Bernie Sanders Joins 2020 Presidential Race

It is official now. Veteran Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will join the 2020 presidential race. For the immensely experienced politician, this will be a determined effort after four years.

This time, it will be different from the half-hearted bid of 2016 when the eventual Democratic nomination went to Hillary Clinton.

“We began the political revolution in the 2016 campaign, and now it's time to move that revolution forward,” Sanders told Vermont Public Radio Tuesday morning announcing his Presidential bid.

In 2020, Sanders will join the race as a serious contender. He and former Vice President Joe Biden are topping most polls and popular support is soaring compared to many Democratic hopefuls.

In 2016, Sanders was more like an underdog seeking the Democratic nomination. But Sanders surprised the political class by winning several key primaries against Hillary Clinton.

Sanders told Vermont Public Radio that will take on President Donald Trump. In the interview, Sanders reiterated that he would push for universal health coverage, seek cuts in student debt and fight for an increase in federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.

He also described President Trump as “an embarrassment to our country.”

Champion of climate change reform and minimum wage

Bernie Sanders is also noted for his championing of climate change reform and advocacy of $15 minimum wage for Amazon employees.

In the 2016 campaign, Sander’s prime plank was income equality and his barbs were directed against the “millionaires and billionaires” in the country. He elicited good support from young voters.

Earlier in February, Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer initiated a campaign seeking to curb the stock buybacks spree of big companies leveraging the Trump tax cut.

Where will he begin the campaign?

The veteran has not revealed his plans on the first campaign rally. But the initial phase is expected to be spent on seeking commitments from one million voters.

Advisers are positive that Sanders’ support base will see him through the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary that helped him majorly in the 2016 campaign.

If Sanders can manage a good showing in South Carolina, where African Americans have more say in the Democratic electorate, he can sail through fairly easy in big states such as California and Texas in the primaries.

Sanders’ Jewish parents have roots in Poland and Russia. He grew up in a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York. This graduate of the University of Chicago was active in the civil rights movement.

Elected mayor of Burlington in 1981, Sanders made it to the Congress in a decade as state’s sole representative and joined the Senate in 2006. He married Jane O’Meara, and the couple has four children.

Other senators in the fray looking for Democratic nomination are Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro.