The left finally got a presidential candidate — but not the one they really wanted.
Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders, one of the most consistent and tenacious liberals in Congress, on Thursday formally announced his bid to be the Democrats’ 2016 presidential nominee, declaring on social media: “America needs a political revolution.”
He rolled out an agenda that the party’s liberal base has been clamoring for: free college tuition, green energy policies to combat climate change, a crackdown on Wall Street banks and a full-throated attack on income inequality.
He added a fierce liberal voice to the race and gave Hillary Rodham Clinton her first challenger for the Democratic nomination.
Mr. Sanders said he was running to wrest control of the economy and the political system from millionaires and billionaires who have profited as most Americans have watched their earnings erode. He called it the “most serious crisis [at] any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s.”
“For most Americans, their reality is that they are working longer hours for lower wages,” he said at a press conference outside the Capitol.
He said an economy that benefits only the wealthiest families was “not only immoral, it’s not only wrong, it is unsustainable. It can’t continue.”
“We can’t continue having a nation in which we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major nation on earth at the same [time] we are seeing a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “The major issue is how do we create an economy that works for all of our people rather than a small number of billionaires.”
And yet Mr. Sanders’ grand entrance received only polite applause from liberal activists, who have been waging a campaign to draft their champion, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as a liberal alternative to Mrs. Clinton.
Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, welcomed Mr. Sanders to the presidential race and said the group’s members have “cheered on Sen. Sanders for years.”
But she wasn’t giving up on Mrs. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat whose anti-Wall Street crusade has made her the darling of the left.
“The Democratic Party is made stronger by each additional voice who enters the race and commits to being a strong advocate for everyday — hardworking Americans and not just the wealthy few,” she said. “That’s why we and our allies continue to call on Sen. Elizabeth Warren to also bring her tireless advocacy for middle-class and working Americans to the race. Our country will be stronger if she runs.”
Mrs. Warren has repeatedly said she is not running.
Nevertheless, Mr. Sanders will test Mrs. Clinton’s allegiance to the left’s agenda and her efforts to woo the party’s liberal base.
Mrs. Clinton, the hands down favorite to win the nomination, also could benefit from having Mr. Sanders to spar with in primary contests and toughen up her campaign for a possible general election bout.
“I agree with Bernie. Focus must be on helping America’s middle class. GOP would hold them back. I welcome him to the race,” Mrs. Clinton tweeted in response to Mr. Sanders’ entree into the race.
Mr. Sanders, a self-described socialist who is the longest-serving independent in Congress, gave no indication that he planned to switch party affiliation to Democrat as he seeks the party’s nomination for president.
As he left the Capitol Hill press conference, a reporter asked him what was his party affiliation, and he responded: “I’m an independent.”
The Democratic National Committee’s bylaws do not require a candidate to register as a member of the party to seek the nomination.
Mr. Sanders would only have to meet criteria such as establishing support as a Democratic candidate and being deemed “a bona fide Democrat whose record of public service, accomplishment, public writings and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrates that he or she is faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States,” according to party rules.
Furthermore, his home state of Vermont does not have party registration — similar to Virginia and other states.
He remains a long shot for the nomination, polling in single digits in national polls while Mrs. Clinton usually tops 60 percent.
He fares best in New Hampshire, the first primary state, which is a neighbor of Vermont, garnering 11 percent. He still finishes far behind Mrs. Warren at 23 percent and Mrs. Clinton at 51 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics average of recent polls.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb also are considering joining the Democratic race.
Mr. Sanders said he would challenge Mrs. Clinton on the issues. He then noted that he voted against the Iraq War when Mrs. Clinton voted for it, and his objections to the war — including warning that it would destabilize the region, ultimately were proven correct, he said.
He said it was “fair game” to confront Mrs. Clinton about foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation while she served as secretary of state, which has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest that have dogged the Clinton campaign.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.