January 29, 2020

McConnell Lacks the Votes to Block Impeachment Witnesses

Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesn’t have the votes to block a resolution to allow witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple reports.

McConnell made the admission in talks with Senate Republicans after President Trump’s defense team concluded its arguments.

If the Senate votes to summon witnesses, Democrats will likely attempt to call on former White House national security adviser John Bolton to give testimony in the trial. On Sunday the New York Times reported that Bolton wrote in the manuscript of his upcoming book that Trump had conditioned aid to Ukraine on that country’s commitment to conduct investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden.

Republicans may react to a subpoena of Bolton by summoning Hunter Biden and the government whistleblower, whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, to testify.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/trump-impeachment-trial-mitch-mcconnell-tells-caucus-they-lack-the-votes-to-block-witnesses/

January 20, 2020

Odds makers in Las Vegas now consider Bernie to be the front runner for the Democratic nomination

The odds makers in Las Vegas now consider Bernie to be the front runner for the Democratic nomination.
#NotMeUs #BernieBeatsTrump #OurRevolution

https://twitter.com/christoq/status/1219370365211643904?s=20

January 15, 2020

CNN Moderators, Alarmed by Cost of Medicare for All, Ignore Price Tag of Endless War

CNN Moderators, Alarmed by Cost of Medicare for All, Ignore Price Tag of Endless War

"None of the candidates who said they support keeping troops in Iraq were asked how they were going to pay for it."

Democrats onstage Tuesday night at the CNN/Des Moines Register debate in Iowa were challenged repeatedly by moderators on the cost of major plans like Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All—scrutiny that was missing in the first half hour when the questions focused on endless war and a potential attack on Iran.

"Wonder if CNN asked how much going to potential war with Iran cost?" asked artist Karla Ortiz.

"Amazing how the moderators didn't ask how the candidates plan to pay for wars."
—Sarah Lazare

Questions on costs and how the presidential candidates proposed to pay for their proposals appeared to use an analysis provided to CNN Tuesday by Larry Summers on the cost of the Sanders agenda. The majority of the questions on cost were directed to Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

But those questions only came in the second hour of the debate, and were absent during the discussion on foreign policy.

Progressives quickly noted the disconnect.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/14/cnn-moderators-alarmed-cost-medicare-all-ignore-price-tag-endless-war

January 15, 2020

Bernie hauled in a whopping $1.7m tonight, his best fundraising during a debate yet

Bernie Sanders’ campaign said the Vermont senator brought in $1.7m tonight, marking his strongest fundraising performance during a presidential debate yet.

https://twitter.com/rubycramer/status/1217316847839850497?s=20

Sanders has outpaced his rivals in terms of fundraising, bringing in $34.5m during the final quarter of 2019 thanks to the strength of his grassroots support.

The second-largest Democratic haul during that quarter belonged to Pete Buttigieg, who raised $24.7m.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/jan/14/democratic-debate-live-news-tonight-bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-biden-latest-updates-2020

January 15, 2020

Video of Bernie in 1998 - "In my view a woman could be elected president of the United States."

Bernie has supported women's rights for decades. He tried to get Warren to run in 2016, and didn't jump in until after she assured him she wasn't going to run!

Here is he 32 years ago, clearly stating that he believes a woman could win the presidency. Bernie has been a feminist for his whole life. Painting him as anti-woman is insane. #BunchaBS

https://twitter.com/christoq/status/1217291132796686337

January 15, 2020

Nevada's Largest Teachers Union Is Endorsing Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders won the endorsement of an influential teachers union in Nevada on Tuesday morning, a key sign of support in the early voting state where unions have significant political power.

“We appreciated that Sen. Sanders came to us, very much reached out to us, and wanted to speak to us,” Clark County Education Association President Vikki Courtney told BuzzFeed News on Monday night. Sanders was the clear leader in a recent straw poll of union members, she said, which was a major factor in the decision.

The union represents 19,000 teachers and other educators in Las Vegas and is the largest teachers union in Nevada. The Clark County School District is the fifth-largest school district in the country.

Courtney said union members were impressed with what Sanders “was raising, his concerns, and how he wanted to support and help educators, and not only the educators but the students themselves, to make sure education was open to all students across the board. It’s important to educators that everyone has access and that they get a good education.”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhiprakash/nevada-teachers-union-endorse-bernie-sanders-ccea

January 15, 2020

BERNIE SANDERS DOUBLES HIS LEAD OVER DONALD TRUMP IN HYPOTHETICAL GENERAL ELECTION POLL

BERNIE SANDERS DOUBLES HIS LEAD OVER DONALD TRUMP IN HYPOTHETICAL GENERAL ELECTION POLL
https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-doubles-his-lead-over-donald-trump-hypothetical-general-election-poll-1482075

The latest data, which was drawn from surveys of more than 40,000 registered voters from January 6 to 12, showed Sanders beating Trump by 4 percentage points, up from a previous 2 percent lead, at 46 percent compared to the president's 42 percent. Although Biden still performs slightly better—46 percent compared to 41 percent for Trump—Morning Consult noted that Sanders outperformed Biden among independents and young voters, or those 18 to 29 years old.

"Some Democrats are nervous that giving Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist, the party's presidential nomination would make it harder to achieve their ultimate goal of making President Donald Trump a one-term president," Eli Yokley of Morning Consult noted in a blog post about the results.

However, Yokley added that this perspective didn't match its polling results. "Sanders performs better than his rivals, including front-runner Joe Biden, with groups viewed as key to beating the unpopular incumbent."

Media pundits and analysts have been noting Sanders' resurgence in national and state-level polls since December, as the senator had appeared to slump in 2019 as fellow progressive candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts had surged along with more moderate former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. Meanwhile, Biden has remained strong in polling nationwide, while Warren and Buttigieg remain to be strong contenders for the Democratic nomination.

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-doubles-his-lead-over-donald-trump-hypothetical-general-election-poll-1482075

January 15, 2020

Just as Many African-Americans Say They'd Consider Voting for Bernie Sanders as Joe Biden

Just as Many African-Americans Say They’d Consider Voting for Bernie Sanders as Joe Biden

56% of African-Americans said they’d “consider voting for” Sanders in 2020 — a statistical tie with the 54% who said the same about Biden.

WASHINGTON — Just as many African-Americans say they’d consider voting for Bernie Sanders as Joe Biden, according to new a VICE News-Ipsos Poll, suggesting Sanders might not have as much of a problem wooing black voters if he’s the Democratic nominee as some have assumed.

Fully 56% of African-Americans said they’d “consider voting for” Sanders in 2020 — a statistical tie with the 54% who said the same about former Vice President Joe Biden and significantly higher than any other candidate.

Only 23% of African-Americans said they wouldn’t consider voting for Sanders, about the same number as the 24% who said they wouldn’t consider voting for Biden.

Sanders does even better relative to Biden and the rest of the field among Hispanics: 47% say they’d consider voting for Sanders, while 37% said they’d consider voting for Biden. More Hispanics say they wouldn’t consider voting for Biden (37%) than wouldn't vote for Sanders (31%).
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/z3bnvw/just-as-many-african-americans-say-theyd-consider-voting-for-bernie-sanders-as-joe-biden

January 15, 2020

Bernie-Warren Feud Has Been Fueled By Everyone But Bernie And Warren

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/prime/bernie-warren-feud-has-been-fueled-by-everyone-but-bernie-and-warren

In the age of Trump and cable news soundbites, political feuds are often perpetuated by a politician’s own words. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) went after former Vice President Joe Biden directly on the debate stage, questioning his record on race by invoking his comments about a 1970s-era busing program. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dug into Mayor Pete Buttiegieg’s courtship of top-dollar donors by calling out his “wine cave” adventures.

January 14, 2020

Don't get mad, get organized!

Don’t get mad, get organized. Make calls for Bernie! Be cool like me!

Yesterday Bernie volunteers made over 500,000 phone calls and added more than 19,000 new people into BERN. Join in:

http://BernieSanders.com/call

https://app.berniesanders.com/

https://twitter.com/clairesandberg/status/1216872624854310918

Or make calls for whichever candidate you support. Just get out there and be an active supporter! This is how we win this thing, allies!