Monday, March 7, 2016
With an eye toward Tuesday’s hotly contested Michigan primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton lived by the words of the late U.S. House speaker Tip O’Neill: “All politics is local.” Both candidates showed up in Flint, a city plagued by a lead-poisoned water crisis, eager to display greater sympathy and resolve.
In his opening statement, Sanders said that what he’d learned about the situation had “literally shattered me.”
“It was beyond belief that children in Flint, Mich., in the United States of America in the year 2016 are being poisoned,” he said. “That is clearly not what this country should be about.”
A moment later, Clinton echoed the sentiment: “Well, I’ll start by saying amen to that.”
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Saturday, March 5, 2016
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won three of the weekend’s four Democratic presidential nominating contests, but he failed to make a dent in former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s sizable delegate lead.
By late Sunday night, Sanders had won an additional 67 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, while Clinton had picked up another 64. Counting all 20 states and territories to vote thus far, Clinton was leading Sanders 671 to 476. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
The Vermont senator won caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska on Saturday and then in Maine on Sunday — all three by healthy margins. But Clinton managed to match him for the weekend by winning delegate-rich Louisiana by an even wider margin of 71 percent to 23 percent.
Speaking Sunday night at a CNN debate in Flint, Mich., Sanders hailed his weekend victories, noting that turnout was especially high in Kansas and in Maine.
“I think we are exciting working class people, young people who are prepared to stand up and demand that we have a government that represents all of us and not just the few,” he said.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , Nebraska , Kansas , Louisiana , Maine , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 3, 2016
"It was an election beyond most people's wildest dreams," reporter Debbie Bookchin wrote at the time in the Vanguard Press.
At first, it appeared Sanders had won by 22 votes. After a recount, that margin dwindled to 10. Terry Bouricius, a Bernie Sanders ally who won election that night to the city council, recalled the moment five years ago in an interview with Seven Days' Shay Totten.
"We weren't expecting it, and it came as quite a shock to us that he won," Bouricius said. "It was so shocking, in fact, that the first thing we did was to get a court order to impound the ballots to be sure they were secured before a recount occurred."
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Her hesitance was understandable. Many of Minter's top allies — including EMILY's List, whose support she was courting at the time — were squarely in Clinton's camp. Sanders, however, was the home-state senator and the choice of most Vermont Democrats whose votes she will need in August.
In an interview two weeks ago with WCAX's Kyle Midura, Minter disclosed that she was leaning toward voting for Sanders, saying, "I believe Bernie, uh, is going to be my candidate." But she declined to offer an explicit endorsement, explaining that she was focused on running her own campaign.
"Who I vote for is my business, but since you asked, I will let you know," she told Midura.
So it came as a surprise when Minter took the stage Tuesday at Sanders' election night rally in Essex and delivered a passionate speech calling on his supporters to "keep the fire Bern-ing."
"I'm here to tell you that I am so happy to be here tonight to support my senator, your senator, our senator, the next president of the United States!" she yelled to a crowd of roughly 4,000 potential voters.
Tags: Senator , Sue Minter , Matt Dunne , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Their candidate lost seven of 11 states Tuesday night and fell further behind Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the delegate count, but top advisers to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) sounded Wednesday morning as if they'd just won the jackpot.
“I think it's fair to say, last night we had a fantastic night,” campaign manager Jeff Weaver told reporters during a press conference at Sanders' Church Street headquarters. “We shot for five; we got 4.9.”
Weaver was referring to Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Vermont — the five states it targeted on Super Tuesday and, with the exception of Sanders' home state, where it devoted significant advertising dollars. Sanders won all but Massachusetts, but even there, he took nearly as many delegates as Clinton.
“It would've been nice if we drew an inside straight flush. We drew to a flush,” said senior strategist Tad Devine. “We still think we have a winning hand in this game, and we're going to continue to play it for a while.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , Super Tuesday , Tad Devine , Jeff Weaver , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
For much of the evening, it was too close to call between real estate tycoon Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. But shortly after midnight, the Associated Press declared that Trump would prevail.
There was a silver lining for Kasich. Because the margin was so minuscule, it appeared he would walk away with the same number of delegates as Trump: at least six apiece. Vermont awards 16 delegates to Republican candidates.
As of 12:35 a.m. Wednesday, Trump was leading Kasich 32.6 percent to 30.6 percent, with 91 percent of the state's precincts reporting. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took 19.3 percent of the vote, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson trailed with 9.7 percent and 4.2 percent respectively.
Tags: Donald Trump , John Kasich , Republican presidential primary , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
It's a crucial day for Sanders' presidential campaign, with Democratic contests in 11 states and 880 delegates on the line. In his brief remarks to the local and national press, the candidate acknowledged the stakes.
“I am confident that if there is a large voter turnout today across this country, then we're going to do well,” he said. “If not, we're probably going to be struggling. But I hope there will be millions of people coming out and participating in what I call the political revolution, which is millions of people demanding that we have a government that represents all of us, and not just wealthy campaign contributors.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Super Tuesday , presidential campaign , campaign trail , Town Meeting Day 2016 , Image , Recommended Reading , Video , Web Only
But according to Sanders' top strategist, Tad Devine, only a full-on rout on Super Tuesday would prompt the senator to reconsider his candidacy.
"First of all, you should understand that we're staying in the race for many months. That is not even a consideration at the moment," Devine said late Monday. "I mean, I see no way — I suppose if we lost Vermont and everything else we might take a step back."
Even after a brutal loss in South Carolina last weekend, Devine noted, Sanders' supporters responded to his call Monday to contribute $4 million in a single day. By midnight, they had doled out more than $6 million, lifting his campaign's February fundraising total to a whopping $42 million.
"In the old days, people dropped out almost only for one reason, and that is the bundlers stopped bundling the money. Nobody came to the fundraisers anymore. But we're not dealing in that world," Devine said. "I don't think our supporters have given up on this campaign ... I think they believe in Bernie and his message, and I think they're demonstrating that by the depth of their commitment."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Super Tuesday , Tad Devine , Jeff Weaver , presidential campaign , Town Meeting Day 2016 , campaign trail , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 29, 2016
"I decided to vote for Hillary, but it was a tossup between her and Mr. Bernie, cuz I really think he want to make a change," she said, referring to Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Top of mind for Rivers, a behavioral health specialist for the state Department of Mental Health, was the rising cost of electricity and health insurance, coupled with stagnant wages.
"We livin' from paycheck to paycheck," she said. "Our insurance is up — way up. It's like if you took a whole 'nother $150 out of my check, and I'm already struggling."
While Sanders' message appealed to Rivers, who is African American, she was ultimately swayed by the belief that Clinton was better equipped to get the job done.
"Mr. Bernie, I think he really focusing more on the wage than anything, but I just think she a little bit stronger," she said. "But I hope they work together, whichever one win."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , South Carolina , African Americans , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
The deep-pocketed PAC formalized its endorsement Monday, though it has been anticipated for months. Several weeks ago, Minter replaced her campaign manager with one referred to her by the organization.
Speaking last Wednesday on Vermont Public Radio, EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said, "We are working very closely with Sue Minter, been very impressed with her candidacy for governor, and I think you can expect some news soon."
That news came Monday in an announcement from the Minter campaign, first reported by VTDigger.org.
Tags: Sue Minter , EMILY's List , Image , Web Only