The Hill: “Allies to Bernie Sanders say the Vermont Independent senator is increasingly likely to make a second bid for the White House in 2020 — once again as a Democrat.”
“Sanders allies increasingly talk more confidently about the likelihood of a second presidential bid. Just a few months ago, the allies were more careful about his potential candidacy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lit into President Trump calling him a “pathological liar” who “works night and day on behalf of his fellow billionaires,” Politico reports.
Added Sanders: “And most reprehensible, we have a president who is not doing what almost every president in American history has done: When you make it into the Oval Office, you understand you’ve got a sacred responsibility to bring the American people together. Today we have a president who for cheap political reasons is trying to divide us up.”
“Bernie Sanders is sputtering. Two years after his defeat in the 2016 presidential primary, the Vermont senator has amassed a growing string of losses in races in which he has intervened,” Politico reports.
“Beginning last year, Sanders-backed candidates faltered in an Omaha mayoral race and a nationally watched House race in Montana. Then came Rep. Tom Perriello’s loss in Virginia’s gubernatorial primary, and in June, the drubbing in Iowa of Pete D’Alessandro, a top adviser to Sanders during his 2016 Iowa caucus campaign.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) former presidential campaign manager told C-SPAN that the Vermont independent is considering another presidential run.
Said Jeff Weaver: “Nationally, he is considering another run for the presidency. When the time comes I think we’ll have an answer to that. But right now he’s still considering it.”
Weaver’s new book, How Bernie Won, is just out.
“Bernie Sanders’ top operatives formed ‘Our Revolution’ after he lost the 2016 primaries to keep his army organized and motivated — and potentially prepare for another presidential run in 2020,” Politico reports.
“But an extensive review of the Sanders-inspired group depicts an organization in disarray — operating primarily as a promotional vehicle for its leader and sometimes even snubbing candidates aligned with Sanders. Our Revolution has shown no ability to tip a major Democratic election in its favor — despite possessing Sanders’ email list, the envy of the Democratic Party — and can claim no major wins in 2018 as its own.”
“I did not know that Russian bots were promoting my campaign… I would say that the real question to be asked is: What was the Clinton campaign doing about Russian interference — they had more information about this than we had.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), in an interview with Vermont Public Radio.
Coming right after the midterm elections: Where We Go from Here by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “convened his top political advisers in Washington on Saturday for a planning meeting that included a discussion of the feasibility and shape of a possible 2020 presidential campaign,” Politico reports.
“The Democratic socialist’s response to the series of presentations, according to multiple Democrats: I haven’t yet made a decision about 2020, but I still think beating Donald Trump is the most important thing for this country. And I want to be ready if I do decide to run.”
“Bernie Sanders is taking steps to address longstanding political shortcomings that were exposed in 2016, ahead of another possible presidential bid in 2020,” Politico reports.
“From forging closer ties to the labor movement to shoring up his once-flimsy foreign policy credentials, the moves have provided the senator inroads into party power structures that largely shunned him in favor of Hillary Clinton last year. They’ve also empowered the progressive icon to harness his newfound political power and help Democrats fight President Trump’s administration.”
Former President Jimmy Carter confirmed to the New York Times that he and his wife voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 2016 Democratic primary.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “used a foreign policy speech to knock President Trump’s handling of the Iran nuclear deal, Russia and his rhetoric on the violence in Charlottesville,” The Hill reports.
Said Sanders: “I call on my colleagues in the Congress, and all Americans: We must protect this agreement. President Trump has signaled his intention to walk away from it, as he did the Paris agreement, regardless of the evidence that it is working.”
Stephen Miles: “In laying out a principled and bold progressive vision for recentering US foreign policy at the core of a progressive platform, Senator Sanders has given voice to those of us who have always believed that our values don’t simply stop at the water’s edge.”
“The current model of the Democratic Party obviously is not working. Republicans control the House, the Senate. They control the White House. They control two-thirds of the Governors’ offices throughout this country… What we need to do is reach out to Independents.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), in an interview on Meet the Press.
Sen. Bernie Sanders brushed off the accusations in Hillary Clinton’s new book that his attacks on her during the primary made it hard for her to unify progressives, The Week reports.
Said Sanders: “Secretary Clinton ran against the most unpopular candidate in the history of this country and she lost and was upset about it, and I understand that. But our job now is really not to go backwards. It is to go forward.”
He added: “We need her help to go forward, let’s not keep arguing about 2016.”
Hillary Clinton casts Sen. Bernie Sanders as an unrealistic over-promiser in her new book, CNN reports.
She also said that his attacks against her during the primary caused “lasting damage” and paved the way for Donald Trump’s “Crooked Hillary” campaign.
Clinton said Sanders “had to resort to innuendo and impugning my character” because the two Democrats “agreed on so much.”
Just published: Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is having discussions about running for president again, according to The Hill.
Said one close associate: “He thinks he’s earned the right to run again and he believes if he would have been the Democratic candidate he would have won against Trump. The last thing he’s going to do is step aside and let Joe Biden take it.”
Matthew Yglesias: “Amid a swirl of speculation about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and practically everyone else under the sun as potential Democratic presidential contenders, most of the political class is ignoring the elephant in the room. Bernie Sanders is, by some measures the most popular politician in America, by far Democrats’ most in-demand public speaker, and the most prolific grassroots fundraiser in American history.”
“If he were 10 or 20 years younger, his absence from a 2020 cattle call held by the Center for American Progress back in May would have been glaring. As things stood, the whisper among everyone in the halls was simply that he’s too old and obviously won’t run.”
“But make no mistake: Sanders is the real 2020 Democratic frontrunner.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his wife, Jane Sanders have hired prominent defense attorneys amid an FBI investigation into a loan Jane Sanders obtained to expand Burlington College while she was its president, CBS News confirms.
According to Politico, prosecutors might also be looking into allegations that Sen. Sanders’ office inappropriately urged the bank to approve the loan.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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