Opinion: Democrats have to decide what to do with the two old men
By David Von Drehle David Von Drehle Columnist focusing on national affairs and politics Email Bio Follow Columnist March 19 at 6:24 PM As Democrats sort through their huge field of candidates, they must first decide about the two old men, Joe and Bernie.
But here’s the thing. It’s not just name recognition. Biden and Sanders connect with their supporters in ways that could prove quite sticky. They are not a couple of haircuts in standard-issue blue suits. They aren’t riding high because they seem “presidential,” whatever that means in the age of President Trump. An entire generation of would-be presidents from Central Casting has gone by the wayside, but these two originals remain. The schmoozer and the loner.
For Sanders, on the other hand, politics is cerebral. He has a set of ideas, and they light his every step. He entered the business as a civil rights organizer in the 1960s and carried the left-wing flame thenceforth. As mayor of small-town Burlington, Vt., he was perhaps the most prominent socialist of the Reagan 1980s. When he entered Congress as a representative in 1991, he often allied with the Democrats but refused to join their ranks, lest he sully his independence.
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