Nichols writes: "As pundits rush to declare the race over, Robert Reich,
Tulsi Gabbard and Alan Grayson say 'not so fast.'"
Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Springfield, Massachusetts on October
3, 2015. (photo: Michael Dwyer/AP)
Bernie Sanders Just Won Two of His Biggest Endorsements in a Long Campaign
By John Nichols, The Nation
29 February 16
As pundits rush to declare the race over, Robert Reich, Tulsi Gabbard and
Alan Grayson say "not so fast."
Even before Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a wide margin in the
South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, the political and media
elites that police American democracy were busy writing Sanders out of the
running.
This is what happens in American politics. From the earliest stages of the
primary process, pundits and political operatives try to wrap things up in
tidy little boxes of conventional wisdom. Again and again the message is
delivered: everything is finished but the final counting up of delegates,
despite the fact that the vast majority of states have not voted. The
pressure to conclude the competition disempowers voters and damages the
discourse, and candidates have every right and reason to resist the rush to
shut the competition down before it has really begun.
But resistance is futile if a candidate gets no encouragement to challenge
the emerging narrative.
That is one of the reasons why a once-crowded Republican presidential race
is a whole lot less crowded these days.
Something has upset the rush to write off Sanders, however. It seems that a
good many Democrats, including several prominent partisans who just endorsed
the insurgent, are disinclined to embrace the conventional wisdom.
Clinton had a very good Saturday in South Carolina-which provided her with a
decisive win and a signal that she may well sweep states across the south.
It would be silly to see her as anything less than the frontrunner for the
Democratic nomination. The March primary schedule offers her plenty of
openings to solidify than status, and that had headline writers declaring
that "Sanders supporters may soon have to choose between Clinton and Trump."
Yet, the primary schedule goes on through June 14, with a number of states
that are friendly to Sanders voting in April and May and the biggest prize
for both candidates (California) up for grabs on June 7.
Sanders says he can go the distance. And his supporters signaled that they
are ready for the long run.
Immediately before and after South Carolina's primary voting, Sanders spoke
to huge crowds in Dallas and Kansas City and Tulsa and Oklahoma City:
communities where few would have predicted even a year ago that a democratic
socialist would attract thousands of cheering supporters. At the same time,
the senator won two of the highest profile endorsements of his run.
On Friday, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, announced his support for
Sanders, writing that the senator is "leading a movement to reclaim America
for the many, not the few. And such a political mobilization-a 'political
revolution,' as he puts it-is the only means by which we can get the nation
back from the moneyed interests that now control so much of our economy and
democracy."
The longtime associate of Bill and Hillary Clinton explained that his
endorsement had to do with issues, as opposed to personalities.
"I have the deepest respect and admiration for Hillary Clinton, and if she
wins the Democratic primary I'll work my heart out to help her become
president. But I believe Bernie Sanders is the agent of change this nation
so desperately needs," he wrote, while focusing on the issue that has
animated the Sanders insurgency. "This extraordinary concentration of
income, wealth, and political power at the very top imperils all else - our
economy, our democracy, the revival of the American middle class, the
prospects for the poor and for people of color, the necessity of slowing and
reversing climate change, and a sensible foreign policy not influenced by
the 'military-industrial complex,' as President Dwight Eisenhower once
called it. It is the fundamental prerequisite: We have little hope of
achieving positive change on any front unless the American people are once
again in control."
Two days after Reich made his announcement, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard,
D-Hawaii, endorsed Sanders. And the next day, Congressman Alan Grayson,
D-Florida, announced that he, too, would back the senator from Vermont.
The announcement by Gabbard was particularly dramatic, in that the
congresswoman quit a party leadership post in order to free herself to
campaign for Sanders.
A Democrat from Hawaii, Gabbard is an proudly independent member of the
House Democratic Caucus who does not mind stirring controversy or breaking
with leadership. She has sparred with the Obama administration over foreign
policy, she has sparred with congressional Democrats over defense policy,
and she sparred with the party leaders over debate policy-making headlines
early in the 2016 race by stepping up, as a vice chair of the DNC, to demand
more forums featuring the presidential candidates.
On Sunday, Gabbard announced that: "I have taken my responsibilities as an
officer of the DNC seriously, and respected the need to stay neutral in our
primaries. However, after much thought and consideration, I've decided I
cannot remain neutral and sit on the sidelines any longer," she said, while
making the case the foreign policy concerns led her to choose Sanders over
former Secretary of State Clinton.
"I think it's most important for us, as we look at our choices as to who our
next commander in chief will be, (to) recognize the necessity to have a
commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment," Gabbard
explained in an appearance NBC's "Meet the Press."
Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran and member of the Hawaii Army National Guard,
has been especially outspoken in her criticism of regime-change strategies
that she suggests are dangerous and ineffective. To that end, she has
introduced legislation seeking to focus U.S. policy on defeating Islamic
State, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Syria, as opposed to a dual
strategy that seeks to combat terrorist groups while also trying to
overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. She has, as well, been a sharp
critic of Clinton's proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria-which President
Obama and Sanders also oppose.
In a video released Sunday, Gabbard painted the Democratic race as a stark
choice between competing approaches to international and domestic
challenges.
"We need a commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good
judgment, and who understands the need for a robust foreign policy which
defends the safety and security of the American people, and who will not
waste precious lives and money on interventionist wars of regime change.
Such counterproductive wars undermine our national security and economic
prosperity," added the veteran of two deployments to the Middle East. "As
these elections continue across the county, the American people are faced
with a very clear choice. We can elect a president who will lead us into
more interventionist wars of regime change, or we can elect a president who
will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It's with this clear choice
in mind that I am resigning as vice-chair of the DNC so that I can strongly
support Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee for president of the United
States."
Grayson, a popular figure with grassroots Democrats who has often clashed
with party leaders on questions of policy and political style, is mounting
an insurgent bid this year for his party's Senate nomination in Florida (and
getting plenty of pushback from top Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid). The congressman conducted an online poll asking who he, as a
Democratic National Convention super-delegate, should support in the
presidential race. "The response has been absolutely overwhelming. Almost
400,000 Democrats voted at GraysonPrimary.com. More than the number who
voted in the South Carolina primary. More than the number who voted in the
New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus combined," wrote Grayson in a
Monday message.
Grayson said that 86 percent of those who responded to his appeal encouraged
him to back Sanders, calling the result: "More than just a landslide. An
earthquake."
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Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Springfield, Massachusetts on October
3, 2015. (photo: Michael Dwyer/AP)
http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-just-won-two-of-his-biggest-
endorsements-in-a-long-campaign/http://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sand
ers-just-won-two-of-his-biggest-endorsements-in-a-long-campaign/
Bernie Sanders Just Won Two of His Biggest Endorsements in a Long Campaign
By John Nichols, The Nation
29 February 16
As pundits rush to declare the race over, Robert Reich, Tulsi Gabbard and
Alan Grayson say "not so fast."
ven before Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a wide margin in the
South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, the political and media
elites that police American democracy were busy writing Sanders out of the
running.
This is what happens in American politics. From the earliest stages of the
primary process, pundits and political operatives try to wrap things up in
tidy little boxes of conventional wisdom. Again and again the message is
delivered: everything is finished but the final counting up of delegates,
despite the fact that the vast majority of states have not voted. The
pressure to conclude the competition disempowers voters and damages the
discourse, and candidates have every right and reason to resist the rush to
shut the competition down before it has really begun.
But resistance is futile if a candidate gets no encouragement to challenge
the emerging narrative.
That is one of the reasons why a once-crowded Republican presidential race
is a whole lot less crowded these days.
Something has upset the rush to write off Sanders, however. It seems that a
good many Democrats, including several prominent partisans who just endorsed
the insurgent, are disinclined to embrace the conventional wisdom.
Clinton had a very good Saturday in South Carolina-which provided her with a
decisive win and a signal that she may well sweep states across the south.
It would be silly to see her as anything less than the frontrunner for the
Democratic nomination. The March primary schedule offers her plenty of
openings to solidify than status, and that had headline writers declaring
that "Sanders supporters may soon have to choose between Clinton and Trump."
Yet, the primary schedule goes on through June 14, with a number of states
that are friendly to Sanders voting in April and May and the biggest prize
for both candidates (California) up for grabs on June 7.
Sanders says he can go the distance. And his supporters signaled that they
are ready for the long run.
Immediately before and after South Carolina's primary voting, Sanders spoke
to huge crowds in Dallas and Kansas City and Tulsa and Oklahoma City:
communities where few would have predicted even a year ago that a democratic
socialist would attract thousands of cheering supporters. At the same time,
the senator won two of the highest profile endorsements of his run.
On Friday, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, announced his support for
Sanders, writing that the senator is "leading a movement to reclaim America
for the many, not the few. And such a political mobilization-a 'political
revolution,' as he puts it-is the only means by which we can get the nation
back from the moneyed interests that now control so much of our economy and
democracy."
The longtime associate of Bill and Hillary Clinton explained that his
endorsement had to do with issues, as opposed to personalities.
"I have the deepest respect and admiration for Hillary Clinton, and if she
wins the Democratic primary I'll work my heart out to help her become
president. But I believe Bernie Sanders is the agent of change this nation
so desperately needs," he wrote, while focusing on the issue that has
animated the Sanders insurgency. "This extraordinary concentration of
income, wealth, and political power at the very top imperils all else - our
economy, our democracy, the revival of the American middle class, the
prospects for the poor and for people of color, the necessity of slowing and
reversing climate change, and a sensible foreign policy not influenced by
the 'military-industrial complex,' as President Dwight Eisenhower once
called it. It is the fundamental prerequisite: We have little hope of
achieving positive change on any front unless the American people are once
again in control."
Two days after Reich made his announcement, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard,
D-Hawaii, endorsed Sanders. And the next day, Congressman Alan Grayson,
D-Florida, announced that he, too, would back the senator from Vermont.
The announcement by Gabbard was particularly dramatic, in that the
congresswoman quit a party leadership post in order to free herself to
campaign for Sanders.
A Democrat from Hawaii, Gabbard is an proudly independent member of the
House Democratic Caucus who does not mind stirring controversy or breaking
with leadership. She has sparred with the Obama administration over foreign
policy, she has sparred with congressional Democrats over defense policy,
and she sparred with the party leaders over debate policy-making headlines
early in the 2016 race by stepping up, as a vice chair of the DNC, to demand
more forums featuring the presidential candidates.
On Sunday, Gabbard announced that: "I have taken my responsibilities as an
officer of the DNC seriously, and respected the need to stay neutral in our
primaries. However, after much thought and consideration, I've decided I
cannot remain neutral and sit on the sidelines any longer," she said, while
making the case the foreign policy concerns led her to choose Sanders over
former Secretary of State Clinton.
"I think it's most important for us, as we look at our choices as to who our
next commander in chief will be, (to) recognize the necessity to have a
commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment," Gabbard
explained in an appearance NBC's "Meet the Press."
Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran and member of the Hawaii Army National Guard,
has been especially outspoken in her criticism of regime-change strategies
that she suggests are dangerous and ineffective. To that end, she has
introduced legislation seeking to focus U.S. policy on defeating Islamic
State, al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Syria, as opposed to a dual
strategy that seeks to combat terrorist groups while also trying to
overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. She has, as well, been a sharp
critic of Clinton's proposal for a no-fly zone in Syria-which President
Obama and Sanders also oppose.
In a video released Sunday, Gabbard painted the Democratic race as a stark
choice between competing approaches to international and domestic
challenges.
"We need a commander in chief who has foresight, who exercises good
judgment, and who understands the need for a robust foreign policy which
defends the safety and security of the American people, and who will not
waste precious lives and money on interventionist wars of regime change.
Such counterproductive wars undermine our national security and economic
prosperity," added the veteran of two deployments to the Middle East. "As
these elections continue across the county, the American people are faced
with a very clear choice. We can elect a president who will lead us into
more interventionist wars of regime change, or we can elect a president who
will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity. It's with this clear choice
in mind that I am resigning as vice-chair of the DNC so that I can strongly
support Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee for president of the United
States."
Grayson, a popular figure with grassroots Democrats who has often clashed
with party leaders on questions of policy and political style, is mounting
an insurgent bid this year for his party's Senate nomination in Florida (and
getting plenty of pushback from top Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid). The congressman conducted an online poll asking who he, as a
Democratic National Convention super-delegate, should support in the
presidential race. "The response has been absolutely overwhelming. Almost
400,000 Democrats voted at GraysonPrimary.com. More than the number who
voted in the South Carolina primary. More than the number who voted in the
New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus combined," wrote Grayson in a
Monday message.
Grayson said that 86 percent of those who responded to his appeal encouraged
him to back Sanders, calling the result: "More than just a landslide. An
earthquake."
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
