Well with Ted Cruz announcing his Presidential campaign we have officially begun the 2016 election season. As anyone with half a brain understands, Cruz has little to no chance to win the Republican nomination, let alone the general election. However, he stands to push the Republican Presidential hopefuls further to the right. While there is little doubt we will see the likes of Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, and Scott Walker put their names forward within the next month I think the race for the Democratic nomination presents some much more interesting possibilities.
Many people will be confused by my previous statement. "Isn't Hillary guaranteed to win the nomination?" they ask. Yes, as of right now Hillary looks like the heir apparent to the Democratic nomination. However, I should remind everyone that the same was thought in 2008 and we all know how that turned out. Now I am not naive enough to believe that a candidate like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren could actually win the nomination or the general election. There is too much Wall Street money behind Clinton to allow a democratic socialist like Sanders or a Progressive like Warren to win. If Sanders or Warren won the primary those Wall Street financiers would just send all their money to the Republicans. But I think that having a champion of the left run, and run strongly, would force Hillary to at least publicly come out against the horrible inequality we see in America today. Right now she gives good lip service to inequality but has not been forced to actually address it in any meaningful way.
I say that the Democratic nomination could be more interesting not because of the potential political drama, that will stay squarely with the circus that will be the Republican nomination, but rather because having someone like Sanders or Warren run would allow the general public in America with the opportunity to be reintroduced to serious leftist thinking for the first time in over half a century. Not since the worst part of the Vietnam War has America been genuinely confronted by the left in politics and not since the days of Eugene V. Debs have they seen a strong leftist candidate. Sure we see them on TV at big political marches, some wearing their Guy Fawkes masks, but we have never seen a truly left-leaning politician gain any kind of serious national attention (unless you count Dennis Kucinich but people liked to laugh at him and his somewhat cooky personality quarks rather than listen to his political message).
Ever since the demise of the Soviet Union the people of the United States have tried to pretend that there is only the center and the right in politics. The failure of the left to present a respectable candidate has led to the continued association of the left with the Soviet Union. The American public needs to realize that the left still exists and has serious policies to propose. They need to learn that the left does not want to bring back the Soviet Union or any of its faux "socialism." Having a serious leftist contender would force Hillary to confront the fact that when polled individually on "socialist" policies, Americans usually come out strongly in favor of those policies. Hillary is so embedded with Wall Street, just like all New York politicians, that being confronted by a strong challenger from the left may actually force her to reconsider her old alliances. Hillary would be forced to consider that most Americans don't like Wall Street and the power politics they represent. Hillary may even be force to abandon those same Wall Street financiers should her leftist contender giver her a good run for her money. And maybe being confronted by a strong leftist contender may even force her to pick one as her running mate.
Naturally all of this is pure conjecture. Warren has come out squarely against running for President and Sanders has yet to truly make up his mind. Sadly, outside of those two I don't foresee any serious leftist candidate arising but who knows what the future may hold. Personally I am hoping for a Sanders/Warren ticket but know that the chance of that actually happening is a big old goose egg.
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