Talk Elections

Well what do you think?

Nope. He's an open one. ;)

I figure what better defense against those who cry "closet socialism" than by out right admitting to being one. I mean seriously, the "socialism" charge, which makes many a non-Republican shift in their boots, is nothing against an admitted Democratic Socialist.

Agreed. Also takes quite a lot of balls to do, which is quite respectable.

Nope; he's the best man in Congress.

Probably. Doesn't he self-identify as one?

Er, a social-democrat, yes. I've never heard him advocate for a proletarian revolution.

I've heard him multiple times, once on the Colbert Report, openly call himself a "Democratic Socialist". Sure it's not dye in the wool socialism, but it's still "socialism".

He's a proud democratic socialist.

It's true.  Sanders caucuses with the Democrat Party but he is actually registered as a Socialist.  Which should speak volumes to the people of Vermont and America about what the Democrat agenda really is...

     Bernie Sanders caucuses with a Thai party? I wonder what other nations he's caucusing with parties from.

And yet, at least 11 senators (http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/01/24/how-many-senators-are-more-liberal-than-the-socialist-one/) are more liberal than he is.

Oh Lieberman that nuty liberal.

No. He's out and proud.

I'm seeing him with a "Red Pride" flag marching through the street shouting "We're here, we're out to redistribute wealth and build a social safety net while protecting labor from exploitation, get used to it!"

A bit of an unwieldy chant, now that I look at it.  The real lefties are good at making up those chants, so I'm sure he'd have something catchier.

Especially surprising he caucuses with a conservative Thai party!

Mmm, no he is a registered independent.

I don't find it offensive that conservatives have called me a socialist.  I find it offensive that they think that that's necessarily a bad thing.

So in the "European Left" sense? Old Labour, Parti Socialiste, PSOE, PASOK etc?

Or in the American left sense, as Paul Wellstone would put it, the "Democratic wing of the Democratic party".

He is an out of the closet Socialist but his views are more like Communist.

Just... no. :P

The Democrats are more like a Liberal party - right wing on economic issues but not at all on social issues.

"Socialism" is very broad term. For me it's Democratic Socialism. Yes, Sanders is a Democratic Socialist and I guess he openly declared in these words.

No way, he is just a Social-Democrat.

Yes. Democratic socialist usually denotes people of the Melenchon-Lafontaine type. Sanders isn't like Melenchon.

Hmm...You mean he goes around advocating worker ownership of the means of production and the abolition of private property?  You'd think that that'd have gotten around by now.  Maybe because he doesn't say that.

The poor word communism...so mistreated.  It has a very specific meaning, people.

Meaning of word "socialism" is rather broad fellows. There is thing like Democratic Socialism, and Sanders declared himself these words.

wew lad

No, he's an overt socialist.  He called himself one.

I think he's more left-wing then he entails, as he wast part of liberty union,a radical left-wing party. He was part of a socialist party in his youth, so I think he moderated his positions to be elected, and that is why he probably calls himself democratic socialism rather than social democrat, a hardening of his actual socialistic positions of his youth. He honey-mooned in the Soviet Union, no?