Sanders Urging Biden to Do More to Excite Progressives

By Sydney Ember, The New York Times

14 September 20

Bernie Sanders has been sounding more direct notes of caution to the Biden campaign, saying the centrist former vice president should work harder to appeal to young voters and Latinos.

hen Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race in early April, he vowed that the progressive movement he championed would carry on. And while at nearly every turn, he has encouraged his supporters to unite behind Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee, he and others in the party’s left wing have tried to nudge the former vice president more toward the policy goals his movement supports. 

In recent days, he has been sounding more direct notes of caution to the Biden campaign, urging in public and in private that the former vice president, a centrist, must do more to excite progressive voters. He has emphasized, in particular, that Mr. Biden should work harder to appeal to young voters and Latinos; both are groups that overwhelmingly supported Mr. Sanders in the primary but Mr. Biden has so far struggled to connect with as the nominee.

“Senator Sanders is confident that Joe Biden is in a very strong position to win this election, but nevertheless feels there are areas the campaign can continue to improve upon,’‘ Faiz Shakir, Mr. Sanders’s former campaign manager, said in a statement on Saturday, which was first reported by The Washington Post. “He has been in direct contact with the Biden team and has urged them to put more emphasis on how they will raise wages, create millions of good paying jobs, lower the cost of prescription drugs and expand health care coverage.”

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