He’s been fighting his entire career for specifically universal healthcare. The other democrats are terrified of him.
My understanding is that the reason they’re terrified of him is that he’s not playing the same game as the rest of them. The career track for a Democrat on the national level goes something like this:
Have rich parents to fund your first campaign, or a politician dad with a recognizable last name.
Get funding for future campaigns through corporate lobbyists.
Be a fence-sitter so you never have to pass actual legislation and risk offending your corporate backers
When you get tired of politics, retire and become a lobbyist.
Bernie is doing none of that. He is as grassroots as grassroots gets. His campaigns are crowdfunded. People vote for him because he has repeatedly proven that he is honest and has integrity. If he ever gets his way, they can be sure their corporate backers will run for the Republicans as fast as they can, and then they won’t be able to have that cushy retirement as a lobbyist! In contrast, Bernie is only beholden to the voters who he represents, so his game is all about performing honesty and integrity constantly for the rest of his life. He doesn’t get to retire. He’s going to die on Capitol Hill.
He represents Vermont, our second least populous state, with only about 650,000 residents, and 371,000 votes cast in the 2020 election.
For reference, Washington DC has a population of 690,000, and cast 346,000 votes.
Additionally, Sanders is a long time incumbent. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1991 where he served until becoming a senator in 2008 (which was prior to citizens United). In Vermont, the house of Representatives is a statewide election due to their small population.
Despite being an independent, Sanders has in many ways been acting as a Democrat, so the Democrats have avoided running against him for fear of splitting the vote. Combined with the overall democratic lean of the state, that gives him a relatively secure position.
Many other Democrats are similarly secure in their own seat. However, as part of being members of the party proper, they are under much more pressure to raise money for the party as a whole to spend on competitive raises
He’s been fighting his entire career for specifically universal healthcare. The other democrats are terrified of him.
My understanding is that the reason they’re terrified of him is that he’s not playing the same game as the rest of them. The career track for a Democrat on the national level goes something like this:
Bernie is doing none of that. He is as grassroots as grassroots gets. His campaigns are crowdfunded. People vote for him because he has repeatedly proven that he is honest and has integrity. If he ever gets his way, they can be sure their corporate backers will run for the Republicans as fast as they can, and then they won’t be able to have that cushy retirement as a lobbyist! In contrast, Bernie is only beholden to the voters who he represents, so his game is all about performing honesty and integrity constantly for the rest of his life. He doesn’t get to retire. He’s going to die on Capitol Hill.
How does Bernie have the money to not have to play the game that the other Democrats are playing? Can crowd funding really cover it all?
He represents Vermont, our second least populous state, with only about 650,000 residents, and 371,000 votes cast in the 2020 election.
For reference, Washington DC has a population of 690,000, and cast 346,000 votes.
Additionally, Sanders is a long time incumbent. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1991 where he served until becoming a senator in 2008 (which was prior to citizens United). In Vermont, the house of Representatives is a statewide election due to their small population.
Despite being an independent, Sanders has in many ways been acting as a Democrat, so the Democrats have avoided running against him for fear of splitting the vote. Combined with the overall democratic lean of the state, that gives him a relatively secure position.
Many other Democrats are similarly secure in their own seat. However, as part of being members of the party proper, they are under much more pressure to raise money for the party as a whole to spend on competitive raises