An avowed socialist and ally of the Democratic Party is at least considering the possibility he could be president.
Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, will announce whether or not he intends to launch a White House bid by March. He’s long been aligned with national Democrats — he was endorsed by the party’s campaign chiefs in his 2006 Senate race, and Barack Obama stumped for him — but there’s no guarantee Sanders would submit his name for the Democratic ballot. Whatever the case, he said he won’t run unless he can cross the finish line.
“I don’t want to do it unless I can do it well,” he told The Associated Press. “I don’t want to do it unless we can win this thing.”
Sanders has a 12-step plan that he says will restore the economy and especially the middle class, most of it dependent on higher taxes on the rich and corporations. Among the proposals: A $1 trillion infrastructure building program that would “create 13 million decent-paying jobs,” more worker-friendly international trade deals and legislation to strengthen unions, and transforming the U.S. energy system “away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy.”
He says he’ll make a “gut decision” about running for the presidency — and, perhaps, challenging Democratic favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton.
He would be 75 in 2016, but “my health is good,” he said, knocking on a wooden conference room table. He said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d called in sick to work.
Sanders said he is weighing whether to run as an independent, as he has done in Vermont, or as a Democrat. He has been critical of both major parties over the years, though he has aligned with liberal Democrats on many issues.
Should Sanders and Hillary both run as Democrats, the Vermont senator would somehow increase the average age of the party’s contenders. The United States has been around under its current constitution for about 225 years. Clinton (67), Sanders (73) and Vice-President Joe Biden (72) have been around for a combined 212.
