Citing perilous times, Sanders says he’ll run for reelection
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced monday he will run for reelection this year, squelching speculation that the 82year-old progressive icon might retire at a time when the Democratic Party is anxious about the advancing age of its top leaders.
the decision by Sanders, who hails from a liberal stronghold, virtually guarantees that he will return to washington for a fourth Senate term. and his announcement comes at a critical moment for Democrats as the party navigates a growing divide over Israel’s war against hamas in gaza.
Sanders has criticized President Biden’s handling of the US relationship with Israel even as he’s supported much of Biden’s domestic agenda ahead of what could be a tough reelection fight for Biden against presumptive gOP nominee Donald trump.
Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he wants the war in gaza ended immediately, massive humanitarian aid to follow, and no more money sent to Israeli Prime minister Benjamin netanyahu.
at home, he said, the presidential election is between
Biden and trump, “and Donald trump is in my view the most dangerous president, has been the most dangerous president in american history.”
with the prospect of trump’s possible return to the white house, Sanders framed his bid to return to the Senate as being driven by concerns about the future of democracy in the nation. In an announcement video, he said that in many ways the 2024 election “is the most consequential election in our lifetimes.”
“will the United States continue to even function as a democracy, or will we move to an authoritarian form of government?” he said. aSSOCIatED PRESS
GOP official in Kentucky to receive JFK courage award
kentucky Republican Secretary of State michael adams, who worked to expand early voting in the Bluegrass State and has spoken out against election denialism in his own party, has been chosen to receive the John F. kennedy Profile in Courage award this year.
In its announcement monday, the JFk Library Foundation said adams was recognized “for expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition and death threats from election deniers.”
adams — whose signature policy goal is to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat — was at the forefront of a bipartisan effort with Democratic governor andy Beshear that led to the enactment of 2021 legislation allowing for three days of no-excuse, early in-person voting — including on a Saturday — before Election Day. adams hailed it as kentucky’s most significant election law update in more than a century. about one-fifth of the kentuckians who voted in last year’s statewide election did so during those three days of early, in-person voting, adams’s office said monday.
as his state’s chief election officer, adams has rejected claims about rigged elections, referring to election skeptics as “cranks and kooks.”
“there’s a lot of irresponsible chatter out there and demagoguery about us having hacked elections,” adams said in a 2022 interview. “It’s all hogwash.”
First elected in 2019, adams won reelection by a wide margin last year after dominating his party’s primary, which included a challenger who promoted debunked election claims.
adams, a graduate of harvard Law School, said monday that kennedy’s “admonition to put country before self still resonates today and rings true now more than ever.”
“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of election officials and poll workers across america who, inspired by his call, sacrifice to keep the american experiment in self-government alive,” he added.
In simple ways, Biden’s team reaches out to Wis. voters
mILwaUkEE — Bracelet beading for Joe Biden, timed to the new taylor Swift album, drew students last month on the University of wisconsin milwaukee campus. Bingo cracked open the elderly apartment blocks on the north side of town. and at mr. B’s, a soul club with weekly step classes, one campaign volunteer interrupted a show by mo’Betta, her niece’s band, to talk about the coming election.
Organizers for President Biden’s campaign in this swingiest of swing states deploy similar scripts at each event: take out your phone, download an app called Reach and use it to message friends and family — marking their responses in voter records as you go. there is a library of pro-Biden graphics, memes, and videos, created by the campaign, which they can share to their own social media feeds or text chains.
the bingo winner goes home with champagne glasses. a wine decanter recently went to the person who shared Biden’s message with seven people on their phone, more than anyone else.
this is what campaign organizing looks like now.
“It’s modest stuff. this isn’t tiffany’s, but you get the point, and they appreciated it,” said Sabrina Jordan, 63, a retired county budget analyst who has been hitting up the apartment blocks and mr. B’s as a volunteer.
no one looks at the 2024 presidential election and thinks this is a fired-up, ready-to-go race.the nation’s view of politics has soured and voters who dislike both Biden and presumptive gOP nominee Donald trump dominate. Both have held the job before and both have received bad reviews.
But the campaign team around the 81-year-old president still sees opportunity. they have opened more than 150 offices in nine states, including 46 in wisconsin, hiring more than 400 people to build an army of volunteers. Success or failure of the field operation will probably determine the outcome in a closely divided state like wisconsin, said Ben wikler, the state’s Democratic Party chair.
“are the social pressures making it unacceptable to not vote? Or is the social pressure to not participate for whatever reason?” he said in a statement. “Our goal is to make sure the wind is blowing in the direction of everyone jumping in.”
Deliberately, with little fanfare, the Biden campaign has been gathering people a dozen or so at a time, pulling in others for Zoom trainings, and telling them their iPhone can change the world. the president has been appearing at campaign training events as he travels to encourage more face-to-face contact, telling his staff “to look people in the eye, get their feelings.”
Desire to vote tumbles for Black Americans
Black americans’ desire to vote in this year’s election is down sharply compared with four years ago, according to a washington Post-Ipsos poll conducted last month.
that is a potentially troublesome sign for President Biden, whose ascent was powered by Black voters in 2020 and who has intensified efforts to court them before november’s election.
the poll of more than 1,300 Black adults finds that 62 percent of Black americans say they’re “absolutely certain to vote,” down from 74 percent in June 2020. the 12-percentagepoint drop outpaces the fourpoint drop among americans overall, from 72 percent to 68 percent.
the drop in turnout interest is sharpest among younger Black people, who have always been less enthusiastic about Biden and have now shifted to majority disapproval of his job performance.