By Alejandra Arredondo |
Austin (USA) (EFE).- Four years ago, the progressive senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders embarked on an unprecedented crusade against the ‘establishment’ of the Democratic Party, stepping on the heels of President Joe Biden for the party’s nomination and with twice the popularity of Kamala Harris in the primary process.
Today, in an interview with EFE from the progressive island of Austin in Texas, Sanders talks about the influence of money in power, meeting the demands of the working class and Latino Texans in an election where support for Donald Trump predicts you adjust presidential elections.
“My conclusion is that if you want to win the elections in this country you have to support the working class. That means that we are going to move towards universal healthcare, so that every man, woman and child has the health care they require, reduce the cost of medicines (…) and increase the minimum wage in Texas and at the federal level,” says Sanders. .
The legislator has joined the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, in an attempt to put pressure on the party to look at the “working class” and thus achieve a new victory against the extreme right next November.
“What is happening in the US with right-wing extremism is not a unique problem. One of the reasons is that there are governments around the world and here too that do not respond to the needs of normal people,” said Sanders, who at 83 years old has already established himself as one of the mythical figures of progressivism in the country. .
Sanders criticizes his party in order to defeat Trump
After having lost the Democratic Party primaries against Biden in 2020, Sanders – and along with him exponents of the progressive movement such as legislators Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Ro Khanna – approached the White House, getting the current government to embrace policies a few years ago. years unthinkable such as reducing the prices of some medicines or defending unions.
However, the country (and the Democrats) are still very far from being able to not only adopt but also approve causes that the senator has championed for years, such as the increase in the federal minimum wage or universal health care, and it is in this gap, Sanders argued, that the political projects of the extreme right find a breeding ground.
File photograph of Senator Bernie Sanders while speaking during the Democratic Party Convention in which Kamala Harris was chosen as the presidential candidate to fight Donald Trump. EFE/Michael Reynolds
“People look around and think, ‘What is the government doing for me? Screw them! I want a strong man, someone with a strong hand, who blames the immigrants,’” said the legislator.
The demographic groups among which Trump has the most strength are strongly marked: he scores consistently high among lower-income white people without a college degree and is gaining ground among Hispanic voters, a group where 48% of households are in the level lowest wealth of the population.
“To win the elections,” Sanders argued, “the Democratic Party has to make clear that it is the party of workers and that it is prepared to confront the interests of large corporations.”
Powerful interests and moderate positions
It is not entirely clear to what extent progressivism’s support for the Harris campaign could bear fruit in attracting Hispanics in Texas or enacting policies if she comes to power.
The presidential candidate has moderated her speech compared to both the beginning of her term and when she was Sanders’ rival in the 2020 Democratic primaries. For example, she went from supporting universal public health (‘Medicare for All’) to advocating from expanding the current system or from promising to restore asylum at the border to restricting it.
Sanders indicated that the progressive fight is complicated because they are facing the “special interests of those who are very powerful,” something evidenced by this campaign, the most expensive and billion-dollar in history.
“Billionaires are pumping a lot of money into both parties; “They don’t like what we defend, they don’t like the idea of having to pay a fair share of taxes,” he stressed.
However, the politician is hopeful that the ideas he fights for will gain more ground on the American political scene.
“I believe that the future is with us and the younger generations are the most progressive in the history of the country (…) and our job is to keep trying,” he remarked.
