After being proclaimed close to politically dead, Bernie Sanders resurrected his campaign with an upset victory over Hillary Clinton. Despite this win – many in the mainstream continue to portray Sanders and his allies as bordering on delusional. “Sanders declares war on reality” blared the headline of at least one major newspaper.
This plays into a recurring narrative that Clinton is the epitome of realism while her rival is at best naively idealistic and at worse dangerously irrational. There is a now almost universally accepted “truth” that Clinton is the candidate of pragmatism and her support build on these same “clear eyed” values.
However, scratching the surface of Clinton’s appeal tells a dramatically different story. It is founded instead on an unwavering belief in her progressiveness and electability even in the face of massive amount of contradictory evidence. Perhaps even more troubling is the growing orthodoxy that her brand of Centrism is the only way to achieve genuine progress.
While the majority of the popular attention has been spent on the dangers posed by Trump and his brand of populist demagoguery, not enough has been paid to the blind faith inspired by the Democratic frontrunner. Given her record of hawkishness abroad and oligarchy at home, the threat of Clinton fundamentalism has arguably never been stronger.
Ignoring Progressive Evidence