In a statement released after the Paris climate summit, Bernie Sanders observed “While this is a step forward it goes nowhere near far enough.” Sanders was of course not the only person in the political, environmental advocacy, or scientific communities who took a measured view of the results of the summit.
For a politician who has long expressed grave concerns about catastrophic climate change, such a statement might be considered unremarkable, but in primary season, everything is scrutinized, and in this particular case some posters on Daily Kos seemed to find his response to the Paris Agreement insufficiently gleeful. The author of a diary which was prompted by Sanders’s remark suggested in the comments that “Sanders is never happy with anything.”
In a sense, this is true. A hallmark of Sanders’s character, is that he doesn’t rest on laurels. For example, obviously he thinks the minimum wage is a good policy — but he fights to increase it to a level that is a living wage; and obviously he thinks Social Security is a good program — but he strives to increase its benefits, because so many people are struggling at the current level. And clearly he thinks we are better off with the Affordable Care Act — whenever talking about it, he begins by describing precisely how much better off we are — but then he talks about why America should aim further than the ACA — which no doubt the man for whom “Obamacare” is named, would agree.
In that same diary, someone commented:
Nothing will happen on his watch because he appears unsatisfied with anything except with the perfection of his own imaginings. Those such as he end up tilting at windmills rather than leading in effecting change.
In fact, his political history shows that he most certainly will lead in effecting positive change, even when he knows there’s much more work to be done. Consider the 2014 veterans health care bill, one of his most well-publicized accomplishments in the Senate, for which he received much praise from both sides of the aisle for his leadership role. He often mentions that the version of the bill he (along with many other veterans’ advocates) had wanted was more robust, but he couldn’t garner 60 votes — he fell short by a handful — but that setback didn’t stop him from continuing to fight for the very significant bill that did get enacted.
Being unsatisfied — even with your own accomplishments — and instead continuing to strive for better results — is typically viewed as a positive trait. It’s what makes great athletes and great artists and great teachers and great scientists and great entrepreneurs. Outside the context of primary season, I’m sure everyone would agree it’s a good trait for our political leaders, too.
Again, here’s the “never satisfied” Sanders talking recently about how much America still needs to improve in an area where he himself has helped to achieve much:
"The bottom line for me is that when people put their lives on the line for this country, I think we we have a moral responsibility to make sure we give them the best quality health care that we can provide and we get their benefits to them in a timely manner," Sanders said.
Sanders pointed to 2014 legislation he helped broker that pumped billions of additional dollars to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. That measure allowed for the hiring of more doctors, nurses and other caregivers after a scandal uncovered extensive wait times for veterans to receive care.
“I believe the VA in general does a good job, but there needs to be a lot of improvement,” Sanders said Sunday. —Des Moines Register