That’s what brother Bernie Sanders stands for.
Advertisement
Sanders welcomes West’s support as he is a major voice in the black community. “I am talking about Sandra Bland”, Sanders said, referencing the Chicago woman who was found hanged in a Texas police cell after being arrested for a minor traffic violation.
The Bernie Sanders phenomenon has been driven nearly entirely by white supporters.
The 74-year-old senator from Vermont, a 25-year veteran of Congress, has become a favorite of younger voters in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
“Sen. Bernie Sanders gets it”, she said.
In many ways, it was a soft launch for the Sanders campaign, as aides eschewed prominent signage and logos on stage and went with a simple backdrop of an American flag and South Carolina’s state flag.
According to recent state polls, Sanders has managed to close in on Clinton in Iowa and has overtaken her in New Hampshire, a state that shares a media market and a demographic make-up with Sanders’ home state.
Sanders’ biggest handicap, Schwietert said, is that “he’s not that well-known outside of New England”, but the thousands who turned out for Saturday’s rally impressed her.
Other topics he spoke in support of were benefits for veterans, reforms to the criminal justice system, universal health care and racial equality.
In an interview on CNBC on Tuesday, the billionaire investor said that he admires the way that Sanders has run his campaign. His group has no interest in endorsements, d’Baha said, but he argued that Sanders has an edge over Clinton. His South Carolina presence includes two offices with 15 full-time workers, and he plans to open more by the end of the month. Sanders did a series of three town hall meetings in the state on Saturday. During that trip, he met with African-American leaders and elected officials, and campaign staff says he’ll continue to hold such meetings.
Part of Sanders’ appeal to young people might be his call to make public colleges tuition-free, as they already are in many countries in Europe, a continent Sanders routinely says does a better job of providing its citizens with a strong social safety net through higher taxes and expansive government programs.
The independent Vermont senator and his advisers say his policies and personal story can resonate among black voters if the campaign can reach them. “The label socialist is not going to be one that’s very attractive across the board”, said Nicol Rae, who wrote the book “Southern Democrats“.
Advertisement
“We want to be able to get involved and be informed about who we’re voting for”, Bell said. “If he’s not interested in my thoughts, in my list of voters, why should I be interested in him?”
