It's a time-stumbling trip to witness one of Bernie Sanders' fighting oligarchy tour stops rolling through Nevada, Colorado and Arizona this weekend.
It's 2025, and if Vermont Senator Sanders still delivers the line on “billionaires and billionaires” in Brooklyn drawl, with 1% still at his feet, it could be 2015 or 2005.
It's not just Mr. Sanders' speech. At 83, his image does not move – even though his hairline is a little behind him than before. As he has for years, he is less fancy than what you'll find on drugstore checkout lines, inconspicuous navy suits and cornflower blue dress shirts. His young sparring partners in the Democratic Party – Barack Obama, Pete Battigieg and Gavin Newsom, among others, used to slash sports coats to cut down on shirt sleeves. Not Bernie. His blazer continues, like an aging accountant.
The sense of overtime extends beyond the stage of the Fighting Olgarki Tour. The crowd filling these whistle stops (though Sanders said it was one of the biggest in his political career) wears a “Berney 2016” t-shirt and a “Berney 2020” cap.
The Swelling Population Sanders paints – reflecting the Democratic cohort once again relied on Sanders as the states that often went for Donald J. Trump in the last election, as the broader party appears to be unable to cut Trump's authority. (He previously died of being a Democratic presidential candidate, but Sanders is independent and has recently urged others to follow him. Still, Sanders's persistent appeal to left-leaning Democrats can feel similar to Trump's Republican holds in terms of full fandom.)
Political sand has changed since Sanders last ran for presidency. About 10 years ago, could anyone choose Pete Hegses, let alone his tattoo? At the time, Elon Musk was an electric car entrepreneur and not a government cost cutter. Paul Ryan was a home speaker in 2016 – remember him? But Sanders has his rich message and remains constant.
And today, Democrats on the Hills show a fight over budget votes and polls, but likewise, Sanders is baking the country along with New York lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pulling the crowds.
Certainly Vermont Independence is, in so many ways, a grateful dead in American politics. Like the Dead, he has a steady fan base – both groups are often as grey as he now – it rests on all new interpolation of old hits. (The working shot of Sanders' Musk's speech is his version of dead retool “Casey Jones.”) He also continues to find purchases with the younger generation drawn into the messaging of the younger generation.
On the Fighting Olgarky Tour, Ocasio-Cortez plays a similar role to John Mayer, who has recently died & started touring with the company, in her hidden white shirt and leopard print flats.
And the crowd: Like the deadhead, Bernie's true followers love the goods. Today you can buy a shirt that styles a photo of young Sanders adjacent to the phrase “Bernie is right” tee, “anger towards the machine,” and a shirt that praises the loyal politician in Spanish as “Tio Bernie.”
Sanders' website continues to sell what it considers as the “Berney Classic Logo” tee, a recognizable font that has been in use since at least the 2016 presidential election. They are $27.
Although the coveted “Harris Waltz” camouflage hat in Kamala Harris' recent presidential run is short, Bernie's hat was painted with his name and buttons, as was his shirt depicting his name and buttons at a rally in Colorado, with his trademark glasses and flickled white hair.
How much it can take him (or Ocasio-Cortez, who portrays her own AOC Tee supporter) is an open question. After all, the Grateful Dead is still considered a cult band.
