Sanders To Test The Political Waters In New Hampshire

[n2doc]

Sen. Bernie Sanders will travel to New Hampshire this weekend, following a path used by many presidential candidates over the past 25 years.

Sanders plans to make multiple trips to the state that holds the nation’s first presidential primary.

On Saturday, he will hold a Town Meeting at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. The college has become an important campaign stopping point for presidential candidates over the years.

Sanders says he’s definitely exploring the possibility of running for president in 2016 and he says he’s going to New Hampshire to see if his political message is popular outside of Vermont.

“It’s a way for me, you know I’ve never done this before obviously, to hear what people have to say. I have an agenda which people in Vermont are familiar with,” said Sanders. “But most people around the country are not familiar with and I want to hear people’s input: do they share my feelings. And this is an opportunity to do that in New Hampshire.”

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http://digital.vpr.net/post/sanders-test-political-waters-new-hampshire

[polichick]

1. Yes!!

[ladjf]

2. Good. He is an intelligent and energetic man and would be a good President. nt

[L0oniX]

3. Sanders/Warren or Warren/Sanders 2016

[polichick]

13. Wonder if they are good friends.

[frazzled]

4. He wouldn't have to prove anything in New Hampshire

Because, presumably running as an independent (slap me if I'm wrong on that), he wouldn't be participating in a primary. In other words: unlike other potential presidential candidates, he doesn't have to win anything in NH in order to run for the presidency.

He would, however, have to garner enough national polling support during the time everyone else is running campaigns and winning/losing primary races to qualify for participating in the presidential debates. So I guess this is the opening salvo in the polling wars.

I don't understand what Bernie is doing here. Unless he runs as a Democrat (and he's never been a Democrat, so I'm presuming he isn't going to go that route) he really doesn't get much of a voice. Unless he manages to garner enough support to participate in the national presidential debates, once the parties' candidates are chosen. And that's a double-edged sword: if he gets enough support to qualify to speak in those debates (his aim, presumably, being to move the conversation left), then he'd also be acting as a spoiler to the Democratic candidate.

As I said, I don't quite get it. I think he should run as a Democrat, to be perfectly honest.

[daleanime]

8. +1

[hootinholler]

11. THat he's going to NH is an indicator that he would run as a D

TO make a Presidential bid as an independent means building the infrastructure that the parties already have in place to get their candidates on the state ballots.

[frazzled]

12. Not at all necessarily

Going to NH means going to where the political press is. If you've ever worked NH during primary season, you'd know that this is where you go when you want coverage. I've worked pancake breakfasts at small-town NH VFW halls that have attracted all the network and cable news crews as well as Samantha Bee from the Daily Show. And I've worked the big town-hall meetings and rallies that occur later in the season. The press is huge.

I'll believe he's running as a Democrat when he formally changes his party affiliation.

[Jefferson23]

5. Please proceed Senator. K&R

[MineralMan]

6. Good for him! He does need to test his vision

outside of Vermont. We all know who he is, but we're not typical of voters around the country. Building some national familiarity and name recognition is going to be crucial if he's really thinking about running.

Good luck to him! We'll all learn from this.

[Victor_c3]

7. His presence would undoubtedly force whatever democratic candidate to the left

Which in turn would probably shift the republican candidates even more to the right in the primaries and force them to show how ridiculous their talking points to the public. The more people hear what republicans have to say and how they really feel, the more then tend to not vote for them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. EEK! A Socialist!! Not pragmatic!! No big Donors!!

[hootinholler]

10. You Go Bernie!

I think you will be overwhelmed when people hear your message and understand what you stand for.