Sanders In Syracuse for Eric Kingson
Bernie Sanders, who urged supporters to seek elected office and continue his “political revolution,” began fulfilling his part of the bargain with a Friday-night campaign rally in one of New York’s larger college towns, with the formidable apparatus of the Sanders presidential campaign — sound systems, a live band and security agents at the doors.
All of it was for Eric Kingson, a 70-year-old professor at Syracuse University who decided last year that the 24th Congressional District, which Republicans captured in 2014, could use his expertise in Social Security. The soft-spoken Kingson was passed over by most D.C.-based endorsers, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but he got onto the ballot with help from veterans of the Sanders campaign, and learned on Wednesday night that the senator would rally for him ahead of the June 28 primary.
Inside the OnCenter, Sanders fans were encouraged to sign up for weekend shifts to get out the vote for Kingson. Many had driven in from neighboring towns; some, like a group that had carpooled from Rochester, swore to help out anyway. By the start of the event, 500 people had filed in, just 10 percent of the crowd Sanders had drawn here in April but large for a House candidate.
Kingson, who had walked through the crowd unnoticed just hours before, told supporters he was “awed” by the turnout, and promised to bring “new blood” to Washington “to work with old blood like Senator Sanders.”
“I believe he’s done more in his campaign than many presidents have done in four-year terms,” said Kingson. [….]
Applause drowned him out, after some supporters saw Sanders’s white mop of hair. Kingson shook his hand, then walked offstage, only for Sanders to pull him back up for the cameras. Over just 24 minutes, one-quarter the length of the speech Sanders had given in New York City on Tuesday, Sanders alternated between his stump speech and praise for Kingson. It would take “just 7,000 or 8,000 votes” to get him past the primary, he said.
Link to video: Bernie Sanders Still Has a Path to the Late Show
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Link to video: Sanders invites CNY to run for office
Bernie On The Brexit
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) attributed the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union to dissatisfaction over the global economy, but declined to offer his opinion on the decision itself.
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, Sanders expressed concern about “the breaking down of international cooperation,” noting the important role that the EU has played in bringing peace to Europe.
“Europe in the 20th century, as we all know — the kind of blood that we shed there is unimaginable — you never want to see that again,” he said.
But Sanders went on to argue that the vote for a British exit, or “Brexit,” reflected some of the same economic frustrations that propelled his insurgent presidential candidacy.
“What this vote is about is an indication that the global economy is not working for everybody,” he said. “It’s not working in the United States for everybody and it’s not working in the U.K. for everybody. When you see investors going to China and shutting down factories in this country and laying off, over a period of many years, millions of people, people are saying you know what, global economy may be great for some people but not for me.”
Sanders proposed strengthening global ties while ensuring that people can live in dignity.
“So what we need to do is create a situation where there is some more international cooperation. We put an end to these horrific wars that we have seen over the years,” he concluded. “But at the same time we do not forget about the people left behind and we make sure we have jobs, and income, and health care for all of our people.”
Link to video
Link to video: Donald Trump Is a ‘Pathological Liar’
Sanders Edges Closer In California
The snail’s pace of California’s vote count, combined with the state’s increasing use of provisional ballots, has brought loud complaints from supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders about the way the Democratic presidential primary was handled.
“We’ve certainly heard from people,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “We’ve received phone calls here and there, but a lot on social media.” [….]
The final count on election night gave Clinton a 13 percentage-point lead over Sanders, 56 percent to 43 percent. But, as the late ballots and provisionals have been counted, the margin is now about 9 percentage points and shrinking.
“The provisionals are breaking advantage Bernie,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., which tracks voter information for political campaigns. “It’s not going to change the results, but Bernie’s people will get some vindication.”
Arguing that election results that don’t match the polls are proof positive of voter fraud reads way too much into those surveys, said Mark Baldassare, CEO and lead pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California, whose final pre-election poll gave Clinton a 46 percent to 44 percent lead.
“All we know is what people tell us when we’re in the field,” which doesn’t always indicate there’s a late surge coming for one candidate or another, he said.
Link to video: Full Bernie Sanders Speech in Albany, NY (6/24/2016)
Bernie In Albany
Bernie Sanders told supporters Friday he’s “working with” Hillary Clinton’s campaign about including “very serious” progressive proposals into the Democrats’ campaign platform that will “transform America” — and perhaps persuade his supporters to stick with the party this fall.
The Vermont senator, speaking to about 400 people at the Empire State Plaza, gave a broad outline of what he might ask for in a party platform when the Democrats convene in Philadelphia next month. The one specific: Sanders predicted the Democratic National Committee will include a call for a $15 per hour minimum wage as part of its agenda.
“Right now, to be very frank with you, we are talking to the Clinton campaign to try to determine whether or not they can come up with some very serious proposals which will help us transform America,” Sanders said in a one-hour speech that was titled: “Where do we go from here,” a reference to the senator’s feisty but unsuccessful run for the party’s presidential nomination.
“What we are trying to do also is come up with the most progressive platform that the Democrats have ever had,’’ Sanders said, adding he wants a party platform that is more than “just words,” but also a presidential and congressional agenda for Democrats.
Link to video: Full Bernie Sanders Interview on CNN (Part 1)
Link to video: Full Bernie Sanders Interview (Part 2)
Democrats Approve A Platform Draft
Democrats approved a draft of the party platform early Saturday that includes steps to break up large Wall Street banks, advocates for a $15 an hour wage and urges the abolition of the death penalty, reflecting the influence of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
Supporters of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton defeated measures pushed by Sanders’ allies that would have promoted a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system, a carbon tax to address climate change and impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracking.
Sanders said Friday he would vote for Clinton but has so far declined to offer a full-throated endorsement of her campaign or encourage his millions of voters to back her candidacy. The Vermont senator has said he wants the platform at the summer convention to reflect his goals — and those representing him at a St. Louis hotel said they had made progress.
“We lost some but we won some,” said James Zogby, a Sanders supporter on the panel. “We got some great stuff in the platform that has never been in there before.” Added Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a Sanders ally: “We’ve made some substantial moves forward.”
The convention’s full Platform Committee will consider the draft platform in Orlando, Florida, next month and it will be voted on at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in late July.
The platform is a statement of the party’s values and positions on a wide range of issues. While it does not bind the Democratic nominee to specific policies, it serves as a guidepost for the party moving forward.
Deliberating late into the evening, the group considered the document’s language on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, an issue that has divided Democrats. The committee defeated an amendment led by Zogby that would have called for providing Palestinians with “an end to occupation and illegal settlements” and urged an international effort to rebuild Gaza.
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Sanders Is Disappointed And Dismayed
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Friday that he was “disappointed and dismayed” that allies of Hillary Clinton beat back Democratic Party platform proposals on trade.
On the other hand, Sanders said he was pleased that the platform drafters adopted language calling for breaking up too-big-to-fail banks and enacting a modern-day Glass-Steagall Act. Sanders also said he appreciated a unanimous vote for a proposal to abolish the death penalty.
Sanders said it was “inexplicable” why Clinton allies on the panel at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, voted down proposals on trade that both Sanders and Clinton embraced as candidates. “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform,” Sanders said.
The drafting committee rebuffed a proposal by Sanders allies to put the party on record saying Congress this year should not take up a trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both Clinton and Sanders oppose bringing the measure before Congress this year for an up-or-down vote. Clinton allies nevertheless thwarted the platform proposal.
Delegates also debated a Sanders-backed proposal calling for a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. Clinton’s delegates and members appointed by the Democratic National Committee chair voted to strike down the proposed platform plank.
Link to video: Bernie Sanders delivers Barn Burner against Establishment
Crossposted from The Progressive Wing
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