Bernie Sanders Urges The American People To Stand Up And Say Enough Is Enough

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is calling on voters to stand up against income inequality and billionaires trying to control our electoral process by joining a grassroots movement and saying enough is enough.

The Hill reported a few excerpts on an email that Sen. Sanders will send to supporters:

“I am writing to inform you that I will be a candidate for President of the United States. I ask for your support,” he said in a statement to supporters, excerpts of which were released in advance to the media.

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“After a year of travel, discussion and dialogue, I have decided to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. But let’s be clear. This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders,” he said. “It about a grassroots movement of Americans standing up and saying: ‘Enough is enough. This country and our government belong to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.'”

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“The people at the top are grabbing all the new wealth and income for themselves, and the rest of America is being squeezed and left behind,” he said. “The middle class in America is at a tipping point. It will not last another generation if we don’t boldly change course now.”

One of the political consequences of the Great Recession has been an economic movement leftward on the ground in the United States, which has not been reflected in the policy choices made by Republicans in Congress. President Obama tapped into the populist economic sentiment in 2011, and it has been a staple of his economic policy ever since. Red state voters voted to raise the minimum wage during the 2014 midterm election.

There is a constant looming dark cloud of inequality that even when not seen is always felt. There is discontent over Citizens United, a legislative branch of government that is not responding to the priorities of the people, and billionaires who have surpassed the party structures and hijacked the nation’s electoral process. Sen. Sanders is running as the candidate for those who have had enough of not being listened to.

However, Sanders isn’t a protest candidate. He is in the race to make sure that Hillary Clinton doesn’t coast in the center lane to the Democratic nomination. Bernie Sanders is going to move the conversation in the Democratic primary to the left because there isn’t another member of Congress who is more liberal than Sanders.

The Sanders campaign will go as far forward as the grassroots can carry it. Bernie Sanders isn’t going to have billionaire dollars backing him, but he will have millions of Americans who want their government back. He may not win, but the tone of the Democratic primary is about to change.

Jason Easley

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