“How do we create the magic?” Sen Bernie Sanders frequently asked his future deputy campaign manager, Ari Rabin-Havt, whenever they discussed a potential play for the presidency back in 2018. The query was contemplated so often that the former Sanders aide now admits that it was initially considered for the title of his new book, The Fighting Soul: On the Road With Bernie Sanders. It was a salient question – one that ultimately required months of weekly phone calls with the 80-year-old beloved Vermont senator and what Mr Rabin-Havt refers to as a “rotating cast” of players to answer properly.
As he carefully chronicles in The Fighting Soul, Mr Sanders was hesitant, and justifiably so. After all, it would be his second bid in what would eventually become a 27-person primary in a race against one of the most collectively reviled presidents in American history. He wanted to feel certain he had what it took to defeat Donald Trump, and with a lot of time and reassurance from trusted aides like Mr Rabin-Havt, Jeff Weaver and his wife, Jane, he got there – even if he didn’t have complete faith in his own force.
