Bernie Sanders builds progressive alliances with Jayapal endorsement
The senator is aiming to build a more diverse support network, having previously faced criticism that his 2016 campaign was too male and too white.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSRep. Pramila Jayapal. D-Wash, holds a copy of the U.S. Constitution as she votes to approve the second article of impeachment against President Donald Trump during a House Judiciary Committee meeting on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2019(photo credit: PATRICK SEMANSKY/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Bernie Sanders has won the endorsement of another progressive woman of color in Congress, that of Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.Jayapal (D-Wash.) joins "Squad" members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in backing the Senator in his bid to become the Democratic nominee in this year's presidential race.Jayapal opted to back Sanders because "he has a clarity on policy prescriptions that goes right to the heart of what working people need," she told the Washington Post in a telephone interview."What I feel we need is a candidate who is entirely authentic about what's wrong and steadfast about it and can rally people to believe he can trust them," she said. "Bernie has that. I can feel Bernie beating Trump."Jayapal's backing comes mere days after that of her co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). The caucus is the largest coalition of left-wing congress members, counting dozens of House members among its ranks and one senator: Sanders.The endorsements are a significant gain for Sanders and a blow to his rival Elizabeth Warren, who has been seeking to build support among female members and voters alike ahead of the first democratic caucuses in Iowa on February 3.The rivals are seeking to regain the trust of voters following a clash during last Tuesday's debate, in which Warren accused Sanders of telling her in a private conversation in 2018 that a woman could not beat Trump in the presidential election. Sanders denied the assertion, as CNN microphones capturing a heated exchange following the debate in which both candidates called each other liars.On Saturday, Sanders addressed a woman's march in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, calling on men to stand with women on issues that affect them. Echoing his campaign slogan, "Not me. Us," Sanders told the crowd: “We are in this together.”And at a town hall in Exeter, N.H., he thanked women for “helping lead the opposition to Trump at every level.”Jayapal's backing will be a boon to Sanders, as he seeks to deploy progressive women on his behalf.According to the Washington Post, Sanders' campaign officials plan to call on Ocasio-Cortez in Iowa, where they have formulated a busy schedule of events fronted by Sanders surrogates while the senator attends the Senate as a juror in the Trump impeachment trial.Ocasio-Cortez was an early backer of the Vermont senator, endorsing his campaign in October. She explained at the time that she'd opted to do so as she had been inspired by his slogan, which she interpreted as an ambition to build a movement that was greater than Sanders himself.“For me, it wasn’t even about helping the senator. It was a moment of clarity for me personally in saying, What role do I want to play?” Ocasio-Cortez told NBC. “And I want to be a part of a mass movement.“It was less about personalities and more about values, more about strategy, more about not just, Are we going to defeat Donald Trump? But how are we going to defeat him? And so that’s a process that I think every American needs to go through,” she told The Intercept, adding “I’m proud to be part of this movement.”Ilhan Omar has also been a prominent face on the Sanders campaign trail, introducing the senator at a number of rallies. She also gave her backing to Sanders in October, having previously tipped Warren as the candidate. Explaining her switch of allegiance, she told an audience in Washington that most Democrats belong to the "Warren wing" of the party, adding: “I mean it’s the one thing that everybody accuses us of."We think we’re the smartest in the room. We are very policy-oriented. We care about the details. And there is that aspect of Warren that is exciting. She has a plan for everything,” Omar said.“But there is, I think, an expansion of what universal values are, and how we should be thinking about what kind of revolutionary ideas this country needs in order for these structural changes that Warren talks about to be implemented. And that person who will carry that out is Bernie.”Jayapal told the Washington Post that she is to be named both health policy chair and Washington campaign chair for the campaign.Sanders endorsed Jayapal when she ran for Congress in 2016, boosting her fundraising efforts. Her campaign picked up $150,000 in public contributions in just 24 hours following the endorsement.
