Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @DeanObeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.
(CNN) "Please welcome the 46th President of the United States of America, Bernie Sanders."
You could be hearing those exact words come 2021. Those who say Sanders has no chance of winning are denying the reality of the current state of American politics. That being said, Sanders may not even end up as the Democratic nominee and, to be clear, I'm not writing this in support of his candidacy. Rather, my point is that Sanders could plausibly win both the Democratic nomination and the White House in 2020, especially given the lessons of Donald Trump's unexpected win.
But the Sanders 2020 campaign, fueled by a populist message, does share some commonality with Trump's improbable 2016 run.
First, both Sanders today and Trump during his 2016 campaign drew massive, passionate crowds at their rallies. For example, in August 2015, then-candidate Trump drew 30,000 at a campaign event in Alabama. This was at a time when numerous political experts gave Trump almost no chance of winning . In January 2016, shortly before the New Hampshire primary, Trump attracted approximately 8,000 supporters at his rally near the border of neighboring Massachusetts.
People4America on February 24th, 2020 at 00:38 UTC »
From now on “Democratic Socialist” means “FDR Democrat”.
Simple_Danny on February 23rd, 2020 at 22:41 UTC »
He absolutely can win it all, but that's no reason to become lazy or complacent. We need to act as if he's down twenty points and rally our efforts to help Sanders win. It's not over until Bernie is officially sworn in.
RedGambitt_ on February 23rd, 2020 at 21:40 UTC »
“It will be up to Sanders and the Democratic Party, if Sanders wins the nomination, to explain that he's not a socialist in the traditional sense. Rather, as he explained in a 2019 speech on the topic, his focus is completing President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" by, among other things, ensuring all Americans have health care as a right and helping to close the income equality gap by raising the minimum wage.”
EXACTLY. SOMEONE FROM A CORPORATE MEDIA OUTLET FINALLY SAID IT.