Sanders gets ready to run for US presidency in 2020
US senator Bernie Sanders is laying the groundwork to launch a bigger presidential campaign than his first in 2016.
Advisers are predicting he will open the 2020 Democratic presidential primary season as a political powerhouse.
A final decision has not been made, but those closest to the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist suggest that neither age nor interest from a glut of fellow progressive presidential prospects would dissuade him from undertaking a second shot at the White House.
As Mr Sanders’ brain trust gathered for a retreat in Vermont over the weekend, some spoke openly about a 2020 presidential tilt as if it was almost a foregone conclusion.
He was defeated in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 by Hillary Clinton, who went on to lose to Donald Trump in the election.
Mr Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver said: “This time, he starts off as a front-runner, or one of the front-runners,” highlighting the senator’s proven ability to generate massive fundraising through smallsum donations, as well as his ready-made network of staff and volunteers.
Mr Weaver added: “It’ll be a much bigger campaign if he runs again, in terms of the size of the operation.”
Amid the enthusiasm, there were also signs of cracks in Mr Sanders’ political base. His loyalists are sizing up a prospective 2020 Democratic field likely to feature a collection of ambitious liberal leaders – and not the establishment-minded Hillary Clinton.
Instead, a new generation of outspoken Democrats such as Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey senator Cory Booker and California senator Kamala Harris are expected to seek the Democratic nomination.
All three have embraced Mr Sanders’ call for “Medicare for all” and a $15 (£11.74) an hour minimum wage, among other policy priorities he helped bring into the Democratic mainstream in the Trump era.
Acknowledging the stark differences between the 2016 and 2020 fields, Hollywood star Danny Glover, who campaigned alongside Mr Sanders in 2016, would not commit to a second Sanders candidacy when asked about it this weekend.