This is Part 3 of a multi-part series examining how we use the Power of the Word in politics, particularly in the 2020 presidential race. Rev. Sara S. Nichols is senior minister at the Center for Spiritual Living, Davis and the Spiritual Director of All is Well Institute which supports and teaches people how to heal themselves using spiritual tools. Trained as an attorney, before coming to spiritual science, she was a legislative and communications advocate for Medicare for All and other consumer issues in Congress and the California legislature.
Part 4 --Marianne Williamson and the Power of the Word
In this series, we confine ourselves primarily to the question of how effectively does the candidate work with the power of their word. In other words, given how they marshall universal law to their favor through the power of the word, how much do they appear to be grounded in a vision of a world that works for everyone, how likely are they to win, and when they assume the White House, what are they likely to accomplish?
My assumption is that every Democratic challenger for president shares most of the same policy positions (affordable universal health care and education, pro civil rights, combat climate change, raise the minimum wage, pro gun control). There are plenty of other writers out there that will spend their time evaluating the nuances of where Democratic candidates for president are on these issues. And most news forums will spend their time looking at the experience, the demographics and the charisma of the candidates, all of which play a role in whether they will win.
Let's rate Bernie Sanders on the criteria that I'm looking at and then you can read about why I draw those conclusions below. Based on my conclusions, Bernie is currently the best placed Democratic contender to win the White House and govern from shared values of love, integrity, diverity & inclusion, accountability and caring.
Scale of 1 - 10 10 being the best
- Sanders effective Use of Power of his Word -- 8
- Sanders potential use of his word to win the nomination and presidency -- 9
- Sanders likelihood of governing based on a World that Works for Everyone upon assuming presidency -- 10
- Sanders grounding his Word in love, integrity, diversity and inclusion, accountability, caring--10
How Sanders stacks up against other contenders:
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| For More on this see: Comparison of 2020 Presidential Candidates |
Since this is the first piece in the series to look at a Democratic challenger for president, let’s get clear on the charge I give myself. Absent Trump dropping out of the race or being so weakened that a Republican challenger can beat him in the primary, let’s assume that anyone who enormously dislikes the president’s, shall we say “style of governance,” is likely to support the Democratic nominee for president. Let’s further assume that the Democratic candidates share most of the same policy positions (affordable universal health care and education, pro civil rights, combat climate change, raise the minimum wage, pro gun control). There are plenty of other writers out there that will spend their time evaluating the nuances of where Democratic candidates for president are on these issues. And most news forums will spend their time looking at the experience, the demographics and the charisma of the candidates, all of which play a role in whether they will win.
In this series, we confine ourselves primarily to the question of how effectively does the candidate work with the power of their word. In other words, given how they marshall universal law to their favor through the power of the word, how much do they appear to be grounded in a vision of a world that works for everyone, how likely are they to win, and when they assume the White House, what are they likely to accomplish?
In this piece I evaluate how Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a leading candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president, uses the power of his word. Full disclosure: Bernie Sanders is the candidate I know best and like best out of the gate (and folks, it is early in the race). He talks the most like the people with whom I used to work. Before becoming a new thought minister, I spent years fighting (and mostly losing) the good fight as a lawyer and consumer rights advocate in Congress and the California Legislature.
In the early ‘90s, I was an advocate for Medicare for All (which we used to call “single payer health care”) and Bernie Sanders, then a member of the House of Representatives, was one of our biggest champions. He was a great member of Congress to work with. He and his staff were people of their word. What they said, they stood by (not something to be taken for granted in a politician). He worked hard for Medicare for All even then. He showed up where we needed him to show up. He was consistent. He was kind. He was more interested in shifting the parameters of the possible, than he was in conventional political wisdom. And he was humble. To us, he was never “congressman,” or “Mr. Sanders,” he was just “Bernie.” So since he’s always been “Bernie” to me and he is now “Bernie” to millions, I am going to call him Bernie for the rest of this article.
In his 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders powerfully demonstrated using the power of his word to shift the parameters of the possible. Just as a hate-filled multiple offending misogynist liar was not supposed to win the Republican nomination, a Jewish politically independent self-proclaimed social democrat was not supposed to gather energetic crowds of thousands everywhere he went. He wasn’t supposed to raise millions of dollars a day through small contributions. He was certainly was not supposed to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary.
And while Bernie most assuredly did NOT win the Democratic nomination for president. He did play a role in completely changing the parameters of the possible in American policy and politics. Bernie Sanders, using the power of his word on the stump in America, took Medicare for All, universal public college education and a raise to $15 an hour in the minimum wage from peripheral much dismissed “politically unviable” proposals to the policy centerpieces of virtually every Democratic candidate for president in 2020. He both created and rode a wave of progressivism in America (it is hard to separate cause from effect but it is clear that he, unlike other Democrats running today, did not just have his finger in the wind, he was part of the wind). Indeed, his candidacy made it as imperative for a Democrat in 2020 to be seen as “progressive” as it is for Republicans to be “conservative.” Witness Minnesota Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar recently proclaiming in Iowa that she is “progressive” when she otherwise sounds like what we used to call a midwest centrist.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who started out as an organizer for Bernie Sanders for President 2016, went on to defeat 10-term incumbent and powerful Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley for the 14th Congressional District of New York. AOC as she is widely known created the controversial “Green New Deal,” the possibility of which came out of what Bernie had campaigned for.
One of the ways in which Bernie uses the power of the word effectively is through repetition and consistency. He does not try to be all things to all people. He answers almost every question with the same handful of statements he has made for years, "It is not moral, it is not acceptable, and it is not sustainable that the top one-tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent." He always goes on to say something like “we can do better. Health care is a human right. Affordable higher education is a human right. A living wage is a human right.” He says these things passionately and he says them repeatedly. That is using the power of his word.
In this series, we confine ourselves primarily to the question of how effectively does the candidate work with the power of their word. In other words, given how they marshall universal law to their favor through the power of the word, how much do they appear to be grounded in a vision of a world that works for everyone, how likely are they to win, and when they assume the White House, what are they likely to accomplish?
In the early ‘90s, I was an advocate for Medicare for All (which we used to call “single payer health care”) and Bernie Sanders, then a member of the House of Representatives, was one of our biggest champions. He was a great member of Congress to work with. He and his staff were people of their word. What they said, they stood by (not something to be taken for granted in a politician). He worked hard for Medicare for All even then. He showed up where we needed him to show up. He was consistent. He was kind. He was more interested in shifting the parameters of the possible, than he was in conventional political wisdom. And he was humble. To us, he was never “congressman,” or “Mr. Sanders,” he was just “Bernie.” So since he’s always been “Bernie” to me and he is now “Bernie” to millions, I am going to call him Bernie for the rest of this article.
In his 2016 campaign, Bernie Sanders powerfully demonstrated using the power of his word to shift the parameters of the possible. Just as a hate-filled multiple offending misogynist liar was not supposed to win the Republican nomination, a Jewish politically independent self-proclaimed social democrat was not supposed to gather energetic crowds of thousands everywhere he went. He wasn’t supposed to raise millions of dollars a day through small contributions. He was certainly was not supposed to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Michigan primary.
One of the ways in which Bernie uses the power of the word effectively is through repetition and consistency. He does not try to be all things to all people. He answers almost every question with the same handful of statements he has made for years, "It is not moral, it is not acceptable, and it is not sustainable that the top one-tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent." He always goes on to say something like “we can do better. Health care is a human right. Affordable higher education is a human right. A living wage is a human right.” He says these things passionately and he says them repeatedly. That is using the power of his word.
Yet, it is clear that Bernie Sanders himself believes more in the power of the people than in the power of the presidency. It’s important what Bernie believes because our beliefs are the limits to the power of our word. He repeatedly says, “I can’t do this without you. We need a sea change to make this happen.” While this may limit the power of the presidency, this has been an effective use of his word because he is enrolling people in his vision and showing us the importance of being part of his campaign. It also clearly separates him from the current White House resident, in demonstrating that Bernie will always see the people as the Sovereign, not the Executive. He is giving us a way to participate in his vision for America.
It is my belief that Bernie Sanders would be an effective head-to-head opponent for Donald Trump’s powerful use of the word. Unlike Elizabeth Warren, Bernie has proven that he doesn’t get distracted by the current resident of the Oval Office’s shenanigans. Bernie knows what he knows and he stays on that message, that word. He clearly sees the way things have been, but he refuses to be limited by what others have decided are politically infeasible. He is a proven progressive who doesn’t have to prove he’s progressive so he is free to say what he thinks makes the most sense. I think Bernie Sanders can beat Donald Trump at his own game and win the presidency.
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