Bernie Sanders Just Received One of His Biggest Endorsements Yet

[WillyT]

Bernie Sanders Just Received One of His Biggest Endorsements Yet
Luke Brinker - PolicyMic/YahooNews
December 8, 2015


Bernie Sanders Just Received One of His Biggest Endorsements Yet

The WFP's Sanders endorsement comes after the group tried to recruit Elizabeth Warren to run.

<snip>

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won the backing Tuesday of the Working Families Party, a nationwide coalition of labor and progressive groups, delivering the senator one of his biggest endorsements to date in his quest to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

The endorsement followed a national membership vote, in which 87.4% backed Sanders, compared to 11.5% for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 1.1% for former Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.). Following the WFP's membership vote, the group's national advisory board voted to back Sanders' bid.

"Sanders is telling the truth about what's going in our society in a way that hardly any national politician has done in a very long time," WFP National Director Dan Cantor told Mic in a phone interview. "If you believe that the core issue of our time is inequality in all of its forms — racial, economic, environmental, social, gender inequality — then Sanders is a fairly obvious choice to drive this discussion forward."

Established in New York in 1998, the WFP has since established chapters in 10 states. Organizations allied with the WFP give the group a national supporter base in the "hundreds of thousands," its website states.

The endorsement: The Sanders endorsement marks the first time the WFP has endorsed a national campaign, although the group joined the effort this winter to draft progressive favorite Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) into the 2016 race. The effort to draft Warren closed shop in June, after she repeatedly disavowed interest in a White House bid. Sanders has since won over many of Warren's erstwhile backers with his summons to a "political revolution" against income inequality and what he routinely calls "the billionaire class."

"The Sanders campaign will be the first to tell you that they are both the recipient and the creator of this energetic moment. This goes back to Occupy <Wall Street> and the emergence of Elizabeth Warren," Cantor said, also noting the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. "There are social movements that weren't around even four of five years ago, so the energy one is feeling around the Sanders campaign is an expression of that. It's an amazingly youthful crowd that's going to these <Sanders campaign> events. That's tremendously promising and invigorating."

<snip>

More: http://news.yahoo.com/bernie-sanders-just-received-one-202819368.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Great!

[Snotcicles]

2. Come on Liz baby, your next. nt

[WillyT]

3. Word... Soon, It Will Be Time To Step Into The Vortex...

[SecularMotion]

4. "The endorsement of Mr. Sanders also proved divisive within the Working Families Party leadership"

But the endorsement of Mr. Sanders also proved divisive within the Working Families Party leadership, which includes a number of influential union leaders who support Mrs. Clinton. Mike McGuire, the political director of the Mason Tenders District Council of Greater New York and a Clinton supporter, said in an interview that he believed party officials had “rigged the system to make sure it went for Bernie.”

The party is also closely associated with top New York Democrats, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, who have already given their support to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. A spokesman for Mr. de Blasio said the mayor had no role in the Working Families Party’s endorsement.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/12/08/working-families-party-endorses-bernie-sanders-for-president/

[WillyT]

5. Yep... They're Not Used To Unions Honoring Their Member's Wishes...

Link: http://observer.com/2015/12/top-working-families-party-pol-is-not-happy-they-just-backed-bernie-sanders/

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Sounds like a typical

HRH SUPPORTER.

<snip>
The endorsement followed a national membership vote, in which 87.4% backed Sanders, compared to 11.5% for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 1.1% for former Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md.). Following the WFP's membership vote, the group's national advisory board voted to back Sanders' bid.<snip>

As usual, Bernie won. With a NATIONAL membership vote. Unlike Union leaders who ignore the will of their Union members.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[Thespian2]

7. K & R!!!

As more people understand his long history of progressive politics, Bernie's support grows and grows...

[tblue37]

8. THIS!:

. . . a national membership vote, in which 87.4% backed Sanders <emphasis added>.

[Enthusiast]

9. Kicked and recommended!

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WillyT.

[MineralMan]

11. Nice use of a photo to distract from the actual

story! Bravo! Heck, I thought that Warren had endorsed Sanders for a second.

[KittyWampus]

12. it's the photo that went w/the story. I checked.

[MineralMan]

13. Still...

It sets up a false meme. It doesn't matter, really, but it's deceptive.

Note: I changed the title of my reply in this thread to reflect that.

[libdem4life]

14. Seems the major Union Bosses have become Management. We need a new group of real

leaders of the workers. In the old days, they were our voices and represented worker's rights and wrongs.

Sometimes "follow the money" isn't the right thing to do.

Had not heard of the Working Families Party, but getting national press ought to boost their members.