Fourteen to Go: Sanders Set on 'Transforming Nation'
Published on
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
by
Common Dreams
Fourteen to Go: Sanders Set on 'Transforming Nation'
'The people in every state in this country should have the right to
determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic
Party should be.'
by
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
Already, declares Jim Hightower, "Sanders' vivid populist vision, unabashed
idealism, and big ideas for restoring America to its own people
have...proven to the Democratic establishment that they don't have to sell
out to big corporate donors to raise the money they need to run for office."
(Photo: Bernie Sanders/Facebook)
Fourteen.
That's how many Democratic presidential nominating contests remain. From
Indiana next week to the District of Columbia on June 14-with delegate
prizes as large as 546 in California and small as 12 in Guam to be won in
between-14 states and territories have yet to hold their respective caucus
or primary.
"That's why we are in this race until the last vote is cast," said Bernie
Sanders on Tuesday night, following a win in Rhode Island and losses to
rival Hillary Clinton in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
"The people in every state in this country should have the right to
determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic
Party should be," he said.
"That is why this campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in
Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible," Sanders continued, "to
fight for a progressive party platform that calls for a $15 an hour minimum
wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health
care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking
in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free, and
passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of
climate change."
He struck a similar tone in West Virginia on Tuesday evening, telling a
cheering crowd in Huntington: "This campaign is not just about electing a
president, it is about transforming a nation."
To some degree, Sanders' campaign has already done that, argued commentator
Jim Hightower in an op-ed on Tuesday.
"Sanders' vivid populist vision, unabashed idealism, and big ideas for
restoring America to its own people have jerked the presidential debate out
of the hands of status quo corporatists, revitalized the class consciousness
and relevance of the Democratic Party, energized millions of young people to
get involved, and proven to the Democratic establishment that they don't
have to sell out to big corporate donors to raise the money they need to run
for office," Hightower wrote.
"Bernie has substantively-even profoundly-changed American politics for the
better, which is why he's gaining more and more support and keeps winning
delegates," he continued. "From the start, he said: 'This campaign is not
about me'- it's a chance for voters who have been disregarded and discarded
to forge a new political revolution that will continue to grow beyond this
election and create a true people's government."
And Sanders, in some capacity, will be there to help that revolution take
shape.
"Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning
this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats. I
am proud of my campaign's record in that regard."
-Senator Bernie Sanders
According to USA Today on Wednesday, Sanders strategist Tad Devine "said
Monday that Sanders will arrive at the convention with enough pledged
delegates to file minority reports-or dissents from the majority-at the
event, which could prolong it by requiring debates on the issues most
important to him if the campaigns don't negotiate their differences.
Democratic Party rules allow for minority reports at the request of 25% of
members on the convention's Platform, Credentials and Rules committees."
Among the issues Sanders wants to tackle at the convention, according to
Devine, are voter participation, campaign funding, and the controversial
system of superdelegates.
To that end, MSNBC wrote, a big victory in California's June 7 primary would
"at least enhance Sanders' bargaining position with Clinton's campaign and
the Democratic Party heading into the July convention in Philadelphia."
The Nation's D.D. Guttenplan echoed that argument on Wednesday, writing that
Sanders and his supporters have a "responsibility...to keep fighting for a
living wage, free public college education, truly universal healthcare, an
environmentally and economically sustainable energy system and an end to the
endless wars of regime change that grind up so many men and women in the
only jobs program embraced by conventional politics."
To fulfill that obligation, said Guttenplan, "Sanders needs to come to the
table with as strong a hand-and as many delegates-as possible."
Meanwhile, observers on Wednesday pointed to another line in his Tuesday
night statement, in which he touted his "resounding victory" in Rhode Island
and noted it was "the one state with an open primary where independents had
a say in the outcome."
"Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning
this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats,"
said Sanders. "I am proud of my campaign's record in that regard."
Writing at International Business Times, reporter Cristina Silva seized on
that remark.
"Is Bernie Sanders angling to become vice president?" Silva wondered,
suggesting his "move to underscore his own appeal among independents in the
context of 'the ticket' could be a deliberate shift" from previous
statements in which he said he would not want to be Clinton's vice
president.
Silva continued:
In recent weeks, Sanders campaign has said it is going to take its fight for
the nomination all the way to the convention - where neither candidate is
expected to have the necessary pledged delegate count to win on the first
ballot. That could set up a divisive battle for so-called "super delegates"
- elected officials and other party powerbrokers who get to independently
vote on the nomination. Of late, Sanders' campaign has been citing polls
that show him a stronger general election nominee to make the case that
super delegates should consider supporting him at the convention. But if
Clinton puts Sanders on the ticket, she might be able to circumvent a
divisive convention battle in the name of a unity ticket.
Polls continue to show Sanders beating GOP frontrunner Donald Trump by
considerably more sizeable margins than Clinton.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
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Fourteen to Go: Sanders Set on 'Transforming Nation'
Published on
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
by
Common Dreams
Fourteen to Go: Sanders Set on 'Transforming Nation'
'The people in every state in this country should have the right to
determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic
Party should be.'
by
Deirdre Fulton, staff writer
. 135 Comments
.
. Already, declares Jim Hightower, "Sanders' vivid populist vision,
unabashed idealism, and big ideas for restoring America to its own people
have...proven to the Democratic establishment that they don't have to sell
out to big corporate donors to raise the money they need to run for office."
(Photo: Bernie Sanders/Facebook)
. Fourteen.
. That's how many Democratic presidential nominating contests remain.
From Indiana next week to the District of Columbia on June 14-with delegate
prizes as large as 546 in California and small as 12 in Guam to be won in
between-14 states and territories have yet to hold their respective caucus
or primary.
. "That's why we are in this race until the last vote is cast," said
Bernie Sanders on Tuesday night, following a win in Rhode Island and losses
to rival Hillary Clinton in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania.
. "The people in every state in this country should have the right to
determine who they want as president and what the agenda of the Democratic
Party should be," he said.
"That is why this campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in
Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible," Sanders continued, "to
fight for a progressive party platform that calls for a $15 an hour minimum
wage, an end to our disastrous trade policies, a Medicare-for-all health
care system, breaking up Wall Street financial institutions, ending fracking
in our country, making public colleges and universities tuition free, and
passing a carbon tax so we can effectively address the planetary crisis of
climate change."
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/cdspring16-articlehttps://secure.
actblue.com/contribute/page/cdspring16-article
He struck a similar tone in West Virginia on Tuesday evening, telling a
cheering crowd in Huntington: "This campaign is not just about electing a
president, it is about transforming a nation."
To some degree, Sanders' campaign has already done that, argued commentator
Jim Hightower in an op-ed on Tuesday.
"Sanders' vivid populist vision, unabashed idealism, and big ideas for
restoring America to its own people have jerked the presidential debate out
of the hands of status quo corporatists, revitalized the class consciousness
and relevance of the Democratic Party, energized millions of young people to
get involved, and proven to the Democratic establishment that they don't
have to sell out to big corporate donors to raise the money they need to run
for office," Hightower wrote.
"Bernie has substantively-even profoundly-changed American politics for the
better, which is why he's gaining more and more support and keeps winning
delegates," he continued. "From the start, he said: 'This campaign is not
about me'- it's a chance for voters who have been disregarded and discarded
to forge a new political revolution that will continue to grow beyond this
election and create a true people's government."
And Sanders, in some capacity, will be there to help that revolution take
shape.
"Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning
this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats. I
am proud of my campaign's record in that regard."
-Senator Bernie Sanders
According to USA Today on Wednesday, Sanders strategist Tad Devine "said
Monday that Sanders will arrive at the convention with enough pledged
delegates to file minority reports-or dissents from the majority-at the
event, which could prolong it by requiring debates on the issues most
important to him if the campaigns don't negotiate their differences.
Democratic Party rules allow for minority reports at the request of 25% of
members on the convention's Platform, Credentials and Rules committees."
Among the issues Sanders wants to tackle at the convention, according to
Devine, are voter participation, campaign funding, and the controversial
system of superdelegates.
To that end, MSNBC wrote, a big victory in California's June 7 primary would
"at least enhance Sanders' bargaining position with Clinton's campaign and
the Democratic Party heading into the July convention in Philadelphia."
The Nation's D.D. Guttenplan echoed that argument on Wednesday, writing that
Sanders and his supporters have a "responsibility...to keep fighting for a
living wage, free public college education, truly universal healthcare, an
environmentally and economically sustainable energy system and an end to the
endless wars of regime change that grind up so many men and women in the
only jobs program embraced by conventional politics."
To fulfill that obligation, said Guttenplan, "Sanders needs to come to the
table with as strong a hand-and as many delegates-as possible."
Meanwhile, observers on Wednesday pointed to another line in his Tuesday
night statement, in which he touted his "resounding victory" in Rhode Island
and noted it was "the one state with an open primary where independents had
a say in the outcome."
"Democrats should recognize that the ticket with the best chance of winning
this November must attract support from independents as well as Democrats,"
said Sanders. "I am proud of my campaign's record in that regard."
Writing at International Business Times, reporter Cristina Silva seized on
that remark.
"Is Bernie Sanders angling to become vice president?" Silva wondered,
suggesting his "move to underscore his own appeal among independents in the
context of 'the ticket' could be a deliberate shift" from previous
statements in which he said he would not want to be Clinton's vice
president.
Silva continued:
In recent weeks, Sanders campaign has said it is going to take its fight for
the nomination all the way to the convention - where neither candidate is
expected to have the necessary pledged delegate count to win on the first
ballot. That could set up a divisive battle for so-called "super delegates"
- elected officials and other party powerbrokers who get to independently
vote on the nomination. Of late, Sanders' campaign has been citing polls
that show him a stronger general election nominee to make the case that
super delegates should consider supporting him at the convention. But if
Clinton puts Sanders on the ticket, she might be able to circumvent a
divisive convention battle in the name of a unity ticket.
Polls continue to show Sanders beating GOP frontrunner Donald Trump by
considerably more sizeable margins than Clinton.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License
