SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) shake hands ahead of the third Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season in Houston, Texas on September 12, 2019. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)
Beyond Attacking Trump, Sanders Says Biden Campaign Must 'Give People a Reason to Vote for Joe'
"I think Biden is in an excellent position to win this election, but I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump," the Vermont senator said on Sunday.
Sep 14, 2020
Bernie Sanders on Sunday refuted the veracity of a weekend Washington Post article that reported the independent Vermont senator has concerns about the way Joe Biden is running his presidential campaign--but that doesn't mean Sanders hasn't been sharing some concerns he has with the way Biden is running his presidential campaign.
Appearing on MSNBC for a Sunday interview with Ali Velshi, Sanders--who lost the party's nomination to Biden after what some critics called a coordinated Democratic effort to thwart the democratic socialist and his progressive agenda--said he believes Biden is in "an excellent position to win this election."
"But I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump," he told Velshi. "Trump is a disaster. I think most people know it. But we also have to give people a reason to vote for Joe Biden."
Sanders added that voters want to hear "a little bit more" from Biden about issues including raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, creating millions of jobs, combating the climate crisis, closing the gender pay gap, and expanding healthcare.
Sanders' comments came as leading Latinx Democrats and others also expressed concerns about Biden's campaign, warning that the candidate needed to improve his outreach and engagement with the nation's fastest-growing voter group. The "little bit more" theme voiced by Sanders was echoed in comments by former primary rival and current Biden supporter Julian Castro.
Responding to widespread frustration that Biden has not given a major speech on Latinx issues, Castro told the Post on Sunday that "the [Biden] campaign understands that this is a priority, but at the same time there needs to be a little bit more support shown."
"If we allow a narrative to take shape that somehow the issues of concern to this growing community are not prioritized, then we risk backsliding in the years to come," Castro added.
Filmmaker, activist, and prominent Sanders supporter Michael Moore--who predicted that disaffected white voters would lift Trump to victory in 2016--sounded the alarm on Biden's lack of Latinx outreach in a Friday tweet that showed the president with a four-point lead over Biden among Latinx voters in Florida in a recent NBC News/Marist poll.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Bernie Sanders on Sunday refuted the veracity of a weekend Washington Post article that reported the independent Vermont senator has concerns about the way Joe Biden is running his presidential campaign--but that doesn't mean Sanders hasn't been sharing some concerns he has with the way Biden is running his presidential campaign.
Appearing on MSNBC for a Sunday interview with Ali Velshi, Sanders--who lost the party's nomination to Biden after what some critics called a coordinated Democratic effort to thwart the democratic socialist and his progressive agenda--said he believes Biden is in "an excellent position to win this election."
"But I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump," he told Velshi. "Trump is a disaster. I think most people know it. But we also have to give people a reason to vote for Joe Biden."
Sanders added that voters want to hear "a little bit more" from Biden about issues including raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, creating millions of jobs, combating the climate crisis, closing the gender pay gap, and expanding healthcare.
Sanders' comments came as leading Latinx Democrats and others also expressed concerns about Biden's campaign, warning that the candidate needed to improve his outreach and engagement with the nation's fastest-growing voter group. The "little bit more" theme voiced by Sanders was echoed in comments by former primary rival and current Biden supporter Julian Castro.
Responding to widespread frustration that Biden has not given a major speech on Latinx issues, Castro told the Post on Sunday that "the [Biden] campaign understands that this is a priority, but at the same time there needs to be a little bit more support shown."
"If we allow a narrative to take shape that somehow the issues of concern to this growing community are not prioritized, then we risk backsliding in the years to come," Castro added.
Filmmaker, activist, and prominent Sanders supporter Michael Moore--who predicted that disaffected white voters would lift Trump to victory in 2016--sounded the alarm on Biden's lack of Latinx outreach in a Friday tweet that showed the president with a four-point lead over Biden among Latinx voters in Florida in a recent NBC News/Marist poll.
Bernie Sanders on Sunday refuted the veracity of a weekend Washington Post article that reported the independent Vermont senator has concerns about the way Joe Biden is running his presidential campaign--but that doesn't mean Sanders hasn't been sharing some concerns he has with the way Biden is running his presidential campaign.
Appearing on MSNBC for a Sunday interview with Ali Velshi, Sanders--who lost the party's nomination to Biden after what some critics called a coordinated Democratic effort to thwart the democratic socialist and his progressive agenda--said he believes Biden is in "an excellent position to win this election."
"But I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump," he told Velshi. "Trump is a disaster. I think most people know it. But we also have to give people a reason to vote for Joe Biden."
Sanders added that voters want to hear "a little bit more" from Biden about issues including raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, creating millions of jobs, combating the climate crisis, closing the gender pay gap, and expanding healthcare.
Sanders' comments came as leading Latinx Democrats and others also expressed concerns about Biden's campaign, warning that the candidate needed to improve his outreach and engagement with the nation's fastest-growing voter group. The "little bit more" theme voiced by Sanders was echoed in comments by former primary rival and current Biden supporter Julian Castro.
Responding to widespread frustration that Biden has not given a major speech on Latinx issues, Castro told the Post on Sunday that "the [Biden] campaign understands that this is a priority, but at the same time there needs to be a little bit more support shown."
"If we allow a narrative to take shape that somehow the issues of concern to this growing community are not prioritized, then we risk backsliding in the years to come," Castro added.
Filmmaker, activist, and prominent Sanders supporter Michael Moore--who predicted that disaffected white voters would lift Trump to victory in 2016--sounded the alarm on Biden's lack of Latinx outreach in a Friday tweet that showed the president with a four-point lead over Biden among Latinx voters in Florida in a recent NBC News/Marist poll.
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.