Jane Sanders: Bernie’s electability in Tennessee shouldn’t be questioned – Tennessean
If Democratic voters in Tennessee want the whole loaf, Jane Sanders says their vote should go to her husband, Sen. Bernie Sanders, for the Democrat presidential nominee on Super Tuesday.
Jane Sanders, in Nashville Wednesday, said her husband’s electability in Tennessee next week should not be questioned with his record in Iowa, New Hampshire and “crushing victory” in Nevada.
“Moderate Democrats are offering half the loaf,” Jane Sanders told The Tennessean. “They are coming up with ideas that help a bit, but don’t really get to the root causes of the issues.”
Tennessee voters, she said, will vote for Sanders if they want a candidate who will represent the working class, compared to other Democratic candidates who are accepting money from billionaires or running their own campaign from their own fortunes.
Jane Sanders’ visit Wednesday is among several others from presidential campaigns focusing their attention on Tennessee this week. Her visit the first time any high-profile surrogate for Sanders’ campaign had come to the state this cycle.
Sanders, who this week has purchased his first television ad in the state, employs five staffers in Tennessee, but has had an active grassroots volunteer effort since he launched his 2020 bid last February.
Speaking at a brief roundtable at Bean Bag Coffee and Tea Shop in Antioch, Jane Sanders brought up issues that, while not be unique to Nashville, are prime issues the city is facing.
Asking if Nashville has experienced gentrification, the room gave a knowing laugh. Talking about if the city’s property taxes are going toward public education, someone shouted out “barely.”
The negative side of fast growth in Music City has reached a tipping point for some residents. They say they are left out of the boom, and are increasingly weary of traffic, careless tourists, constant construction and strains on public services.
The growing scarcity of affordable housing makes it hard for many to support spending $31 million a year on business incentives — even though the new tax revenue delivers many more times that in profits.
That message from Nashville residents, Sanders said, is the one her husband is campaigning on.
“He feels strongly that the well to-do and the very well off are not paying their fair share … and taxpayers are subsidizing them,” she told The Tennessean. “His whole approach is fairness, fairness, fairness.”
It’s why Council member Delishia Porterfield, who hosted the conversation Wednesday afternoon, said she is endorsing Sanders. Porterfield, along with Council members Zulfat Suara and Emily Benedict, is serving as the campaign’s Tennessee co-chairs.
“When I think about Nashville and I think about the plight of working families and how we’re fighting for more equity in the state, Sen. Sanders has a platform that works closely with us,” she told The Tennessean.
From criminal justice reform, to making education affordable and having companies take on more costs, Sanders should make sense for local voters, Porterfield said.
Though Sanders is the national front runner, if he can win among Tennessee Democrats, far more moderate than in others across the country, remains unknown with the countdown to the crowded presidential primary less than a week away.
And so far this year, the more moderate candidates have put a greater emphasis on Tennessee, where Sanders himself has not campaigned.
Hillary Clinton defeated Sanders by a 2-to-1 margin in the state’s 2016 primary, 66 percent to 32 percent.
Antioch resident Therese Brumfield-Gooch was among those who voted for Clinton in the last election. But last week during early voting, she voted for Sanders.
“We don’t need a manager, we need a leader,” she told The Tennessean. “We need somebody that’s going to come in completely different and really take the bull by the horns and try something different.”
However Brumfield-Gooch said she is concerned that Sanders could turn away voters who don’t necessarily understand what it means to be a democratic socialist.
“They’re caught up in the title. They think it has a negative connotation but they can’t answer why,” she said.
Along with making that clear, she said Sanders could benefit from “repackaging” his message.
“I think it’s like drinking water out of a fire hose. They’re getting so much from him and are asking if he can do it all. But I think laying out his priorities with three things he wants to focus on will help.”
“Even if he only gets one or two things done. I’m good.”
Jane Sanders also met with small business leaders, local faith, union and community leaders before a Bernie rally at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church Wednesday night.
Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.
Published 9:42 PM EST Feb 26, 2020
