This old campaign ad from 1971 sheds a lot of light on Bernie Sanders’s appeal

Politico’s Gabriel Debenedetti posted this old Yale Daily News ad for George McGovern for the factoid that Ben Carson was a McGovern supporter back in the day. But what I think is really interesting about it is the light it sheds on Bernie Sanders:

This is a great ad, and it would apply pretty much word for word to Sanders. It’s devastating because it simply recasts the candidate’s weaknesses as strengths and asks us to imagine a different, better world in which leading public opinion was a good thing and cashing checks from wealthy interests was a bad thing.

Arguments like this powered McGovern to the nomination where he, of course, lost in a landslide — because it turns out that raising money and placating interest groups and trimming your sails to stay in line with public opinion are all useful political skills.