Bernie Sanders highlights his 1988 support of Jesse Jackson’s White House run

[Uncle Joe]

DEARBORN, Mich. -- With black voters about to play a greater role in picking the next Democratic presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders used a rally here Monday to highlight his support of the 1988 White House run of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Appearing at a rally organized by an auto workers union, Sanders noted that at the time he endorsed Jackson, he was mayor of Burlington, the largest city in Vermont, “a state that is virtually all white.”

“Why did I do it?” the Vermont senator said. “I did it because I saw in him a man trying to bring working people together” and create “a rainbow coalition.”

“It wasn’t a popular thing to do,” Sanders said. “There were three white elected officials in America that endorsed Jackson in 1988. I was one of them.”

(snip)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/15/bernie-sanders-highlights-his-1988-support-of-jesse-jacksons-white-house-run/

I believe the largely white state of Vermont went to Jessie Jackson in that Democratic Primary.

[Skwmom]

1. Only three? Wow, that's some bold leadership there....

[Uncle Joe]

2. Well among having many other fine virtues, Bernie is intrepid.

[Uncle Joe]

3. I was correct, Bernie's home state of Vermont did go for Jessie Jackson.

Jackson captured 6.9 million votes and won 11 contests: seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont).[6] Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary.[7][8] Some news accounts credit him with 13 wins.[9] Briefly, after he won 55% of the vote in the Michigan Democratic caucus, he was considered the frontrunner for the nomination, as he surpassed all the other candidates in total number of pledged delegates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson_presidential_campaign,_1988

[frazzled]

4. An what is the import of that?

Is that supposed to attract young black voters? By happenstance, I received a copy of Chicago magazine yesterday, and began to read an interesting article titled "The New Black Power." It largely follows a group of young, organized radical activists called the BYP100—Black Youth Project 100—who have been organizing the ongoing, citywide protests in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting. A captioned pull-quote caught my attention:

People aren't critical of Jesse Jackson because he's old. ˇhey're critical of Jesse Jackson because he's Jesse Jackson. . . . To us, Jesse is not relevant. —BYP100 Co-Chair Damon Williams

Talking about being one of only 3 elected officials to endorse Jesse Jackson 27 years ago is kind of laughable as a selling point. At that time, Sanders's "elected official" credentials were being mayor of Burlington, VT, which, although a nice place I am sure, even today has a population less than any single one of the 50 wards in Chicago. It's like my alderman being for Bernie (he's not, but I'm just giving an example). It's hardly a big whoop.

We need to know what a candidate has accomplished with respect to various issues. Going to a protest and paying a $25 fine more than 50 years ago does not amount to a substantive accomplishment. Neither does being a small-town mayor who endorsed a candidate nearly 30 years ago, especially when that candidate has lost much of his luster for today's activists.

This is getting ridiculous. And it's also a little bit insulting, I'm sure, to black folk. It's the equivalent, pretty much, of saying "I have a black friend."

[Uncle Joe]

5. Who said young? This is just part of his record why shouldn't Bernie speak of it?

Burlington is the largest city in Vermont, and Bernie's political reputation was greater than being the mayor of a small city.

You can trash Jessie Jackson but he was a prominent leader and the most successful black candidate for the Presidency up until Obama came along twenty years later and I believe Jackson helped pave the way in altering American consciousness to accepting an African American as President.

You can trash people that live in small cities and states as being unimportant, personally I believe many people would find that insulting.

The same holds true for the countless advocates and protesters of the Civil Rights movement great and small, they all meant something especially in that environment when tens of millions of Americans were filled with nothing but hate, racism and division.

Bernie has always been consistent in regards to his stance on the major issues of the day, the same can't be said for Hillary.