One way Sanders is correcting this extreme imbalance in the propaganda wars is by correctly insisting on usage of the term "democratic socialist" to describe himself. His actual policies might not be very socialistic, considering the European use of the term, but it's a brilliant move on his part to shift the terrain of discourse away from neoliberal policy contending with neoliberal policy, which would be the case, for example, if Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were to duke it out in the end.
The power imbalance, in favor of corporations, has become so extreme that a new vocabulary for building a movement is needed; note how Barack Obama, because of his lack of access to such a language, never intended to nor succeeded in any way in building a lasting movement for progress and justice.
Since he gained the upper hand in both Iowa and New Hampshire in the last few days, Sanders seems to have quickly shifted gears and opened up his message and vision. Although dramatic gestures are not his style, he needs to say and do some unexpected things of a radical nature to place a bet on minorities moving quickly toward him. When that strategy starts clicking, no one in the neoliberal camp will be able to catch him.
If there is a moment in the first debate where Sanders can convey, through humor, the humanity of his vision--a kind of genuine vulnerability we have not seen for at least 15 years at the national level--he will become invincible from that point on. And never worry, Hillary Clinton will neither try to outdo him on progressive policy nor demonstration of humanity; that is not the way of neoliberals.
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