Like President Trump, the independent senator seems fixed on the last campaign, caught between pleasing his most enthusiastic backers and expanding his reach.
By Sean Sullivan Sean Sullivan Reporter covering national politics Email Bio Follow April 20 at 4:22 PM Early last year, Bernie Sanders huddled with his closest advisers to talk about the future. If he ran for president again, one told him, he’d probably perform well enough in the first few states for a chance to take control of the Democratic nomination in March 2020. Then, he’d have to make some new friends — the kind he didn’t have, or seem to want, in 2016.
He frequently revisits his biggest 2016 triumphs and obstacles in speeches. He recently criticized a Democratic-leaning think tank helmed by a Clinton ally, in part because of its conduct in 2016. And he has kept Clinton and other prominent Democrats at a distance, vexing some associates who hoped warmer relations would send a positive signal across the party.
Sanders’s top aides contend that any tension with Democrats arises from wings of the party overtly hostile toward the senator and his policy ideas, not the other way around. They note that he has pledged to strongly support the eventual Democratic nominee and is motivated to do what it takes to help the party defeat Trump, a point he has made publicly and privately. They are urging his skeptics to make the same commitment.
If the dynamic recalls the tone of 2016, Sanders’s campaign speeches serve as specific reminders of that race. He regularly points out that he received more votes from young people than Clinton and Trump combined. Earlier this month in Michigan, he bragged about the scope of his upset win there in the primary.
In 2017, Jeff Weaver, a close Sanders confidant, met with three members of the Congressional Black Caucus at the Democratic Club in Washington, according to two people familiar with the gathering. The members were Reps. James E. Clyburn , Marcia L. Fudge and Cedric L. Richmond . “I think that was a real turning point in terms of the work we did together,” said Weingarten, who recently hosted a town hall with Sanders, the first of a number of events she hopes to convene with other candidates.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bernie Sanders’s campaign escalates fight with establishment Democrats in reprise of 2016 party riftsFor days, Sanders and his team have leveled accusations against a leading Democratic think tank even as he seeks the party’s nomination for president.
Read more »
Bernie Sanders' tax returns show he became millionaire after 2016 White House runU.S. Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders' tax returns show he became millionaire after 2016 White House run by johnwhitesides
Read more »
Bernie became a millionaire in 2016, records showSanders hit the millionaire milestone in 2016 and sustained it in 2017. But the independent Vermont senator’s total income fell to $566,000 last year.
Read more »
Bernie Sanders releases 10 years of tax returns showing income bump from campaign bookVermont Senator Bernie Sanders released his tax returns for the past ten years. They show that in 2016 and 2017, Sanders earned more than one million dollars, mainly from a book he published about his 2016 presidential run.
Read more »
Bernie Sanders’ Last 10 Years Of Tax Returns Show He’s Now Among The MillionairesThe Vermont senator and presidential candidate has greatly profited off book proceeds over the last several years.
Read more »
POLITICO Playbook PM: Late-night texts from RudyRudy Giuliani texted our reporter dsamuelsohn at 2:54 a.m. on the size of the president's 'countereport,' which will drop when the special counsel's findings come out Thursday: 'Now at 34 or 35. The more concise the better. 400 pages is a novel.'
Read more »
Bernie Sanders says Democrats will lose 2020 election if they continue to focus on Donald Trump'If we spend all our time attacking Trump, you know what? Democrats are going to lose,' Sanders said to the audience in Bethlehem, Pennslyvania.
Read more »
Bernie Sanders is a fundraising juggernautThere's only one key conclusion to be taken from the first three months of Democratic fundraising for the 2020 presidential race: Bernie Sanders is a fundraising machine.
Read more »
Bernie Sanders releases 10 years of tax returnsSen. Bernie Sanders released a decade of tax returns, providing new insight into how the Democratic socialist senator from Vermont became a millionaire over his two presidential runs
Read more »