He may have lost the battle, but in several ways he may have. Bernie Sanders won the war.
For a second straight presidential election cycle, the populist senator from Vermont briefly entered the race for the Democratic nomination. But because the 78-year-old independent lawmaker and self-described Democratic Socialist Monday night gives one of the most important addresses when the Democratic National Convention comes into force, Sanders is able to claim a victory of sorts.
TOP PRIORITY AT DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION: Keeping sanders suppliers in the field
On all the ideas we have campaigned … understanding that health care is a human right, the need to increase the minimum wage to at least $ 15 per hour, the understanding that climate change is an existential threat and that we can make millions from it jobs (by) transforming our energy system, “Sanders said Sunday in an interview with ABC News. “We have made tremendous progress in bringing the American people in our direction, especially the younger generation.”
FIL – In this March 15, 2020 greeting file, former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Right, greets each other before participating in a Democratic presidency primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington. (AP photo / Evan Vucci, file)
Indeed, the party and presumptive nominee Joe Biden have been put in his direction as they try to iron out the differences from the primary and present a united front in November.
Former Sanders assistant and adviser Phil Fiermonte said: “Bernie’s agenda has won the day. There is no question in my mind that the future of the Democratic Party is a progressive future. “
“Bernie and his movement have brought the progressive agenda forward dramatically and you will see that at the convention and I think you will see that in Biden-Harris’ candidacy. “There is no doubt that it will be a much more progressive campaign that would have been different if Bernie had not been on his national progressive agenda for the past five or six years,” Fiermonte told Fox News.
It was a very different story four years ago.
After a divisive primary battle, Sanders supported presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. But there was a lot of bad blood on the summer of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia – which was rocked by progressive protests that were televised live on national cable news networks. The deep divisions were a contributing factor in Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory over Clinton.
Four years later, the left fell short again, as progressive standard-bearers Sanders and sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the primaries were defeated by modern former Vice President Biden.
But this time, with a common enemy in the White House, the worst pandemic facing this country in a century, and a primary process that ended much earlier than four years ago, could be a repeat of the widespread hostilities of 2016. be well prevented.
Sanders got a speaking lock on Monday for the opening night of the convention, which means he will help set the tone for the entire week. The Biden campaign noted on Monday that the senator will have eight minutes to speak – much longer than most speeches at a convention that is condensed into just two hours of programming per night. And both Sanders and Warren – as well as other major progressive leaders and organizations – support Biden and his running mate, sen. Kamala Harris of California, solid.
“The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is on the horizon. We need to come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine, ”Sanders will claim Monday night, according to an extract from his address previously released by convention officials.
For its part, the Trump campaign uses the connection with Sanders and others to paint the Biden-Harris ticket to the left, with the president saying Monday that his rival is a “Trojan horse for socialism.”
THINGS ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS CANNOT CONFESS IT
Even before Biden claimed the nomination, the former vice president began adopting some of Sanders and Warren’s leading progressive policy proposals. And Biden and Sanders have worked together to form task forces that have found common ground on key issues. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – a leader of the younger generation of progressives and champion of the Green New Deal – co-chaired the Panel on Climate Change, which produced a proposal on climate change far beyond the original proposal introduced by Biden last year during the primary campaign.
After all, the platform is expected to support paid family leave and other progressive policies, while those who have “Medicare-for-all” back are welcome – without formally signing it.
Democratic presidential candidate sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., Greeting Fans on the Campus of Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Friday, November 8, 2019. (AP Photo / Nati Harnik)
That is not to say that some voices from left to right are not angry. Many of them have vocalized their dissatisfaction with Biden as the nominee – and with his name last week from Harris as his running mate.
There has been a panic by some on the left in recent days over the inclusion of moderate Democrat and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who was a 2020 primary participant, and former governor of Ohio and 2016 GOP presidential candidate John Kasich as speakers of convention – while some well-known progressive voices did not make the list. And some Sanders delegates promise to vote against a party platform that does not support ‘Medicare-for-all’.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who along with Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the quartet of first-term progressive congresswomen of color known as The Squad, revealed on Saturday that she was voting against the party platform, tweeting that “as a party, “We need to push for a future where every citizen has the opportunity to prosper. That means we need a platform that works to free our society from oppression and greed. Unfortunately, in my opinion, my platform is not doing enough.”
Neil Sroka, communications director for the progressive group Democracy for America, acknowledged that “there are people who are really disappointed in how the primary came out and that there will certainly be some restraining elements among Bernie Sanders’ delegates. . “
But Sroka, a locally elected official in Michigan and 2020 convention delegate who supported Sanders in this year’s nomination contest, said that unlike in 2016, now “it is very clear that the future of the Democratic Party continues in a progressive direction “and added that” Biden has emphasized this by calling himself a ‘transitional’ president – giving progressives much more room to feel that they have an interest in this party. “
NEED TO PRAY FOR TRUMP HEADING IN THE BACK-TO-BACK CONVENTIONS
With a common mission to oust Trump from the White House, Sanders remains optimistic Democrats will remain united this fall.
“Many of my supporters are not enthusiastic about Joe Biden. You know why? I ran against Joe Biden. But I think there’s an overwhelming notion that Donald Trump needs to be defeated, Biden needs to be elected, and that day. “Once he is elected, we will do everything we can to create a government that works for all of us,” Sanders said on Sunday.
Sanders also pointed to continued success by the left in this year’s Democratic congressional primaries. Sanders noted the rebellious victory by first-time candidate and trainer Jamaal Bowman over veteran Rep. Eliot Engel of New York and the defeat of longtime Rep. Missouri Lacy Clay by Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush, Sanders notes that “the progressive movement has been making tremendous progress.”
The populist senator had endorsed Bowman and Bush – and also supported ‘Squad’ members Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, as they rejected the primary challenges of modern candidates this summer.
Ocasio-Cortez will have one minute to speak on Tuesday – and will be part of a pre-recorded segment on Wednesday night.
Fiermonte told Fox News he went to the convention, “Bernie feels very, very, very good about the support his agenda has received among the American people and within the Democratic Party.”
And Kurt Ehrenberg – a longtime New Hampshire-based progressive and labor activist who advised Sanders in both of his presidential campaigns – said: ‘I believe Bernie Sanders is exactly where he wants to be those two successful but non-nominating campaigns has become for the presidency and historical leader in moving the progressive movement leaps forward. ”
