Back in 2015, I was just tickled to be able to vote for a septaugenarian socialist Jew for President of the United States, and have it actually be something more than just a protest vote.1 So I did. And then in November I voted for Hillary, who was the most qualified non-incumbent Presidential candidate who ever lived.
But now Bernie is 78, having just had a birthday, on September 8. And I’m sorry, but he’s too old.
As if to prove that, yesterday Bernie had two stents inserted in an artery after experiencing chest discomfort at an event.
Did he have a heart attack? That isn’t completely clear, but as reported by Slate, one of his two major coronary arteries was so blocked that the stents needed to be inserted immediately.
The Sanders campaign wants to use this as a vehicle for talking about Medicare for All, and certainly we should talk about that, but in this context it reinforces the concern that Sanders is too old.
In any case, lightning doesn’t strike twice, and the electricity that powered his campaign has clearly moved on to Elizabeth Warren, who has taken over the mantle of progressive activism from Sanders.2
I love Bernie for his consistency. He’s been saying the same thing for forty years, and he has been on the right side of (most) issues for the same length of time. He’s no Johnny-come-Lately to progressive causes. But his time has passed, and alas, he won’t be getting my vote in the Massachusetts primary this time around.
- Let’s not forget that Bernie gave Hillary a serious run for her money, and without the opposition of the superdelegates, might even have won the whole thing. It would have been interesting to see Bernie vs. Trumpelthinskin, two crotchedy old men, one a socialist and the other a grifter. Who knows how that would have ended, but probably no worse than it did for Hillary.
- I wasn’t that excited when Elizabeth Warren decided to run for President — even though I think she’s a terrific Senator — because I fear that she will suffer the same fate as Hillary Clinton, which is to be a supremely qualified women beaten out by the Orange Kumquat, only because some people don’t like a woman being that smart.
