Press: What Bernie wants

Here’s one thing I don’t understand about the 2016 presidential race: Why is the media so determinately anti-Bernie Sanders? 

The Vermont senator is the most unexpected, most interesting, most surprising story of the Democratic primary. You’d think the media would love him. 

{mosads}Instead, it’s been just the opposite.

Most political commentators never took him seriously, and they still don’t. From the beginning, they dismissed him as some old crank who didn’t have a chance and was, at best, a “message candidate.” Then, once he defied the odds and starting rolling up delegates, they insisted it still didn’t mean anything because the “math” was irrevocably against him.

Even last week in New York, when Hillary Clinton finally got back in the winning column after losing eight out of nine previous primaries and caucuses to Sanders, the dominant media theme was: Why’s Bernie still in this race? Or: What does Bernie really want? 

If you’ve listened to only one of his campaign speeches, you know the answers to both questions — and they’re closely connected. 

What does Bernie want? Three things. 

First, he may not have started out with this dream, but today he clearly wants to win — both the nomination and the White House. 

And he intends to stay in the race as long as there’s even the remote possibility he could do so, drawing his inspiration, of course, from Clinton herself, who doggedly fought on against Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries through 57 contests and five long months, until the Illinois senator finally secured enough delegates to win the nomination on June 3. Even then, Clinton did not concede defeat until four days later and didn’t drop out until the convention, where she asked delegates to nominate Obama by acclamation.

It’s not only the desire to win that keeps Sanders going, it’s also the basic belief that every voter in every state should get the opportunity to express their preference in the primaries before the doors are closed. After today’s five primaries, in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, there will still be 14 states and territories to go for Democrats. What’s the rush?

Sanders’s second goal is to shape the agenda for 2016, to make sure that progressive issues like jobs, the minimum wage, climate change, criminal justice reform and cracking down on Wall Street remain front and center — not just in the primary, but through the general election. That will also mean hammering out a strong, progressive party platform at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

His third goal is to bring about “political revolution” by shaking up and radically reforming the Democratic Party. Like the Republican Party, Sanders believes the Democratic Party has become too beholden to Wall Street, lobbyists, big-dollar contributors and special interest money and must get back to its historic role as the party of the people and working-class Americans.

Sanders might not achieve his first goal, but he’s well on his way to achieving his second and third goals. How close he comes depends on how many delegates he wins. The more delegates, the greater his chances of success. 

So don’t expect him to drop out any time soon. 

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down.”