A Member of “Bernie’s Army” Is Still Waiting for the Candidate’s Help
John Fetterman, the populist mayor and long-shot Democratic Senate candidate, was one of the first elected officials in the country to endorse Bernie Sanders for president. He is, like Sanders, a political outsider. A tattooed giant—6-foot-8, more than 300 pounds—he’s spent the past 11 years presiding over Braddock, Pennsylvania, a largely black town outside Pittsburgh that was wrecked by the collapse of the local steel industry. Income inequality is at the center of his campaign. “I think there’s a great deal of overlap” between Sanders’ platform and his own, he tells me, “whether it’s a $15-an-hour living wage or health care, trade deals, a rigged economy.” Ideologically, the only real difference between the two men is that Fetterman is more in favor of gun control. He has the date of every homicide in Braddock since his election—nine in all—inked on his right arm.
In February, the New Republic described Fetterman as part of “Bernie’s army,” a generation of Democratic candidates creating “a progressive revolution from within.” Like Sanders, Fetterman has raised most of the money for his primary online, from small-dollar donors. He’s in a three-way primary race against Joe Sestak, the defeated Democratic Senate candidate in 2010, and Katie McGinty, who has the backing of much of the national Democratic establishment.
Fetterman’s criticism of McGinty echoes Sanders’ case against Hillary Clinton. “When she ran less than two years ago, she was for $9 an hour instead of $15,” he says, referring to the minimum wage. “She brought fracking to Pennsylvania, and she also supported NAFTA.” She has a massive financial advantage in what is currently the most expensive Senate race in the country, with more than $17 million already spent.
Given the money and political power stacked against him, Fetterman says he needs Sanders’ help to have any chance next Tuesday, the same day as the Pennsylvania presidential primary. So far, however, it has not been forthcoming. There’s been no endorsement, no fundraising support, no joint appearances. Fetterman’s campaign finds this confounding. On the ground, he says, there’s enormous overlap between his supporters and the Sanders grassroots. (“The crowd at the Fishtown brewpub is young, liberal, urban. They rave about Sanders—and Fetterman,” says a recent Philadelphia Inquirer story.) In a three-way race, he believes, Sanders’ backing could be decisive; Fetterman estimates that he’ll win if he gets 60 or 70 percent of Sanders’ voters.
more: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/04/john_fetterman_s_senate_campaign_needs_bernie_sanders_help.html
How's Bernie going to get his agenda passed if he doesn't have any allies in Congress? I suppose he thinks that these people will just get elected by magic.
= new reply since forum marked as read
