Bernie Doesn't Just SAY He Opposes Citizens United He Shows How To Run A People Funded Campaign

[sabrina 1]

It's no use saying that you oppose something if you participate in it and benefit from it.

Bernie has TAUGHT other Dem Candidates how they too can campaign without taking advantage of Citizen's United.

He has raised one third of what he said he will need for this campaign in just two months.

From small donors.

I have a feeling he will raise more than the goal he set for himself.

He won't have to pay for NEGATIVE ADS because he won't use them either, never has.

And he has so many volunteers to get the word out about his campaign he won't have to spend a lot of money there either.

CU needs to be over turned. Bernie has pledged to only appoint SC judges who will vote to do that.

Already, sadly, one of the Democratic Candidates' Super Pac has run a negative ad against BERNIE instead of the Republicans.

To my knowledge he has not denounced that ad.

That tells me this is not someone I could support.

Nor could I trust a candidate who taking advantage of CU to work to overturn it.

Just another good reason why I support Bernie Sanders.



Again, Bernie is not just talking, he is running a campaign WITHOUT taking advantage of something he opposes and he is teaching others that IT CAN BE DONE!

$15,000,000! From ordinary people in just 2 months. Why? Because he is delivering the message the people want to hear.

And when more people get to know who he is, more will be donating. This is with more than half the country not knowing him, yet.

Remember the Supreme Court when you chose a candidate!

[donf]

1. Proud to give you the first Rec!

nt

[Bonobo]

2. Money talks, Bullshit walks. nt

[sabrina 1]

3. Yes, it talks if candidates allow it to talk for them. Like the Super Pac for O'Mally which ran a

negative ad against Bernie. You would think O'Malley would have apologized for that by now. Since he did not we have to assume he approves of it.

And why would he be running negative ads against another Dem candidate rather than a Republican? I liked him and he was probably my second choice until this happened. That tells me he is nowhere near the caliber of candidate that Bernie is.

[DeeDeeNY]

15. I am curious as to the ad from O'Malley's Super Pac

What did they say negative about Bernie?

[BrotherIvan]

4. Running against CU while at the same time bragging about raising the most

money for the race is not a good tactic.

[sabrina 1]

5. The money in politics is going to be a major issue in this campaign. I remember WISHING for that but

never expecting it to happen.

I know I posted about it many times, that we need to make taking Corporate money poison for a candidate.

The fact is and there is just no denying it, when a candidate receives billions of dollars from Corporations and Wall St that is who they will be working for, period.

OWS started the focus on this. They provided the groundwork and drew attention to the dirty money, and in my view that is exactly what it is, that is buying our government.

Bernie was an early supporter of OWS and while they remained non-political they have now endorsed him and are putting their considerable organizing skills to work getting the word out about him.

I am very grateful he is putting a huge focus on this issue. I think by the end of this campaign, corporate donations, the buying of candidates, will be poison to them.

[BrotherIvan]

8. Agreed on all points

I will say that Bernie is the worst possible candidate for the frontrunner to run against. Many mainstream dems waited to see if she would jump in the race and when she did, they did not run. She could beat any one of them. But Bernie is a whole different candidate and they are probably freaking.

Have you seen this? Click through to the Politico link I put to see the whole article.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128020780#post27

IMHO I think this campaign will come down to trust and honesty. Because there is a totally different kind of person running who does tell the truth and is not afraid to speak plainly. It is a nightmare for a politician who is used to obfuscating and one with a trust problem. I hope I am right, but I very well could be wrong.

[sabrina 1]

10. Good post in that thread. It is a strange campaign. I think there are elements in this

country, powerful elements that decide who our leaders will be. And up to now, decent politicians when they run and look like they could win if the elections were fair, they will face hugely funded Republicans or Third Way candidates, lots of smear campaigning against them and no support from the party leadership, either party. See the NJ Governors Race eg, when 61 Democrats Endorsed Christie!!! And the party would not help what would have been a very good progressive Candidate.

Now why would Democrats endorse a Republican, especially one who was vulnerable at the time due to his handling of Sandy?

And why wasn't there an uproar about this among the rank and file?

Because as Warren said 'the game is rigged'.

I have no doubt that Bernie can win this, but he will be bucking the Dem Party leadership AND Wall St AND the Republicans.

He knows this which is why it is so courageous of him to take this on and the main reason why he is literally pleading for millions of Americans to begin a Political Revolution which is the ONLY way all these forces can be defeated and then help him after he wins.

I think you are right. And I think they are already planning how to stop him.

We've already seen the early attacks coming from Democrats. He will need to have a swift response team ready to attack every such attempt to undermine him and fight like crazy to expose their dirty tactics. IT could backfire on them if the response is massive, which is why he needs millions of people ready to do it.

[BrotherIvan]

12. He is doing a good job of taking advantage of her ducking the media

In polls that I have seen, only 2% say they are undecided Hillary. For Bernie it is 40%. That is a lot of room for movement where she doesn't have much. If he can get out there like he is doing and more people learn about him before the attacks begin, he will have a shot. Hell, they even have O'Malley's PAC doing the gun nut ad which you will see, quite curiously, is a main thrust of Clinton's new speech in that politico article. What a coincidence!

He needs to win NH and do well in Iowa. That way he can show that he is in the race. The biggest hesitation in his numbers right now is the meme that "he can't win." Once he shows he can win, and people are tired of being hit over the head with the demands to hold their nose and do what they're told, his numbers will grow, just like Obama.

So far, there is still no substantive argument for why Clinton should be the nominee other than money and "she can win the general." That's it. She still hasn't come out with policy positions. She promises to unveil them soon but I guarantee they will be entirely vague and lackluster.

Just like this http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=20850

Eventually, Clinton will have to clarify her positions, just like in 2008. And just like in 2008, she was always reacting to Obama. And she attacked. And it didn't work.

But she has the infrastructure and deep connections within the party to win it. I have no doubt about that. There will be some heavy shenanigans on the part of the party, no doubt in my mind (as we have seen already with the debates), including disqualifying states Bernie wins and other tactics. They want the money they she can generate.

So we will see. It is and always has been hers to lose. Unless the people demand someone who is not beholden to big money, then all bets are off.

[libdem4life]

29. Why not? He didn't take a poverty vow. It reinforces the message, IMO. See, it can be done.

[BrotherIvan]

30. I didn't mean Sanders.

He is not using CU to his advantage. Not true of his opponents.

[libdem4life]

34. OK, sounded iike you juxtaposed being against CU while still bragging of receiving contributions.

[BrotherIvan]

36. It's one of Hillary's "four fights" or "four pillars"

I think that is just plain weird. But it shows they are reading the polls and that it is an important issue.

[sabrina 1]

35. He's taking the corrupt Corporate money out of politics all by himself. Now there are a few Dems

running for Congress, doing the same thing.

I think we ought to challenge ALL Democratic Candidates to do this and then make it a huge issue against Republicans.

It is a very popular issue right now, thanks to the awareness created by OWS and now Bernie.

Can't think of a better way to mock their bribery than to refuse to take it.

Then get SC justices who will vote to overturn it.

[libdem4life]

37. Right On !!!

[libdem4life]

38. Just buying off one of the sides woud take all the fun out of it...for said billionaires...drag 'em

out onto the internet and poke and pry into their secret places (by digital means, of course, I mean online) but show them up for what they are...Capitalist, Election-Stealing, Bribery Vultures.

Then let's do to them what they do to the candidates...dig up all the dirt we can and expose it to the world. IIRC, that's what happened to the Hunt Brothers a while back.

And as for Goldman Sachs, they planned this assault on the poorer European Countries...so that needs to be highlighted as well. there is so much dirt in that big money...but there is also the fear factor...back to 1st paragraph.

[daleanime]

6. K&R.....

[Enthusiast]

7. Kicked and recommended to the Max!

[Enthusiast]

9. Every Democrat should recommend this one.

[sabrina 1]

11. Every Democratic Candidate should do what Bernie is doing. NOTHING would make CU more toothless

than a revolt by Candidates against it, as Bernie is doing. And then they could USE it against Republicans, force them to explain why they are being paid so much money by people from Wall St and huge Corporations and what they are giving them in return, who they will be working for IF elected.

I don't get why Dems don't stand up like Bernie does. It's embarrassing to see our party adapting all these right wing policies and either outright supporting them or remaining silent and dong nothing about it.

That is why Bernie's candidacy is so important.

[davidpdx]

16. Sabrina I couldn't agree with you more

But we both know what the response would be. Some have to keep making excuses to roll that corporate cash in.

[libdem4life]

33. Unfortunately, they have no problem with touting all the money they get...and how they repay their

generous contributors...see ALEX. They tout their "privileged relationships".

It still comes down to income inequality...and the redistribution of wealth has gone up and up and up. Now they accuse Dems of being socialist, to ask billionaires to actually pay some taxes...plug holes in the overseas asset exit of untaxed gain, manufacturing plants abroad, etc. That's not socialism. There's nothing socialist about paying taxes.

That's an argument that stands on its head. Bernie is talking about undistributing the current distribution wealth of our country. Without the Middle Class, which was a social experiment, we ultimately return to Feudalism...which has a long history. King of the Hill. I've got mine...sucks to be you, etc.

[Scuba]

13. K&R This is one of several defining issues between Bernie and the rest.

[RufusTFirefly]

14. Yes! Bernie embodies prefigurative politics

For those who don't know the term, it's well worth Googling. The Occupy movement provided a great example. It essentially means practicing what you preach.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Bernie is doing electoral politics in a different and better way.

It's not just a campaign it's also a lesson. Bernie has very serious political skills.

[99Forever]

18. This is why Senator Sanders will be our next President.

Last edited Sun Jul 5, 2015, 05:18 PM - Edit history (1)

He doesn't just talk about doing the right thing, he lives it.

No one, not a single other Democratic hopeful or any of the clown car riders can honestly say that. None. Zero.

[appalachiablue]

19. K & R. Very good post. 'A People Funded Campaign' (PFC), I like that. Glad I haven't seen

O'Malley's negative ad on Bernie. To think that 61 Dems. backed Christie blows the mind. I liked what I saw of Barbara Buono.

[sabrina 1]

21. The party refused to help her. She is in a Blue State and the Dem Party helped the Republican to win

He is so unpopular right now there were more protesters at his announcement than supporters.

Nice work for NJ by the NJ Dems who endorsed this moron. All of them need to be primaried.

[appalachiablue]

22. Makes me ill. I'll have to look into what was so objectionable about Buono. The bipolar party that

fights itself, wow. Bernie's on CNN Jake Tapper SOU in a bit, want to catch his 5 mins. of airtime again, esp. questions about taxing the wealthy and who he'd select for the cabinet.

[sabrina 1]

24. What was objectionable about her apparently was that she was a Progressive Democrat. They appear

to be unwelcome in the Dem Party these days. Now it's up to the people to start using THEIR power to end this rigged system we are living under and take matters into their own hands. As Bernie says, this country belongs to ALL AMERICANS not just a handful of obscenely wealthy Corporations and Bankers.

[MisterP]

27. y'know, after all the caterwauling 2001-6 about how the first thing we needed to do

was just "get Dems elected, and then criticize the party," they sure weren't too keen on having Cegelis, Lamont, McKinney, Halter, Romanoff, Sestak, Grayson, Kucinich,Lutrin, Rev. Manuel Sykes, Weiland and now Wendy Davis and Grimes!

they gave Jeb, Harris, and the Felonious Five free passes for Florida and rammed TPP through on Republican votes

[sabrina 1]

28. I think it's become clear to a whole lot of voters that Progressive Dems are not welcome in

this party other than to vote and then go away.

The leadership just doesn't get how ANGRY people are. So they 'blame the voters'.

But that anger is WHY Bernie is getting so much support!

Actually I'm kind of glad they don't get it!

Let them keep on trying to undermine mine and the people will be even MORE angry, at THEM.

[L0oniX]

20. K & R

[raouldukelives]

23. K&R

One good thing about CU is at least now that corporations are people, it is far easier to judge someone by the company they keep.

[sabrina 1]

25. Yes, that's how they will be judged. Finally the poisonous money controlling our election system is

one of the most important issues in this campaign as people have finally understood why things are going so badly for ordinary Americans.

[azmom]

26. No more politics as usual.

Go Bernie

[2banon]

31. Sabrina, I'm trying to figure out to share this image on fb. So far unsuccessful..

I'm doing something wrong. do you (or anyone else?) know how to "share" this image?

[sabrina 1]

32. Does it not work if you just copy and paste it? Do you mean the picture or the

OP. If it's the OP you can click on the FB button.

[2banon]

39. trying to c&p picture - using the drop down right click menu

[sabrina 1]

41. I just did that and saw the 'copy image url' option second from the top of the dropdown.

Copied it and pasted it. Worked for me. Are you not seeing that option? Right click on mouse, drop down appears, 'copy image url' second option from top.

Let me know if you can't see that and I will try to PM the url to you!

[2banon]

43. When I did that, only the link appeared on my fb, not the actual image.

I'll try it again. thanks for the guidance.

[sabrina 1]

44. It must be the way FB is formatted then. Sorry it didn't work for you!

[OnlyBernieBurnsBush]

40. Bernie would be the best President since FDR...

Hilary would be the best President since Barack Obama.

[sabrina 1]

42. I agree with you on the first. The second we would have to wait and see

I suppose, however we probably won't get the chance since I believe Bernie is going to win.