>> THAT OF COURSE WAS SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS JUST A SHORT TIME
AGO ON HOW HE’S RUNNING HIS
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. YOU REMEMBER WHEN SANDERS RAN
FOR PRESIDENT IN 2016, HE
CERTAINLY BLAZED A TRAIL TALKING
ABOUT WHAT WERE THEN CONSIDERED
RADICAL IDEAS LIKE MEDICARE FOR
ALL, A $15 MINIMUM WAGE.
THIS TIME AROUND, SOME OF HIS
CONTENDERS ARE BRACING THOSE
SAME IDEAS.
SAME IDEAS. THAT’S THE FOCUS OF "TIME"
MAGAZINE’S STORY TODAY, A
QUESTION LINGERING OVER HIM, TO
WIN THAT GAME, CAN WE CHANGE?
JOINING ME NOW THE AUTHOR OF
THAT COVER STORY, ANAND
GIRIDHARADAS.
GIRIDHARADAS. QUITE A PIECE.
YOU SPENT EIGHT DAYS WITH BERNIE
SANDERS RECENTLY.
SANDERS RECENTLY. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY?
>> I THINK, YOU KNOW, MORE THAN
SPENDING TIME WITH HIM, IT WAS
SPENDING TIME WITH THE CROWDS
THAT HE WAS ATTRACTING.
WE WENT TO A SMALL TOWN IN IOWA
WHERE THERE WERE 200-SOME PEOPLE
IN THAT TOWN AND ALL 200 PEOPLE
CAME TO THIS EVENT.
THIS MAN HAS BUILT A MOVEMENT, A
FOLLOWING THAT IS AN
EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT AND
IT’S A MOVEMENT THAT’S NOT DRAWN
TO HIS SMILE, IT’S A MOVEMENT
THAT IS ANIMATED BY HIS THEORY
OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN
AMERICAN LIFE THAT KIND OF FUSES
THEIR OWN PERSONAL PAIN AND
HARDSHIP DEALING WITH BILLS,
LACK OF JOBS, OTHER ISSUES IN
THIS COUNTRY AND HAVE FOUND IN
HIM A KIND OF ALMOST SECULAR
PROF
PROF PROPHET.
PROPHET. HE’S SPENT 40 YEARS LEADING UP
TO THIS, AND BEING LISTENED TO A
LOT IS SOMEONE WHO HAS A LOT OF
THE PENALTYRSONALITY TRAITS OF T
ACTIVIST.
ACTIVIST. AND HE’S SKEPTICAL OF THE MEDIA.
HE TRUSTS HIS CLOSEST ADVISORS
AND NOT THAT MANY OTHER PEOPLE.
AND HE HAS A GRUFF SIDE THAT IS
WELL KNOWN.
WELL KNOWN. AND I THINK ONE OF THE QUESTIONS
IS, HOW CAN HE GO BEYOND THE DIE
HARDS THAT HE’S DONE A FANTASTIC
JOB GELLING, AND REACH OUT ON
RACE AND GENDER WHERE HE’S BEEN
MAYBE A LITTLE BIT TONE DEAF.
HOW CAN REEVOLVE AT THIS STAGE
IN HIS LIFE?
>> DO YOU SEE ANY CROSSOVER?
WHEN YOU SAY HE ATTRACTS THOSE
WHO FEEL LIKE THEY’RE STRUGGLING
TO BE HEARD AND GET THEIR BILLS
PAID AND THEIR VOICES HEARD,
THAT SOUNDS LIKE A TRUMP VOTER
AND THAT MESSAGE OF ECONOMIC
POPULISM IS ONE THAT THE
PRESIDENT USED IN 2016.
>> I WAS LOOKING FOR THAT, TO BE
HONEST, IN TALKING TO A LOT OF
PEOPLE, WE DIDN’T FIND THAT.
BUT THAT’S ALSO BECAUSE IT’S A
PRIMARY RIGHT NOW AND THESE ARE
RALLIES.
RALLIES. I THINK HE MAY GET SOME OF THOSE
VOTERS IN A CLOSED BALLOT BOX.
I’M NOT SURE THAT THOSE VOTERS
ARE COMING OUT TO SEE HIM A YEAR
AND A HALF BEFORE THE PRIMARY.
THE REALITY IS HE ALSO HAS ALL
THE NORMAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL
STANDS ON ABORTION AND
EVERYTHING ELSE THAT ARE NOT
ATTRACTIVE TO A BUNCH OF THOSE
VOTERS.
VOTERS. BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE OF
THE THINGS THAT WAS VERY
STRIKING IN MY REPORTING WAS
THAT HE WAS VERY DETERMINED TO
WIN OVER THE TRUMP CURIOUS VOTER
WHETHER OR NOT THEY WERE THERE
IN THE RALLIES RIGHT NOW.
IN ORDER TO DO THAT, IT’S VERY
INTERESTING, HE WAS KIND OF
OFFERING A RETELLING OF 2016
THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT REDACTED.
HE WAS SAYING, TRUMP SAID HE WAS
GOING TO HELP YOU AND THAT WAS
HIS MAIN PITCH AND HE HASN’T
REALLY HELPED YOU.
BUT IT IGNORES THE WAYS IN WHICH
DONALD TRUMP HAD RUN OF SHOWISM
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKED THAT,
WERE DOWN FOR IT.
AND PART OF THE QUESTION IS, IS
BERNIE SANDERS AS WELL AS OTHER