Rally for Bernie Sanders in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo: Getty)
Dec 17, 2015
The Bernie Sanders campaign announced Thursday that the Vermont senator has officially received two million contributions, putting him ahead--at this point in the election season--of every other candidate in U.S. history who was not a sitting president.
Top aides say Sanders could even beat President Barack Obama's 2012 record. "In his run for a second term, reports indicated Obama receiving around 2.2 million contributions by the end of 2011, a figure Sanders still could surpass," reads a campaign statement.
The average donation this week was $20, in what Sanders says is evidence that he is accountable to "people power"--not corporate contributors.
The number of contributions does not reflect the exact number of donors, as some have given more than once. However, Sanders' campaign says the number of people pitching in is approaching 1 million, according to the Washington Post.
"Just 261 Sanders backers have given the maximum allowable contribution of $2,700, accounting for a mere 1.7 percent of his campaign's total reported money raised," said Sanders' campaign. "That's a sharp contrast to Hillary Clinton's 17,575 maxed-out donors, whose donations accounted for almost 62 percent of her money raised, according to Federal Election Commission records for the first three quarters of this year."
Filings from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton show that she continues to be the favorite Democratic candidate of Wall Street, Politico noted in October.
"Over 2 million contributions have been made to the only campaign that rejects a corrupt campaign finance system," Sanders said in an advertisement thanking donors. "You can't level the playing field with Wall Street banks and billionaires by taking their money."
Meanwhile, a poll released Thursday by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and Every Voice found that 72 percent of people in the U.S. "favor a plan to address the role of money in politics with a small-donor public financing system combined with disclosure for all political spending by outside groups and strictly enforced election laws," according to a press statement.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is web editor at In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
The Bernie Sanders campaign announced Thursday that the Vermont senator has officially received two million contributions, putting him ahead--at this point in the election season--of every other candidate in U.S. history who was not a sitting president.
Top aides say Sanders could even beat President Barack Obama's 2012 record. "In his run for a second term, reports indicated Obama receiving around 2.2 million contributions by the end of 2011, a figure Sanders still could surpass," reads a campaign statement.
The average donation this week was $20, in what Sanders says is evidence that he is accountable to "people power"--not corporate contributors.
The number of contributions does not reflect the exact number of donors, as some have given more than once. However, Sanders' campaign says the number of people pitching in is approaching 1 million, according to the Washington Post.
"Just 261 Sanders backers have given the maximum allowable contribution of $2,700, accounting for a mere 1.7 percent of his campaign's total reported money raised," said Sanders' campaign. "That's a sharp contrast to Hillary Clinton's 17,575 maxed-out donors, whose donations accounted for almost 62 percent of her money raised, according to Federal Election Commission records for the first three quarters of this year."
Filings from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton show that she continues to be the favorite Democratic candidate of Wall Street, Politico noted in October.
"Over 2 million contributions have been made to the only campaign that rejects a corrupt campaign finance system," Sanders said in an advertisement thanking donors. "You can't level the playing field with Wall Street banks and billionaires by taking their money."
Meanwhile, a poll released Thursday by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and Every Voice found that 72 percent of people in the U.S. "favor a plan to address the role of money in politics with a small-donor public financing system combined with disclosure for all political spending by outside groups and strictly enforced election laws," according to a press statement.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is web editor at In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
The Bernie Sanders campaign announced Thursday that the Vermont senator has officially received two million contributions, putting him ahead--at this point in the election season--of every other candidate in U.S. history who was not a sitting president.
Top aides say Sanders could even beat President Barack Obama's 2012 record. "In his run for a second term, reports indicated Obama receiving around 2.2 million contributions by the end of 2011, a figure Sanders still could surpass," reads a campaign statement.
The average donation this week was $20, in what Sanders says is evidence that he is accountable to "people power"--not corporate contributors.
The number of contributions does not reflect the exact number of donors, as some have given more than once. However, Sanders' campaign says the number of people pitching in is approaching 1 million, according to the Washington Post.
"Just 261 Sanders backers have given the maximum allowable contribution of $2,700, accounting for a mere 1.7 percent of his campaign's total reported money raised," said Sanders' campaign. "That's a sharp contrast to Hillary Clinton's 17,575 maxed-out donors, whose donations accounted for almost 62 percent of her money raised, according to Federal Election Commission records for the first three quarters of this year."
Filings from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton show that she continues to be the favorite Democratic candidate of Wall Street, Politico noted in October.
"Over 2 million contributions have been made to the only campaign that rejects a corrupt campaign finance system," Sanders said in an advertisement thanking donors. "You can't level the playing field with Wall Street banks and billionaires by taking their money."
Meanwhile, a poll released Thursday by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and Every Voice found that 72 percent of people in the U.S. "favor a plan to address the role of money in politics with a small-donor public financing system combined with disclosure for all political spending by outside groups and strictly enforced election laws," according to a press statement.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.