Bernie Sanders is ready for 2016.
The self described socialist, who has been in government since being elected mayor of Burlington, Vt., in 1981, says that if he decides to run for president, he’ll be doing so with the sole purpose of helping the middle class.
“People care more about Tom Brady’s arm than they do about our disastrous trade policy, NAFTA, CAFTA, the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. ISIS and Ebola are serious issues, but what they really don’t want you to think about is what’s happened to the American middle class,” the 73-year-old Vermont Senator told New York Magazine.
Though Sanders tells the reporter the same line about running for president — “anyone who wakes up in the morning with a burning desire to be the president to be the United States is a little bit crazy” — there have been signs that he is prepping to run. Some voters clearly want him to as well.
During a recent speech at the University of New Hampshire, one woman, a middle-aged registered nurse, was picked to ask him a question.
“Will you do this for us? We’re begging you, Bernie,” she implored. “Save us, Please.”
Sanders told the Associated Press last week that he will decide by March whether to run for president — and whether he’ll be part of the Democratic ticket or run as an independent.
“I don’t want to do it unless I can do it well,” he added. “I don’t want to do it unless we can win this thing.”
Sanders also stressed how his campaign would be based around his socialist views.
Sanders is currently polling fourth with nearly four percentage points, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls. The leader, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has nearly 62 percentage points.
