It seems to me that what is actually happening is a return to core Democratic Party principles, not a co-opting of Sanders principles. If you compare Bernie’s stands on issues to those of, say, Teddy Kennedy, you won’t find much difference, except maybe Teddy was a stronger proponent of single-payer national health care and gun control (and incidentally advocated raising both the minimum wage and taxes on millionaires like himself).
The Party took an unfortunate rightward detour in the 80s, with Bill Clinton one of the drivers of the movement. Jimmy Carter’s fight with Kennedy and massive loss to Reagan gave the once-fringe DLC an opportunity to grab the party’s reins, and their core ideas were dominant for a long time.
With Hillary losing an election that should have been an easy win for the Democrats, perhaps the pernicious DLC influence is finally waning and traditional Democrats are starting to emerge from the shadows. Rather than complain that they are copying the ideas of others, those of us on the left should take some comfort in this long-overdue realignment/correction of party principles.
