Is Bernie Sanders helping or hurting the Democratic Party?

You might think the most important thing for Democrats to do is fight Trump and the radicalism that has taken over the GOP. Sanders disagrees.

Is Bernie doing more harm than good?
(Image credit: Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders is not a party man. He's not even a Democrat. Despite having run for the Democratic nomination for president, he adamantly retains his status as an independent. Yet there's no denying that Sanders continues to have an effect on the Democratic Party, and right now he and Tom Perez, the chair of the DNC, are traveling the country on a "unity tour" that seems to be displaying something less than perfect unity. So what effect is Sanders really having on the party?

He generated some controversy on Wednesday when he explained his lack of enthusiasm for Georgia congressional candidate Jon Ossoff, who the day before had fallen just short of the 50 percent vote he needed to avoid a runoff in a special election. "If you run as a Democrat, you're a Democrat," Sanders told The Wall Street Journal. "Some Democrats are progressive and some Democrats are not." Asked directly whether Ossoff is a progressive, Sanders responded, "I don't know."

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.