Bernie Sanders, Independent Senator from VT, has thrown his hat into the Presidential Ring for the Democrats. He is serving his second term as US Senator after having served 16 years in the House of Representatives, so he knows the system; he was also Mayor of Burlington, VT – he is a political creature.
In his On the Issues Quiz, I was surprised to see his expected response to Stimulus better than market-led recovery is that he would disagree. His response to Maintain US sovereignty from UN is to Oppose it; I would probably slightly support it. Otherwise, his positions are either agreeable or not of interest. And his map shows him well away from the GOP:
Whether he’s suited for running a nation is, of course, not answerable here. I’d be interested to hear his ideas, though.
His website is here:
The American people must demand that Congress and the White House start protecting the interests of working families, not just wealthy campaign contributors.
I’m always wary of inflammatory populism. If you’re in it to win, you need to be able to talk to everyone, not just those who voted for you.
David Dayen at Salon believes Sanders need not win to be successful:
That’s how activism works. You make a stand on principle, build a coalition, and force politicians to get out in front of the parade. You create a constituency where one didn’t previously exist. And that’s precisely the promise of a Sanders presidential campaign. If his issues are popular – and every indication in the polling is that things like a higher minimum wage and more equality of income are – and he can build the same kind of grass-roots movement that ignited the fight for $15, then it challenges not just Hillary Clinton but everyone who wants to lead within the party to recalibrate and come closer to his ideals.
Ashley Smith at SocialistWorker.org has no enthusiasm for the self-proclaimed socialist:
But in running for the Democratic presidential nomination as the liberal outsider with almost no chance of winning, Sanders isn’t very “bold”–no more so than the fizzled campaigns of Dennis Kucinich in past presidential election years. And by steering liberal and left supporters into a Democratic Party whose policies and politics he claims to disagree with, Sanders–no matter how critical he might be of Hillary Clinton–is acting as the opposite of an “alternative.” …
If Sanders had his heart set on national politics, he could have run for president like Ralph Nader as an independent, opposing both capitalist parties, the Democrats and Republicans. He would have been appealing for a protest vote, rather than any real chance to win, but Sanders rejected this possibility out of hand for a different reason. “No matter what I do,” Sanders said in January, “I will not be a spoiler. I will not play that role in helping to elect some right-wing Republican as president of the United States.”
Ashley sees little difference between any GOP contender and Hillary, the presumed Democratic nominee. She would prefer to see Sanders as Governor of Vermont as an open Socialist.
Yoli Ramazzina on Elephant Journal is excited by Bernie’s funding sources:
Clinton receives financial support from entities such as cable companies and banks, while Sanders’ receives support from worker’s unions and teacher’s federations. (Clinton’s sources of support cause some worry that she is being set up to be a political puppet, in the pocket of big corporations.)
The difference in the amounts being donated is also notable—the large corporations will of course have more to contribute than labor unions will.
This is one of the very issues that is exceedingly important to Bernie Sanders—should big businesses and corporations simply be allowed to buy campaigns or buy politicians?
Is that what Democracy is about?
Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw doubts Bernie’s staying power:
Is it just me, or are there a number of people in the media who seem to be bending over backward trying to make Sanders’ bid seem more legitimate? There are two different schools of thought to explain this, depending on who it is doing the advertising at any given moment. Hillary’s many supporters in the media like the Sanders story because, first, they know that Sanders isn’t a real threat. But second, they absolutely hate the media narrative that Clinton is receiving yet another coronation in the primary – as she did in her New York Senate run – and that it damages her to not have an opponent to sharpen her skills on.
