Sanders to Make Presidential Aspirations Official in Vermont Next Week

Sanders spoke on April 15 at a rally opposing Fast Track and corporate-friendly trade deals. (Photo: AFGE/flickr/cc)

Sanders to Make Presidential Aspirations Official in Vermont Next Week

'The formal kickoff will set the stage for the campaign to come,' says Sanders, vowing to lay out 'a vision of a government which works for all of our people and not just the billionaire class'

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said at the end of April that he would challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, will officially launch his run for president on Tuesday in Burlington, Vermont, campaign officials announced this week.

Burlington is where Sanders began his political career, serving as mayor from 1981 to 1989, before going on to represent Vermont in the U.S. House and Senate.

"My hometown of Burlington and the people of Vermont have a special place in my heart," Sanders said. "There is nowhere else in the world where I would hold an event this important."

He continued:

In Vermont, I have learned that focusing on important issues and not engaging in negative campaigns is what people want. I have learned that grassroots campaigning -- holding town meetings, knocking on doors, face-to-face discussions -- is more important than money in winning elections. That is what I have done in Vermont and that is the lesson I will take with me around the country on this national campaign.

The formal kickoff will set the stage for the campaign to come. I will lay out an 'Agenda for America' which addresses the major crises we face and a vision of a government which works for all of our people and not just the billionaire class.

There will be free Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the kick-off. According to the Huffington Post, Jerry Greenfield, one half of the duo that created the Vermont-based ice cream company, hopes to personally scoop ice cream for Sanders at the event.

"I love Bernie's take on the issues about inequality in this country, about the incredible discrepancy between wealth and poor, and that we're just not taking care of people," Greenfield reportedly said.

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