Photo by Gage Skidmore/ CC BY-SA2.0
In the beginning ... Bernie Sanders was the well-mannered newly minted Democratic opponent appearing to understand he could make his points without knocking the block off the person with the strongest chance to win the nomination. He gave the impression that there was mutual respect, as did Hillary Clinton, and his initial demeanor earned him respect. Remember the man who declined to go after Secretary Clinton in the first Democratic debate saying, "This may not be great politics. But I think the Secretary is right and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails".
But Sanders, the underdog, has kept winning primary elections. With each win his crowds have grown larger, and he has grown angrier. A new Sanders has emerged creating a distinctly, and to any Democrat, uncomfortable similarity between him and Donald Trump. Each one knows how to ignite the passionate support of large crowds that in turn inflate their candidate egos - no matter what. Bernie has called his campaign a revolution. Trump calls his a movement. They each consider themselves outsiders focused on disruption, and it doesn't seem to bother Sanders a bit that he's feeding Donald Trump real ammunition to use against Clinton. Who cares, he's basically said. It's about me now.
At this point, Sanders ego seems to be driving his battle to win a nomination that's now all but unobtainable. The delegate math won't add up unless a miracle steps in. But you'd never know that by listening to Sanders. After a loss in the Virginia Primary and a win in Oregon, he continued to talk about winning. He told a California crowd, "Before we can defeat Donald Trump we have to defeat Secretary Clinton". The crowd went wild, and so it seems has Sanders. He's gone full throttle against the Democratic party and Clinton, apparently unconcerned about its impact on the November election.
“Bernie the Maverick” has come out. The Independent he always was seems to be the Independent he wants to remain, despite taking on the Democratic mantel to run for President. Sounds too Trumpish for comfort. Especially when refusing to condemn the violence his supporters took part in at the Nevada Democratic Convention last weekend.
Sanders has a right to make his case. He is committed to doing so. But I now see a man increasingly caught up in himself and his crowds rather than fighting a statesman like battle to achieve his goals. It gives a more egocentric tone to his continued attacks on Clinton while building unreal expectations among his supporters.
Clinton needs less than a hundred votes to secure the Democratic nomination. It's turned Sanders into an angry man fighting the establishment and vowing to take his angry fight to the convention. What ever happened to the pull it together positively Bernie?