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Bernie Makes A Statement On The Oregon Shooting:
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., issued the following statement after reports that at least 13 people were killed in a shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon:
"The American people are horrified by these never-ending mass shootings. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the innocent victims. As a nation, we must do everything we can to put an end to this awful epidemic of senseless slaughter.
"We need a comprehensive approach. We need sensible gun-control legislation which prevents guns from being used by people who should not have them. We must greatly expand and improve our mental health capabilities so individuals and families can get the psychological help then need when they need it. We also have to tone down the incredibly high level of gratuitous violence which permeates our media.
"The shouting at each other must end. The hard work of developing good policy must begin."
The Sanders Campaign Broadens Its Focus:
Mr. Sanders was initially dismissed by political insiders as a fringe candidate running only to push Hillary Rodham Clinton to the left. But he has now demonstrated that he has the resources and the supporters, whom he has only begun to tap financially, to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The great unknown is whether Mr. Sanders can turn his ideologically focused, frugally run movement into a muscular national campaign that can expand beyond a fiercely liberal base to attract the broader cross-section of Democrats required to beat Mrs. Clinton, and possibly Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in a diverse array of important states.
“Bernie has done very, very well without having to spend much money at all, relative to Hillary,” said David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist who was a top adviser on Mr. Obama’s campaigns. “His campaign recognizes, rightly, that you have to navigate through the early contests and then, to win on Super Tuesday, you have to spend a boatload. They’ve now proven they’re capable of doing that.”
…
Mr. Sanders, who has drawn support by electrifying crowds with his demands for single-payer health care, free tuition at public colleges and higher taxes on the rich, has tested the idea that a modern presidential candidate cannot win without relying on attack ads or internal polling. But he and his advisers, armed with more money than they expected, are now forming a battle plan beyond their immediate goals of winning Iowa and New Hampshire.
At Mr. Sanders’s headquarters here on Wednesday, his top advisers met with their lieutenants from Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina — three of the four states with the earliest nominating contests, all in February — to plan the redeployment of dozens of paid staff members thereafter. The workers will go to Super Tuesday states that Mr. Sanders views as winnable — including Colorado, Massachusetts and Minnesota — as well as to Southern states where Mrs. Clinton is expected to perform well, but where close contests could also yield delegates for Mr. Sanders.
"Count Me As A Radical" (audio file in link):
TA: We wanna talk to you about what you want to do, Bernie Sanders, how you want to do it, and then Presidential politics. Big picture, what you wanna do, you’re talking about a political revolution and a very big agenda of changes. Big picture, what do you want to do?
BS: Big picture is, we have got to end the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in this country. We have got to create millions of decent paying jobs because real unemployment in this country, Tom, is not 5.1 percent, it’s over ten percent when you include those people who have given up looking for work, and those people who are working part time. Youth unemployment for African American kids is 51 percent. We have more people in jail than any other country. So yes, count me as a radical. I want to invest in jobs and education for our young people rather than jails and incarceration. In my view, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision is an affront to democracy in this country. It has got to be overturned. We have gotta move toward public funding of elections so that we end up having people running for office who are looking out for the best interests of their constituents, not hustling money for millionaires and billionaires. What Pope Francis just told us last week and what everybody who listens to scientists knows to be true — Climate change is a huge, huge global crisis. In my view, the United States has got to lead the world, working with China, Russia, India, other countries, transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. In a competitive global economy it is totally insane that hundreds of thousands of young people can not afford to go to college. We need public colleges and universities to be tuition free. Not a radical idea, actually, it existed in this country 50 of 60 years ago, it exists in a number of other countries around the world. And to pay for these programs, which are expensive, what we have finally got to say is that when the top one tenth of one percent of the people in this country own almost as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent. When 58% of all new income today goes to the top one percent, yes, the wealthy and profitable large corporations will have to start paying their fair share of taxes.
A Low Bern-Rate:
Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton raced through millions of dollars over the summer as she expanded her campaign’s ground operations and launched a paid television campaign, spending around nine out of every 10 dollars she raised in the third quarter.
Clinton pulled in more than $28 million and spent an estimated $24.8 million, for a burn rate of about 88.7 percent, based on early numbers released by her campaign. As of Sept. 30, she still had more than $32 million on hand, campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin said in a tweet Thursday.
That gives her a small financial cushion over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who raised $26 million and had $26.5 million left in the bank heading into October. But Sanders only spent an estimated $11.6 million -- less than one out of every two dollars he raised -- showing how far he has been able to take his insurgent bid with a relatively lean operation.
“What it tells us is that Bernie has financial staying power,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “We have the financial wherewithal that will allow for a major campaign through Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and beyond in state-by-state, delegate-by-delegate contests for the Democratic Party nomination.”
This Is Impressive:
During the final hours of the fundraising quarter on Wednesday night, Sanders' team showed how social media buzz can help bolster fundraising. After announcing a $24 million haul in the early evening, his campaign used social media sites to appeal for more money before the midnight deadline.
The Clinton campaign's announcement that it had raised $28 million fanned the flames even more. Sanders' campaign said during a 60-second stretch at 10:03 p.m. EDT, after Clinton's campaign announced its numbers, it raised $4,500 online, the most it has raised in a single minute.
By the end of the night, Sanders had hauled in $2.07 million in a single day, including $502,000 during the final 2 1/2 hours.
People Power:
Aidan King took a break at the Fresh Tracks Farm Vineyard and Winery from picking St. Croix grapes, found a spot on the mountain with good cell service, wiped the purple juice off his hands, and turned his attention to Bernie Sanders.
Mr. King, 23, is the co-founder of one of the largest online organizations supporting the Democratic presidential candidate, a group that helped the Vermont senator raise more than $26 million in the third quarter fundraising period from 1.3 million donations.
The “Sanders for President” category on the Reddit online chat forum—known as a subreddit—was created by Mr. King and his buddy, David Fredrick of San Jose, Calif., in December of 2013. As its followers grew, Mr. King notified the then-nascent campaign about his volunteer work. On April 29, the night before Mr. Sanders announced his candidacy, Mr. King got a message from the Sanders camp: prepare to get busy.
The next day, Mr. Sanders posted a message in the subreddit announcing his presidential bid. Membership skyrocketed from 7,000 to 40,000 in a day. Mr. King was on his computer from 11 a.m. until 4 a.m. moderating comments and managing posts.
Bernie Wants Immigrants To Have Healthcare:
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders supports allowing some of the nation's undocumented immigrants to obtain health-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, he told Democratic lawmakers on Thursday.
The Vermont senator, who is running a competitive race against Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, made the comments during a 45-minute meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, according to attendees. The 26-member group is comprised entirely of House and Senate Democrats.
Aides later said that Sanders believes that in certain cases, undocumented immigrants should be able to purchase health insurance through the exchanges set up under Obamacare, using their own money. The senator has not advocated allowing the undocumented immigrants to receive federal subsidies, his aides said.
The meeting, held in the Longworth House Office Building, was Sanders's first formal meeting with his Latino colleagues to talk about his presidential campaign, and the exchange came the same morning that his campaign announced raising $26 million during the third quarter, nearly beating Clinton's fundraising haul.
Sanders Wins Another Poll:
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had the highest percentage for the Democratic nomination for president in the Watertown Democratic Town Committee’s annual straw poll at the Faire at the Square.
Approximately 200 votes were cast at the faire. Sanders won 42 percent while Hillary Clinton came in second with 34 percent. Even though Vice President Joe Biden has not declared his candidacy, he came in third with 18 percent.
PolitiFact...:
Sanders tweeted, "Unlike virtually every other campaign, we don't have a Super PAC which collects money from billionaires and corporations."
Out of the 21 presidential candidates, Sanders is one of five who doesn’t have an affiliated super PAC. Sanders’ qualifier -- "virtually" -- makes his claim more accurate.
If we narrow the count to major candidates, only Sanders and Trump can claim that, but both have two unaffiliated super PACs backing their candidacy. Trump has appeared at a fundraiser for one super PAC that’s also received donations from his in-laws. Sanders, meanwhile, has disassociated himself with these groups, through statements and legal action.
We rate Sanders’ claim Mostly True.
Bernie Backs Obama On Guns:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said on Thursday night that President Barack Obama was right to call for stronger gun safety laws in the wake of the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.
“I know him well enough to know that this was very personal for him,” Sanders told MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “That he is disgusted, he is angry, he is sick and tired — as we all are — of sending our condolences to the families of people who have been murdered in cold blood.”
The remarks echoed Obama’s statement earlier in the day that “our thoughts and prayers are not enough” following the attack, which was reportedly committed by 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer. Ten people were killed, including the purported gunman, and seven others wounded in the attack.
The senator, who is campaigning for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, called for the elimination of a loophole allowing unlicensed firearm vendors to sell guns at gun shows, and for the implementation of an “instant background check” at regular gun stores.
Ithica Is Sanders Country:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D—Vt.) has raised about three times as much money from Ithaca residents than any other presidential candidate to date, according to federal records.
Similarly, Sanders has also had about four times as many individual donors in the 14850 zip code than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is widely considered the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, the records say.
Sanders' campaign announced Wednesday that it has received $26 million since July — more than President Barack Obama "took in for the comparable period in 2007," according to The New York Times.
"Sanders was initially dismissed by political insiders as a fringe candidate running only to push Hillary Rodham Clinton to the left. But he has now demonstrated that he has the resources and the supporters, whom he has only begun to tap financially, to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination," says today's report from The Times' Patrick Healy.
Ithacans account for a very small portion of that $26 million. But insofar as local residents have felt compelled to donate to a presidential candidate, they've chosen Sanders: About 70 percent of all presidential campaign donations from within the city have gone to Sanders.