Will Senator Bernie Sanders be the spoiler?

By GottaLaff

I have nothing but admiration for Bernie Sanders. I listen to him every Friday morning on the Brunch with Bernie segment of the Thom Hartmann Show. He is not only on the right side of the issues (as in correct, not the right side of the aisle), he's a decent, straightforward guy who listens.

He is also highly principled:

At a time when most attention is being paid to the Senate’s other, more well-known Independent, Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman, it is Sanders who could end up playing spoiler for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). As Reid struggles to find 60 votes that will unite on procedural votes, his party’s centrists are pulling the healthcare bill politically rightward while Sanders is staking out a far-left position.

Asked if he will support Democrats on procedural votes once the healthcare bill hits the Senate floor, Sanders was repeatedly noncommital, twice telling The Hill that he intends to push for a bill that includes a government-run, public-option insurance component and refusing to guarantee his support on cloture votes.

“All I’ll say for now is that I want the strongest public option possible in the bill,” Sanders said. “Beyond that, we’re going to have to look at what develops.” [...]

Democratic leaders say Sanders behaves differently from the party’s other centrists, such as Evan Bayh (Ind.), because Sanders at least usually notifies leadership whenever he intends to cast a procedural vote against leaders’ wishes. Bayh often doesn't. [...]

Yet since Sanders usually follows the lead of Democratic leaders, other observers say he is likely simply being stubborn as part of an effort to win some kind of concession for his state, as many senators do.

Whether he eventually falls in line or not, at least he's taking a strong stand for all the right things. If more Democrats did that, we might actually win once in awhile.