“You can’t unfeel the Bern once you feel the Bern,” the Bernie Sanders supporter said, showing off her left-arm tattoo of the presidential candidate.
Samantha Bee tries to restore her faith in US politics by talking to Bernie Sanders voters
That was one of the several memorable moments that came from Full Frontal host Samantha Bee’s interview with Sanders supporters, in which she tried to capture why they seem to have a faith in Sanders and American politics that she lacks.
“I’m not here to bash Bernie,” Bee said. “I’m just here to understand your optimism, and stick my fingers in it, and just roll it around in my hands, and restore myself to the person I used to be.”
But try as she might, Bee just couldn’t get it. She kept asking them about the political process and Sanders’s chances of sustaining a movement to change America, and they repeatedly came back with the same determined enthusiasm for their presidential candidate.
Why couldn’t President Barack Obama deliver on some of his campaign promises? “He faced tremendous opposition and a lot of prejudice.”
So how will Sanders be different? “It takes a movement to get this stuff done.” “The difference is that the people will rise and stay awake after Bernie is elected.” “If he has problems with Congress, I think he would call on support. … ‘Let’s have a big protest.’”
Bee wasn’t buying it. “So are you literally saying to me right now that the difference between Obama and Bernie Sanders is that the people of America are going to continue to be motivated within the political process, and they’re going to keep putting pressure on our elected leaders to make change?” she asked. “Have you met people?”
Despite Bee’s prodding, the Sanders supporters remained optimistic. “Do you ask for a loaf of bread and get a half, or do you ask for a slice and get crumbs?” one asked.
It’s easy to mock these people on a late-night TV show, but they’re really making one of the main arguments for Sanders: that he will somehow galvanize a political revolution by inspiring Americans — particularly white Americans who have left the Democratic Party — with his vision for the country, empowering him to win not just the White House but Congress as well.
Bee just didn’t buy it, but she said it’s admirable. “I can’t have my heart broken again,” she said. But she added, “I respect these people’s unshakable willingness to dream big.”
But if things don’t work out? The supporter with the Sanders tattoo said, “I’ll just say it’s Danny DeVito.”
