Candidate Profile: Bernie Sanders
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with his wife Jane, speaks at his campaign event at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Vermont-raised Bernie Sanders is a seasoned politician who served as Mayor of Burlington from 1981 to 1989, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 2007 and the senator for Vermont since 2007. Sanders also ran for president in 2016 as a candidate for the Democratic Party.
Sanders studied at Brooklyn College but transferred to the University of Chicago, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1964. He held several jobs before venturing into politics, one of which included filmmaking. Sanders is married to political consultant Jane Sanders and has four children and seven grandchildren.
Sanders considers himself an independent but is running for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination as he did in 2016. Sanders runs a campaign in which his primary focus has been universal healthcare, a $15 per hour minimum wage and free public college.
Sanders’ socialist views on issues have made him a viable candidate, which even those outside his party have noticed.
“Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism,” Kayleigh McEnany, spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign, said in a statement.
An adviser for Sanders’ campaign said, “Most of the people in politics have wanted to be president since they were 16. They’ve built their lives around their ascension to higher office. That was never Bernie. He was himself for seven decades. And now he’s in a position that at no point in his life did he ever think he’d be in.”
“The enormous capability of a president to bring change is something that is kind of awesome, and that is enticing,” Sanders told GQ magazine.
To read more about Sanders and his stance on current issues and his campaign, click here.
“I’m running for president so that, when we are in the White House, the movement we build together can achieve economic, racial, social and environmental justice for all,” said Sanders on his website.
Having served alongside Barack Obama from 2009-2017, Biden hopes to further his White House claim as he runs for the presidency.
President Donald J. Trump is now the only remaining Republican candidate for the 2020 election.
Editor’s Note
Lee University and the Lee Clarion are in no way endorsing a particular candidate or political party. We strive to represent various perspectives in an objective manner.
