The Return of Bernie Sanders Is Bigger Than Bernie Sanders – The Atlantic

For this group of Sanders supporters, all members of a local chapter of the progressive organization Our Revolution, assessing his performance was important. But abandoning him was never actually an option: The promise of a political revolution is worth supporting a 78-year-old who just suffered a myocardial infarction. Even if the worst were to happenSanders getting sick or even dying in office, a possibility with any presidentAmerica would still have elected him, some supporters argued. His appointees would be in place. The revolution would live on. Not me, us, as Sanderss campaign mantra goes.

News of Sanderss heart attack came on October 4three days after the campaign announced that the senator had experienced chest pain during a stop in Las Vegas and had had two stents inserted to fix a blocked coronary artery. That it took three days for his team to confirm the heart attack brought on questions about the seriousness of his condition, as well as more scrutiny of an already highly scrutinized aspect of Sanderss candidacy: his age. If elected, Sanders would be the oldest president in history; hed be 82 years old by the end of his first term.

But the Sanders supporters I spoke with at the watch party, hunched over heaping plates of chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, were unruffled. His age didnt disqualify him before, they said, and it doesnt now.

A lot of [candidates] are in their 70s, Spitz said with a shrug, referring to Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, who are 70 and 76 years old, respectively. Plus, he explained, low voter turnout was a major factor in Hillary Clintons loss to Donald Trump in 2016. You want to have a candidate thats attractive to young people, Spitz said, and thats Bernie.

Andrew Parr, the organizer of last nights event, who lives in Arlington and works in export control, told me he was worried about Sanderss long-term health for about three seconds before learning that the senator had undergone a relatively common procedure. Its not a showstopper, Parr said. He added that he simply doesnt trust any other Democratic candidate to follow through on an ambitious progressive agenda. Hes an original, Parr said, noting that hes not willing to risk supporting another Democrat.

Read: Why Millennial socialists arent into Elizabeth Warren

Onstage last night, Sanders tried to relieve any doubts among viewers about his condition. Im healthy. Im feeling great, Sanders told the audience at the beginning of the debate. We are going to be mounting a vigorous campaign all over this country. That is how I think I can reassure the American people.

Other attendees justified their continued support for the rumpled septuagenarian by emphasizing the larger implications of a Sanders 2020 winfrom filling judicial seats to appointing progressives to Cabinet posts. Its not only a president that youre electing. Youre electing everyone whos in positions of power, Alison Acker, a 39-year-old speech therapist, told me. If [Sanders] were to die in office he would have people that we can trust in all the positions doing all the rest of the work.

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The Return of Bernie Sanders Is Bigger Than Bernie Sanders - The Atlantic