Bernie Sanders's presidential candidacy four decades in the making

[Jefferson23]

Since his first bid for Senate in 1974, Bernie Sanders's message has remained the same: Too much of the America's wealth has gone to the top.

By Dave Gram, Associated Press May 10, 2015

Montpelier, Vt. — Once a democratic socialist, always a democratic socialist. Once a scold of big money in politics, still a scold.

No one can accuse Sen. Bernie Sanders of flip-flopping over his four decades in public life. Rock steady, he's inhabited the same ideological corner on the left from which he now takes on Hillary Rodham Clinton in an improbable quest for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

Here he is in 1974, as the 32-year-old candidate for U.S. Senate of a fledgling leftist party in Vermont called Liberty Union: "A handful of banks and billionaires control the economic and political life of America. ... America is becoming less and less of a democracy and more and more of an oligarchy."


And now, in an Associated Press interview: "This is a rigged economy, which works for the rich and the powerful, and is not working for ordinary Americans. ... You know this country just does not belong to a handful of billionaires."

in full: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2015/0510/Bernie-Sanders-s-presidential-candidacy-four-decades-in-the-making

[freshwest]

1. Glad his words are getting out there. Hers aren't, really. Bernie is a good man. n/t

[Jefferson23]

2. Me too, he is on point. n/t

[freshwest]

3. One polls shows HRC at 62%, but he is all the way up to 18% (?). Quite a rise,

so people are getting to hear him. I'm hoping MSM won't be able to dismiss him as 'fringe.' His positions to me are the definition of a Democrat, not unusual at all. It's why he's been able to work with them so well in the Senate.

If he's fringe, most Democrats that I've known and know now have been fringe since JFK, or earlier. The advantage he has is that he's been on programs regularly, at least weekly or more, on cable. And no one has ever been able to talk over him or put him in a box, not even CNN, MSNBC or Faux.

I think he's had more freedom to speak than PBO has had, upon whose every word that can be miscontrued and cause a panic, because he can do things that a legislator cannot. The number of times Bernie has been on these shows is a great advantage, making him a 'regular' guy in many eyes, and gives him more name recognition than Webb or O'Malley have nationally.

I'm not on the East Coast, but they two appear to be a big deal, there. I wonder if it will play against the Democrats having all of their candidates on the East Coast?

I do like the idea of a Clinton and Castro ticket for inclusiveness. I see the GOP going for a southern ticket using the southern strategy. They just refuse to give up on it.

[Jefferson23]

5. He is what I call, a straight shooter, pardon the pun. Sanders is savy and it appears he will

give his all, I don't doubt that and I agree he is not fringe. He has consistently
spoken of the elephant in the room..the money. CU is a travesty, additionally, the
election system became corrupted long before that, only worse now.

He also has the ability to use Vermont as means to say, see, this is what we
have accomplished on the states level, this is what worked, this is the percentage
of Americans who we were able to help lift up, look at the cost share, and most importantly,
this is what all functioning democracies should be doing and beyond.

The GOP? Can you freakin' believe Jeb Bush stating he will utilize GW on foreign
policy??? I thought, talk about living in a bubble..wow. I don't expect our MSM
to inject reality there much, but Sanders can..hell, even though Clinton voted
yes, she could go after Jeb just as much, I feel. I mean that is just insane to say
such a thing. Rubio will abandon his allegedly soft on immigration views and the
rest of the Republican candidates will do their usual racist baiting..which group
of voters do they have left other than the Republican elite/corporations and
the racists/fundies at the bottom? It seems to me those moderate Republicans
and Independent voters who are middle class and below are ripe for Democrats
to sway over.


I am hopeful for Sanders his message can resonant across wide demographics, and I
am grateful to him that he is running..it is time.

[chknltl]

4. KnR nt