First there was this in today’s Washington Post:
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a loyal soldier for Hillary Clinton since he conceded the Democratic presidential nomination in July, plans to push liberal legislation with like-minded senators with or without Clinton’s support if she is elected—and to aggressively oppose appointments that do not pass muster with the party’s left wing.
Sanders told the Post, “I will be vigorously in opposition, and I will make that very clear.” He said other senators, including Elizabeth Warren, are planning legislation to create a $15 federal minimum wage, free public college, and to aggressively address climate change. The whole article is worth reading.
Sanders said he would not stay silent if Clinton nominates the “same old, same old Wall Street guys” to regulatory positions that are important in enacting and overseeing the financial reforms that he supports.
Good! It’s absolutely crucial that Clinton nominate progressives to cabinet positions, as this New Republic piece explains. We won’t get progressive policies—broad social welfare policies that might actually improve the lives of, for example, the poor and middle class whites supporting Trump—unless this happens.
Then there’s this: Sanders isn’t just gearing up for the post-election season. He just took some offhand comments from Republican Paul Ryan—about the possibility of losing the majority in the Senate and Sanders ascending to a committee chairmanship—and raised $2.4 million off of them:
Nice majority you got there @SpeakerRyan. Be a shame if someone flipped it. #ThanksPaul pic.twitter.com/W6xpgn8rAS
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 24, 2016
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) turned a warning from Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) about a Senate committee into millions for Democratic Senate candidates, the senator’s campaign announced Monday.
Sanders’s campaign Twitter account announced the $2.4 million haul with a link to a page where donors can split sums among a slate of Democrats challenging House and Senate Republicans…
While the orange neofascist could still win, it’s highly unlikely, which means progressives should begin turning their attention to pushing their party as far toward democratic socialism as possible. You do that by electing Hillary Clinton, electing as many Democrats as possible, and then pressuring her to eschew the centrist/bankster/neocon stuff and to follow through on the making the historic Democratic Party platform (which includes pot legalization!) a reality.
Keep crushing it, Bernie.