Run, Bernie, Run

I have to say that Bernie Sanders' appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert made me a bit of a believer.



No, he's probably not electable and I'm not sure at the end of the day whether he'll make a difference in shaping the conversation as we get closer to election day. But in the same way Trump's unfiltered personality has struck a chord, Sanders' unapologetic indignation on how the system has become increasingly stacked against both the poor and middle class is a breath of fresh air.

Better yet, I admire how Sanders doesn't run away from labels like "liberal" or "progressive," let alone "socialist." At the end of the day, Sanders probably sees labels as pointless, other than being an easy signpost for an electorate that really doesn't try to delve too hard into the issues. But at least he owns them and seems to be a good avatar for showing that these words have little meaning and, more importantly, aren't dirty words whose definitions and traditions have been co-opted by the right.

I can't believe that anyone watching Sanders on the Late Show wouldn't have seen good common sense in words, if not becoming a convert.

On the other side of the coin, Sanders' rumpled, angry old man demeanor has also understandably made him attractive fodder for the late night set, the most brilliant being Larry David's channeling of Sanders on the October 18, 2014 cold opening of Saturday Night Live. (When I saw David come out, I said, "He doesn't even have to act!") Whether Sanders' campaign has any legs will help determine whether David's impersonation makes him the breakout star of this coming campaign as Tina Fey's was of Sarah Palin four years ago.