What Bernie Brings to the Table
This Democratic primary could change everything. New York magazine columnist Eric Levitz discusses how Bernie Sanders’s class-struggle candidacy could realign US politics and what roadblocks it will run into.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during the Nevada Democrats’ “First in the West” event at Bellagio Resort & Casino on November 17, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker / Getty Images
Love him or hate him, it’s hard to disagree with the fact that Bernie Sanders has delivered a dose of vitality to this primary season. Dismissed as a fringe candidate by many during his 2016 run, his signature policies, such as Medicare for All, are now driving the terms of debate for Democratic presidential hopefuls.
Jacobin’s Jonah Walters spoke with New York magazine columnist Eric Levitz about the Sanders campaign, the promise of clear class-struggle language, and creating a coalition of voters capable of winning the nomination and the White House.
Jonah Walters
Your recent New York magazine column begins by referencing an age-old debate of the Democratic primary season: Should the party try to appeal to swing voters or try to activate sympathetic nonvoters? How does the Sanders campaign challenge, or maybe reframe, the terms of that debate?
Eric Levitz
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