Liberal Vermont Senator Sanders may seek U.S. presidency in 2016

WASHINGTON
Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:58pm EDT

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U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs
Chairman Senator Bernie Sanders leads a hearing on ''The State of VA
Health Care'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 9, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Jim Bourg

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(Reuters) - Bernie Sanders, one of the Senate's leading liberals, said
on Sunday he is thinking about running for U.S. president in 2016 as
either a Democrat or an independent in a move that could complicate
Hillary Clinton's path to the White House.

Sanders, an independent from
Vermont, could pose a challenge from the left to Clinton, widely seen as
the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. She has
not officially said she is a candidate but has acted very much like one.

"I
think anybody who speaks to the needs of the working class and the
middle class of this country and shows the courage to take on the
billionaire class, I think that candidate will do pretty well," Sanders
told the NBC program "Meet the Press," giving a possible preview of his
message in the 2016 campaign.

Sanders
is serving his second six-year term in the Senate. He has cultivated a
following among some American liberals, especially on economic issues
like the growing income disparity between rich and poor and corporate
greed. He is a self-described socialist who caucuses with Democrats in
the Senate.

"I am thinking about
running for president," Sanders said, adding that he must decide whether
to run as an independent or wade into the fight for the Democratic
nomination.

Sanders is testing the waters in Iowa, a state that holds an important early contest in the nomination process.

"One
of the reasons I'm going to Iowa is to get a sense of how people feel
about it," he said of his candidacy. "Look, the truth is (there is)
profound anger at both political parties, more and more people are
becoming independent. The negative is: how do you set up a 50-state
infrastructure as an independent?"

Sanders said he has "a lot of respect" for Clinton, but said, "The issue is not Hillary."

With
Clinton mindful of the need to appeal to moderates in any general
election battle against a Republican in 2016, a Sanders candidacy could
force her to the left in the Democratic primaries to head off his
challenge.

Conversely, if he runs
in the general election as an independent, he could siphon away from her
votes from liberals that she could need to beat any Republican nominee.

American
liberals have expressed disappointment with President Barack Obama on a
range of issues, most recently on his decision to postpone any
executive action on immigration even as Republican leaders in the House
of Representatives block action on a bipartisan Senate-passed plan.

Sanders
said that he has "a lot of disagreements" with Obama, adding: "I think
he has not tapped the anger and the frustration that the American people
feel on many, many issues."

(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Caren Bohan)

FILED UNDER:

U.S.

Politics

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Comments (2)

PCScipio wrote:

Bernie is more in synch than
Hillary with most Democrats I know. If he runs as an independent, the
Dems will likely lose to any but the most flawed GOP candidate.

Sep 14, 2014 1:16pm EDT -- Report as abuse

REnninga wrote:

Yes, OK, we already know that the
polar opposite extreme left, and extreme right will be well, loudly,
shrilly and divisively represented in the 2016 presidential election.

The question remains will we have ANY presidential candidate who is a
true centrist/moderate, for whom the 70% of the American electorate who
define themselves as somewhere between Center-left and Center-right, can
vote for on election day without holding their noses?

My money says “no”, we will not. Our election-dominating 2-party system
is guaranteeing that moderates will not be on the ballot in November.
Which is really a pity, because our Republic had such great potential
for 225 years, before the current harsh, hyper-partisan divisive
politics started our nation on its slow, painful circling of the drain.

Sep 14, 2014 1:52pm EDT -- Report as abuse

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