Election campaign of Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders, Junior Senator from Vermont, announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election on May 26, 2015. Sanders is running for the Democratic nomination. Sanders rivals included Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley; however, O’Malley pulled out of the race on February 1 following a disappointing performance in the Iowa Caucus.
During the course of his campaigning, Sanders had a good following among white voters; however, he was constantly behind Clinton among Africa-American voters.
On June 14, Hillary Clinton became the presumptive nominee by winning District of Columbia. However, Bernie Sanders has not yet endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Announcement
In an interview with The Nation held on March 6, 2014, Sanders said that he was prepared to run for president in 2016. However, Sanders did not officially announce a campaign as he felt at the time it was premature to make an announcement. But by April 2015, Sanders launched a campaign website and on May 26, 2015 formally announced that he would be running for the President at Burlington’s Waterfront Park.
Caucuses and primaries
Bernie Sanders lost the Iowa caucus to Hillary Clinton by a narrow margin. However, the New Hampshire primary that was held a week later on February witnessed Bernie Sanders bouncing back. Bernie Sanders bagged 60.4 per cent of the votes in comparison to Clinton’s 38 per cent. This victory was especially significant for Bernie Sanders as it made his the first non-Christian and first self-described Democratic Socialist to win a major presidential primary in the country. Thereafter, Sanders went on to win in many other states such as Vermont, Alaska, Washington, Hawaii, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Maine among others. One of the biggest upsets was in Michigan where polls had suggested a Hillary Clinton win by a huge margin. Bernie Sanders won bagging 49.8 percent of the votes in comparison to Hillary Clinton’s 48.3 percent.
Though Sanders put up a tough fight but in the end it was not enough from preventing Hillary Clinton clinching the 2016 Democratic nomination. In the District of Columbia primary held on June 14 Hillary Clinton was declared the presumptive nominee. With 2,383 delegates needed for nomination, Bernie Sanders could get only 1880 delegates in comparison to Hillary Clinton’s 2,806.
Ideology
Some of the issues that Bernie Sanders addressed during the course of his campaign were to make college tuition free, to increase taxes on corporations and the wealthy people, and to pass a single-payer Medicare for All-healthcare system. Sanders also supported substantial regulation of Wall Street. Sanders has also strongly supported a comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the country. He is also in support of increasing the minimum wage. He has advocated for raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. He has also proposed a bill to invest $1 trillion dollars in the infrastructure of the country. He says that this initiative would create more jobs for people. He supports a woman’s choice to have an abortion and is also an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights. On the foreign policy front, Sanders has been opposed to calls for greater US intervention in the fight against the militant group ISIS.
Endorsements
A wide range of people from politicians to entertainers and even organizations have endorsed Bernie Sanders. Some of the prominent people who have endorsed Sanders include Rosario Dawson, Susan Sarandon, Sarah Silverman, Justin Long, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Farrow, Danny DeVito, Jane Fonda, Danny Glover, Tim Robbins, Neil Young, Miley Cyrus, Jeff Merkley, Senator, OR, Keith Ellison, Representative, MN, John Fetterman, Mayor of Braddock, PA, Paul Soglin, Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, among others.
Funding
During the course of his campaigning, Bernie Sanders has relied on small, individual donations rather than Super Pac. After announcing his campaign on April 30, 2015, Sanders was able to garner over $1.5 million in the first 24 hours. By early May, his campaign had raised around $3 million. The average donation was only $43. In January 2016, Sanders raised $20 million with the average donation being $27 and $6.4 million within the 24 hours following his victory in the New Hampshire primary on February 9. In March he raised $44 and in April $25.8 million.