Jackson Diehl writes:

Moderates who panic at the prospect of Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee have some good reasons to do so — above all, the risk that he will pave the way to Donald Trump’s reelection. On that, count me as one of the worried.

It’s nevertheless hard not to recoil from some of the hyperbole being heaped on the Vermont senator and his platform. According to both Trump and some Democrats, Sanders would transform the United States into a jumbo-sized version of Venezuela or Cuba while doubling down on Trump’s abandonment of U.S. leadership around the world.

A look at Sanders’s speeches and statements in recent years provides a different picture, at least in foreign policy. What emerges is a politician strongly shaped by his opposition to U.S. military interventions abroad, but also by a conviction that the United States should do what it can to support democracy and resist authoritarianism. That distinguishes him sharply not only from Trump but also from some of the Democratic candidates cast as moderates. [Continue reading…]