Big crowd for Bernie in Burlington. pic.twitter.com/sHqgFiYklw
— Dylan Stableford (@stableford) May 26, 2015
Bernie’s buzzing — here’s his official campaign website. You can also buy tshirts and yard signs and stickers, but not (yet) propeller beanies. (Maybe I’m the only one who would totally buy a Bernie beanie?) Per the Washington Post:
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton from the left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders kicked off his presidential bid Tuesday with a pitch to liberals to join him in a “political revolution” to transform the nation’s economy and politics.
Sanders, who entered the Democratic race in late April, formally opened his White House campaign in Burlington, where he was first elected mayor by defeating a longtime Democratic incumbent by 10 votes. Three decades later, Sanders is the underdog again, vowing to campaign on an agenda to elevate issues like income inequality, campaign finance and climate change.
“With your support and the support of millions of people throughout this country, we begin a political revolution to transform our country economically, politically, socially and environmentally,” Sanders declared to about 5,000 supporters along the shore of Lake Champlain…
Sanders, an independent in the Senate who often votes with the Democrats, has raised more than $4 million since announcing his campaign in late April and suggested in an interview with The Associated Press last week that raising $50 million for the primaries was a possibility.
In his address, Sanders made clear he would seek to be on the forefront of liberal causes. He described the economic system as “rigged” against middle-class families and vowed to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and to oppose trade deals that would ship jobs overseas. To counter big money in politics, he said he would push for the public financing of elections.
To build upon President Barack Obama’s health care law, Sanders supports a single-payer health care system. Instead of cutting Social Security, he said, the nation should expand Social Security benefits. To address climate change, he said, Congress should pass a carbon tax to help transition off fossil fuels.
He noted that he voted against the invasion of Iraq in 2003 — Clinton has disavowed her vote in support of it — and said the U.S. should be part of an international coalition to defeat the Islamic State group…
The NYTimes was considerably sniffier:
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont began drawing implicit contrasts with Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, as he played the liberal purist in throwing down policy gauntlet after gauntlet – a $15 minimum wage, $1 trillion for public works jobs, a “Medicare-for-all” system of universal health care — in his first campaign rally since declaring his candidacy last month.
While he referred to Mrs. Clinton by name only once, Mr. Sanders, an avowed socialist and former mayor of this bucolic sanctuary for political progressives, took so many emphatic and uncompromising stands that he made Mrs. Clinton look like a pretender for her recent shifts to the left on gay marriage and free trade. At the same time, however, Mr. Sanders offered nothing in the way of strategies for getting his left-wing policy ideas through the politically gridlocked Congress — other than promising (like generations of candidates have) to “build a movement of millions of Americans who are prepared to stand up and fight back.”
Mr. Sanders spoke before an adoring crowd of several thousand on the edge of Lake Champlain…
… but WaPo numbers wonk Philip Bump wonks has charts pointing out that
… Sanders, because he has a higher percentage of support in a slightly bigger pool of people, has more on-the-ground support at this moment than Christie or Ben Carson or Rick Perry. He has more than Fiorina, John Kasich, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham combined… Sanders won’t be the Democratic nominee. And neither Fiorina, Kasich nor Graham are likely to be the GOP nominee. Among Americans at large, though, Sanders has a lot more supporters than any number of the often-talked-about Republicans.
As someone whose political instincts I trust said today, “I already like this campaign a little more than I did on Monday.”
Bernie Sanders voluntarily e-files his campaign finance reports. Making them easier to access. http://t.co/viyZCsCxNX pic.twitter.com/kX7XKuCXFv
— Public Integrity (@Publici) May 26, 2015
Of course, there’s always the haterz…
Now read this (generally excellent) Sanders speech and notice what's missing: http://t.co/hdQ0D1xToo #cmonnow
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 26, 2015
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha http://t.co/28AuzYb02L pic.twitter.com/3JhfLw5jV3
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 26, 2015
Chris
Give em hell, Bernie.
srv
Ah, I am so relieved. Finally, a real liberal running for President. I’m sure he’ll get a lot of support here. There are so many jaded democrats out there, they’d march into a gas chamber with Hillary.
The Republic of Stupidity
I don’t think Bernie stands much of a chance but he will force the other candidates to talk about topics they’d probably prefer not to…
I’m glad he’s running…
Go for it, Bernie…
srv
@efgoldman: If AL or someone will front page his Actblue tomorrow, I’ll dollar match the first $250 in BJ contributions.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Policy-wise, does he match my views more than anyone likely to declare? Damn right. Now what? Me, I am going to volunteer for Feingold’s Senate campaign.
srv
I will dollar match $250 for Feingold also, if someone FP the Actblue during a morning.
Omnes excluded, to motivate others.
Bobby Thomson
@The Republic of Stupidity: Special K didn’t force anyone to talk about anything in 2004. Bernie has better message discipline, though.
jo6pac
@efgoldman:
I agree as member of the left to me bernie is a (Oh Look a Shiny Object). This is a move to those that might vote for him in primes then go on in vote for the lesser of 2 evils in the main show. I’ll be voting Green.
Evil is still evil.
Omnes Omnibus
@srv:
Fair enough.
Omnes Omnibus
@jo6pac: Behold! The purity pony in its native environment – the internet.
Cacti
@srv:
Over at DU(mb) Bernie won their head to head poll against Hillary 90-10.
I’m sure it’s a harbinger of things to come.
askew
Sanders announcement was attended by 4,000 people (99% of them were white I’d guess by the crowd shots). That seems like a massive turnout for Vermont. I am curious how that compares to Dean or Obama’s announcement in 2008.
He got a whole hour of prime time coverage on MSNBC which is probably the most time he’ll see on TV until the debates. Smart plan. I’d guess he sees a good size fundraising bump after this increased media coverage.
It was nice seeing a crowd energized by a liberal speech. With Hillary in the candidate protection program, our side of the primary has been dead. And it was nice to see a Dem talking point in detail and not just vague nonsense.
O’Malley is announcing Saturday morning in Baltimore. I’d expect he gets very little tv time due to the Saturday announcement. He’s going from there to IA to campaign immediately. He is looking like a huge long shot, but he gets my support until he drops out the day after the IA caucus.
I think that is our entire primary line-up or has Chafee decided to officially run? Webb appears like he is out.
I wonder if MoveOn will finally stop harassing Warren to run for president now and get onboard the Sanders bandwagon?
fuckwit
I am thrilled. This is an awareness campaign. It needs to happen. Bernie’s the right guy to make the case for what we need to do. Zero chance of winning, but if he gets enough votes he can influence the party platform. Pat Robertson did this to the R’s in 1992. It worked and it set the stage for 1994. It’s long enough overdue for progressives and liberals to take the reins of the Democratic party, from the inside. This is a great way to do it. Go Bernie!
Cacti
@askew:
Iowa and New Hampshire are two of the 10 whitest states in the union. If he doesn’t turn in a solid performance in both, his campaign will be DOA.
Tony P.
Is there any objection to a President Bernie other than “he can’t win”?
–TP
Omnes Omnibus
@fuckwit: Exactly.
Omnes Omnibus
@Tony P.: Who has objected to his candidacy?
askew
@Cacti:
I expect Sanders to do well in New Hampshire. Iowa might be a weird fit for him. It’s not as white as Vermont and his kind of liberalism seems like a bad fit. I campaigned for Dean in Iowa and Dems just didn’t like him there. Almost all of his volunteers were from out of state, which just pissed of Iowa voters. I hope Sanders has learned from Dean’s mistakes.
I am hoping Sanders or O’Malley can at least make it through Super Tuesday before it turns into a Hillary coronation. She’s going to go right back into hiding after she wins the nomination so the longer the contest goes the better.
magurakurin
@srv: if you’re really lucky maybe he will pick John Bolton as his running mate. How about you go back to your little gooper hidey hole now.
Gin & Tonic
@jo6pac: I’ll be voting Green.
I hope you enjoy eight years of President John E. Bush.
Cacti
@Tony P.:
His age.
If Hillary’s right at the edge of being too old for voters to accept in a POTUS, Bernie will be well past it at 75 years old in November 2016.
askew
@Tony P.:
He’s 25 years too old to be president, voted to keep GITMO open, is too pro-Israel and sucks on gun control are the only complaints I have about him. None of those are dealbreakers though.
Omnes Omnibus
@askew: Jesus, you asked for people to enter the race. You have them – and they are, so far, people that can push HRC to the left. If the primary does nothing else, based on the people coming, it will discuss the issues of the left.
The Republic of Stupidity
@Bobby Thomson: Something about moving the Overton Window back to the left comes to mind…
Howard Beale IV
The real question is who is 100% ratfuckable to make the GOP standard bearer for 2016?
Omnes Omnibus
@Howard Beale IV: All of them, Katie. And that is the problem.
askew
@Omnes Omnibus:
And I am thrilled that they are entering the race. I have no illusions though. Hillary isn’t going to be pushed anywhere and the second she secures the nomination, she’ll go back to her bad campaign habits. I just hope Sanders/O’Malley can make her work for it for awhile.
Howard Beale IV
@Omnes Omnibus: True-but isn’t that all the better to let the Koch’s burn their cash on? Hell, maybe it can get to the point that it’ll result in a brokered convention?
David Koch
3,400 words and not one time did Sanders mention immigration, gay rights, pay equity, mass incarceration (which he voted for), and out of control cops murdering Blacks.
Living in rural vermont for 50 years has isolated him from the rest of the country.
Blacks, Latinos, Women, Gays won’t vote for you if ignore them and don’t ask for their votes.
Omnes Omnibus
@askew: Candidates are affected by the issues raised during their primaries. The fact that you assume that HRC is incapable of learning from the past is rather interesting.
David Koch
Hillary wins major endorsement:
Omnes Omnibus
@Howard Beale IV: Honestly, I have no idea.
askew
@Omnes Omnibus:
I think she’ll say anything you want her to in order to win. If the Dem electorate needs her to say that her Iraq vote was a mistake, she’ll say it. If she says she now supports driver’s licenses for undocumented Americans, she’ll say it even though she opposed it in 2008. Since she is hiding from real questions, the only time she’ll actually have to answer for her flip-flops is during the few debates we have. We’ll see if Sanders/O’Malley actually call her on her flip-flops.
askew
@David Koch:
I can see that criticism of Sanders. We’ll have to see how he plays in Nevada and South Carolina. O’Malley’s speech on Saturday will talk about those issues as his base of support is similar to the Obama coalition and he has a record of progressive achievements in civil rights, immigration, etc. Who knows if he can gain any traction or not though.
David Koch
Chris Hayes is right.
The problem is Hayes has Sanders on his show alll the freakin time and he never asks him any difficult questions, like why did he vote for mass incarceration and 3-strikes and you’re out, why did he praise George W Bush on shock and awe, why did he vote against President Obama and in favor of keeping GITMO open, why is he a gun nut, why does he support the F-35, why did he vigorously support Israel’s brutal attack of Gaza, Why hasn’t he ever passed any legislation in 25 years in congress, why doesn’t he have any Blacks on his staff in Washington DC (is there no black qualified to hire in DC?), why did he say racism is over, and on and on and on. Instead, it’s one free pass after another.
Omnes Omnibus
@askew: Well, yes, that would be your view, wouldn’t it?
Mike in NC
Sanders, an old man with exactly 0.00% chance of getting elected in this country. WTF?
Cluttered Mind
Everyone needs to stop saying he can’t win. Things happen. Hillary Clinton currently has a gigantic lead, but the election isn’t tomorrow. A lot can happen in a year and a half. Any number of things could cause Hillary Clinton’s campaign to either implode or end altogether. If Clinton exits the race, Sanders has a very good shot at the nomination and he could win the general election too, especially if his opponent emerges from the GOP primary forced to adopt a platform to the right of Atilla the Hun.
Sanders could win. Are the chances low at this moment? Yes, but they are NOT zero, so saying “he has no chance” is not accurate at all.
David Koch
I don’t see that happening. I don’t think Hillary wants to be his Veep.
askew
@David Koch:
The why hasn’t Bernie passed any legislation in 25 years isn’t fair. He was responsible for adding one the best pieces to Obamacare – funding for Community Health Centers.
The rest are interesting questions.
David Koch
@Cluttered Mind: It’s the other way around. Hillary’s chances are low.
Just 4 days ago, Daily Kos held a poll and Sanders received 82% support.
As we’ve read a million times, Daily Kos is the base. They’re an oracle. Such low numbers means her chance to win the nomination is looking bad.
David Koch
@askew:
it was kind of small, as you can see here. but you have to remember it was in February and only 14 degrees. Also too, Obama messed up by not handing out free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
fuckwit
@Cluttered Mind: Maybe. American politics does have its unlikely moments, especially at the Presidenial level. Certainly wasn’t expected that Americans would elect an Irish catholic, peanut farmer, B-movie actor, C student, and a black guy with a middle name Hussein.
On the D side the against-the-odds wins tend to be historic breakthroughs and on the R side they tend to be “WTF-have-people-gone-nuts?” fails. So I guess you can never count anything out.
So far, seems like whatever happens next on the D side so far is going to be historic: first female president or first Jewish socialist president.
hidflect
The NYT damns with faint praise. They’re in the tank for Madame Clinton since they share obeisance to the same corporate masters. Expect to see more “well-intentioned but crazy uncle” rot from The Grey.
Ken
This is great for Senator Sanders. Unfortunately, it’s less important about who wins in 2016, but rather, will the winner get the same support 2 years later in the midterms? Obama was a god, until no one decided to come out and vote 2 years later, then he was a disappointment. Same thing in 2012/2014.
The difference is, I won’t care too much when the left pulls that lazy crap with Hillary in 2018 (where we lose the senate we had just gotten back in 2016)
Kay
Good. A candidate who has something to say on the economy besides “raise the minimum wage”.
I have an idea. Democrats could refuse to vote for the trade deal until they get a “left wing policy idea” thru Congress in exchange. Seems like a waste to give the President and Mitch McConnell their trade deal without something in return. What about sick leave? They could run on it to distract people from the horrible trade deal.
Germy Shoemangler
@hidflect:
I never got the impression the NYT was pro- Hillary. If anything, they seem to have a crush on Jeb.
Kay
What about enforcement and modernization of labor laws?
The “contingent worker” problem is only going to get worse, where people don’t even have the bare-bones protection of “employee” legal status, and Latinos are disproportionately harmed by it:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/669766.pdf
That seems like a good issue for Democrats.
Kay
Clinton or Sanders could vow to get a new overtime rule through. It’s been hung up for 4 years, and the longer lobbyists get a crack at it the weaker it will be.
They don’t even need Congress for that.
Bobby Thomson
@The Republic of Stupidity: again, Kucinich did not do that because he could be safely ignored. O’Malley isn’t running to her left, Webb sure as hell isn’t, and there is no rationale for a Chafee candidacy. Sanders will talk about important things, and as I said, has better message discipline, but he won’t force Clinton to do anything that isn’t already part of her strategy. However, he will lay the groundwork for a future, stronger challenge on the left, just as Jesse Jackson greased the rails for Barack Obama with his 1988 run.
Bobby Thomson
@David Koch: Holy crap, the GOS is white. I knew it was years ago but I guess I assumed they might have broadened their appeal. Silly me.
Kay
Here’s an economic issue Clinton or Sanders could bring to the forefront:
The NYTimes just had a front page story on it. We could talk about how GOP governors like Walker and Kasich are gutting the black middle class by privatizing formerly public entities.
And, public sector employees aren’t just economic power for AA, they’re political power for AA- in Milwaukee, in Cleveland, all over urban centers. Public sector employees are organized, which makes them a political force.
We could talk about the black middle class and how they’re harmed disproportionately by privatization. That might be an interesting debate, one that doesn’t fall along expected lines.
Jimgod
@Ken: It’s not the left that pulls the lazy crap, it’s voters as a whole that do not vote in midterm elections. My brother is one of those. He votes in the the Presidential election, thats it. Has nothing to do with disappointment, send a message, etc. That’s all bull. Americans are lazy and will only vote in appreciable numbers every 4 years. And yes, we will lose the Senate in 2018. Not only is turnout gonna be lower, but the map is horrendous for the Democrats. If it’s Hillary, she’ll have 2 years to get all appointments confirmed. After that, it’ll be the same holding pattern as now.
Aardvark Cheeselog
@jo6pac:
I bet you voted Nader in 2000. How’d that work out?
Assholes like you are a big reason why we can’t have nice things.
askew
@Kay:
O’Malley has already come out for that. He’s been talking about it for months now.
askew
@Bobby Thomson:
O’Malley is running significantly to Hillary’s left though with the way Hillary is rapidly shifting left and abandoning her previous campaign positions, they may end up at the same place. Though O’Malley’s record matches his rhetoric unlike Hillary.
O’Malley has talked about expanding social security, raising minimum wage to $15, opposing TPA/TPP, fought to keep child refugees from central america here while Hillary wanted to send them back, etc.
askew
@Kay:
Thought you’d be interested in this, since education is your main issue. NEA awarded O’Malley America’s Greatest Education Governor.
Bobby Thomson
@askew: those who have quantified their public statements and fund raising at 538 have found that if anything, he is to her right. Raiding the state pension fund a la Christie Whitman isn’t exactly liberal, either.
Bill Murray
@Bobby Thomson: wasn’t he also responsible for something like Giuliani’s broken windows policies when he was Mayor of Baltimore — http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/03/baltimore-martin-omalley_n_7198602.html
Applejinx
I gave Bernie $100, and I am poor as dirt. Who’ll match me?
I’ll do it again as soon as I can. It is literally all about the money and nothing else matters. I’d like to work for Bernie too, but until then he gets all the money I can spare.
Enough money and he will win. It is the single unanswerable argument. Opinion is opinion but the world will follow the money. And I don’t feel DIRTY giving Bernie Sanders campaign money.
Cain
@The Republic of Stupidity: You know, I seem to recall that people seem to say the same thing about a young senator from Illinois. A black man at that. I would laugh my ass off if the Clinton machine got defeated twice and twice because of her vote on Iraq. :-)