Bernie Sander’s campaign is still alive and kicking. Sure, even his most ardent supporters are beginning to accept the near impossibility of clinching over 65% of the remaining pledged delegates in upcoming primaries, but in the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas: “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” And indeed, it seems there is enough of a chance for Sanders to keep his progressive fire berning all the way up through the Democratic National Convention on July 25. And even if he doesn’t miraculously topple Hillary Clinton’s well-oiled political machine in that time, Sanders wants to make it clear that his Democratic Socialist agenda is the future of progressive politics in the United States.
His latest campaign video continues with the uplifting tone that has defined much of his PR strategy, and conspicuously avoids talking about his immediate rival in favor of challenging the orange-faced presumptive Republican nominee. Taking audio and video from an unidentified Sanders rally, the one minute twenty-two second spot entitled “Love Trumps Hate” finds Bernie speaking in a soft, heartfelt tone accompanied by an emotive piano track. Reminiscent of a kind Jewish grandfather having a touching heart-to-heart with his bubbeleh, “Love Trumps Hate” features slow-motion images of black, white, and brown faces cheering ecstatically while Bernie reflects on what truly makes America great.
In a brilliant turn on Trump’s otherwise powerful last name, Sanders insists that “the American people instinctually understand that bringing people together — white or Latino, Asian-American, gay and straight, men and women, people born in America, people who come to America — will always trump dividing us up.” He then takes the once dread-inducing “S-word” (that’s “socialism,” folks) and boils it down to an appeal for basic community values when he continues: “We are at our best when we support each other, when we help each other,” only to close with a powerful anti-Trump rallying cry that’s been rearing its head at protests across the country: “Love trumps hatred.”
It’s a moving message, and a very strategic one as well, making a subtle nod to his positive polling over Trump while also taking on Trump’s not-so-subtle attempts to syphon off Bernie supporters in the general election. Either way, there’s no denying that it’s an important message of unity in a political season that has so shamelessly stoked the flames of anti-Latino sentiment for petty personal gain.