It’s January 20, 2009. President Sanders has just taken the oath at a time when the American economy is leaking jobs by the millions. He notes the magnitude of the task before him, but takes grim satisfaction in the notion that the country is, at long last, ready for the “revolution.” It’s time to show the titans of Wall Street who’s boss!
This never happened, of course. Sanders didn’t run for president in 2008. If he had known that the Great Recession was coming, maybe things would have been different. As it is, he has to think that his best chance to bring about the “revolution” died when Obama was elected, because it was the last time he could have persuaded the country that Wall Street is responsible for all of our economic problems. Obama didn’t do that; he was trying to save the system (albeit by unconventional means), not overthrow it.
Today, the economy is buzzing on a sugar high, and the current president is the king of identity politics, which figure to predominate in the 2020 campaign. Sanders doesn’t, in his heart of hearts, believe in identity politics, partly for good reasons, and partly not. How can he deal with this situation? How can he persuade African-Americans with problems with law enforcement and the judicial system that Wall Street is the real enemy, and that the white working people who protect Confederate symbols are actually their friends?
That’s his real problem, and as far as I can tell, he has no answers. He’s really not even trying. There are several reasons why he shouldn’t run in 2020, but that’s one of the best ones.