally represents the well-being of human beings in the United States and cares about people is Bernie Sanders, and that’s why I stand by him.”
A good portion of Flea’s essay focuses on Sanders’ humanist viewpoints, which has caused people from all walks of life including young voters, minorities and people of low in- come, to support the senator.
Another point Flea makes is that Sand- ers has been able to accomplish all that he has through small donations, as he has refused to take money from large corporations and the benefit of Super PACs. Sanders even turned down money from the Chili Peppers, who of- fered to pay the rental fee for the venue they’d be performing at in support of him.
The aspect most people, like Flea and Killer Mike, point out about Sanders is his genuine nature of caring for the well-being of American citizens. He hasn’t come off as just another politician, saying what the people want to hear. Sanders is saying what the people want to hear, but his non-traditional viewpoints and absolute refusal to “play by the rules” makes people believe what he’s saying. It gives people the same hope they had for President Barack Obama when he was a senator racing for the White House, oddly enough against Clinton.
Through small donations, a genuine ap- proach and a persistent demand that the less privileged American people are given the assistance they request and opportuni- ties to achieve the American Dream, Mrs. Sanders’ baby boy has turned a crapshoot into a goldmine in the span of a year. After weathering the storm in a true-to-form up- hill battle, he’s brought the Democratic race down to a two person race and he’s done it his way. Bernie is good.
