On April 29th, the democratic-socialist, junior Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, announced
that he was running for President.
Despite being the longest standing Independent in Congress, many people had never heard of
this far-left candidate.
So we wanted to know, who is Bernie Sanders?
Well, despite his 16-year tenure as Vermont’s only House Representative, followed by his
current 8-year term as US Senator, Sanders is still considered somewhat of an outcast
in Washington.
His long standing voting record has regularly been at odds with the dominating political
climate.
He has voted against the 2002 Iraq War Resolution, the PATRIOT ACT, the Bush-era tax cuts for
the wealthy, and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
In turn, he sponsored the Global Warming and Pollution Reduction Act, pushed for an audit
of the Federal Reserve, and has repeatedly supported Medical Marijuana legislation.
The 73-year-old candidate is also a self-admitted socialist, and has pointed to the high quality
Scandinavian social system as an example of effective policy.
As a candidate, Sanders has outlined a number of initiatives he would tackle.
Among them are efforts to break up the “too big to fail” banks, raising minimum wage,
expanding union power, and promoting a single-payer health care system.
However Sanders has been criticized on his voting record against the implementation of
the child abduction AMBER alert system, as well as his views on gun rights.
And despite his progressive track record and policy ideas, Sanders will be competing with
political heavyweight Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
Many political analysts, including those who support him, have suggested that he is unlikely
to win the primary.
Still, some say that by officially entering the presidential arena, his progressive stance
could force Clinton to revise some of her more moderate positions to the left.
This is particularly relevant, as a look at their top donors would suggest that Clinton
and Sanders have distinctly separate priorities.
Clinton’s top donors are primarily banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, along with
media conglomerates Time Warner and Cablevision.
On Sanders’ side, nearly all of his top donors are comprised of auto, teaching, and
labor unions.
Additionally, 61% of Sanders’ donations are made up of individual contributions of
less than $200, compared to Hillary’s 28% during her 2008 run for candidacy.
So, who is Bernie Sanders?
Clearly, he’s a man of the people.
But his socialist-democratic policies may turn many traditional voters off.
So for now it’s Bernie Sanders vs. Hillary Clinton.
Want to learn more about his opponent?
Check out our video overview of her, right here.
We’ll have more profiles of candidates as they announce, so make sure to subscribe now!
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