A remarkable sighting has been reported on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Not Beyoncé. Not Taylor Swift.
It’s Bernie Sanders, laughing.
No, the notoriously curmudgeonly independent senator from Vermont has not been fully overcome by the theme of “joy” suffusing the proceedings: After all, he delivered a prime-time address on Tuesday night without once cracking a smile.
And it’s not that America is doing great. He will assure you, it is not.
But, in smaller forums and private conversations, Mr. Sanders, 82, exudes something like optimism about the future of the progressive movement he has nurtured for his entire career, and maybe a sense of vindication that the Democratic Party, as he sees it, has finally recognized that many progressive causes are broadly popular with Americans.
“If you want to win an election, if you were a total phony and you didn’t believe in anything, you would adopt much of the progressive agenda,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview on Wednesday.
A perpetual outsider, Mr. Sanders and his movement have been brought into the fold, an elder statesman who has helped steer some of the more progressive elements of President Biden’s agenda. He has, in the past, showcased his wry sense of humor on the campaign trail; but the latest developments seem to have made him almost playful, even with reporters.
Asked last week by a New York Times reporter about when he would be speaking in Chicago, Mr. Sanders said: “They decided to bump Kamala Harris. I’ll be speaking prime-time on Thursday night. You got the scoop.” Then, he added: “That’s a joke.”
On Monday, speaking on a Politico panel, he responded to a joking challenge to “fisticuffs” with an outright guffaw.
Sensing an opportunity, on Wednesday afternoon another reporter ventured to ask if he would be willing to answer a “light” question.
“Now comes the real issue!” Mr. Sanders shouted as he pitched forward in his boxy white chair, in a holding room off somewhere inside a cavernous conference center. What ridiculous, inconsequential question was the media interested in now? “What kind of underwear do I wear?”
(Actually, maybe worse: Has he been going to the convention’s late-night parties? “I’m not much of a partygoer.”)
His voice grew soft again as he leaned back in his chair. A paper cup of black coffee was on a glass table in front of him. His wife, Jane, was across the room with a couple of aides. They had retreated to this room after he gave a thunderous speech to a gathering at the party’s Labor Council, in a nearby ballroom whose walls shook as he inveighed against wealth inequality.
A less light question. In her speech in Chicago on Tuesday night, Michelle Obama delivered a line that was implicitly aimed at former President Donald J. Trump, but also spoke to a broader inequality in American life. Kamala Harris, she said, “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.”
What did Mr. Sanders make of that kind of pointed language?
“I think it’s enormously important,” he said, eyebrows arched high in approval. “You are looking at a society today where never before have so few had so much wealth and power, while at the same time 60 percent of the people are living paycheck to paycheck. And I think that is a simple reality that too often gets ignored.”
Asked if he was an optimist or a pessimist, Mr. Sanders tilted his head slightly. “Tricky question.” But he obliged: “I’m both.”
“What I see in this country sometimes saddens me very much. I, unlike some others, actually go into the real world and see what’s going on, and talk to people who are struggling: Elderly people who can’t afford prescription drugs. Schools which are not doing well with our children. Facilities that are not treating the mentally ill the way they should be treated, et cetera, et cetera.”
So in that sense, he said, he becomes pessimistic. But, on the other hand, he said: “I see so many wonderful young people, you get a sense of the potential of this country. And, obviously, coming through two presidential campaigns, so many fantastic young people really want transformative change in this country.” He concluded: “In that sense, I am extremely optimistic.”
“Is that it?” he boomed, eyes wide with exaggerated relief. “All right!” The reporter was finally leaving, and he could stand next to his wife, Jane, smiling broadly again.
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