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Bernie Sanders Sweetens Up ‘The Late Show’ With A Message About Perseverence

By Nancy Bailey
Published on: 04:49 PST, May 10, 2016

Bernie Sanders dropped in on Stephen Colbert’s cold open last night, standing by with quips while Colbert got his arm caught in a vending machine.

Colbert was searching for a 100,000,000 dollar bar that was jammed up in the system, and Sanders happened by with a message that pretty much sums up his campaign.

“Never give up,” he said.

“I don’t take money from billionaires, but I do check every vending machine change slot,” Sanders quipped.

The skit was rife with puns and tongue-in-cheek references to the political road of woes, as Sanders played his role with carefully recited lines in his thick New England accent and enthusiastic, knobby-fingered waving of his hands. But the message was clear: Perseverance pays off.

The topic of the episode, of course, was Tuesday’s West Virginia primary. Colbert pointed out the obvious.

“Even if you do well tomorrow, the delegate math is against you.”

Sanders was not swayed.

“It’s a narrow shot. But we still have a chance to win a majority of the pledged delegates, we’re gonna fight for every last vote, and at the end of the day, I hope and believe that we are gonna win this.”

Sanders does have a good chance to win the West Virginia primary, recent polls show, according to the International Business Times.

Sanders has been criticized for his plans to raise taxes to pay for programs such as government-run health care and free college, according to a report by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Urban Institute Health Policy Center, well-known Washington think tanks.

“The dramatic increase in government borrowing would crowd out private investment, raise interest rates, further increase government borrowing costs and retard economic growth.”

Hillary Clinton’s popularity with West Virginia, a coal mining state, hit the skids when she said the industry was about to come to an end. She apologized last week, saying her remarks had been taken out of context. She said she wanted to help retrain people who work in the industry.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump gloats as Hillary chugs along on track, consistently trailed by the little engine, Bernie Sanders.

Sanders has the down-home New England advantage that would appeal to the Blue Ridge Mountain state, according to the International Business Times.

This rumpled charm also appeals on Colbert’s show, where Sanders is fast becoming one of the best recurring guests, according to Salon magazine.

In one hilarious bit, Colbert was running a mock Wheel of Fortune show he called Wheel of News, where one of the spins won Bernie Sanders.

Sanders wanted to spin the wheel himself but discovered a crew member, “Under-The-Desk-Guy,” hiding under Colbert’s desk operating the wheel mechanism.

“Hey! There is a human being down here. What is going on? What are you doing to this worker? What kind of operation are you running, Stephen?”

Sanders’ appearances have gotten more creative since he began showing up on The Late Show. In March, he simply walked into the middle of Colbert’s monologue.

When Colbert explained that the show starts with him standing alone on stage, Sanders said, “That’s what the elites want you to think.”

Sanders later added, “You’ve got to go your own way, follow your own heart, the revolution is possible.”

“What the goal of this campaign is about is to look at the Civil Rights Movement, look at the women’s movement, look at the gay movement, understand that when people come together we can accomplish enormous things. But I think what people are saying is enough is enough. We need fundamental changes in our political system and our economic system.”

The West Virginia Democratic primary is Tuesday, May 10.

[Image via Crush Rush/Shutterstock]

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