I am Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for President of the United States - AMA

[LiberalArkie]

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/36j690/i_am_senator_bernie_sanders_democratic_candidate/



Hi Reddit. I'm Senator Bernie Sanders. I'll start answering questions at 4 p.m. ET. Please join our campaign for president at BernieSanders.com/Reddit.
Before we begin, let me also thank the grassroots Reddit organizers over at /r/SandersforPresident for all of their support. Great work.
Verification: https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/600750773723496448


Goto the link at the top.

[arcane1]

1. One of these days, I hope to catch one of these!

Thanks for posting!!

[BlindTiresias]

2. Reddit AMA

Smart bunch of people he is with, and he is knocking out of the park with his replies too.

[djean111]

3. So far there are 3,645 questions/comments, which my grandson said is awesome.

And it has 7,585 points, of which 94% are ups. Which I think is like our reccing, only they can rec down, too.

Evidently he reads them and then someone named Victoria types the answers.

[lovemydog]

17. Yes, that's a lot for reddit!

Glad to see it!

[AtomicKitten]

4. Reading it now. Thanks.

[Autumn]

5. Edited. I see it's been posted in the Bernie group

Thanks and rec

[cali]

6. pretty damn impressive. he's confident enough

to wade into something like that and there's no safety net. Quite the contrast.

[djean111]

7. Something interesting (to me) - someone asked kind of a jeering question - I looked to see

how long the poster had been at Reddit - and they were gone. Looks like Reddit has a MIRT team or else this was a hit and run, or perhaps a hit and delete membership.

[hootinholler]

22. When you live your convictions boldly

There is no fear of any question. Be polite. Demand the other be polite as well. State your positions clearly. People are going to like it or not, but they will admit and admire that it is consistent.

[KingCharlemagne]

26. Makes one wonder what he might accomplish, if only he had 200+ paid

advisors, eh? On second thought . . .

[libdem4life]

8. A Politician willing to "go on the record of his past record"...speaking and in writing without

talking points, teleprompter, and retakes. He's either an idiot, or he's a fearless truthteller, and I'll go for the latter. Few, if any, can pass That Test. Way to go, Bernie.

[JaneyVee]

9. Good for Bernie. Lord knows he needs more name recognition.

[cali]

11. and I know you're thrilled that he's getting it!

and not just on reddit, liberal radio- which reaches 20 million, facebook and all over the web. And he answers questions from real people, not pre-screened supporters. What a concept, eh?

[NYC_SKP]

14. JaneeVee's cool, and I'm making nice with people so that the are with us when we need 'em.

In the general election, we don't want anyone to be so turned off that they forget to vote for Sanders.

[KingCharlemagne]

27. 1/2 the people who support Hillary now will bolt to the Republicans after

Sanders is nominated. My prediction. "Party loyalty" to them is a slogan, a cudgel they use to beat their opponents around the head but not one they actually feel obligated to, you know, honor. Will be compensated by the fact that Sanders will have long enough coat tails to bring enough new voters to the polls to more than make up for the defections. Another prediction. You read them here first.

[djean111]

12. Well, Bernie had 6,832 comments/questions, and 8,112 points, (recs), 94% good.

Bernie did an AMA a year ago, and had 1,670 comments/questions, and 3080 recs, 89% good (upvoted).
The questions were very detailed, good questions. And a probably a good resource.
So I think he has some name recognition there.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. I posted a couple questions

and will likely write a news story. Some of the answers are laying quite a bit of policy ground already.

[NYC_SKP]

13. Wow! "I've never vote in 11 years, but I'm voting for this guy."

Times 100 million, I think Bernie's got a shot at this, and I mean it!

[840high]

19. x a zillion - gives me such hope.

[hootinholler]

21. I have no doubt

And that is why he will win. The Democratic nomination is the tough race, though.

[Jefferson23]

15. THAT is exciting. K&R

[woo me with science]

20. It is, isn't it!

You can feel the excitement in the thread from voters who just arent USED to this level of respect from a politician!

[L0oniX]

16. Night and day difference between him and Hillary. I'll bet Hillary dreads an open debate with him.

In fact I'll bet she won't debate him cause she knows she'll look and sound bad ...cause she is bad ...bad for our countries workers ...bad for the common US Citizen.

[woo me with science]

18. OUTSTANDING. People are so HUNGRY for this!

Last edited Tue May 19, 2015, 08:03 PM - Edit history (1)

He is SUCH a breath of fresh air. Notice the almost stunned comments all the way through by people who have become so used to corporate-scripted, avoidant non-responses by corporate candidates that they are shocked by this level of honesty and forthrightness. Bernie is re-teaching this nation what we have a RIGHT to expect from political candidates:

[–]Rooonaldooo99 105 points 2 hours ago
Answering questions this deep down? Shit, if I'm honest I wouldn't do that. With every answer I like this guy even more. And on top of that he wants to cut student debt? Sign me up.


[–]SmeeMaiMen 464 points 2 hours ago
Wow, I respect the fact that you can answer the hardball questions. This says a lot about your character


[–]ViperRT10Matt 2814 points 2 hours ago
Whelp, you actually answered the non-PR-friendly question. This puts you way ahead of most of the AMAs around here.


[–]the_ak 822 points 2 hours ago
As a non American, please America elect this guy president. Please.

And this exchange. I actually got tearful:

Senator Sanders,
As a young political science student it seems many of my peers are feeling increasingly disenfranchised from politics as a whole, particularly due to increasing corporate influences in politics. But realistically what can be achieved when these interest are so intertwined with current political campaigns and current issues? Is there a way to separate these interests within a political system that seems to depend on the very same interests?
Also is it seems many Americans have a negative knee-jerk reaction to social democracy ideals, even if they may be beneficial to our society. Do you think there is a way we can discuss these issues that can bring in more people to the conversation?
Thank you for taking the time to do this AMA senator.


[font size=3][font color=blue][–]bernie-sanders[S] 429 points 2 hours ago [/font color]
Excellent questions. You are right. People in general and young people in particular are increasingly alienated and disillusioned with the political process. The middle class is disappearing, the rich get richer, young people cannot afford college, the crisis of climate change is ignored, and Congress continues on its merry way paying attention to the needs of billionaires and multinational corporations. The truth is that we are in a very difficult political moment. But despair of giving up is just not an option. I would not be doing what I am doing if I did not believe that this country could provide health care to all as a right; that we could lead the world in transforming our energy system and dealing with climate change; that we could make education affordable for all. My strong belief is that it is imperative that we maintain our vision of what American can be, and that we fight hard to make that happen. DO NOT GIVE UP.[/font size]


[–]acScience 44 points 2 hours ago*
This response moved me. I've realized recently that I've become totally cynical and hopeless with the state of politics in this country. I haven't felt like my voice is being heard, even though my voice is matched by that of my under-35 year old peers.
It's just made me so apathetic, and I know that that's the most dangerous thing that can happen.
Thank you for reminding me that there are actually sane, rationally thinking, honest individuals out there that want to represent me. Now if we can just pull together and get you elected!!



[–]seelielikesskiing 19 points an hour ago
My strong belief is that it is imperative that we maintain our vision of what American can be, and that we fight hard to make that happen. DO NOT GIVE UP.

I think I just felt my heart start waving an American flag. Beautiful reminder to cynical old me.

[woo me with science]

23. K&R

[woo me with science]

24. Please distribute this to everyone you know.

This is what representative campaigning is supposed to look like.

Bernie is deprogramming this nation from the sick fake democracy we've been fed by corporate politicians.

This is the kind of honesty and straightforwardness candidates OWE us, instead of the slick, lying, manufactured campaign videos about nothing, and the scripted avoidance of the press and difficult questions.

[think]

25. Using the keyboard "find function" one can enter "bernie-sanders" to quickly get Bernie's responses

For those unfamiliar with the find function on your keyboard you can hold the control "CTRL" button and the "F" key to open a small tool that will search the page for the term entered in the search box.

All Senator Sander's responses are under his user handle "bernie-sanders" . Typing this in the search box will allow you to quickly find his answers to the questions.

[Enthusiast]

28. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

It was very well done by Bernie.

[RobertEarl]

29. When is Bernie gonna do this on DU? n/t