Bill Scher on where Bernie Sanders went wrong. A friend of mine who is still pro-Sanders and refusing to admit he ain't gonna be the nominee takes issue with the claim that Sanders was promising a lot of things that just plain were not going to ever happen. "We need leaders who are not afraid to dream big and swing for the fences," she says. And she's absolutely right that if we limit ourselves to what seems easy or doable, we limit ourselves too much. A lot of great things have been accomplished that once seemed unattainable and impossible.
On the other hand, an utterly valid gripe about most politicians is that they promise things they should know they cannot possibly deliver. Most if not all of the Republican contenders have been vowing insane, unrealistic economic growth. Ted Cruz insists we will have at least 5% growth if we cut taxes (especially for the rich), scale back regulations on business and repeal Obamacare. And he probably figures we have to abolish Gay Marriage and close down Planned Parenthood, too. This country, of course, has never had 5% growth and I think Trump was at one point saying he could get us above 6% easily. How? Because he's Donald Trump, that's how.
I'm not saying Trump and Sanders have a lot in common. There are a number of articles around that attempt to argue that and the ones I've come across seem like awfully weak Lipton. But there is a fine line between dreaming big and setting unreachable goals. A lot of us loved where Sanders said he wanted to take this country but not all of us were convinced he really knew how to get us there.