Which is more unbelievable?
1. That Charles Koch may be America’s greatest hope when it comes to criminal justice reform?
Koch has been interested in criminal justice issues for years: A decade ago, he began by donating money to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
His work on the issue has also brought unlikely partners in George Soros and the American Civil Liberties Union…
or
- Office of Bernie Sanders
- This is Bernie Sanders’s official headshot.
2. That a socialist septuagenarian from Vermont might be the Democratic Party’s best hope for moving leftward in the 2016 presidential election?
[Senator Bernie] Sanders has a 12-step plan that he says will restore the economy and especially the middle class, most of it dependent on higher taxes on the rich and corporations. Among the proposals: A $1 trillion infrastructure building program that would “create 13 million decent-paying jobs,” more worker-friendly international trade deals and legislation to strengthen unions, and transforming the U.S. energy system “away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”
Sanders will decide by March whether he’s running for president or not.
It’s possible that the next two years could see some realignment on political issues. Jeb Bush will be trying to convince the Republican Party not to loathe all immigrants on the right, and Hillary Clinton will be running with a tough foreign policy on the left. Whether the parties will follow their candidates’ leads is another matter entirely, but I suspect the rightward-leftward lean of certain issues like marijuana decriminalization and globalization will experience some tremors, if not an outright earthquake.