And you're a socialist, so what? In fact, you are so far to the left you don't realize that he is actually in the center; and far left of conservatives on a fuck ton of issues.
Google 'Overton Window'.
What Americans think of as centrist is still pretty right wing.
Bernie Sanders is a centrist to the rest of the planet. Only here in 'Murrica is he considered a left winger.
I believe in socialized education, fire and emergency protection and police- with strong accountability. I believe in socialized roads and infrastructure. Most Americans also believe in the very same things- or we wouldn't have public fire and police protection, publicly funded roads, public schools or public utilities.
Publicly funded higher education isn't much of a stretch, and neither is publicly funded medicine. The reason why it's been made a big deal in the media is only because we have a very small group of wildly overpaid and incredibly selfish assholes who are bent on telling the rest of us what we should and shouldn't have- because THEY want to save money on their taxes. After all, YOUR taxes aren't going down, are they?
What this makes me is a centrist. A true socialist would want to nationalize industry. I think that's a bad idea. I do want to tax those industries because i believe corporations owe the country that gives them infrastructure, trained employees and affluent customers. That isn't socialist, either.
The notion that upper classes and corporations should not have to support the country that made it possible for them to profit is authoritarian, autocratic and ultimately aristocratic and as such is a clear and present threat to democracy and the freedom of average citizens.
I'm open to other perspectives, especially if they're as open to discussion about their ideas as i am about mine. If people's political ideas don't hold up under scrutiny then maybe they aren't worth keeping.
I feel my positions are eminently defensible and provide the most prosperity for the largest number of citizens.
I do not believe that the prosperity of millions is worth sacrificing for the outlandish aggrandizement of a few. Charles and David Koch smokers and their ilk might disagree, but they are literally one in a million. The other million need to make a decent living, too!