As Democratic Party primary selection days approach, the polling surge for Senator Bernie Sanders In Iowa, New Hampshire and nationally gives great encouragement to the senator’s fervent supporters: progressives who believe Sanders represents the only hope to have a US president who will devote himself to: minimize the economic, social and political inequality pervasive in our country; create attainable education for all; foster moderation and tolerance in religious, ethnic, racial and gender-specific attitudes; seek diplomatic solutions before regime change; attempt immediate and effective means to deal with climate change; promote an increased federal minimum wage; and seek to provide jobs through insuring repair/replacement of the nation’s long-neglected roads, bridges, railroads, air and sea ports.
When one looks across the pond to recent political developments in the United Kingdom, and considers the remarkable rise of Jeremy Corbyn as new leader of that nation’s Labour Party, one cannot help speculating about the possibility of a trans-Atlantic alliance between countries led by Sanders and Corbyn. It would be almost a dream come true for liberals: a partnership at the polar opposite from that created by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.
Though Sanders and Corbyn may both be seen as somewhat grizzled old-timers, it’s extremely significant that the youth of both countries have been galvanized by their candidacies. In the United States, Democratic Party primary voters under 45 support Sanders “by a roughly 2-1 ratio” (NY Times, Jan. 13, 2015) and women under 35 by 60 points (thenation.com, Jan. 14, 2015). In the UK, Corbyn’s rise to party leadership has sparked thousands of younger people to join – -or rejoin – the Labourites.
According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, in a general election, “Sanders has 51 percent to Trump’s 38 percent. If this margin held in a general election, Democrats would almost certainly regain control of the United States Senate and very possibly the House of Representatives. … [Hillary Clinton] would beat Trump 47 percent to 40 percent.” (whorunsgov.com, Dec. 25, 2015)
In September 2015, Corbyn was elected leader of the British Labour party, “in a stunning first-round victory that dwarfed even the mandate for Tony Blair in 1994.
“Minutes after his victory, Corbyn said the message is that people are ‘fed up with the injustice and the inequality’ of Britain. ‘The media and many of us, simply didn’t understand the views of young people in our country. They were turned off by the way politics was being conducted. We have to and must change that.’
“The new leader concluded by saying the poorest were suffering a terrible burden of austerity and have seen their wages cut or are forced to rely on food banks under the Conservatives.” (theguardian.com, Sept. 12, 2015)
“Jeremy Corbyn’s hopes of remoulding Labour have been boosted by a detailed Guardian survey into the party at grassroots level that shows overwhelming support for him, a decisive shift to the left … Almost every constituency party across the country we contacted reported doubling, trebling, quadrupling or even quintupling membership, and a revival of branches that had been moribund for years and close to folding.” (theguardian.com, Jan. 13, 2015)
The parallels between the character and the views of the two men are obvious, as is the excitement and enthusiasm they arouse.
So for some, the thought – at least the hope – is inescapable that there may be arising, at least in our two countries, a renewed tide of liberal enlightenment, the view that tolerance, decency, reliance on peer-reviewed science, the leveling of privilege and power, respect for privacy and human rights, revulsion of torture and imprisonment without charge or legal representation, has begun.
The “Road to the Whitehouse” in this country is long and torturous. Not until November of this year will we know who is our new leader.
In Britain, a general election selects a winning political party and that party’s leader becomes Prime Minister. Its next general election will not be held until May 2020, so even at that time should Jeremy Corbyn stand for the Labour Party and win, the international partnership I fantasize could only begin at the end of our next president’s first term.
Polls are notoriously variable – sometimes because their questions are so differently framed – and in England not a single poll predicted the actual outcome of the 2015 general election.
But for those, like this writer, who are enthusiastic supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, recent endorsements of his candidacy by MoveOn, one of the country’s largest liberal groups, and by The Nation magazine give us increased hope for the future.
William Smithers
Santa Barbara