A
short while ago, I gave a brief statement to the press about our campaign, and
where we go from here. I want to share some of those thoughts with you today,
and to ask you, once again, for your financial support.
If you
can do that now, please use this link to contribute $27:
Let me
start by saying that last night was not a good night for our campaign from a
delegate point of view.
We
lost the largest state of the night, Michigan, but we won in North Dakota and
currently lead in the state of Washington, the second largest state of the
evening.
But
what has become more and more apparent, with each passing primary, is that
while we are currently trailing in the delegate count, we are strongly winning
the debate about the future of our country.
In
poll after poll after poll, including exit polls, a strong majority of the
American people support our progressive agenda.
The
American people are deeply concerned about the grotesque levels of income and
wealth inequality in this country.
The
American people believe it is time for the wealthy and profitable corporations
to be paying their fair share.
The
American people understand that the federal minimum wage is a starvation wage
and that it is time to raise it to a living wage of $15 an hour – nothing less.
The
American people understand that if our kids are going to make it into the
middle class, we must make public colleges, universities and trade schools
tuition free.
The
American people understand that we cannot continue a cruel and dysfunctional
health care system where we are spending twice as much per capita as any other
nation, yet 87 million of our neighbors remain uninsured and underinsured.
And
that last point is becoming more and more obvious to the American people as we
face the challenge of the coronavirus. Imagine a pandemic where 87 million
people have a difficult time going to a doctor.
The
American people understand that climate change is an existential threat to our
planet and we need to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.
The
American people understand that we need to transform our broken and racist
criminal justice and immigration system that locks up four times as many people
as communist China and leaves millions here at home living in fear.
But it
is not just the ideological debate we are winning.
We are
winning the generational debate as well.
While
Joe Biden does well with older Americans, especially those over 65 years old,
our campaign continues to win a vast majority of younger people in this
country.
But
while we are winning — very clearly — the ideological debate, we are losing,
right now, the electability debate.
I
cannot tell you how many people I and our campaign have spoken to that tell me
that they like what our campaign stands for but they are going to vote for Joe
Biden because they believe he is the best candidate to beat Trump.
Needless
to say, I strongly disagree.
So, on
Sunday, I very much look forward to debating Joe Biden about these issues in
Arizona. This will be the first 1-on-1 debate of this campaign, and I am eager
for the American people to see which candidate — which agenda — is best positioned
to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American
history.
Thank
you for reading, but before you go, I must ask:
Thank
you again for everything you have done to support our campaign so far. Let’s go
forward together.
In
solidarity,
Bernie
Sanders
PO
BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402
