Wisconsin Berns: 'We’re Going to Shock Them All and Win This Nomination'

Winning seven out of eight most recent contests, says Sanders in victory speech, proves that 'momentum' of his campaign can no longer be ignored

by Jon Queally, staff writer

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/05/wisconsin-berns-were-going-shock-them-all-and-win-nomination

Less than an hour after polls closed in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, major news outlets called the night a victory for Bernie Sanders – the latest in a string of recent wins.

"If we can keep this up, we’re going to shock them all and win this nomination." —Bernie Sanders

As of this writing, with approximately 88% of precincts reporting, CNN reported Sanders winning with 56.2 percent of the vote compared to rival Hillary Clinton's 43.5 percent – a double-digit margin.

Out of the last eight contests, it is the seventh win for Sanders. With the final delegate distribution not yet settled in Wisconsin (which has a total of 86 delegates up for grabs), the win will certainly narrow Clinton's overall lead. According to AP's delegate tracker just after midnight, Clinton now leads Sanders 1,274 to 1,025 in pledged delegates.

"Wisconsin," declared the Sanders campaign in a tweet, "today you sent a strong message: when we stand together there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Thank you!"

And in an email sent by the campaign shortly after, Sanders added, "The corporate media and political establishment keep counting us out, but we keep winning states and doing so by large margins. If we can keep this up, we’re going to shock them all and win this nomination."

Subsequently, to a crowd of raucous supporters in Laramie, Wyoming—where voters head to the polls this Saturday—Sanders said that Tuesday's victory in delegate-rich Wisconsin proves the momentum of his campaign has the requisite energy to win crucial upcoming contest in New York on April 19 and those beyond.

"We have a path toward victory, a path to the White House,” Sanders told the crowd as he described the importance of "momentum" that comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

"Momentum is starting this campaign eleven months ago and the media determining that we were a 'fringe' candidacy. Momentum is starting the campaign 60 to 70 points behind Secretary Clinton," Sanders said. 

"Momentum is that within the last couple of weeks there have been national polls that have had us one point up or one point down. Momentum is that when you look at national polls or statewide polls, we are defeating Donald Trump by very significant numbers, and in almost every instance our margin over Trump is wider than Secretary Clinton’s."

Sanders noted his string of recent victories, thanked the voters of Wisconsin for their strong support, and put the nature of his grassroots campaign in the historical context of other movements that upended the status quo against great odds.

As he neared the end of his speech, Sanders turned his attention to New York—where he said Clinton was getting "nervous" over the battle for voters in that state—but also big western states including Oregon and California where said he had an "excellent" chance of winning.

After that, Sanders said, "I think a lot of these superdelegates are going to be looking around them and asking, 'Which candidate has the momentum? Which candidate is bring out huge numbers of people? But we will win in November, if there's a large voter turnout.' That's what always happens – Democrats and progressives win when there is a large voter turnout. Republicans win when people are demoralized. This campaign is giving energy and enthusiasm to millions of Americans."

He concluded, "I think the people of this country are tired of establishment of politics and establishment economics. I think the people of this country are ready for a political revolution."

White noise at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser

Hillary Clinton Accused Of Using Static Noise To Conceal Fundraising Speech

A local reporter says the campaign turned a noise machine out onto the street just before Clinton started speaking.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-static-noise-speech_us_570930dae4b0836057a16748

A local reporter in Denver says Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton used a “static noise machine” at a fundraising event to prevent the press and public from hearing her speech.

The fundraiser was Thursday at the residence of Colorado gov. John Hickenlooper. The event was private, but since it took place outside — in a tent in Hickenlooper’s yard — anyone nearby would be able to hear much of what was going on.

But apparently the Clinton campaign wanted to make sure that didn’t happen, according to CBS Denver reporter Stan Bush, who tweeted that the campaign pointed a white-noise machine at the street just before Hillary Clinton spoke.

Bush also provided short videos demonstrating what the acoustics sounded like before and after the static noise started. He wrote that the noise came from “a large speaker pointed out into the street.”

Press-free fundraisers were an issue of contention in the 2012 presidential elections, when transparency advocates took both then-Republican nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama to task for barring reporters from private events, or portions of events. The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Bernie Sanders campaign seized on the allegations in a Friday email to supporters, with the subject line “Wild story from Clinton fundraiser last night.”

Bernie Sanders Campaign

Though the Sanders campaign has also held fundraisers at private residences, all of them have been open to some press coverage, Sanders campaign spokesman Michael Briggs told The Huffington Post.

“There have been three fundraisers in Los Angeles at private homes,” Briggs said in an email. “Two were covered by The Hollywood Reporter and local press. One was covered by a pool reporter, John Wagner of The Washington Post. In that instance, as other pooled events, we distributed the unedited report to our entire press list.”

It’s unclear if any reporters were allowed into the Clinton event at Hickenlooper’s home, though The Denver Post noted that her campaign “would release no details to the press in advance.”

Disposable Life, Slavoj Zizek

The Lacanian Review

http://thelacanianreviews.com/index.html

Q and A: Should Bernie Sanders Run as an Independent?

Published On April 9, 2016 | By Bryan Koulouris | 2016 Elections

http://www.socialistalternative.org/2016/04/09/a-bernie-sanders-run-independent/

The billionaires that control the Democrats don’t want Bernie Sanders’ radical program to win. Last December, the Democratic National Committee tried to sabotage Bernie’s campaign by cutting off his access to vital voter information. The party establishment has mobilized the unelected super-delegates as the reserves should their chosen candidate run into further difficulties. The Democrats even tried to keep Sanders off the ballot in New Hampshire. Coin tosses were used to defeat him in Iowa. They used illegal campaigning in Massachusetts and looked the other way while Arizona engaged in blatant voter suppression.

The corporate media either ignores Sanders or calls him “unelectable” despite polling higher than Clinton against Trump. Yet, Bernie has won many states, and the enthusiasm for his message – mega-rallies across the country and tens of millions in donations from working people – shows the potential for a new party in this country that refuses to take a dime in corporate cash. The “unDemocratic” Party is what stands in our way.

Every vote for Bernie is a vote for a $15 an hour minimum wage, free college tuition, and a trillion-dollar jobs program paid for by taxes on the richest 1%. We want to be able to vote for Bernie and his program in November too! The Democratic Party is doing everything they can to block us, and we need to lay the groundwork now for Bernie to run as an independent if he loses the nomination. Socialist Alternative is campaigning for Bernie to run as an independent. Below are some common questions and answers from discussions we’ve had with activists in Bernie’s campaign.

Bernie said he won’t run as an independent. Why should we pressure him?

Despite being pro-union all his life, Bernie wasn’t for a $15 an hour minimum wage until recently. He responded to the movement and started putting this demand at the forefront of his campaign. Despite getting arrested fighting against racism and discrimination, Bernie wasn’t putting the struggles of people of color as a centerpiece of his campaign until Black Lives Matter activists got involved. Now, Bernie is speaking clearly about the need to fight institutional racism with an excellent program of demands.

We can affect Bernie! Let’s build a movement for him to run as an independent! As Bernie has said over and over, this campaign isn’t about him, it’s about us. It’s about what we’ve built. We should have a voice in how to continue the political revolution. Bernie should call a conference of all his supporters to urgently discuss the way forward, and Socialist Alternative would argue for this conference to be a step towards an independent campaign and a new party of the 99%.

I’m afraid of Trump’s racism and sexism. Wouldn’t Bernie split the vote and let Trump get into the White House?

This is what Bernie himself raises, and it is absolutely correct that Trump is a real threat to the rights of working people, women, and people of color. However, a Hillary candidacy and potential presidency would be a gift to Trump and the right-wing populist policies he represents. Hillary’s pro-corporate, warmonger policies would lead to more of the poverty and discontent that fuels Trump’s train of hate. To cut across Trump, we need protests that connect the fight against racism to a working-class program for jobs, education, housing, and healthcare. We also need candidates – like Bernie – that refuse to take a dime in corporate cash to show a real alternative to the establishment and the Wall Street domination of both parties.

Still, we realize that many people would be horrified at the prospect of an open bigot having a chance at sitting in the White House and would be unwilling to risk having a “spoiler” campaign. Bernie could still run an all-out campaign in more than 40 states and run no risk of playing the “spoiler.” Most states will be won by either a Democrat or Republican with a clear majority. Less than ten will be “swing states.” In those swing states, an independent Sanders campaign could organize people to build the political revolution and fight for the strongest possible vote in neighboring states that are already guaranteed to be won by either a Democrat or Republican. This is one tactic that could be discussed as an option by a conference that pulls together all Sanders supporters to talk about next steps for the political revolution.

Isn’t it too late for Bernie to get on the ballot as an independent?

No, it isn’t. Jill Stein is currently the strongest left candidate outside of the two major parties. Jill and Green Party activists are still fighting to get her on the ballot in all 50 states. Jill has been friendly towards Bernie supporters, and he could potentially run alongside her in a historic step forward for working-class politics.

We can do this! Let’s build for the strongest independent left challenge in 2016 and gather the strength to build a new party of the 99%!