In Freudian psychology the id is the component of the human mind containing the uncoordinated desires and instincts, the superego is the conscience and moralizing component of the mind, while the ego, the realistic, organized component mediates between the two. Writing at Politico Sean Davis characterizes Bernie Sanders as “the id of the Democratic Party”:
Bernie Sanders gives modern Democrats something that they’ll never get from Hillary Clinton: actual passion for something other than political office. Progressives are drawn to Bernie Sanders because they know he believes the things he says, and that he says them only because he believes them. In that regard, he’s strikingly similar to Howard Dean, who quickly shot up in the polls only to spectacularly flame out in Iowa. Sanders offers Democrats what they want – 200-proof progressivism – but Hillary gives them what they need – a politician with the veneer of electability.
If you’re going to hang your hat on Freudian psychology I think Mr. Davis has got the components wrong. Bernie Sanders is the superego of the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton is the id.
Just for the record I am not a Freudian. I don’t think there’s ever been a scientific theory with less scientific basis than Freud’s model of the mind.
