Posted on Apr 29, 2015
Bernie Sanders announces his presidential run - CNNPolitics.com
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Do You Know Bernie Sanders?
Washington (CNN)Bernie Sanders is in.
The independent Vermont senator told the Associated Press in a story published Wednesday that he plans to run for the Democrats' 2016 presidential nomination. The news was confirmed by multiple Sanders aides.
"I am running for president," he told The Associated Press.
"People should not underestimate me," Sanders told the AP. "I've run outside of the two-party system, defeating Democrats and Republicans, taking on big-money candidates and, you know, I think the message that has resonated in Vermont is a message that can resonate all over this country."
Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate but is an unlikely candidate for the Democratic nomination, primarily because he has never been a registered member of the party and calls himself a "democratic socialist."
Yet many of his views fit with the Democratic left, a constituency in which Sanders has found a small yet devout following. Sanders and his top advisers hope that group of voters will propel his dark horse candidacy. Though Hillary Clinton is the dominant frontrunner, many in the progressive left of the party think she's too moderate and are clamoring for a different candidate to support.
Sanders will outline his presidential plans further on Thursday when he holds a press conference in Washington. Sanders' campaign advisers said that while their candidate has announced his plans to run, he won't hold his first campaign rally until May. That event is expected to be in Vermont.
READ: The Democratic presidential nominee that doesn't have to be a registered Democrat
Sanders is an outspoken critic of Wall Street banks and the outsized influence of money in politics and is a supporter of universal health care. He regularly talks about the need to rebuild the middle class and raise taxes on America's highest earners.
"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, we need a progressive tax system in this country which is based on ability to pay," Sanders said last month in Washington. "It is not acceptable that a number of major profitable corporations have paid zero in federal income taxes in recent years, and that millionaire hedge fund managers often enjoy an effective tax rate which is lower than the truck drivers or nurses."
In interviews before his campaign announcement, Sanders said trade, income inequality and health care would be key tenants of his run. But despite having vocal liberal supporters on these issues, Sanders is a dark horse candidate and has acknowledged that his run will be uphill. A CNN/ORC poll in March found that Sanders has the support of only 3% of Democratic voters.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sanders moved to Vermont after graduating from the University of Chicago. His first successful run for office came in 1981 when he was elected Burlington's mayor by a mere 10 votes. He was elected as Vermont's at-large member of Congress in 1990 and jumped to the Senate in 2007. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Sanders does not have the personality of a typical politician. He is sometimes gruff and blunt, dispensing with social niceties and usually getting right to the point. He has come to be known as much for his fly-away hair as his passionate speeches in the Senate -- and has bluntly lamented the way political journalism in the United States focuses on
"I think this is not about personality," Sanders told CNN earlier this year, raising his Vermonter-by-way-of-New York voice. "I am not a singer, I am not a dancer, I am not an entertainer."
He also starts with a small campaign infrastructure, largely the remnants of his past Senate runs, and is primarily being advised by Tad Devine, a Democratic political consultant who worked on the presidential campaign for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. At an event this month in New Hampshire where Sanders leaned heavily into a presidential bid, the signs outside the house party touted his 2012 Senate re-election bid.
From the outset of his campaign, it appears money will be Sander's biggest issue. The senator has regularly conceded in the last month that he would not be able to raise near the money Clinton will bring in.
"To run a credible campaign in this day and age, you do need a whole lot of money," Sanders said. "Whether the magic number is $200 million, it is $150 million, it is a lot of money, but even with that, you would be enormously outspent by the Koch Brother candidates and the other candidates who will likely spend, in the final analysis, over $1 billion, if not two."
Despite being a champion for many on the left, Sanders has been somewhat left out in the cold by big liberal organizations like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, who have spent the last few months unsuccessfully urging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president.
"Obviously one would hope one would have as much support as possible from all walks of life," Sanders said on Tuesday when asked why he thinks those groups aren't rallying around him. "I am a great fan of Elizabeth and as for what people do and why they don't do it, I am not going to speculate."
Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, even mentioned Warren in touting Sanders' jump into the race.
"Move on members welcome Sen. Bernie Sanders to the presidential race," said Galland. "The Democratic Party is made stronger by each additional voice who enters the race and commits to being a strong advocate for everyday, hardworking Americans and not just the wealthy few. That's why we and our allies continue to call on Sen. Elizabeth Warren to also bring her tireless advocacy for middle-class and working Americans to the race. Our country will be stronger if she runs."
Sanders enters a race that has so far been dominated by Clinton, the former secretary of state and Democrats' prohibitive favorite for the nomination. For most of 2015, Sanders has been reticent to attack Clinton, but phe recently has issued statements calling on her to change her policy positions.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/bernie-sanders-announces-presidential-run/index.html
Washington (CNN)Bernie Sanders is in.
The independent Vermont senator told the Associated Press in a story published Wednesday that he plans to run for the Democrats' 2016 presidential nomination. The news was confirmed by multiple Sanders aides.
"I am running for president," he told The Associated Press.
"People should not underestimate me," Sanders told the AP. "I've run outside of the two-party system, defeating Democrats and Republicans, taking on big-money candidates and, you know, I think the message that has resonated in Vermont is a message that can resonate all over this country."
Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate but is an unlikely candidate for the Democratic nomination, primarily because he has never been a registered member of the party and calls himself a "democratic socialist."
Yet many of his views fit with the Democratic left, a constituency in which Sanders has found a small yet devout following. Sanders and his top advisers hope that group of voters will propel his dark horse candidacy. Though Hillary Clinton is the dominant frontrunner, many in the progressive left of the party think she's too moderate and are clamoring for a different candidate to support.
Sanders will outline his presidential plans further on Thursday when he holds a press conference in Washington. Sanders' campaign advisers said that while their candidate has announced his plans to run, he won't hold his first campaign rally until May. That event is expected to be in Vermont.
READ: The Democratic presidential nominee that doesn't have to be a registered Democrat
Sanders is an outspoken critic of Wall Street banks and the outsized influence of money in politics and is a supporter of universal health care. He regularly talks about the need to rebuild the middle class and raise taxes on America's highest earners.
"At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, we need a progressive tax system in this country which is based on ability to pay," Sanders said last month in Washington. "It is not acceptable that a number of major profitable corporations have paid zero in federal income taxes in recent years, and that millionaire hedge fund managers often enjoy an effective tax rate which is lower than the truck drivers or nurses."
In interviews before his campaign announcement, Sanders said trade, income inequality and health care would be key tenants of his run. But despite having vocal liberal supporters on these issues, Sanders is a dark horse candidate and has acknowledged that his run will be uphill. A CNN/ORC poll in March found that Sanders has the support of only 3% of Democratic voters.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sanders moved to Vermont after graduating from the University of Chicago. His first successful run for office came in 1981 when he was elected Burlington's mayor by a mere 10 votes. He was elected as Vermont's at-large member of Congress in 1990 and jumped to the Senate in 2007. Sanders is the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Sanders does not have the personality of a typical politician. He is sometimes gruff and blunt, dispensing with social niceties and usually getting right to the point. He has come to be known as much for his fly-away hair as his passionate speeches in the Senate -- and has bluntly lamented the way political journalism in the United States focuses on
"I think this is not about personality," Sanders told CNN earlier this year, raising his Vermonter-by-way-of-New York voice. "I am not a singer, I am not a dancer, I am not an entertainer."
He also starts with a small campaign infrastructure, largely the remnants of his past Senate runs, and is primarily being advised by Tad Devine, a Democratic political consultant who worked on the presidential campaign for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. At an event this month in New Hampshire where Sanders leaned heavily into a presidential bid, the signs outside the house party touted his 2012 Senate re-election bid.
From the outset of his campaign, it appears money will be Sander's biggest issue. The senator has regularly conceded in the last month that he would not be able to raise near the money Clinton will bring in.
"To run a credible campaign in this day and age, you do need a whole lot of money," Sanders said. "Whether the magic number is $200 million, it is $150 million, it is a lot of money, but even with that, you would be enormously outspent by the Koch Brother candidates and the other candidates who will likely spend, in the final analysis, over $1 billion, if not two."
Despite being a champion for many on the left, Sanders has been somewhat left out in the cold by big liberal organizations like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, who have spent the last few months unsuccessfully urging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president.
"Obviously one would hope one would have as much support as possible from all walks of life," Sanders said on Tuesday when asked why he thinks those groups aren't rallying around him. "I am a great fan of Elizabeth and as for what people do and why they don't do it, I am not going to speculate."
Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, even mentioned Warren in touting Sanders' jump into the race.
"Move on members welcome Sen. Bernie Sanders to the presidential race," said Galland. "The Democratic Party is made stronger by each additional voice who enters the race and commits to being a strong advocate for everyday, hardworking Americans and not just the wealthy few. That's why we and our allies continue to call on Sen. Elizabeth Warren to also bring her tireless advocacy for middle-class and working Americans to the race. Our country will be stronger if she runs."
Sanders enters a race that has so far been dominated by Clinton, the former secretary of state and Democrats' prohibitive favorite for the nomination. For most of 2015, Sanders has been reticent to attack Clinton, but phe recently has issued statements calling on her to change her policy positions.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/29/politics/bernie-sanders-announces-presidential-run/index.html
Politics
Election 2016
Bernie Sanders
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 20
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We must thank the voters of Vermont for giving us some comic relief in an otherwise ill-humored town -- the District of Calamity. He has no filter whatsoever on his mouth and spews whatever random thought comes along. Every once in a while there's an arcane sort of wisdom in it such as when he pronounces that taking care of veterans should be considered a cost of war. Statements such as this provide an interesting counterpoint to all the bright Senators who never thought of such a thing. Would I want to see him elected President? Hell no. His insanity would destroy what's left of America before he ever again uttered something wise...
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He's a Socialist. I have to give him credit for at least admitting it, where others don't. NO he will not get my vote. He says the right things on enough issues to be tempting but under it all he is a Socialist. I can't vote for those ideas.
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SSG Trevor S.
PFC Clifton Hicks - Single EM's make the decision to gain employment where housing is part of the package. There are farms in my area that worked with me to attain a permit for housing for farm workers. This is not a socialist program, it is a capitalist program that allows the farm to attract quality migrant workers.
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CW4 Craig Urban
He disposes the wall. I agree with trump on that. That is why l left California and joined the army. Mr GED I am called
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Never forget him. I was standing along the street on July 4th, in Northfield, Vermont with 2 Colonels, 2 Majors watching the parade as HE came riding by. Senator Sanders turns to us with our families by our sides and yells, "I am going to take away your Guns!" It seemed so odd, because in Vermont there are no gun laws at all. Anyone can open carry anywhere. But he pointed right at us being obvious military people. It was so rude.
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SgtMaj Henk Brunsveld
Contrived equals liar. Nice. 1994, was before the Internet, camcorders were very large. I am sure Bernie would abmit to what he said. The point was, to whom he was yelling it at. I asked my Colenel, who was that? He answered, that's Bernie, a socialist, just ignore him. Anyway, this has been my only comment on Rallypoint. Guess I upset the E-6 fireman.
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CDR Michael Goldschmidt
SgtMaj Henk Brunsveld: Bernie has said this publicly more than once since the campaign began. He said that he had to vote otherwise, because he represents a rural state, but would act differently as President. The man is downright dangerous, and not what other people on here purport him to be. Semper Fi.
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