It seems as if many people are still “feeling the Bern” from 2016, with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign raising about $4 million within about 12 hours of the Vermont Independent announcing his presidential campaign.According to ABC News, Sanders’ campaign said that more than 330,000 people contributed to the campaign, with the average donation being around $27.
Sanders’ pleas for the people to join “an unprecedented, grassroots campaign” as he called it in his video announcement of his candidacy has gone over well, by all accounts.
His campaign looks similar to what it looked like back in 2016 with a progressive agenda calling for (among other things), Medicare for All, raising the minimum wage, making public higher education free, gender pay equity, criminal justice reform, and pushing for the wealthy to pay a fair share in taxes.
And so far he is outpacing all his other Democratic contenders in terms of first-day fundraising. Previously, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) had led the competition, raising $1.5 million online within 24 hours of announcing her campaign. Her campaign digital aide Mike Nellis said at the time that “these numbers reveal a campaign powered by the people — an energetic, nationwide movement eager to elect Senator Harris and support her vision of an America that actually works for the people.”
Despite a promising start, Sanders is still entering a robust Democratic field – ever progressive and more racially diverse – that even more candidates are expecting to join. Many Democrats in the race right now are supporting and pushing some of the policies he first demanded, such as Medicare for All and free college education.
So the question now remains, how does Sanders make himself stand out among the field of more-progressive Democrats? Only time will tell.
