Bernie Sanders joins the 2020 presidential race



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Born in Brooklyn, with a corresponding accent, Mr. Sanders ran unsuccessfully in the 1970s for the governor and senator of the United States in Vermont before being elected mayor of Burlington in 1981. For 16 years he was the only member of Congress before was elected to the Senate in 2006.

Mr. Sanders has been a modest legislator and pretty much a lone wolf in Washington, defending much of the same legislative agenda since his debut as mayor. He voted against the war in Iraq and in 2008 he was one of only two senators to vote against the 700 billion bailout of the big banks.

And although he is often perceived as a boring left foe, he is also known for his reach, working legislatively with Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Senator John McCain of the United States. Arizona, both Republicans. He streamlined the vote on the 1994 crime bill, which has now been criticized for some of its draconian provisions, stating that it favored the progressive parties, including the Violence Against Women Act. while strongly opposing measures that would lead to mass incarceration.

Sanders is the longest-serving independent MP in Congressional history, a source of pride but a source of dismay and frustration for some Democrats who are quick to suggest he does not care about party interests. Some Democrats blame her for losing Clinton in 2016, saying her anti-establishment rhetoric during her campaign ignited divisions within the party that proved insurmountable.

Sanders largely avoided exams in his 2016 presidential race, but he is likely to face more direct attacks from his opponents and more media attention during the weekend. A second candidacy for the White House.

Democratic strategists have said that one of the problems of the 2016 campaign that would almost certainly resurface is its record of gun control, given the intensity of the debate around gun violence. as a result of the recent mass shootings. In 2005, Sanders voted in favor of a law granting gun manufacturers and distributors immunity from most liability lawsuits. Mr. Sanders was also criticized for the support he received from N.R.A. when he went to Congress in 1990, partly because he had vowed not to support a bill that would provide for a waiting period for the sale of handguns.

Although his message is sound, Sanders said he was trying to address the weaknesses of his first presidential campaign. In recent months, he has made a series of trips to the South where, in 2016, he had collected less than 20% of the vote of blacks. At the Martin Luther King Jr. party this year, he made a two-day turnaround in South Carolina – where black voters represented about 60% of the Democratic primary vote in 2016 – which included speeches addressed to supporters. and to students, as well as a dialogue with lawmakers.

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