Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is a registered Independent, will seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016.
Sanders likely doesn’t really think he can defeat the young whippersnapper Hillary Clinton (Sanders is about 6 years older than Hillary), but by entering the race, the hope is that he will serve as something of a policy magnet to bring Clinton closer to “left-center” rather than “center-center.” As NPR in Vermont reports, “His opposition to a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (T.P.P.) shows how he plans to frame this key issue of his campaign.”
I’d vote for Bernie, but he’d have to be running for President of Vermont to win. 🙁
I’d like to see him move her to a more populist message that could resonate with folks on the right who thought the Tea Party was for them, but found out it was for the folks that own them.
Agree. He can’t be elected President and he knows it but his running during the primary faze can force HRC to a more populist position on important issues and force a lot of pols to have conversations with the voting public they’d just as soon avoid. And he’s no flaky self righteous bloviating Nader. He’d know how to do this and how far to take it to do good instead of harm.
You heard it here first, Bernie will win the nomination and blow away the Republicans.
It’s time that we have a real choice – not lesser of the evils.
dustpuppy, you are either a parody or insane.
Bernie is great but he won’t be the nominee. Hillary does need competition though and Bernie will do that.
Bernie will win Iowa and shut up a lot of people.
Nomination? Hell, after his second term as POTUS he’ll ascend to planetary overlord and the Koch brothers will be working on the maple plantation to raise money to pay teacher unions to test kids about about global warming.
As I recall. Dust Puppy bet on the Titanic against the Iceberg — and gave the points!
Pull Hillary to a more populist or Progressive message? Please! Good Senator Sanders has ONE job: keep Progressives happy enough with the Democratic Party that they’ll follow him when he bows out and endorses Hillary a year from now. For this, he might get a Cabinet position, but a middling one, for sure.
Sanders has been an Independent or third-party candidate for most of his political career. What makes you think he’s got a job from the Democratic Party?
Now, I think Sanders is a realist and not an extreme ego like many running for President. I’m not convinced he feels he can win – only that by running he’ll ensure that the conversation occasionally steers its way to issues that often get ignored. For his work he might want a Cabinet post, but it’s possible he just wants to bring up those issues… He won’t lose his Senate seat by running – his seat isn’t up for re-election until 2018.
Exactly. Running with no realistic expectation of winning to bring attention to issues and nudge the electable candidates in a desired direction is a time honored practice and Sanders, unlike Nader, is no fool. He knows perfectly well that he will not be the nominee. His goal is realistic. Of course he and Warren will both prefer to see HRC, or whoever the nominee is on the slight chance it isn’t HRC, elected over any Republican. It’s called real world politics. Cabinet post? Sanders getting confirmed for one of those is almost as far fetched as Sanders becoming president. I think Meiner49er needs to go back to the drawing board with his theory.
Agree that Sanders is different from Nader, and I never said he got the job from the Democratic Party. While we’re talking “real world politics” let’s be realistic about those with an interest in funding a campaign that will neither get the nomination, nor likely make a huge difference in Hillary’s talking points. What’s in it for them?
There are plenty of people who are concerned that Hillary could lose the General if the Progressive base is not engaged in the primaries, the caucuses, and ultimately the campaign. There are donors practicing “real world politics” that don’t blink an eye at writing checks to both Ds and Rs in order to get what they want (and yes, there are plenty of those in the 1%). So why would they blink an eye at writing checks to both Hillary and Bernie to make sure that Hillary can win?
Unlike many of the faux “progressives” trolling this announcement elsewhere on social media, I like the guy. That said, Bernie will be out by April 16 as primaries and caucuses wrap up, and in his farewell speech he will ask his supporters to join Hillary. If there were a serious progressive challenge to Hillary, it would come from Elizabeth Warren. That’s “real world politics.”
I’m one of those HRC supporters who is concerned about that. A coronation is the last thing she needs. Better to get her in shape for the general election by having a primary opponent. (And if she should trip up in the primaries, maybe she shouldn’t be the nominee.)
And I also wouldn’t mind seeing her nudged a little to the left although I’m guessing that will last until the convention opens, at the latest.
Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see where you’re disagreeing with my point that a Bernie candidacy serves a purpose even though he and everyone else knows he’s not going to be the nominee. I think where your theory falls apart is in thinking the only reason for him to do it is to get a cabinet post. Fat chance and do you really think he’d even want one?
I like Bernie, too. I’m glad he’s running and think his running is a positive for the reasons I cited and, as Frank notes, because we need at least token opposition to the HRC coronation going into the general. We’re already seeing HRC moving to some more more populist stances in response to the popularity of Elizabeth Warren.
If there wasn’t a Warren or a Sanders, HRC would be pretty much just keeping her mouth shut on anything the tiniest bit populist sounding, as she has been until very recently. Do I think this means HR is becoming some kind of progressive champion? Of course not. Neither was Obama and Bill was as triangulating DLC Republican lite as they come. He still is. That doesn’t mean all of them aren’t a lot better than yet another Bush, Walker or any other R. Or a democratic socialist without a snowball’s chance in hell of being nominated much less elected.
Works for me – pull the debate to the left:
Expand social security
Raise the min wage to $15
Reform the criminal justice system
Federal universal background checks on all gun purchases
Equal pay for women
Paid leave for families
College tuition debt relief
Climate change solutions
Bernie can then be Secretary of Labor and kill TPP.
I’ve signed up to support Senator Sanders here in the San Luis Valley.
I do research on all the candidates (even the Republicans *shudder*) to determine who is best for the office. So far, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Brown (Ohio) are the first who come to mind as options to Hillary Clinton. But – should Secretary Clinton win the Democratic nomination vs. any of the present clown car occupants, I will probably vote for her as the lesser of the evils. *sigh*
Bernie should announce tomorrow? Excellent!!! 🙂
Mission accomplished GOP – you’re ability to “govern” is so utterly pathetic its managed to force the American people to consider a socialist as President of the United States.
Only in a country that is so completely out of balance on the issue of inequality could a Bernie Sanders running as a socialist be possible.
Hey GOP – here’s a thought, if you don’t want America to turn into a socialist country, stop digging us into a massive hole that requires a socialist to get out of it.
Get a grip. He’s just making an issues platform run in the run up. He’s not getting nominated to actually run for President. The American public is very far from anything like that. In the meantime… Go Bernie!
I don’t know.
No one thought Clinton was serious in 91. Nor that Perot would stick around as long as he did.
I have personal experience with the Obama skepticism that really didn’t start fade until Aug 08, and didn’t really end until Nov 12.
Where’s Newt? I’d work for Governor Brown- that’s the guy who would move the debate. And the Minnesota Gov.
If J. E. B. Is the nominee- he wins.