- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
- Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)
Editor's Note: CNN presenter Van Jones is a former Obama administration official, a best-selling author, and the CEO of the Reform Alliance, a criminal justice organization. The opinions expressed in this comment are yours. See more opinions at CNNE.com/opinion
(CNN) - Although he is 78 years old, history will one day remember Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders as a leader ahead of his time.
In the pandemic era, Sanders' ideas no longer appear to be radical setbacks to the idealism of the 1960s. Today they feel like stubborn responses to the deadly challenges of the 21st century.
Just consider the following:
Essential Workers: Sanders has always known that the United States relies on the labors of low-paid workers that too many people are only now beginning to recognize as essential. From the beginning of his career he has been at the forefront of the fight to make the minimum wage a living wage. Just a few years ago, some economists thought that the idea of raising the minimum wage to $ 15 was "radical." In the midst of a pandemic in which we depend on those people for the survival of our nation, even that dollar amount now feels too low.
Healthcare for All: The Medicare for All case, championed by Sanders, is stronger than ever because of the pandemic. The populations most affected by covid-19 also appear to be many of those who cannot afford basic health coverage. It is difficult to see how our current health system survives this crisis without radical change. Even the Trump administration announced this Friday that it will use federal funds to pay hospitals for the treatment of uninsured covid-19 patients.
Housing and Homelessness: The mandate for most Americans right now is to take refuge. But many people do not have a place. Therefore, millions of homeless people are vulnerable to the virus, more susceptible to contracting it, and better able to spread it. Sanders' proposal to end the housing crisis by investing $ 2.5 trillion to build nearly 10 million permanently affordable housing units seems much more sensible now.
Climate threat: This pandemic has shown us that "we people" are fatally blind to threats that we cannot see with our own eyes. Even as we are learning about the parodies taking place in our local hospitals, too many people do not believe the threat is real until it affects them personally. Yesterday's Hurricane Katrina or today's viral pandemic will be tomorrow's global climate catastrophe. Sanders has done everything possible to anticipate impending disasters. Americans can now listen to people like Sanders who take science seriously and come up with bold solutions like the Green New Deal.
Paid Family Leave: Sanders has long championed the idea of "family leave" for workers. Having children, getting sick, or caring for a family member shouldn't cost you your job, or quarantine due to a global pandemic.
A lasting movement
Sanders supporters may be disappointed, but should not be discouraged. Although Sanders' base was not broad enough to earn the nomination, the people behind him represent much of the future of the United States.
Many of today's young people revere Sanders and will play an increasingly important role in our society. He had a great performance with Latino voters, who will represent a growing share of the American electorate in the next decade. And, if you look only at people under the age of 35, Sanders may have led the strongest, multi-racial progressive movement in modern American history.
Sanders was the first progressive candidate since former President Barack Obama, who ran, inspiring and leading a true movement of the people and for the people. And that movement will not disappear.
Why? Because Sanders has a set of youthful, charismatic and powerful successors to continue the fight, and many of them are young black women. Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator and deputy to the Sanders campaign, has become a key element of American politics. And so-called #Squad, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan will fight for (and possibly implement) ideas similar to Sanders for decades to come.
In other words, he transformed the Democratic Party without earning his nomination or even joining it. Along the way, he made the impossible seem possible. That counts for something.
Sanders fatal defects
There is a reason, of course, that Sanders missed his final chance at the presidency. His sentence to wealthy people was always too long, in my opinion. After all, Oprah Winfrey and Jay-Z are in the "multi-million dollar class." Does anyone blame them for America's problems? Categorically condemning all wealthy people, as he often seemed to do, turned potential allies into determined adversaries.
Second, he showed little passion even for Americans who run or aspire to do small businesses. At the very least, he could have expanded his circle by enthusiastically embracing the growing group of business leaders, such as those from the Social Venture Circle, Green America or GreenBiz, who are socially and ecologically responsible. Unfortunately, he missed those opportunities.
And, in the end, his insistence on defending the best qualities of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's literacy programs was probably fatal.
But I'm a representative of Generation X. American youth read Sanders very differently than those of us who survived the Cold War.
Lessons for Democrats
My youngest colleague at the Reform Alliance, the criminal justice organization I lead, summed it up this way: “Bernie managed to be great in a way that wasn't cheap. Radical in a way that felt real. Aggressive, but passionate, not a bully, "said Gus Alexander. “One of the older candidates managed to rise as the most relevant for young people. He did it. He understood. People point out how he reformulated the conversation, the landscape, moved the needle in a very big way. " That's my opinion of Bernie, too. And I'm grateful to him for that. "
As you exit the race for the presidency, the times are tragically bringing Sanders' central ideas to the forefront. On issues of health care for all, worker empowerment and many others, it would be very prudent for alleged Democratic nominee Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to catch up with the Vermont senator.
Bernie Sanders