Bernie (Bernard) Sanders - American politician, representative of the state of Vermont in the US Senate. Formally, not being a member of any political organization, in April 2015, he nominated his candidacy for the US President from the Democratic Party.
Bernie Sanders: biography
Born September 8, 1941 in New York. He was the youngest of two sons of Jewish immigrants from Poland. A native of a needy family (his father did not sell paint very well), Sanders early learned about economic inequality in the United States. According to him, he saw injustice, and this was the main source of inspiration in his politics. He was also greatly influenced by the leader of the American socialists, Eugene Debs.
Bernie Sanders attended James Madison's Brooklyn High School and then moved to Brooklyn College. A year later, he entered the University of Chicago. Then Sanders became involved in the civil rights movement. He was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality and participated in a sit-in demonstration against segregation in 1962. In addition, Sanders hosted the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee. In 1963, participated in a march on Washington.
After graduating from college (in 1964) with a degree in political science, the future presidential candidate lived for some time in a kibbutz in Israel, and then went to Vermont. Bernie Sanders tried himself in various professions, including worked as a film director and freelance writer, assistant psychiatrist and teacher of poor children, and his interest in politics continued to grow.
During the Vietnam War, Sanders applied for the status of a conscientious objection to military service. Despite the fact that his request was eventually rejected, by that time he had already left the military age.
Burlington and more
In the 1970s, Bernie Sanders made several unsuccessful attempts to elect the Union of Freedom from the anti-war party, of which he was a member until 1979. He won the first political victory by the slightest margin. In 1981, he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, by a majority of only 12 votes. Sanders was able to achieve this result with the support of a grassroots progressive coalition organization. He was re-elected three more times, proving that the “democratic socialist, ” as he called himself, could hold on to power.
Known for his crumpled clothes and "untamed mane", the mayor of Burlington was an unlikely candidate, but in 1990 this political outsider got a seat in the House of Representatives. As an independent candidate, Sanders faced a dilemma. He had to find political allies to advance his program and legislation. He considered cooperation with the Republicans “unthinkable”, but held a meeting with the Democrats, despite opposition from conservative party members.
Sanders openly criticized both camps every time he thought they were wrong. He was an active opponent of the war in Iraq. He was worried about the social and financial consequences of the conflict. In his address to the House of Representatives, he said that the United States, as an indifferent country, should do everything possible to prevent the terrible suffering that the war will bring. He also called into question the timing of hostilities "at a time when the country has $ 6 trillion of debt and a growing deficit."
US Senator
Bernie Sanders tried to get into the Senate in 2006 by running for office against Republican businessman Richard Tarrant. He succeeded, despite much more substantial funding for the latter. In this election fight, Tarrant spent $ 7 million in personal savings.
In 2010, Sanders hit the news with his more than 8-hour filibuster against tax cuts for the wealthy. It seemed to him that this law was a “very bad tax agreement” between the president and republican legislators, as he later wrote in the preface to the book “Speech: Historical Filibustering About Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class”. Sanders concluded his Senate address with a request to his fellow legislators to make “a proposal that would better reflect the needs of the middle class and working families of the country and, most importantly, its children.”
Bernie Sanders - Senator - was a member of the Committees:
- on the budget;
- on health care, education, labor and pensions;
- Veterans Affairs;
- united economic.
The Vermont Senator is in favor of expanding voting rights and against the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal part of the Electoral Rights Act. He is also a supporter of a universal, unified healthcare system. Driven by a sense of environmentalism, worried about climate change, and interested in renewable energy, Sanders is a member of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Presidential Ambition
In April 2015, Sanders announced his desire to be nominated for the Democratic presidential candidate. A long-standing independent politician was forced to resort to outside help out of political necessity. According to him, it would take a huge amount of time, energy and money to get on the ballot in 50 states as an independent candidate.
Sanders was not worried about being considered an outsider. He believed that people should not underestimate him. As an old independent candidate, he managed to go beyond the bipartisan system by defeating Democrats and Republicans, moneybags.
Sanders really made impressive strides by challenging Clinton during the presidential primaries and gaining an advantage in opinion polls. In February 2016, he was ahead of all top candidates and even Republican Donald Trump with 49% versus 39% - which was better than Clinton, who defeated Trump with 46% versus 41%.
The Sanders Platform focuses on issues of inequality in the United States. From an economic point of view, he advocates tax reform that raises rates for the wealthy, expands government oversight of Wall Street, and balances the wage gap between men and women. Sanders also advocates for the public health system, a more affordable higher education that includes free college and universities and the expansion of social security and health insurance. A social liberal, he also supports gay marriage and abortion.
Campaign slogans
One of the characters that characterize Sanders’s campaign is his call for a “political revolution”: he asks ordinary citizens to take an active part in the political process and make the changes themselves that they would like to see.
Another symbol is his struggle to leave corporate money out of politics, in particular, to cancel the decision that allows corporations and the wealthy elite to pour unlimited amounts into campaigns. These funds, according to Sanders, undermine democracy, introducing a bias in policies that favor the extremely rich.
Record fundraising
Staying true to his principles, Bernie Sanders - the presidential candidate - relied almost exclusively on small individual donations. To the surprise of many, including the politician himself, he broke the record for raising funds for the presidential campaign, surpassing even the achievement of President Obama during his re-election in 2011.
In February 2016, Sanders received 3.7 million contributions from 1.3 million individual sponsors, an average of $ 27 per person. In total, for the first quarter of 2016, the campaign raised $ 109 million.
Historic Victory in Michigan
Sanders' first victory in Michigan is considered one of the biggest upheavals in modern political history. He won from 50% to 48%, despite the fact that according to polls, he lagged behind Clinton by 20%.
The only time such a big mistake occurred during the primaries of the 1984 Democratic Party (Walter Mondale was 17% ahead of Gary Hart). Then Hart won in Michigan with an advantage of 9%.
Sanders' shocking victory indicates that his liberal populism resonates in such a diverse state as Michigan, and not only there. It was also a huge psychological blow to the Clinton campaign, which was hoping for a quick election.
Victory Abroad and Absence at AIPAC
In March 2016, Sanders won the primaries abroad with a score of 69%. More than 34 thousand American citizens cast their votes in 38 countries.
He also made headlines as the first presidential candidate (and only Jew) to refrain from attending the AIPAC annual pro-Israel lobbying conference. He made excuses for the busy schedule of the campaign, but some considered his absence controversial. Pro-Palestinian groups praised this act as a daring political statement.
Visit to the Vatican
Sanders made history as the only presidential candidate ever invited to the Vatican to discuss moral, environmental, and economic issues. Amid the controversial primaries in New York, Sanders flew out to a social science conference in Rome in April 2016. He had the opportunity to briefly meet with the Pope, but in order not to politicize the event, the latter emphasized that the meeting was a tribute to politeness.
Clinton DNC Platform
When the candidate’s campaign came to an end and it became obvious that he had little chance of winning, the senator used his political influence to change the DNC platform before speaking in support of Clinton. Bernie Sanders, whose program provides universal health care, free tuition at state colleges and universities, a minimum wage of $ 15 per hour, expansion of social security, financial reforms for Wall Street, as well as addressing climate change problems, was mainly able to include his requirements in Democratic Party platform. Failure befell him only on the issue of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Nevertheless, Sanders' huge influence on the DNC platform was a significant victory for him and his supporters.
On July 12, 2016, before the primaries in New Hampshire, he accomplished what many did not expect from him: he supported Clinton's candidacy. This was a significant event for both campaigns, but the determination to prevent Trump from becoming the next Republican president pushed the odds to the background.
Email Hacking
In July 2016, on the eve of the National Congress of the Democratic Party in Philadelphia, Wikileaks published over 19 thousand letters of DNC, which showed how officials favored Clinton and sought to undermine the Sanders campaign. In one e-mail correspondence, DNC staffers discussed how they could call into question his religiosity, "in order to weaken the eyes of southern voters."
The leak also revealed tensions between DNC head Debbie Wasserman-Schulz and Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver, DNC conspiring with the media, and the ways officials attract sponsors.
As a result, Wasserman-Schulz announced that she would not speak at the congress and would resign as head of the DNC.
The FBI announced the involvement of the Russian government in hacking DNC mail.
Despite the leak, Sanders called on voters and about 1, 900 delegates supporting him at the DNC to vote for Clinton. Some of his supporters criticized this decision. Addressing an angry crowd of dissent, he said that Donald Trump should be defeated at all costs and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kane should be elected. This is the real world, and Trump is a bully and a demagogue who has made fanaticism and hatred the cornerstone of his campaign.
Bernie Sanders about Russia
Historically, Russia has been and will be an important player in the international economic and diplomatic arena. Sanders supports a strong, consistent policy toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and advocates maintaining economic sanctions and international pressure as an alternative to any direct military confrontation.
According to the politician, in order to moderate the aggression of the Russian Federation, the United States must freeze Russian state assets around the world, as well as influence organizations that own huge investments in the aggressor state in order to withdraw capital from this country, pursuing increasingly hostile political goals.
The United States should work with the international community to create a unified position in order to effectively solve the problem of Russian aggression.
