It seemed almost celestially ordained that Corbyn’s term as leader of the Labour Party in the UK and Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential run in the US would come to an end on almost exactly the same date. There were multiple similarities between the two men and the political movements they spearheaded. Indeed, Corbyn himself commented that aspects of his 2017 general election campaign drew from Sanders’ ultimately unsuccessful 2016 run for the US presidency.
Of course, we ought not to dwell on our natural disappointment at their failure. But for progressive communicators, in particular, there’s an important reality that we must consistently stress. And it’s that, in spite of the avalanche of scare-mongering by corporate-owned media on both sides of the Atlantic, Corbyn and Sanders’ proposals weren’t actually all that radical.
