Threatened from the Left Again

MOBILE, Ala. — Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton was the inevitable Democratic nominee for president. She ultimately lost to an upstart senator from Illinois with a similar voting record who conservatives suspected was really a socialist.

This year, Clinton is the seemingly inevitable Democratic presidential nominee who is trying to avoid getting beaten by another senator with a similar voting record who admits that he is a socialist.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has represented Vermont for 23 years in the House and the Senate as an independent, but is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, is an unlikely challenger to Clinton. On inauguration day, if he wins, Sanders would be the oldest president, at age 75, ever elected. Until this run, he has eschewed the Democratic Party label, instead identifying as a democratic socialist.

But with better-known progressives, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, opting not to run, Sanders has been embraced by the far left on the political spectrum. On Wednesday night, he addressed 3,500 groups across the country via webcast. His campaign estimates that more than 100,000 people tuned in.

“The American people are saying loudly and clearly, enough is enough,” Sanders said. “This great country and our government belong to all of us, and not just a handful of billionaires.”

During his nine-minute address, Sanders ran through the governing priorities that set him apart from others:

• Tuition-free public colleges and universities
• Medicare for every citizen, regardless of age
• A campaign finance system that ends corporate influence
• A “path to citizenship” for the 11 million people who have come into this country without permission

At an event at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, some 250 people showed up to watch Sanders. They cheered lustily at his calls for universal health care and free higher education.

The crowd matched its enthusiasm for Sanders with a lukewarm view — at best — of Clinton.

“I don’t know what to think of her,” said a woman who gave her name only as Letty, who had driven from Biloxi, Mississippi, to watch the speech. “I think money has become too big an influence on her.”

Lisa Renye, a University of South Alabama student who helped organize Wednesday’s meetup, said she also was unsure of Clinton despite the former secretary of state’s many years in politics.

“I know that she has changed her mind on a lot of issues,” she said. “I want somebody who I can depend on to do what she says. I don’t know if I see that with Hillary.”

“I know that she has changed her mind on a lot of issues,” she said. “I want somebody who I can depend on to do what she says. I don’t know if I see that with Hillary.”

Could the events of 2008 be happening all over again for Clinton?

Sanders seems to have tapped in to much of the same energy that Barack Obama rode from dark horse to nominee during a long struggle in the summer of 2008.

Despite the parallels, it is important to note that Clinton enjoys a far more dominant position than she did at this point in the 2008 campaign. In a dozen public surveys taken during the month of July 2007, Clinton’s lead ranged from 9 to 21 percentage points. The current Real Clear Politics polling average puts her up by 40 points over Sanders.

The Vermont senator boasts of having more individual campaign contributors than any other candidate at 325,000 donors. But he does not appear capable of raising anywhere near the sum Obama hauled in during his first run for the White House.

Still, it is clear from the people who watched Sanders from Mobile that he has tapped into a dissatisfaction with Clinton that could threaten to turn her coronation into a real contest.

Sanders’ message certainly is different from say, Donald Trump’s. But the way some folks talk about Clinton resembles the way Trump supporters talk about former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“I see Hillary as being much more moderate,” said Joe Dalrymple, 30. “She caters a lot more to the corporate interests. She represents the establishment.”

Most said they would vote for Clinton if she won the nomination. But they made it clear they hope they will not have to.

“I would like to see her run as Bernie Sanders’ vice president, but she would never do that, because she’s got too big [of] an ego.”

“She’s a good second choice,” said Ivan Boatwright, a 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran. “I would like to see her run as Bernie Sanders’ vice president, but she would never do that, because she’s got too big [of] an ego.”

To be clear, the people who gathered under Sanders’ banner Wednesday were not just expressing dissatisfaction with Clinton. There was real excitement about Sanders. The American Conservative Union and its liberal counterpart, Americans for Democratic Action, both ranked Obama, Sanders and Clinton as among the most liberal senators when they all served together.

With Sanders, supporters have the sense that he means it.

“We’re ready for this revolution,” math teacher Sarah Brewer told the crowd before Sanders spoke. “We need what’s good for us and not the billionaires.”

Michael Pruett, 38, said he believes Sanders would take the country back from the billionaires and corporations.

“He wants to invest in public infrastructure,” he said. “He wants to invest in green energy. He wants to help the middle class.”

Obama, of course, was the candidate who was going to do all that. After his seven years in office, though, many of his original supporters have grown disenchanted. Thomas Ausborn, 25, said he wished Obama had delivered more comprehensive health reform than the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s better than the system we had before,” he said. “But it falls short of a single-payer system.”

Said Letty, the woman who came from Biloxi: “I voted for him twice. And I was disappointed by his lack of commitment to the people. I don’t think he did what he campaigned on.”