Should Bernie Sanders run for President?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "RootsAction Team" <info@rootsaction.org>
Date: Dec 9, 2013 10:47 AM
Subject: Should Bernie Sanders run for President?
To: <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Should he run? You may have heard the startling news: Senator Bernie Sanders is considering a run for president in 2016. The news caught our attention at RootsAction because the independent senator from Vermont has a long history in Washington -- 16 years in the U.S. House and 7 in the Senate -- standing up to corporate power. You can click here to respond to this survey question: Do you want Senator Bernie Sanders to run for president in 2016? The opinions that matter should come from the grassroots across the country. Please forward this email widely, so others can answer the question. In recent interviews, the senator has said that if no other presidential candidate is addressing today's crises -- "the collapse of the middle class, growing wealth and income inequality, growth in poverty, global warming" -- he would run. "If nobody else is talking about it, well, then maybe I have to do it," Bernie told Politico. (A 2016 presidential run would not surrender his Senate seat, as he is not up for reelection until 2018.) Please answer the question "Should Bernie run for president?" (If you'd like, you can add a few words of explanation to your answer.) Just as important, forward this email to friends. RootsAction rarely focuses on elections because, quite frankly, few politicians make us enthusiastic. But Bernie Sanders is different. He has long been a strong advocate of enhanced Medicare for all, taxing Wall Street, cutting the military, opposing corporate trade pacts, etc. In 2010, he touched a national nerve when he filibustered against the Obama-GOP deal extending Bush-era tax cuts for the rich. Bernie told Politico: "Obviously if I did not think I had a reasonable chance to win I wouldn't run . . . It is not my intention to be some kind of spoiler and play the role of just draining votes away to allow my voice to be heard." Along with the "Should Bernie run?"question, we invite your response to a second question: "Would you be more likely to support a Bernie presidential campaign if he were to run inside Democratic caucuses and primaries -- or, if he ran outside as an independent '3rd-party' candidate?" Here's an excerpt from Bernie Sanders' recent interview with The Progressive magazine: If you had a President who said: "Nobody in America is going to make less than $12 or $14 an hour," what do you think that would do? If you had a President who said: "You know what, everybody in this country is going to get free primary health care within a year," what do you think that would do? If you had a President say, "Every kid in this country is going to go to college regardless of their income," what do you think that would do? If you had a President say, "I stand here today and guarantee you that we are not going to cut a nickel in Social Security; in fact we're going to improve the Social Security program," what do you think that would do? If you had a president who said, "Global warming is the great planetary crisis of our time, I'm going to create millions of jobs as we transform our energy system. I know the oil companies don't like it. I know the coal companies don't like it. But that is what this planet needs: we're going to lead the world in that direction. We're going to transform the energy system across this planet-and create millions of jobs while we do that."  If you had a President say that, what kind of excitement would you generate from young people all over this world? Please forward this email far and wide. -- The RootsAction Team Background: CommonDreams: Bernie Sanders May Run for President in 2016 Politico: Bernie Sanders: I'd Run If I Could Win The Nation: Bernie Sanders Just Might Have to Run for President www.RootsAction.org Click here to unsubscribe and stop ALL email from RootsAction.