Supporters wave signs while waiting for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to speak at a New Year's Eve campaign event on December 31, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
Jan 01, 2020
Sen. Bernie Sanders has no plans to abandon his effective grassroots fundraising model and begin accepting billionaire cash if he makes it to the general election against President Donald Trump, the Vermont senator's campaign manager said Thursday.
"We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
--Faiz Shakir, Sanders campaign manager
"We will hold firm, we will not change a damn thing," Faiz Shakir told CNN's Ryan Nobles in an interview, hours after the Sanders campaign announced it raised $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Trump's reelection campaign, which has been fueled in part by super PACs and corporate money, said Thursday it brought in $46 million during the final three months of 2019.
"It is working, and the reason it's working is the working class believes in Bernie Sanders to defeat Donald Trump," said Shakir. "You've got somebody who has built a vast grassroots network, has been fighting for the working class, has built his credibility on it. We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
Shakir said the claim that Democrats must accept big donations from millionaires and billionaires in order to compete with Republicans--advanced most recently by Pete Buttigieg--is mistaken and damaging to progressive policy goals.
"If you have Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden telling you that they need to kowtow at the altar of the rich to fundraise in the general election, they're wrong," said Shakir. "We're upending those notions. You can fund this totally in a grassroots way."
Watch:
\u201cFULL INTERVIEW:\n@fshakir\u00a0CM for @BernieSanders breaks down their big fundraising haul and promises, should Sanders become the nominee the campaign will not "change a damn thing" when it comes to raising money for the general election.\u201d— Ryan Nobles (@Ryan Nobles) 1577982776
As Common Dreams reported Thursday, Sanders posted the largest single-quarter fundraising haul of any Democratic primary candidate so far, with an average donation of just over $18. The campaign said 99.9 percent of Sanders' donors have not maxed out, meaning they can contribute again.
In an email to supporters on Wednesday, Sanders expressed confidence that his small-dollar fundraising model can be scaled up to meet the demands of a long and expensive general election campaign.
"Against Trump, I believe we will have 50 million individual contributions, at least," Sanders wrote. "And at $27 a piece, that would be more than $1 billion. It's absolutely obscene and outrageous that an election would cost that much money, but our campaign has proven we will be able to raise more than enough money to win."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has no plans to abandon his effective grassroots fundraising model and begin accepting billionaire cash if he makes it to the general election against President Donald Trump, the Vermont senator's campaign manager said Thursday.
"We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
--Faiz Shakir, Sanders campaign manager
"We will hold firm, we will not change a damn thing," Faiz Shakir told CNN's Ryan Nobles in an interview, hours after the Sanders campaign announced it raised $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Trump's reelection campaign, which has been fueled in part by super PACs and corporate money, said Thursday it brought in $46 million during the final three months of 2019.
"It is working, and the reason it's working is the working class believes in Bernie Sanders to defeat Donald Trump," said Shakir. "You've got somebody who has built a vast grassroots network, has been fighting for the working class, has built his credibility on it. We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
Shakir said the claim that Democrats must accept big donations from millionaires and billionaires in order to compete with Republicans--advanced most recently by Pete Buttigieg--is mistaken and damaging to progressive policy goals.
"If you have Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden telling you that they need to kowtow at the altar of the rich to fundraise in the general election, they're wrong," said Shakir. "We're upending those notions. You can fund this totally in a grassroots way."
Watch:
\u201cFULL INTERVIEW:\n@fshakir\u00a0CM for @BernieSanders breaks down their big fundraising haul and promises, should Sanders become the nominee the campaign will not "change a damn thing" when it comes to raising money for the general election.\u201d— Ryan Nobles (@Ryan Nobles) 1577982776
As Common Dreams reported Thursday, Sanders posted the largest single-quarter fundraising haul of any Democratic primary candidate so far, with an average donation of just over $18. The campaign said 99.9 percent of Sanders' donors have not maxed out, meaning they can contribute again.
In an email to supporters on Wednesday, Sanders expressed confidence that his small-dollar fundraising model can be scaled up to meet the demands of a long and expensive general election campaign.
"Against Trump, I believe we will have 50 million individual contributions, at least," Sanders wrote. "And at $27 a piece, that would be more than $1 billion. It's absolutely obscene and outrageous that an election would cost that much money, but our campaign has proven we will be able to raise more than enough money to win."
Sen. Bernie Sanders has no plans to abandon his effective grassroots fundraising model and begin accepting billionaire cash if he makes it to the general election against President Donald Trump, the Vermont senator's campaign manager said Thursday.
"We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
--Faiz Shakir, Sanders campaign manager
"We will hold firm, we will not change a damn thing," Faiz Shakir told CNN's Ryan Nobles in an interview, hours after the Sanders campaign announced it raised $34.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Trump's reelection campaign, which has been fueled in part by super PACs and corporate money, said Thursday it brought in $46 million during the final three months of 2019.
"It is working, and the reason it's working is the working class believes in Bernie Sanders to defeat Donald Trump," said Shakir. "You've got somebody who has built a vast grassroots network, has been fighting for the working class, has built his credibility on it. We're not gonna go into a general election... suddenly claiming that we're gonna need money from millionaires and billionaires. We don't need that money."
Shakir said the claim that Democrats must accept big donations from millionaires and billionaires in order to compete with Republicans--advanced most recently by Pete Buttigieg--is mistaken and damaging to progressive policy goals.
"If you have Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden telling you that they need to kowtow at the altar of the rich to fundraise in the general election, they're wrong," said Shakir. "We're upending those notions. You can fund this totally in a grassroots way."
Watch:
\u201cFULL INTERVIEW:\n@fshakir\u00a0CM for @BernieSanders breaks down their big fundraising haul and promises, should Sanders become the nominee the campaign will not "change a damn thing" when it comes to raising money for the general election.\u201d— Ryan Nobles (@Ryan Nobles) 1577982776
As Common Dreams reported Thursday, Sanders posted the largest single-quarter fundraising haul of any Democratic primary candidate so far, with an average donation of just over $18. The campaign said 99.9 percent of Sanders' donors have not maxed out, meaning they can contribute again.
In an email to supporters on Wednesday, Sanders expressed confidence that his small-dollar fundraising model can be scaled up to meet the demands of a long and expensive general election campaign.
"Against Trump, I believe we will have 50 million individual contributions, at least," Sanders wrote. "And at $27 a piece, that would be more than $1 billion. It's absolutely obscene and outrageous that an election would cost that much money, but our campaign has proven we will be able to raise more than enough money to win."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.