Mother Jones has unearthed a relic from the golden age of lo-fi-yet-surprisingly-addictive browser games: a 2006 arcade game from Bernie Sanders’ senatorial re-election campaign.
Newly relevant—but still delightfully throwback!—in light of Sanders’ surprisingly successful presidential campaign, the game asks users to “Use your arrow keys and spacebar to help Bernie spread the news and set the record straight!!! Watch out for the Extreme Right Wing, Big Money Special Interests, Fat Cats, and Mudslingers!!!”
Per Mother Jones:
Wonky underdog that he is, Bernie fights back by shooting these objects with fact sheets as a jaunty bluegrass tune by a Vermont band, the Cleary Brothers, plays in the background. The game gives players a glimpse of Sanders’ can-do pluck, even after his plane has crashed due to an onslaught of flying felines. “The good news is—and there is some good news out there—that is an unbelievable number,” his voice says after the game—even if your score is abysmally low.
It’s an excellent way to while away what little remains of the workweek—not to mention regain an illusion of control after seeing who stands a 50% chance, give or take a few percent, of running the country on Wednesday night.