Posted on 08/27/2014 3:38:11 PM PDT by mgist
US Sen. Bernie Sanders visits North Carolina with 2016 on his mind
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, addresses a rally in front of the White House against proposed changes to Social Security benefits, on April 9, 2013 in Washington, D.C. KEVIN G. HALL MCT
A potential 2016 contender is visiting Raleigh on Wednesday and getting a boost from the state Democratic Party.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who aligns with Democrats, will host a town hall forum at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. The topic: The fight for economic justice.
Sanders is not considered a serious contender for the Democratic nomination but his potential candidacy could serve to disrupt a potential bid by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as he pushes progressive issues that would move the party to the ideological left.
Sanders trip to North Carolina his second this year to the battleground state precedes trips to Iowa and New Hampshire in September. He also visited South Carolina, another politically important state, this week.
Thats part of my trying to ascertain the kind of support that exists for a presidential run, he told The Hill newspaper Monday.
Clinton allies also began the first steps toward organizing in North Carolina this year with several big names including Gov. Bev Perdue and House Democratic leader Larry Hall attending a fundraiser for Ready for Hillary, an independent super PAC supporting her possible bid.
Sanders is getting a boost from the state Democratic Party. Executive Director Casey Mann has sent blast emails about the 7 p.m. Wednesday event to its activists and members for the past week.
Gina Wright, a party spokeswoman, said Sanders office asked the party if it would send out the information. Often, when out-of-state elected officials visit NC, protocol is that they reach out to the state party, as is the case here, she said.
The event is sponsored by Progressive Voters of America, Sanders leadership political action committee, and South Forward, a federal political committee whose executive director is Jay Parmley, the former state party leader who resigned in a cloud of questions about sexual harassment.
Just think of the votes he will take from the Democrats! We should all donate to his campaign.
Run, Bernie, RUN!
Like Howard Dean before him, Sanders doesn’t pretend to be anything other than the hardcore socialist he is. You what he’s all about from the start.
*You KNOW what he’s all about...
Was there a CPUSA meeting?
How would he be running, as an indy?
He’ll turn 75 in 2016.
Sanders is an open communist....and the ‘RATS are backing him?
Wow....how far we have fallen.
Just what I was thinking; the fact that an unrepentant Marxist has even in inkling that he should run.
“Sanders is an open communist....and the RATS are backing him?”
If there’s a silver lining, and it’s not much of one, at least for a change of pace they’re backing someone who admits to it as opposed to the closet ones they usually back. Doesn’t make it any better really, but at least he tells people what he is and doesn’t pretend to be something else. And of course they will back him, they are just like him, and the media would love him too but he’s just a little bit too pale for their tastes.
He’s a loon but go Bernie go
I thought he was going to vacation in the Outer Banks.
Sanders is the Ron Paul of the Democratic Party (even though he is “Independent”).
yes and Ed Schultz promoted him tonight
“Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent,”
Sanders is an outright socialist and admits it.
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