It’s official. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is Bernin’ up the campaign trail. In the wake of surpassing two million donations, toppling the already record breaking individual number of donations he’s received, Sen. Sanders also grabbed the most Twitter followers during the latest Republican debate on December 15 (ahem, cough!), according to Bustle.
To top it all off, the Sanders Campaign announced today it snagged the second of two major endorsements of the day that he can add to his official “win” column – Democracy for America and the Communications Workers of America, according to NPR. These are major wins for workers everywhere.
The DFA is a a major liberal advocacy group that boasts more than one million members, while the CWA is a major labor union boasting more than 700,000 members. Both organizations announced they #FeelTheBern with their endorsement of the good senator for the 2016 Presidential Primary.
Both also believe that he is the most qualified contender, and most likely to keep his promise to stand up for the groups’ constituents.
Did First Major Win Topple A Major Trend?
Snagging the CWA endorsement is particularly important for the senator, since it is one of the largest of the AFL-CIO unions.
That the CWA is throwing its support behind Sen. Sanders comes as no surprise to the union members, pundits – and maybe even former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) herself – thought it probable this union would support her instead, as others already have.
This endorsement is probably a surprise to Sanders supporters who believe there is an unfair media bias blacklisting Sanders in favor of Clinton because:
“CWA represents 700,000 Americans who work in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, news media, broadcast and cable television, education, health care and public service, law enforcement, manufacturing, and other fields.”
Yup. The CWA represents some of that mainstream media outlets and workers. The supporters who make the argument that because Clinton is the favorite, she gets all the media attention, have cited some legitimate evidence to back up their claims.
Nevertheless, the CWA joins the ranks of a number of other local and national unions already supporting Sen. Sanders including National Nurses United, American Postal Workers Union, National Union of Healthcare Workers, and even the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
Don’t forget about the more than 1,000 local union leaders backing Sen. Sanders, as well as the executive board of the South Carolina AFL-CIO the Vermont-NEA, too.
Does Second Major Win Burn Clinton?
The DFA stated that a “record breaking 87.9” percent of the 271,527 members who voted chose Sen. Sanders, while the former Secretary received only 10 percent, Martin O’Malley received 1 percent – and less than 1 percent voted for the DFA to endorse no one.
Why are these numbers so important? Because the DFA requires that any candidate looking for the group’s endorsement must receive at least 75 percent. Sen. Sanders is the only candidate to ever make it past that number since the group began in 2004, according to Politico.
What’s also unique about the DFA endorsement is that the group’s leader, Howard Dean (D-Vt.), supports Sec. Clinton, not Sen. Sanders. Yes, it’s true. But, as Sen. Sanders stated in a press release about the endorsement:
“I also want to congratulate DFA for its principled support for grassroots democracy and for its internal democratic process … The leadership of DFA allowed a fair and free vote to take place which we won. That’s pretty impressive.”
This particular endorsement comes with campaign support, and on-the-ground support in early primary states like Iowa, Vermont, and New Hampshire, among others.
The DFA and CWA join hundreds of other local and national labor unions, progressive, liberal, and democratic groups, and join thousands of influential A-list Hollywood stars, cultural leaders, and, of course, average citizens.
Both Are Wins For Workers
Why are the DFA and CWA endorsements so important for Sen. Sanders? Because – like it or not – it proves that his presidential campaign is gaining more traction with the voters than the former Secretary of State would like to admit.
Sec. Clinton has indeed garnered a ton of support of some major unions herself – even though some unions’ constituents would rather support Sen. Sanders, like the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
There’s no doubt Sen. Sanders is gaining support, or that Clinton is way ahead in the polls, but considering President Obama was this far behind Clinton in 2007 at this time, I for one am not giving up hope that Sec. Sanders will pull off the primaries in February.
Featured Image via Bill Mhoon by Democracy for America via Facebook.
