Today, Bernie Sanders showed himself once again a visionary for the United States of America. His concession speech was fullsome, personal and a powerful call to the nation, that we might pull together to defeat the most dangerous US president in modern history. Here is his inspiring speech, in full. Watch A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BERNIE (11:45AM ET) from Bernie_Sanders on www.twitch.tv
Sen. Bernie Sanders arrives for the Polk County Steak Fry in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 21, 2019. Daniel Acker / Bloomberg via Getty Images file
by Jane C. Timm & Allan Smith,
Bernie Sanders is ending his presidential campaign, he announced on Wednesday.
The Vermont independent senator’s 2020 bid started off strong. He narrowly missed first place in Iowa before picking up wins in New Hampshire and Nevada. All the while, his campaign continued to rake in millions in small-dollar donations and pack rallies full of supporters as he ascended to national front-runner status amid a crowded Democratic field.
Running as a progressive insurgent against Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders popularized ideas like “Medicare for All.” In 2020, however, a number of candidates backed similar policies, and he faced another prominent progressive in Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was the first to propose canceling some student debt in April.
Sanders followed with a more far-reaching plan of his own in June. Warren surged above Sanders in the fall, right up until he suffered a heart attack in October. That — along with the high-profile endorsement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., — revived his national polling numbers, and he remained in second place until Biden’s dismal fourth-place showing in Iowa, which propelled Sanders to front-runner status.
In his 2020 bid, the senator worked to broaden his support with Latino voters, and his coalition grew more diverse because of it. But despite years of outreach to increase his popularity among black voters, Sanders failed to earn their votes in large numbers. He also lost some of his white working-class supporters to Biden, a fracture of his coalition that cost him crucial votes in states like Michigan.
Sanders also stumbled with women voters, facing accusations of sexism in January after tensions between his and Warren’s campaigns spilled out into the open. The two progressives had largely remained allies while campaigning for the nomination, but a series of leaks to the media from aides and supporters of both senators accusing the other camp of dirty tricks and lying culminated in Warren saying in a statement that Sanders once told her he didn’t think a woman could win the presidency.
Sanders denied the claim, but he was hit with further criticism of his supporters — dubbed the “Bernie Bros” — after female union leaders in Nevada who spoke out against his candidacy said they were attacked by his fans.
His campaign officially stalled in South Carolina. Fueled by a crucial endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., Biden won the Palmetto State decisively. The moderate wing of the party then consolidated around him — Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg both dropped out of the race and endorsed him — and Biden won 10 of 14 states on Super Tuesday.
A week later, on March 10, Biden dominated in five of the six states that voted, including Michigan, one of Sanders’ biggest 2016 victories, to grow his delegate lead over the Vermont senator. Sanders’ substantial losses in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on March 17 put Biden on an insurmountable path to the Democratic nomination.
A day after those contests, and with the next voting night weeks away, Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir wrote that the candidate was “going to be having conversations with supporters to assess his campaign. In the immediate term, however, he is focused on the government response to the coronavirus outbreak and ensuring that we take care of working people and the most vulnerable.”
In a message to supporters, Shakir was more pointed.
“No sugarcoating it, last night did not go the way we wanted,” he said of the March 17 losses. “And while our campaign has won the battle of ideas, we are losing the battle over electability to Joe Biden.”
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent research center at the University of Washington, has released COVID-19 projections for all 50 states and for nations around the world.
The models predict “extent and timing of deaths and excess demand for hospital services due to COVID-19,” the institute says.
The model for California, as of April 7, predicted that COVID-19 deaths per day would peak on April 17. Projections assume “full social distancing” through May.
The pulldown box at the top of the graphic allows selection of other states and nations.
Positive coronavirus figures in Solano County are expected to rise but there’s no cause for alarm, as the numbers merely reflect an increase in testing.
Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County Health
So explained Dr. Bela Matyas with Solano Public Health Tuesday as he addressed the county’s Board of Supervisors.
In his update, Matyas talked about recently-released data that shows a breakdown of coronavirus cases by city. Those with 10 or more show exact figures, those with less do not. As of Tuesday, two related deaths have been reported.
“The coronavirus continues to spread but the impact on our hospitals have so far been substantial but not overwhelming,” he advised, adding that there are “lots of ICU beds, lots of ventilators.”
The stay at home order issued in March appears to be working, he continued, but more must be done.
“We have to stay the course if we want this approach to work. We have to do this for as long as necessary,” he said. “The most critical of all this is protecting the most vulnerable.”
The latter has been defined as the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions.
Matyas guesstimated the virus peaking around late April to mid May.
Though the worst is expected to be over at that time, risks will remain and the virus will still exist.
“It may be substantially longer before we can consider us through the outbreak and see it behind us,” he clarified.
Drive-through coronavirus testing is expected to begin today at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo. First responders and healthcare workers only will be eligible for the test. Any remaining kits will be made available at a later date to other essential workers.
In other matters, an emergency grant from the state slated to go towards aiding homeless clients regarding COVID-19 prevention and containment efforts caused tension amongst the board.
At issue was the COVID-19 Emergency Homeless grant award agreement, which offered $206,370 from the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.
The board needed to approve receipt of the funding, which would then “be provided as a non-county contribution to Community Action Partnership (CAP) Solano Joint Powers Authority,” slated to coordinate emergency COVID-19 efforts (a 4/5 vote required). The board’s approval would also authorize the county administrator to execute the agreement and subsequent agreements/amendments with the grantor to facilitate acceptance of the award.
Supervisor Skip Thomson adamantly refused to support the funding being placed in the hands of CAP Solano.
“I don’t think they’ve done a good job, to be honest,” he said, adding that the money could be better spent on four portable wash/restroom stations at a cost of about $50,000 each.
It would address hygiene issues, he said, pointing out that, with restroom facilities at fast food eateries, coffee shops, parks and more now closed, homeless residents have made bushes their new lavatories. That, he said, will soon become a public health crisis.
The mobile units could be deployed to Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville and other locales on a rotating basis, Thomson said, and also be used in conjunction with the Office of Emergency Services in the case of a natural disaster or other emergency.
Supervisor Jim Spering said he needed more information before supporting the mobile stations, but agreed with Thomson regarding CAP Solano. What assurances are there that the money will be spent where it’s supposed to be, he asked.
Chairwoman Erin Hannigan said a delayed decision regarding the funding could hurt the homeless now, as help is needed now.
Following much discussion, a motion to go forward with Thomson’s mobile wash station failed 2-3, with Hannigan, Spering and John Vasques dissenting.
The original motion also failed, 1-4, with Monica Brown, Spering, Vasquez and Thomson all dissenting.
A third and final motion to, among other things, accept the agreement regarding the funding, have staff return with more information regarding the mobile wash stations and hold an emergency board meeting Tuesday passed unanimously.
You must be logged in to post a comment.