Now, CNN: S.C. State Rep. Justin Bamberg SANDERS Endorser from Clinton.
Bamberg is a State Rep. in South Carolina and was the lawyer for the family of police-killing victim Walter Scott.
He takes issue with S.C. being a 'firewall' for an entire group of people. Bamberg says he'll continue to enlighten minority voters about Bernie Sanders who's worked his entire life for social and racial justice.
= new reply since forum marked as read
THE PALMETTO STATE, SOUTH CAROLINA with millions of supporters including Rep. Bamberg (D). The legislator said in another interview that he switched to Bernie's mainly because of his boldness, honesty, authenticity and support for single-payer health care which is very important in Bamberg's district.
-SANDERS ENDORSED BY KEY SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRAT - The Hill, Feb, 3, 2016
Former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Richard Harpootlian on Wednesday endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president.
"You sort of say, 'Well, can he do it?' " Harpootlian said, according to the New York Times. "It's like 2007, when I met Barack Obama fully intending to support Hillary Clinton. And after a half hour with him he convinced me, not convinced me so much as I saw a passion in him.
Hillary is not an agent of change — I mean, her campaign slogan should be, ‘It’s my turn,’ ” he added.
“It’s hard for me to listen to how Hillary says she would fight Wall Street when she took hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs — not 20 years ago, but a couple years ago. She’s talking the talk, but not walking the walk.”
- Richard Harpootlian served twice as the Democratic Party Chairman in South Carolina, 1998-2003 and 2011-2013 -
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/268162-former-south-carolina-dem-party-chair-endorses-sanders
Thanks so much for sharing this, appalachiablue!
Last edited Sat Feb 6, 2016, 08:10 PM - Edit history (1)
*VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT, CNN INTERVIEW WITH REP. BAMBERG, Jan. 25
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/politics/bernie-sanders-south-carolina-walter-scott/
Honesty, boldness and trustworthy are some of the reasons Bamberg decided to change his support to Sanders recently. The Vermont candidate's position on single-payer health care is a critical issue in Bamberg's area and another main reason for switching his endorsement to Sanders from Clinton in Dec.
The S. C. state representative and attorney was a prominent figure in the effort to take the Confederate flag down from the South Carolina Statehouse.
Justin T. Bamberg was also the lawyer for the family of Walter Scott, the police-shooting victim. Mr. Scott, age 50 and unarmed, was shot and killed in April 2015 while running away from North Charleston police officer Michael Slager. Slager was subsequently arrested, indicted, denied bail for months and then released earlier this month once a new trial date was set. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/justin-bamberg-bernie-sanders_us_56a6447be4b076aadcc7366b
Last edited Sun Feb 7, 2016, 01:04 AM - Edit history (1)
<snips> After overtaking Hillary Clinton in some Iowa and New Hampshire polls, Sen. Bernard Sanders is showing he has a real chance of winning South Carolina and crashing through the Clinton campaign’s supposed Southern firewall, analysts and Democratic Party leaders say. Should Mr. Sanders seize momentum once voting starts in the Democratic presidential nominating contests, there’s a growing belief that Mrs. Clinton’s 36-point lead in South Carolina could quickly evaporate, just as it did in 2008 when then-Sen. Barack Obama swamped Mrs. Clinton en route to the White House. While there are many key differences between 2008 and this presidential cycle — not the least of which is Mr. Obama himself, who eight years ago was able to galvanize African-Americans, young voters and other key groups in the party like few before him — Mrs. Clinton’s campaign seems to once again be on the ropes, and a loss in South Carolina could spell doom for the former secretary of state.
“I think there could be a meltdown,” said David Woodard, a political science professor at Clemson University. “I think South Carolina could be very critical. If Bernie wins the first two, he might win here I wouldn’t be surprised if Bernie Sanders was able to knock her off here.” Democratic leaders in the state believe the momentum is flowing toward Mr. Sanders. Wins in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, they say, could dramatically change the South Carolina race overnight, and caution against assuming that Mrs. Clinton’s massive lead will hold once voters begin heading to the polls. “I absolutely believe that can happen, and the reason I believe it can happen is because I witnessed it here in 2008,” said Allen Bailey, chairman of the Sumter County, South Carolina, Democratic Party and a Sanders backer. He added that many supporters of Mrs. Clinton, at least in his county, seem ripe to be pulled to the Sanders side provided the senator spends more time in the state.
- Dem. Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Speaks to Students at St. Benedict's College in Columbia, South Carolina -
“I think Bernie’s biggest challenge is himself. He’s just not as well known,” Mr. Bailey said. “He’s had to introduce himself down here. All the people out front for Hillary they’re not necessarily avid Hillary supporters. They’re settling for Hillary.” Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 South Carolina loss was the combination of momentum growing behind Mr. Obama — who won the Iowa caucuses several weeks earlier, a feat once considered virtually impossible — and self-inflicted wounds, the largest of which were gaffes uttered by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton said, among other things, that Mr. Obama’s candidacy was little more than a “fairy tale. So far the Clinton campaign has avoided those kinds of glaring missteps and continues to enjoy a huge lead in South Carolina and a substantial lead nationally. In South Carolina, however, party officials say polls showing Mrs. Clinton with a seemingly insurmountable lead are, to some extent, worthless because many voters haven’t truly made up their minds. “A fair amount of them are waiting to see how things are going to shake out,” said Harold Crawford, chair of the Aiken County Democratic Party. On campus at Clemson University, Mr. Woodard says he sees Sanders supporters handing out stickers and other campaign paraphernalia on a daily basis. He says he’s seen virtually none of that from Clinton backers.
“She just doesn’t turn you on,” he said of Mrs. Clinton and why Democratic excitement is once again behind another candidate. But some South Carolina Democratic leaders say excitement and momentum won’t be enough for Mr. Sanders, even after wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. The key to a victory in South Carolina, they say, will depend on whether his grass-roots foot soldiers will work as hard as Mr. Obama’s backers did in 2008. “If Bernie were to pull something like that off, that’s how it would be done. It wouldn’t be an invisible thing called momentum,” said Amy Hayes, chair of the York County, South Carolina, Democratic Party who worked for Mr. Obama’s campaign in 2008 and has remained neutral so far in this cycle. “It would be his supporters — are they motivated enough to get out and knock on doors and talk to people? That’s what we did for Obama.” Other Democratic leaders across the state argue Mrs. Clinton’s support is stronger than it was in 2008, and voters that may have left her side eight years ago won’t do so again.
“I think it’s solid,” Newberry County, South Carolina, Democratic Party chairman and Clinton supporter Dave Waldrop said. “I’m sure human nature would kick in, and some people would say she can’t win. But I don’t believe it would be a domino effect. But I could be wrong; anything could change.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jan/14/bernie-sanders-gaining-crucial-ground-over-clinton/?page=all
Aug. 22, 2015, 7 p.m., Charleston Convention Center. Rock music blared from speakers. Crowds cheered and waved signs. Couples danced together, laughing and smiling. What would appear to be a summer music festival was quite the opposite – this was the Bernie Sanders rally. Over 3,150 South Carolinians journeyed to North Charleston to get a glimpse at the newest candidate to enter the presidential race. Pictured here, Sanders incites the crowd with a rousing speech, (Photo Credits to Michael Wiser)
One of three opening speakers at the rally was Tristan Fletcher, a junior at the College of Charleston. He supported Sanders’ plan for free public education at the collegiate level. “College is an expensive proposition for us,” he remarked. “Countries all over the world are providing free and inexpensive education for their youth.” Yet, Fletcher’s cousin, like far too many American students, he said, will graduate from medical school with over 250,000 dollars in debt.
When Sanders rose to the stage, the audience erupted in cheers and chants, yelling “Bernie, Bernie, Bernie” while waving campaign signs. Sanders touched upon many key components of his campaign such as increasing minimum wage and stopping corporate greed. He especially emphasized his policy on free education at the collegiate level. Sanders wants to place a “Robin Hood” tax on stock transactions on Wall Street, taxing the wealthy to serve the middle and lower classes.
“You can’t have it all,” Sanders stated emphatically. “You cannot take advantage of all the benefits of America if you refuse to accept your responsibilities as Americans.” He then spoke on youth unemployment, citing statistics that 5.5 million of Americans between the ages of 17 and 20 are unemployed. This rate, Sanders claimed, is directly related to the fact that America has more citizens incarcerated than any other country in the world. “We are turning our backs on young people… We need to invest in jobs and education,” he resolved.
Sanders’ platform also includes raising minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15.00. Dubbing the new wage as a national living wage, Sanders argued that any working citizen laboring 40 hours a week should not have to live in poverty or have to keep multiple jobs to provide for their family.
Many of the attendees carried signs or wore shirts displaying the popular campaign slogan: Feel the Bern, a pun on candidate Sanders' name. (Photo Credits: Michael Wiser)
Sanders maintained his hard positioning throughout the rally, hoping to inspire the audience to join in his “so called” political revolution. Sanders concluded, “Corporate greed is destroying America, it is immoral and unsustainable. You and I, together, we are going to change that.”
>Attendees of the rally came from all over the state. Avid Bernie supporters Steven and Joy Austen, for example, drove 150 miles from Rock Hill, S.C. When asked why he would make such a trek to see Sanders, Steven replied, “Because Bernie is really progressive and is trying to do things that should have been done a long time ago.”College of Charleston student Kylie Beall found Sanders’ stance on the rising cost of collegiate level education to be the most resounding issue .
>“A lot of kids are really in debt now because of school or they can’t get jobs,” Kylie stated. “I just don’t think any of the new candidates would address the issues of the younger generation that’s going to inherit the earth.”
http://site.cisternyard.com/2015/08/27/feeling-the-bern-in-charleston-the-bernie-sanders-rally/
Yup. I'd say Hillary is seeing this:
