2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumFor those of us envisioning a Sanders/Warren run...
http://vtdigger.org/2014/06/23/video-sanders-tries-stump-speech-vermont-democrats/
If his performance at the Vermont Democratic Party soiree last week is any indication, Sen. Bernie Sanders has honed his presidential stump speech.
Sanders, I-Vt., has had plenty of opportunity: Over the past few months, he has tested the waters in New Hampshire, Iowa and North Carolina with his hallmark message on the growing gap between the rich and poor in America and how big money has tilted the electoral process.
The junior senator from Vermont, who was one of the opening acts of the evening, upstaged Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, with his brief, podium-pounding talk to a crowd of 900 Democratic supporters Friday in Essex Junction.
He laid out the most serious problems America has faced in modern history.
The reality is the middle class in America is disappearing, Sanders said. The reality is that we have more people living in poverty today than any time in the history of the United States. The reality is, in America today there is more income wealth inequality than any major country on Earth.
Unemployment rates nationwide are 6.2 percent, but if people who have given up or work part time are included in the statistics, the rate jumps to 12 percent, he said.
Thousands of young people cant afford to go to college, without going $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 into debt, he said. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are people, Sanders said, and billionaires are now able to buy elections and buy and sell politicians. Thats why we have to overturn Citizens United, he said.
What we are engaged in right now is not just an economic struggle and a political struggle, but it is most profoundly a moral struggle, Sanders said. My colleagues in the House tell us that while there has been a huge increase in inequality, the most pressing problem in American is to give more tax breaks for the wealthy in this country.
JustAnotherGen
(31,631 posts)Last I checked he was still and independent. Or would it be an independent/third party ticket?
mother earth
(6,002 posts)Whatever ticket he would choose to run on, he is exactly what we need.
JustAnotherGen
(31,631 posts)Talking/hitting hard about GREEN job creation that is focused on infrastructure. The time is now. Of course those jobs would be solid wage paying jobs - but green infrastructure is needed. We need this. We can't wait. I don't want to be 80 years old (I'm 41 now) and up to my hips in water 40 miles from what USED to be the Atlantic Ocean and central NJ.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)Vermont and seven other states will share nearly $4 million in economic stimulus funding announced today under a green jobs program that was authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
JustAnotherGen
(31,631 posts)In the meantime - I believe we have a shot to flip the NJ 7th to D. #RunWithJanice Sanders is going to need help in 2015 and 2016 from the House. Every single seat counts.
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)guarantee a repeat of the 49 state sweep the Rethugs had earlier.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)party will be answered.
democrank
(11,032 posts)It is a "moral struggle" and one worth fighting for.
MoonchildCA
(1,301 posts)Not that it wouldn't be a dream ticket, but it's not really reality. For there to be those two names on the ticket, one would have to win the nomination.
I love Bernie, in fact he's probably my favorite politician, and I'm crossing my fingers that he will run. I think his point in running though, is to sway the message of the election. He wants to be the progressive voice.
And if he does run, I'll never get a chance to vote for him. I'm in California and by the time we have our primaries, all my favorite candidates have always been filtered out, and we're left with a choice of two party-establishment people to pick from. My most exciting vote was Obama, but even he was not my first choice.
By the way, if in some bizarre turn of events, I end up eating my words, it will be the best meal I ever had...
ChangeUp106
(549 posts)Very interesting. I'm glad Bernie is going to challenge Hillary. I don't think Warren will be along for the ride but it's good to see them together in the same room.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)She's simply a brilliant choice. I too think it's interesting she was there.
ChangeUp106
(549 posts)I don't want Warren taking the VP. That's how they put people like Warren under control. "Oh you get the VP! (which doesn't do much and your Senate career might be over)."
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)He "gets" it.
The middle class is suffering so much in this country.
polichick
(37,152 posts)davidpdx
(22,000 posts)I think until enough states change their laws to effectively make the presidential election a popular vote (versus an electoral college) it will be hard (though not impossible) for an independent to win.
SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)these two have really have me pumped up about politics and how this country should be run. Just listen to them. I don't get that feeling from Hilliary. Plus it's the same old, same old with Clinton and her baggage. Barack won because he was new, had inspirations like no other. Barack didn't carry a lot of baggage, and was not well known.
Warren is fairly new. Sanders has been around a while longer. I think they'd make a huge difference is how this country should be run.
Put them on a Democratic ticket, and I don't see how they can lose for the following 8 years.