Bernie Sanders catalyzed the Democratic Party’s post-Barack Obama move to the left, and if he were elected president in 2020, it would represent a truly historic swing in the country’s orientation.
Yet among the flaws on Bernie’s resume for many progressives is an unalterable one — he is a white male, and an old one without a cute Spanish nickname. The straight, cisgendered Sanders is burdened by his utter lack of intersectionality, unless being a Vermont senator from Brooklyn counts.
In his announcement interview on Vermont Public Radio, he was pushed on how he can lead a diverse Democratic Party. Sanders cited the famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote about judging people by the content of their character and replied: “We have got to look at candidates, you know, not by the color of their skin, not by their sexual orientation or their gender and not by their age. I mean, I think we have got to try to move us toward a nondiscriminatory society which looks at people based on their abilities, based on what they stand for.”
For expressing a sentiment that would have been considered jejune just a few years ago, Sanders was roundly denounced.
Neera Tanden, of the Center for American Progress, thundered, “At a time where folks feel under attack because of who they are, saying race or gender or sexual…
