Gottinger writes: "Bernie’s performance at Tuesday night’s Democratic Debate proved that his campaign is still very much alive."
Senator Bernie Sanders will return to the debate stage, two weeks after suffering a heart attack while campaigning. (photo: Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times)
ALSO SEE: Bernie Sanders Was the Big Winner of Last Night's Debate
16 October 19
hen the Sanders campaign announced he had undergone a procedure on his heart earlier this month, the corporate press went into a frenzy crafting a narrative about the supposedly serious questions the incident raised about the future of his campaign.
Readers of mainstream publications were led to believe that Sen. Sanders’s campaign may have died on the operating table in Las Vegas. Voters, we were told, would now surely see that Bernie is too old and that there were now too many questions about his health.
Wow! BERNIE’S BACK! Fighting the fight for working people for three long hours — just two weeks after a heart attack! Jeez. Amazing!
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) October 16, 2019
Following Bernie’s hospitalization, mainstream reporters even began contacting high profile Bernie supporters to see if they still backed Bernie, but they all stuck with him.
Unfortunately for the corporate media – and their billionaire owners – the death of Bernie’s campaign was greatly exaggerated. Bernie’s performance at Tuesday night’s Democratic Debate proved that his campaign is still very much alive. Senator Sanders demonstrated the same commanding stage presence as always and communicated his progressive vision for America with a clarity, concision, and confidence that no other candidate can match.
No one can match Bernie Sanders for righteous indignation about our screwed-up system.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 16, 2019
On Tuesday night, Bernie laid to rest any speculation that he was a tired old candidate who had lost a step. Instead what we saw was the same old Bernie. He railed against corporate greed and shouted about building a political revolution to bring people together to defeat Donald Trump. Watching Bernie, it was hard to believe that just weeks ago he’d undergone heart surgery.
Bernie Sanders does not look like a guy who just had a heart attack
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 16, 2019
When asked directly by the CNN moderators about how he could reassure voters about his health, Bernie simply said that they could judge by the “vigorous campaign” he would be running “all over this country.” He then delivered a heartfelt thank you to his colleges and supporters who offered their love, prayers, and well wishes while he was hospitalized.
Though CNN gave Bernie less speaking time than other candidates, he made great use of his time. He delivered memorable lines calling out America’s for-profit healthcare system and income inequality and he took Vice President Biden to task for his support of the Iraq War and NAFTA.
CNN ignored Bernie for about an hour then asked him why anybody should vote for him because he's old and then just went back to ignoring him. #DemDebate
— Secular Talk (@KyleKulinski) October 16, 2019
On Tuesday night, Bernie proved he wasn’t going anywhere and that he possessed the same fiery demeanor as always. But arguably one of the biggest signs his campaign is still very much alive came not from the debate stage at all, but from the breaking news that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib were all endorsing him.
The three representatives are rising stars in the Democratic Party and represent the party’s youthful, progressive grassroots base. The endorsement of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was especially sought after given that she has become a powerful voice in the Democratic Party.
By eleven o’clock, it was clear that it had been a pretty good evening for Bernie.
Paul Gottinger is a staff reporter at RSN whose work focuses on the Middle East and the arms industry. He can be reached on Twitter @paulgottinger or via email.
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