adj. holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion. synonyms: traditionalist, traditional, conventional, orthodox, old-fashioned, dyed-in-the-wool, hidebound, unadventurous, set in one's ways
It is sometimes strange to listen to journalists speak about Bernie Sanders. Without question, context or analysis, they assert that he is a candidate of "the far left" whose policies are too extreme for mainstream America.
I do not understand this characterization. It's not only glib and dismissive, it's terrible journalism. Because it's simply not true.
Nearly everything the Vermont senator has proposed during his campaign is conservative, by the actual definitioon of the word. It's traditional. It's how America ran (and that darn well) for the better part of a century.
Restore Glass-Steagall? Put back in place a law that worked as intended for 70 years before it was thrown out in a radical experiment that burned the economy to a stub? That's about as conservative as it gets.
Stop unlimited corporate funding of politics? Another restoration of effective, time-honored policies which have served the nation well. Conservatism at its best.
Insist that businesses be regulated so that a strong, prosperous middle class can thrive (and support those same businesses)? Sounds like a decent tradition, worth preserving.
Even single-payer health insurance, painted by Sen. Sanders' detractors as "radical," has been championed by leaders of both parties, from Teddy Roosevelt to Harry Truman. While it would introduce a great change to the existing system, the idea itself is well within the mainstream of American ideas.
The senator's proposals offer, more than a radical, liberal break in American tradition, a refreshing return to normalcy, to the policies and systems that have been tested for decades and proved to work.
It's possible I'm just a hidebound, conservative old coot, but that sounds pretty appealing.