Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:39 pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders is ready to stand up to the Koch brothers as a presidential candidate in 2016, but he will only run if the American people are willing to join the fight.
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Sanders was discussing his potential presidential candidacy with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes when he said,
Well, that’s a question I’m just getting…First of all, I have to decide if I will run, and the answer to that has a lot to do with the kind of grassroots support that may or may not be there. Are people prepared to get engaged in a grassroots unprecedented type campaign in which we are taking on the incredibly powerful billionaire class? That’s the Koch brothers. That’s Wall Street. That’s the private insurance companies. That’s the drug companies. That’s the people who own America.
Is there the energy for people to being to be engaged in that type of campaign, or are people sufficiently demoralized? How do you raise the hundreds of millions of dollars that you need? I don’t get campaign contributions from the billionaire class. Can you do that? So I’ve gotta answer those questions, Chris before I make the decision.
All the people on the left who are pining for Elizabeth Warren need to move on. She isn’t running. Warren has no campaign organization and has done no fundraising for a presidential campaign. Bernie Sanders is looking like the candidate that might oppose Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary.
The big question for Sen. Sanders is will Democratic voters get behind his grassroots campaign? The point isn’t to win the Democratic nomination. Let’s face it that’s not happening. The purpose of his campaign will be to push the related issues of income inequality and the billionaire class that is buying our politicians to the front of the discussion.
If people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren don’t run, those topics will be ignored in the 2016 election. Sen. Sanders is making it clear that he will only run if the American people are willing to fight the Koch dollars with hard work. If voters aren’t willing to stand up to the Koch brothers, Wall St., and others, Sen. Sanders will join Sen. Warren in sitting 2016 out.
The issues that are impacting the middle class the most need to be discussed during the Democratic primary. The discussion will make Hillary Clinton, a better candidate. Only good things can come from a Sanders candidacy.
The message from Sen. Sanders is that if you are ready to fight, he is ready to lead.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
