August 6, 2015

With All Due Respect 8/5/15 - Bloomberg Politics

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann spend the first 5 min of today's show discussing Hillary and Bernie.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/videos/2015-08-05/with-all-due-respect-08-05-15-

Perhaps some DUers would like to share their opinions on their opinions.

August 5, 2015

2 Letters to the Editor - Iowa/Quad-City Times

Why all the buzz over Bernie Sanders?
...
He reassures us that as long as every person has a vote, and uses it, someone like him who has no chance to become president, can be elected. I for one, find this worth getting excited about.

http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/excited-about-bernie/article_a84cb0c4-6085-5dd3-a4fe-39e1745f4341.html

Major GOP candidates including Bush, Walker, and Rubio are meeting in Southern California with deep-pocketed donors to woo money for their campaign. At the same time, Hillary Clinton is raking in massive donations from Wall Street players and jetting around in a borrowed private plane.
...
It's a shame we can't have more candidates like Bernie Sanders, who refuses dark money and only takes donations from individuals
...
If more candidates campaigned as Sen. Sanders, by stating his policy positions and what he stands for, rather than trying to tear down his opposition, our political environment wouldn't be so toxic and voters wouldn't be so disengaged and disillusioned.

http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/mailbag/we-need-more-candidates-like-sanders/article_cf9e40bc-1187-5671-bb8a-e57fb9e32540.html

August 3, 2015

Bernie Pushing Public Campaign Financing Bill

Because ‘That’s Called Democracy’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told supporters in New Hampshire today that he’ll be launching an effort in Congress to make campaigns publicly funded events.

“We’re going to introduce legislation which will allow people to run for office without having to beg money from the wealthy and the powerful,” Sanders said.

Sanders has already acknowledged that he’ll be very outspent by Hillary Clinton and her big donors, and told the New Hampshire crowd that current campaign financing is a “sad state of affairs.”

He argued that public campaign financing would not only put candidates on an even plane but allow them to spend more time hobnobbing with voters instead of hobnobbing with big spenders writing the checks.

“That’s called democracy and I am going to do everything I can to bring that about,” Sanders said. “…We are increasingly living in an oligarchy where big money is buying politicians.”

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/08/02/bernie-pushing-public-campaign-financing-bill-because-thats-called-democracy-2/

July 29, 2015

Hillary supporters will be Bernie supporters after the primary

"According to organizers, more than 150,000 people have RSVP’d for house parties Wednesday [this] evening to listen to a simulcast from the Democratic presidential candidate and coordinate their volunteer efforts. And what Sanders lacks in funds—he raised about $15.2 million this quarter, while Hillary Clinton raked in more than three times that figure—he may make up in true believers with experience in grassroots organizing. This is not a fluke..."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/29/bernie-sanders-builds-a-people-s-army.html

July 28, 2015

Bernie Sanders supporters to gather for kickoff event on Wednesday

Bernie Sanders supporters to gather for kickoff event on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Headlines like this from the BRISTOL HERALD COURIER (a local paper in Abingdon, VA), are popping up all over my newsfeed. Mostly brief little notices in newspapers throughout the US inviting folks to meet with other Bernie supporters and hear a live grassroots organizing address from Senator Sanders which is being simulcast into literally thousands of private homes, cafes, meeting halls, university auditoriums, and practically anywhere you could imagine for people to gather. One of these newspaper articles estimated that over 70,000 people will be tuned-in simultaneously to hear Bernie's message.

So I followed the link from one of these announcements:
https://go.berniesanders.com/page/event/search_simple
and found 16 of these meetup events scheduled within a 50mile radius of my zipcode, each with an RSVP page describing gatherings of 10 to 200 people... and every single one of them had the message:
We're sorry, but this event has reached maximum attendee capacity.

The following page contains stories from dozens of these local meetup hosts describing the widespread enthusiasm they've experienced from their RSVPs to each local meeting.
https://berniesanders.com/stories-from-july-29-event-hosts/

So I'm curious to know if any DUers are attending one these local meetings, and/or has anyone here tried and failed to RSVP one?

July 28, 2015

Middle Class Action Project endorses Bernie Sanders

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- a pro-union group on Staten Island has just given Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont, a self-described Democratic socialist, his first public endorsement from a group here.
...
"It has been the longstanding policy of The Middle Class Action Project to endorse legislation and not legislators," according to a statement from the group. "We believe that people should support policy and not policy makers. There are so many issues that affect the working class that it is very difficult to find a candidate that is focused on addressing the majority of them, let alone even half of them. We are making an exception in the upcoming Democratic primary."
...
"Rarely do you find a candidate so in tune with the needs of the working people," the group states. "Even within our own group we rarely find so many on the same page with a single candidate. It is for these reasons that we endorse Bernie Sanders for president."

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/middle_class_action_project_en.html

July 28, 2015

Why Bernie Sanders Is The Millennials' President

From a short article in an online magazine in Central Michigan:

Millennials, born somewhere between late 1980s and early 2000s, have reached a tipping point in society. As of this year we outnumber the baby boomers, meaning if we unite for a cause, we should get what we want. The 2016 presidential election is approaching, and whoever wins will be able to elect several supreme court members who will serve a lifetime position.

...

Bernie Sanders has a long track record of sticking up for the American people. His ideas are refreshing and what we need to restore our country to where it should be, the best in the world. He's fighting for all of the issues that us millennials have been handed. This election is about more than democrat or republican, it's about caring for our own and improving the quality of life in America.

http://theodysseyonline.com/central-michigan/bernie-sanders-millennials/127905

Seems like pretty compelling stuff for a generation of new voters to consider. I must wonder if pieces like this are spontaneously written and published as unsolicited "grassroots" opinion?
Surely the Sanders campaign isn't big or organized enough to be sponsoring such efforts.

What do you think?

July 27, 2015

Live feed - Bernie Sanders Live in Louisiana

July 26, 2015

NBC News/Marist Poll results in Iowa and New Hampshire released Sunday

Here are the favorable/unfavorable scores of half a dozen presidential candidates among all registered voters in Iowa:

• Bernie Sanders +3 (30 percent/27 percent)

• Marco Rubio -1 (31 percent/32 percent)

• Scott Walker -1 (30 percent/31 percent)

• Jeb Bush -12 (34 percent/46 percent)

• Hillary Clinton -19 (37/56 percent)

• Donald Trump -28 (32 percent/60 percent)

Notably, the NBC News/Marist Poll points out that Clinton’s favorable/unfavorable score in Iowa among all registered voters mirrors the numbers found by a recent Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll conducted there.

Here are the favorable/unfavorable scores of half a dozen presidential candidates among all registered voters in New Hampshire:

• Sanders +12 (41 percent/29 percent)

• Bush -5 (40 percent/45 percent)

• Walker -6 (28 percent/34 percent)

• Rubio -6 (28 percent/34 percent)

• Clinton -20 (37 percent/57 percent)

• Trump -40 (27 percent/67 percent)

As reported by International Business Times
SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2015

http://www.ibtimes.com/voters-new-hampshire-iowa-have-negative-opinion-every-2016-candidate-except-one-2024842

July 25, 2015

The Bernie Sanders campaign just posted a new video - NT

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/25/1405548/-The-Bernie-Sanders-campaign-just-posted-a-new-video-Progress-and-I-adore-it