~snip~

On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders did a very revealing interview with Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks. The whole interview was insightful and Bernie seemed to really let his guard down with Cenk. Three different parts of their conversation, though, stuck out to me. Cenk asked Bernie what hosts always ask presidential candidates at this point in the election - "If you don't win the Democratic nomination, will you campaign and support Hillary Clinton?"

Now, of course Bernie gave the typical spiel on how he is "in this campaign to win it," but when Cenk pushed Bernie for an answer, he pretty much refused to say he'd campaign for her. Seeing the opening, Cenk pushed Bernie on how he "had pretty much convinced millennials that Hillary was the establishment candidate" and asked again if he would get behind such an establishment candidate and campaign for her. Bernie wasn't vague in his answer. Instead, he very clearly told Cenk that he was more interested in what the democratic establishment would do to meet him halfway and then went right into a full fledged critique of the party.

Cenk's question was as insightful as Bernie's answer. With nearly 80% support among voters under the age of 30, I don't think the Democratic Party, in recent history, has ever had a candidate as popular as Bernie with young people not actually win the nomination. It's new terrain. Young people aren't marginally supportive of Bernie — they love him, trust him, and believe in what he stands for. They won't port over to Hillary's campaign very easily. Cenk then asked Bernie, hypothetically what it would take, if he lost, for him to be an enthusiastic leader of the party moving forward. Bernie's answer was so long and so thorough and so unlikely - including the $15 minimum wage, healthcare for all, removing money from politics, tuition-free college, and more, it was almost as if Bernie was making it clear that his current trajectory simply isn't on the same path as that of the party or Hillary Clinton.

The final question made it all unmistakably clear. Cenk asked Bernie if he would be willing or even interested in having Hillary Clinton as a part of his administration.





cont'

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-don-bernie-supporters-back-hillary-article-1.2578063

"I think there's some symbolism here," said Sanders of his surprise guest. "I know it doesn't look like it, but that little bird is really a dove asking us for world peace. No more wars!"

Eleven North Carolina Democratic Representatives voted for what is considered to be a significant blow to the LGBTQ movement. Activists and legislators have been seeking basic protections on the state and local level across the country. More surprising than the bipartisan support for HB2 are its five supporters who have also endorsed Hillary Clinton.

In a press release obtained by North Carolin NBC affiliate, WECT, Representatives Charles Graham, George Graham, Howard Hunter, William Richardson and Garland Pierce are all listed as endorsers of Clinton.

It will be argued that Hillary Clinton can not be held responsible for the actions of her supporters or endorsers. Despite this argument, the North Carolina anti-LGBTQ vote by her endorsers adds an additional layer of nuance to the ongoing debate of the progressiveness of both Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party as a whole.

A prevailing argument during this primary season is that, above all else, left-leaning citizens should “Unite Blue” to oppose any Republican candidate. However, North Carolina’s HB2 makes a clear case for why supporting someone based on their party affiliation is not equivalent to supporting them based on their ideologies and political beliefs. What good is voting for a Democrat if they will vote with Republicans on issues as critical as fundamental human rights?

And while Hillary Clinton cannot be held accountable for the actions or votes of those who endorse her, it may be reasonable for her to reject these endorsements to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community and allies.Rejecting political endorsements is not without precedent. Recently Donald Trump was forced to reckon with the endorsement of known Klansman David Duke.

cont'

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godisnotarepublican/2016/03/five-clinton-endorsements-among-north-carolina-anti-lgbtq-vote/

PRESS RELEASE


Sanders Sees Path to Victory in Washington



MARCH 24, 2016






YAKIMA, Wash. – Campaigning with an edge over Hillary Clinton in a new national poll, Bernie Sanders on Thursday addressed rallies here and in Spokane, Washington, ahead of weekend caucuses to decide who should be the Democratic Party pick for president.

Sanders took the stage in the SunDome on the Yakama Nation’s treaty territory surrounded by 7,000 people cheering, stomping their feet and banging on drums.

“Native Americans have been lied to. They’ve been cheated,” he said. “If elected president, there will be a new relationship with the Native American community,” Sanders pledged. The “first Americans,” he said, have enriched our country’s culture and “taught us respect for our environment.”

Before taking on Big Oil’s role in causing climate change, Sanders said Native Americans “understand that if this planet is to survive we have to be a part of nature, live with nature.”

Turning to politics, Sanders said “a lot has happened” since his campaign began almost 11 months ago. Once a long shot, Sanders in the past week has narrowed Clinton’s lead in pledged delegates and added more states to his column. “We’ve carried 11 states up to now and with your help at the caucus on Saturday we’re going to win Washington,” he said. “And if we can do well in Washington, do well in Hawaii, do well in Alaska, we have a road to victory.”

Earlier Thursday, Sanders picked up a major West Coast labor union endorsement. He won the backing of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents about 50,000 workers in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. Those union members all work in states where Democrats have yet to decide who should be their standard bearer.





The stop in Yakima followed a rally in Spokane. The second visit to the city this week is part of an aggressive schedule of appearances in the state where 101 delegates will be selected at caucuses on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Sanders’ wife, Jane, traveled on Thursday to Alaska after making campaign stops earlier this week in Hawaii. The 49th and 50th states also are holding caucuses on Saturday.

Speaking at a mid-day rally to 3,200 supporters at the Spokane Arena, Sanders pointed to polls consistently drawing double-digit support in match-ups with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. “We have to do everything we can to make certain that a Republican does not occupy the White House and in order to do that we need the strongest Democratic candidate possible,” Sanders said, “and you are looking at him.”

In a recent CNN poll, Sanders out-polled Trump by 20 points. In a new Bloomberg Politics poll, Sanders was 24 points ahead of Trump. He held a 12-point advantage over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and was four points ahead of Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Clinton lost to Kasich by four points and held much narrower leads than Sanders over Cruz and Trump.

The poll also showed Sanders is now the first choice of 49 percent of those who already have voted or plan to vote in this year’s Democratic contests. The former secretary of state was the choice of 48 percent.




https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-sees-path-victory-washington/

ON EDIT:

The event is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m. Pacific time, with Sanders himself arriving at the podium at about 7 p.m. Pacific time, or 10 p.m. Eastern time.

http://www.inquisitr.com/2926192/watch-bernie-sanders-seattle-safeco-field-rally-stream-live-54000-seat-ballpark-to-feel-the-bern-friday/

If there is ever written a history of Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination in 2016, there will almost certainly be an event or series of events identified as the turning point in his come-from-behind battle against Hillary Clinton. Well, this afternoon comes an event, at 4:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time, that may become part of that hypothetical future history.


An enduring and persistent feature of Bernie Sanders’ campaign, almost from the very beginning, has been Bernie’s consistent ability to draw unusually large crowds to his events. He has filled State Fair Midways, hockey arenas, basketball field houses, school gymnasiums and auditoriums, theaters, convention halls and almost every other manner of mass public venue. From early on it seemed that he could even fill a large stadium if he wished, but he didn’t make any appearances at all with the potential for such giant crowds. As early as last August, some of Bernie’s supporters petitioned him to begin making stadium appearances, specifically, a football stadium in Alabama where Donald Trump appeared and couldn’t fill it up more than ½ way. But despite continuing to draw overflow crowds all over the country, Bernie still has not tried to fill up a 50,000+ seat venue.


Until today.


Can’t help but wonder why Bernie has waited so long to appear before such potentially large crowds? Why start here, and now, in Seattle, WA, and why not earlier, such as when begged to go to Alabama in August 2015? Some of the answers seem obvious; others, perhaps, less so. The main thing is the structural design of the Sanders campaign and the purpose for which he conducts these appearances. These rallies are not simply entertainment, so that people can have a good time. These rallies are one of the fundamental organizing pillars if the campaign. They are the font from which spring Bernie Sanders’ social media and grassroots organizing strengths. Every mass gathering feeds the infobase of volunteers whose time and small donations power the pending political revolution.


Bernie has been turning-out huge, overcapacity crowds all over the Pacific Northwest. His organizing model has enjoyed great success in caucus states. A large trove of delegates is at stake in the caucuses in Washington tomorrow. Given all of that, the choice of Seattle for Bernie’s first mass stadium rally of the campaign seems increasingly like a no brainer. But Bernie’s campaign only scheduled the Safeco Field rally two days ago. Let us hope that is enough time to draw in a capacity crowd. What happens today and tomorrow could eventually come to be seen as part of a turning point in Bernie Sanders’ uphill struggle against the strongly favored front runner. But that will not come to be unless Bernie fills the house tonight.


My younger daughter is a graduate of the University of Washington and is blasting out the event info to her social media universe. Anyone else who can do so through their own contacts in Washington and Oregon should do the same. Let’s help make sure we fill Safeco Field to the roof for Bernie Sanders for President.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/03/25/1506066/-Can-Bernie-Sanders-Fill-a-50-000-Seat-Stadium-on-Two-Days-Notice

On Thursday that is, today, the Florida Democratic Party reversed its position. …

It’s been the policy of the Florida Democratic Party for the past six years to withhold access to candidates challenging incumbent Democratic members of Congress. But the party agreed — in this single instance — to give Canova access to the voter file “to avoid any appearance of favoritism,” Arceneaux told the Herald/Times on Thursday.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article68083847.html

Agenda Project Action Fund Endorses Bernie Sanders

by Erik Altieri, President

AGENDA PROJECT ACTION FUND ENDORSES BERNIE SANDERS POLITICAL REVOLUTION

The results are in! We received a huge (yuge!) response from Agenda Project supporters for our 2016 Democratic Primary Endorsement Poll and the winner, with 97% of the vote, is Senator Bernie Sanders.

So it is with great pleasure and tremendous pride that we formally announce our endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination.


cont'

http://apaction.com/blog/agenda-project-action-fund-endorses-bernie-sanders/