Why Bernie Sanders Is the Best Candidate in the Running for the White House

By Shaun King, New York Daily News

16 January 16

 

oday — on what happens to be Dr. King's birthday — I am proud to endorse the presidential candidate who I believe most embodies the values and ideals of the man who scared the hell out of the American government and was assassinated in 1968 after so bravely fighting against the Vietnam War and for income equality.

As a general rule, I don't trust many politicians, but I trust Bernie Sanders — the man walks the walk and talks the talk. He is, without a doubt, the most consistent politician in America and has been fighting for universal health care, access to education, equal pay, equal rights and the complete overhaul of how we do justice in this country for his entire career. I dig it.

Twelve months ago, I'll be honest with you, I could fit all I knew about Sanders into a few sentences. It went something like this:

“Hey Shaun, what do you know about Bernie Sanders?”

"The senator in Vermont? The disheveled dude? He's the real deal. Not in it for the money. Heard him on TV a few times kicking knowledge about income inequality and he was the truth. I keep hearing that he's a socialist."

That's it. That's pretty much everything I knew about the man.

I didn't know he was born and raised in Brooklyn.

I didn't know anything about his volunteer work in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement.

I didn't know he was one of only two current senators to attend the March on Washington.

I didn't know anything about his eight years as mayor of Burlington.

I didn't know that he went against the Democratic establishment and endorsed Jesse Jackson for President in 1984 and 1988.

Jackson actually won Vermont in ’88 with Bernie's help.

I didn't know he is the longest serving Independent congressman in American history.

I didn't know he bravely voted against the Defense of Marriage Act when such a thing was actually controversial.

I didn't know he voted against both wars in Iraq.

Now I know.

But even more than who he has been over the past few decades, it's who Sanders is right now, at this pivotal moment in our country, that hooked me. It wasn't love at first sight, either.

When women from the Black Lives Matter movement interrupted his campaign speeches and demanded he not only acknowledge state violence against black bodies, but that he also needed to have strong policy positions on the issue, I was all for it. At the time, thousands of liberal white folks were irritated to no end when they saw the demonstration.

Looking back on it, I truly think it was the most important moment of his campaign. He took the brave interruption to heart. Instead of simply saying "Black Lives Matter" here and there, he released the most comprehensive, thorough, specific plan of any candidate on either side to address police brutality, economic inequality, voting rights, education, health care, gun safety and more.

It shocked me, actually. I had grown used to politicians shrugging off the pain and pleas of black folks and just assuming we'd vote for them anyway. Bernie didn't do anything like that.

Here hired Symone Sanders, a black woman who has fought for juvenile justice issues her whole life, not as his juvenile justice liaison, but as his national press secretary.

He hired one of the most respected immigration activists in the country, Erika Andiola, to not only connect with Latino voters, but to also shape his campaign on immigration issues.

Those two moves meant everything to me, but three separate moments hooked me once and for all, and got me feeling the Bern.

1. Police and political corruption in Chicago is a horrific mess. With both Hillary (and Obama) having deep ties to the city and its mayor, Rahm Emanuel, they have both been rather mum about it. Bernie, on the other hand, came out strong on how leaders at the highest level need to be held accountable there. This is what it's going to take to address police violence in America.


2. No presidential candidate has been as clear on what happened to Sandra Bland as Bernie. In addition to meeting with her mother, he came out in December and flat out said “Sandra Bland should not have died while in police custody. There's no doubt in my mind that she, like too many African-Americans who die in police custody, would be alive today if she were a white woman.” He gets it. Race is not a coincidental factor in police violence, but is a central, determining factor in much of the brutality. This must be acknowledged and Bernie has done so repeatedly.


3. Killer Mike endorsing and campaigning for Bernie actually really matters to me. Hip hop is my heart. I grew up as a hip hop DJ, my best friend is a popular rapper, and I'm a Killer Mike fan. I'm also a Jay-Z and Kanye fan as well, but Killer Mike is more like an activist who raps than a rapper who cares about the world on the side. He's not even the type of dude to endorse politicians.

Killer Mike may be the most anti-authority rapper in the game. When he endorsed Bernie with such passion and clarity, I listened and believed him.

To be clear, I'm in this to win and Bernie Sanders can win this race.

He is leading in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. That's not a fluke. He worked for that. People in those states believe in Bernie.

He is beating every single Republican candidate in head-to-head polls, often at margins even wider than Hillary, and he has the most enthusiastic base of any candidate on either side. He has the biggest crowds, the most love online AND the most support of any candidate from voters (of all races) under 45.

He's raising more small donations from regular people than anybody in the race. He hasn't been bought by corporate interests and never will be.

While he campaigns against for-profit prisons, Hillary Clinton received money from their lobbyists. She didn't stop taking their money until October.

We live in a time when we don't need marginal improvements, we need big changes. Bernie is the right candidate at the right time to bring them.

I believe in him, I believe in his team and I believe he can win.