Would Bernie Have Won?
About this episode
Klein debates Bernie Sanders's former campaign manager Faiz Shakir over whether 'Bernie-ism' — an unapologetic, class-based economic populism — is the Democrats' way forward after 2024. Shakir argues Democrats lost working-class voters because their politics didn't match their relatively progressive policies: they never told a coherent us-versus-them story about corporate power, and their brand became associated with cultural liberalism rather than material interests. He defends Medicare for All as a direction of travel, frames immigration through class solidarity rather than decriminalization maximalism, and insists populist affect — independence, conviction, willingness to fight — matters as much as policy. Klein presses him on trade-offs with suburban voters, the party's donor base, and Gaza. They converge on needing a compelling economic narrative but disagree on how much of the 2024 coalition it can hold.