PRESS RELEASE


Clinton Special Interest Donors and Fundraisers Include NRA Lobbyists



MARCH 29TH, 2016






BURLINGTON, Vt.— Despite promises to take on special interests, the Clinton campaign continues to accept millions in contributions from corporate interests for its campaign and its affiliated super PACs. The list of corporate interests include lobbyists for the National Rifle Association.

As late as this month, the Clinton campaign advertised a March 21 fundraising event hosted by Jeff Forbes, who was a long-time lobbyist for the NRA. She has also received maxed out contributions from NRA lobbyists.

“How can you claim to take on the gun lobby when the gun lobby is funding your campaign?” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “If Secretary Clinton is sincere about gun safety reform she should give back their money and ban gun lobbyists from any involvement in her campaign.”

Gun lobbyists are the latest interest group that Secretary Clinton says she will take on as president – when in fact they are funding her campaign. They are in addition to Wall Street interests, pharmaceutical companies, fossil fuel interests, and lobbyists who have worked for the private prison industry.

Clinton’s record on gun safety is all over the map. While running for president in 2008, she spoke against federal gun laws and attacked then-Sen. Obama for being too tough on gun safety. This came after having previously advocated more gun laws when running for U.S. Senate from New York.




https://berniesanders.com/press-release/clinton-special-interest-donors-fundraisers-include-nra-lobbyists/

Hillary Clinton suggested the reason she wouldn’t debate Bernie Sanders in New York was due to his “tone.” The internet isn’t buying it. On Twitter, the hashtag #ToneDownForWhat (which plays off the the name of the ubiquitous Lil Jon party anthem “Turn Down for What“) took the former Secretary of State to task for her campaign’s official response to Sen. Sanders’ debate challenge. For instance, one Twitter user aptly noted that had the shoe been on the other foot and if Sanders had been the one to accuse Hillary Clinton of having a particular “tone” to her campaign, he would have been labeled as sexist.

Sāvion ✔?@SavionWright

Debates don't depend on the tone of candidates but on their ideas and the issues. #ToneDownForWhat?
6:27 PM - 28 Mar 2016

Melinda @MalyndaNyc

Wonder if Isis will tone it down for Hillary? #ToneDownForWhat
Fresh from #BSDMS

Matt Miner ?@MattMinerXVX

Hillary won't debate Bernie in NY unless he changes his tone. Unreal. #ToneDownForWhat #HillaryToneDeaf
4:56 PM - 28 Mar 2016

The Bern Report ?@TheBernReport

Clinton: "Usually when I'm speaking in #NewYork I get $225K, what's your offer?" #ToneDownForWhat

7:15 PM - 28 Mar 2016

"...Whichever anti-Establishment candidate runs, he wins. If both anti-Establishment candidates face off, Sanders wins. The message seems pretty clear. Dear Establishment Democrats, you can lose to Sanders or lose to Trump. Those are your choices, and I'm more than happy to wait until November 9 to find out what you chose and how it turned out. Not pleased to wait, if you choose wrongly, but willing to wait, just so we're both aware of what happened..."

The Sanders- and Trump-led (for now) political rebellion is not going to go away. There are only two questions going forward:


Why is this rebellion permanent, at least until conditions improve? Because life in the U.S. is getting worse in a way that can be felt by a critical mass of people, by enough people to disrupt the Establishment machine with their anger. And because that worsening is seen to be permanent. Bottom line, people are reaching the breaking point, and we're watching that play out in the 2016 electoral race.

Yes, It Is a Rebellion

There's no other way to see the Sanders and Trump surges except as a popular rebellion, a rebellion of the people against their "leaders." If one of them, Sanders or Trump, is on the ballot in November running against an Establishment alternative, Sanders or Trump, the anti-Establishment candidate, will win. That candidate will cannibalize votes from the Establishment side. That is, Sanders will attract a non-zero percentage of Trump-supporting voters if Cruz or Paul Ryan runs against him, and he will win. By the same token, Trump will attract a non-zero percentage Sanders-supporting voters if Clinton runs against him, and she will lose to him. (In fact, we have a good early indication of what percentage of Sanders supporters Clinton will lose — 20% of Sanders primary voters say they will sit out the general election if Clinton is the candidate, and 9% say they will vote for Trump over Clinton. By this measure, Clinton loses 30% of the votes that went to Sanders in the primary election.)

If they run against each other, Sanders and Trump, Sanders will win. You don't have to take my word for it (or the word of any number of other writers). You can click here and see what almost every head-to-head poll says. As I look at it today, the average of the last six head-to-head polls is Sanders by almost 18% over Trump. In electoral terms, that's a wipeout. For comparison, Obama beat McCain by 6% and Romney by 4%. Note that Sanders is still surging, winning some states with 80% of the vote (across all states he's won, he averages 67% of the vote), while Trump seems to have hit a ceiling below 50%, even in victory. The "socialist" tag is not only not sticking, it's seen positively by his supporters. And finally, just imagine a Trump-Sanders debate. Sanders' style is teflon to Trumps', and again, I'm not alone in noticing this.


cont'

http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-rebellion-will-not-go-away.html#willrichstanddown

~snip~

Sanders remains an underdog, but he keeps surging and Clinton keeps sinking. Sanders has won 15 primaries and caucuses compared to Clinton’s 20, and he’s virtually tied four others (Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri and Illinois). This from an unknown candidate who started at single digits in early polls. His crowds keep growing. The turnout in Washington was “huge,” state officials reported, nearly at the unprecedented levels of 2008. And he’s done this in spite of a mainstream media that can’t cover his campaign without dismissing it. Sanders has now caught Clinton in the most recent poll of Democrats. He raised more money than she did in February (probably one reason the Clinton campaign didn’t blanche at sponsoring a $353,000-a-plate sit down with the Clooneys on April 15 in San Francisco. That number is not a misprint.)


What’s troublesome for Clinton is that she’s getting less popular as the campaign goes on. She’s now viewed unfavorably by over 50 percent of registered voters, the highest negatives – other than Donald Trump – since 1984 when they began asking the question. Voters have valued her experience and electability. But she’s had to walk away from many of her former views. And she continues to fare less well than Sanders in hypothetical face-offs with potential Republican candidates. Those polls are of questionable import, but they do suggest that electability may be a declining asset for the former secretary of state. Even as his candidacy gains traction, Sanders keeps spreading the word and rousing activists. A presidential campaign isn’t a movement. At best, an insurgent can issue a call to action, elevate alternatives, and infuse millions with a sense that there is an alternative. Sanders is doing just that, particularly with young voters who fill his rallies and caucuses. He’s raised a stunning $140 million from some 2 million donors, proving that a candidate needn’t depend on big money to be competitive. This is a big deal. Sanders has shown it can be done at the presidential level. Now, we’ll see insurgents testing out similar efforts in Senate and House races.


The Sanders campaign has also virtually invented what is called “distributed organizing.” His talented campaign team has learned how to benefit from activists that can and are organizing themselves, creating their own communities online and in neighborhoods. This is energy that will continue long after the campaign is over. Clinton operatives suggest Sanders should cool it, and stop challenging the secretary. She is trying to avoid a debate before the New York primary. Sanders is well justified to turn up the heat. He’s driven the debate, with Clinton adopting increasingly populist positions. He’s now beginning to challenge Clinton’s hawkish foreign policy. His speech on the Middle East showed remarkable courage and sense. He ran a moving ad in Hawaii featuring Hawaii veteran, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, arguing, “Bernie Sanders will defend our country and take the trillions of dollars that are spent on these interventionist, regime change, unnecessary wars and invest it here at home.”


Sanders still faces formidable challenges – including competing with Clinton in her home state of New York where she served as senator. But what’s clear is that he is still building. Wisconsin is next on April 5, with the Wyoming caucuses on the 9th. New York is on the 19th. Instead of continuing their 24/7 Trump fixation, the mainstream media would be well advised to cover the Sanders surge, not dismiss it, and put a bigger spotlight on the Democratic race.


cont'

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/28/sanders-soars-democratic-race-closer-republicans

PRESS RELEASE


Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Lawton Endorses Sanders for President



MARCH 28TH, 2016


BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday welcomed an endorsement by former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton.

“I have never before felt greater urgency in a political campaign,” Lawton said in a statement from her home in Green Bay, Wis. “This election gives us the opportunity to rebuild America’s middle class and restore stability at the core of our democracy. We must to realize both economic and national security, for all. That is why I endorse Bernie Sanders for president of the United States.”

Lawton was the lieutenant governor of Wisconsin for two terms beginning in 2003. She will introduce Sanders at a rally on Wednesday in Appleton, Wis.

“Barbara Lawton is a progressive leader in the great progressive tradition of Wisconsin,” Sanders said. “She has been an outspoken voice for campaign finance reform and I look forward to working with her to create a government which represents all Americans and not just the billionaires.”

In endorsing Sanders’ candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination for president, Lawton said:

“We need a bold, experienced and visionary leader with judgment unfettered by big campaign donors. Someone who understands that incremental politics brought us to this moment where our economy has been reshaped to favor the wealthiest few, and locked us into inequality.

“We need someone who hears the clamor from business owners for a health care system that will free them to create jobs. We need a president who understands that there is no global security without human security, who repositions our nation on the center of a global stage with unimpeachable moral authority.

“We can have government we can afford and restore our faith in the process when we face the issue of money in politics head on. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate for president today committed and ready to face this biggest of threats to the world’s oldest democracy.”

Wisconsin is the next stop in the contest between Sanders and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Eighty-six pledged delegates will be at stake in next Tuesday’s primary election.





https://berniesanders.com/press-release/former-wisconsin-lt-gov-lawton-endorses-sanders-president/