Culture

Bernie Sanders Awkwardly Danced To ‘Burn, Baby, Burn’ And Held Hands With Ellen And It Was Adorable

Bernie/Ellen 2016.

by Alex McKinnon  16 October 2015

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The surprise upstart of the 2016 Presidential race, besides a mop of microwaved rat hair that shall remain nameless, has been Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. A self-described democratic socialist who’s campaigned against corporate influence in politics and growing economic inequality for decades, Sanders has spent most of his political life on the fringe in a culture where anything other than lock-step support for capitalism is traditionally regarded as chronically weird at best and near-treacherous at worst.

But in modern America, where wealth and income inequality have reached astonishing levels, Sanders’ message of taking the political and economic reins from the ultra-wealthy and giving them to the middle class is resonating in a way even the Senator couldn’t have predicted when he decided to run for the Democratic nomination in May. While he still trails Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by around 18 percent nationwide, he’s pulled record-breaking crowds to rallies and holds a consistent polling lead in early primary state New Hampshire.

Even if he fails to unseat Clinton the way Barack Obama did in 2008, Sanders’ popularity on the campaign trail has made the reforms he’s spent decades fighting for a realistic prospect. The recent Democratic debate featured more discussion of unapologetically progressive ideas than has been the case in the party for a long time, and Sanders — still a relative unknown — was exposed to millions of American voters for the first time.

Sanders traditionally eschews personality politics, preferring to make policy the centrepiece of his campaigning — one of the highlights of that first Democratic debate was when he refused to attack Clinton over the private email controversy that’s dogged her for months, instead declaring that “the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails”.

But yesterday he made something of an exception, appearing on Ellen for the first time to answer a bunch of rapid-fire questions, talk economics and awkwardly dance to Burn, Baby, Burn like the wild-haired grandpa he is. It was pretty great.

THE MOMENT WHERE THEY HOLD HANDS, THOUGH.

There’s already a Twitter account called ‘Bernie Dancing To’ which is literally just footage of Bernie dancing to different songs. It is incredible.