It’s good to see Senator Bernie
Sanders running for President. The Independent from Vermont, who was once mayor
of Burlington VT, a member of the US House for 16 years and now a US Senator
since the 2006 election, announced Thursday his intention to seek the
nomination of the Democratic Party, the same nomination former First Lady
Hillary Clinton desires. With Sanders declaring, now there are two in that
party’s race while the Republican field has a few declared and a few acting as
if they are running. Sanders would have to change his voter registration, we
think.
There are other members of the
Democratic Party as possible candidates including former Governors Martin O’Malley
(Maryland) and Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island) and former Senator Jim Webb
(Virginia). Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has been mentioned, but for
her supporters, Sanders will serve as her proxy. There may some others but the
entry of Sanders is interesting because he comes from a small state where as an
independent he has conquered Democrats and Republicans alike. The first three presidential
primaries next year are in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina where his
message might resonate better with the voters than the “politics as usual”
voice of Clinton.
In Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders
will better relate to the middle class white voters who are struggling through
the economy while the rich get richer. It’s a message he has championed in all
of his campaigns. In South Carolina, he will make the same point, but Clinton
has the upper hand there where the black leaders continue to tout Hillary’s
husband Bill as the United States’ first black president. The South Carolina
and other African-American communities for some reason have given high praise
and strong support to the Clintons, even when Barack Obama ran against Hillary
in 2008.
Sanders, now 73 and 75 at the time
of the November 2016 elections, will offer a message of raising taxes on the
wealthy, tuition free education, restrictions on free-trade agreements, stronger
regulations of Wall Street and banks, and other issues to which the working
middle class relate, Democrats, Republicans and Independent voters alike. He
will go after Hillary for her support of Middle East conflicts/wars and her
husband’s solicitation of foreign funds while she was Secretary of State. In
politics, Sanders brings fresh air to the campaign, and while the odds are
against him, he’s the type of candidate that could actually win Iowa, New
Hampshire and, possibly, South Carolina and turn the predicted Clinton run-away
into a true race for the Democratic nomination.
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Dictionary.com
word of the day
piffle (noun) [pif-uh-l]: nonsense, as
trivial or senseless talk
Couple of comments on recent blog topics:
ReplyDelete-Not nearly as happy as you are about Sander’s entry into the race. I think Hillary’s warm welcome of him is very telling. His entry actually helps her in the long run and her campaign knows that. No way he can win, but he will mobilize the ultra-progressives that really don’t like Hillary, then he will ultimately endorse her when his campaign ends. The message he and Hillary craft together after his campaign ends will appease the ultra-progs and they will get solidly behind her in larger numbers more than they would have if Sanders didn’t run. Hillary loved this news. It’s all calculated - that’s how cynical I am.
- Sulaimon’s quotes validated my take on him no longer being needed by Coach K. Sure enough, he was unhappy with less playing time - the result of K recruiting the best players regardless of who he already has. Sulaimon was nothing more than a victim of a One and Done Program model. For that model to work, and K has perfected it, there is NO COACH TO PLAYER LOYALTY………but he expects Player to Coach Loyalty. And yet Sulaimon blames himself and his own attitude, which he should to a degree, and silver-tongued K gets off scott-free…….again. Unbelievable. Sulaimon never knew what hit him.