Democratic socialism

Bernie Sanders to deliver much-awaited speech on democratic socialism Thursday

By John Wagner

Bernie Sanders plans to give a major address Thursday afternoon on democratic socialism, the philosophy of government that has guided his political career and become a major topic of conversation as he seeks the presidency.

Aides said the speech, which the Vermont senator first advertised a month ago, is now set to be delivered at Georgetown University in Washington.

Aides said Sanders’s speech will also contain a section on foreign policy, with a focus on defeating the Islamic State. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, has scheduled an address Thursday in New York on that subject in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Sanders has served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate as an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, but he considers himself a democratic socialist.

As a presidential candidate, he has put forward policies that aim to create more fairness in a country he says is now rigged to favor the rich, but he has stopped short of calling for classic socialist ideas like government takeovers of private industry.

Sanders, for instance, has advocated free tuition at public colleges and universities, a single-payer health-care system, guaranteed family leave for workers and a “massive” federal jobs program to put more people to work and to fix the country’s infrastructure.

The “democratic socialist” label has been a frequent topic of conversation on talk shows, and Sanders is sometimes asked about its implications during town hall meetings on the campaign trail.

During a stop in New Hampshire, Sanders playfully asked an audience of students:  “Does anyone here think I’m a strong adherent of the North Korean form of government? That I want all of you to be wearing similar-colored pajamas?”

He went on to cite countries that have a market economy but a much more equitable distribution of income.

The speech Thursday will be an attempt to speak to Sanders’s vision in significantly more detail, aides said. Some political analysts have suggested that the term is a barrier to Sanders connecting with some voters.

Sanders has said his speech on democratic socialism is one of several addresses his campaign is preparing as his race against Clinton heads toward the first nominating contests early next year.