2020 may seem far away, with every day bringing more bad news from the White House and the Democratic Party utterly failing to heed the people’s call for progressive change, but there may be good reason for hope: It seems that Senator Sanders may already be gearing up to run in the next presidential election.
Sanders, the most popular politician in America, is touring the country and making changes that show his commitment to establishing himself as a candidate.
Sanders has created a national political organization, maintained a heavy presence in the media and public, strengthened his ties with both Democrats and others in Washington, and tightened up his policy commitments.
Although Sanders has made some friends in the Democratic Party by pushing the “stronger together” attitude and shifting some of his policy commitments, he is still a strong winner for progressives. His ideas on universal health care (Medicare-for-all), tuition-free public college, and a high minimum wage continue to have enormous support.
Sanders’ national organization, Our Revolution, helps support and track Sanders’ supporters running for state and local offices. The impressive list of those that have succeeded in getting elected to office can be viewed here.
Since losing the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton last year, Sanders has worked tirelessly to make connections in the political arena, and has even added key figures to his team. During the primaries, one of the largest critique against Sanders was his lack of foreign policy experience. Early this year, Sanders added Matt Duss, a veteran Middle East analyst, to his team. He also added Ari Rabin-Havt, a previous advisor for Harry Reid.
Sanders is also modifying his strategy with African-American voters, where he lacked support during last years’ primaries, by connecting with national leaders like NAACP’s William Barber.
Much of Sanders’ success can be owed to his clear message and championed vision of breaking up big banks, returning power to the people, and moving us towards equality.
However, he still has a lot of work to do if wants to convince people that the Democratic Party as a whole is able to transform into a people’s party.
If Sanders is to run – and win – he would be the oldest candidate on record at 78 years old. This fact keep some, notably Clinton supporters, from supporting him. But let’s not forget, we’ve already voted our oldest president into office – Donald Trump – and Sanders is in great health, having shown incredible stamina in the 2016 primaries and still today.
So what do you think? Should Bernie Sanders run for president in 2020? And if he does, would you support him?
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