Oregon’s Merkley is First Senator to Endorse Bernie Sanders for President

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

GoLocalPDX Political Team

Bernie Sanders at the Moda Center

Jeff Merkley, the junior Democratic United States Senator from Oregon became the first Senator to publicly endorse Bernie Sanders for President. To date, Hillary Clinton has claimed forty Democratic Senators’ endorsements.

Merkley announced his endorsement not in the Oregon media, but in an opinion piece printed in Wednesday’s New York Times. Merkley wrote in his column, “It is time to recommit ourselves to that vision of a country that measures our nation’s success not at the boardroom table, but at kitchen tables across America. Bernie Sanders stands for that America, and so I stand with Bernie Sanders for president.”

“For Sanders, the endorsement is a welcome boost just days before the all critical New York Primary. In polling, Sanders continues to trail Clinton in New York — the state in which Clinton served as United States Senator — by double digits.

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley

In the endorsement, Merkley, recounted his middle class upbringing and maenad the loss of middle class opportunities for many Americans. “Years later, my family and I still live in the same working-class community I grew up in. But America has gone off track, and the outlook for the kids growing up there is a lot gloomier today than 40 years ago.

Many middle-class Americans are working longer for less income than decades ago, even while big-ticket expenses like housing, health care and college have relentlessly pushed higher.”

Both Sanders and Clinton are awaiting word from Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, but to date, she has refused to make an endorsement.

Related Slideshow: 5 Reasons Why Bernie Sanders’ Trip to Portland Matters, March 2016

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#5

Bigger than August

In August, GoLocalPDX reported, “The Bernie Sanders rally at the Moda Center hit an all-time high for the Presidential candidate for this election cycle.
The Portland rally nearly doubled the 15,000 attendees in Seattle. According to Sanders' campaign, over 28,000 people attended the Portland campaign event, causing a stadium overflow.”

So today’s event needs to show the same type of enthusiasm and energy. The bar was set high in August.

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#4

Win Oregon

No matter how you cut it, Sanders needs to win almost every primary and caucus that remains and a must win is Oregon.

In a state that has pockets of tremendous populism and progressivism — Sanders may be the perfect candidate. See the numbers.

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#3

Why Not Clinton

With Clinton growing ever closer to hitting the magic need to secure the Democratic nomination, Sanders needs to convince voters that he is the better choice — not just the more Liberal.

He gave her a pass on the emails and has let up on the fees from Goldman Sachs -- those decisions has cost him.

Portland is the place to take the conversation to a new level in front of thousands.

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#2

Breaking Through the Trump Noise

While Sanders has a strong message on addressing college debt and tacking on Wall Street, the GOP noise of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz has absorbed all the political media coverage for weeks.

Sanders needs to elevate the Democratic race to equal the GOP battle. Portland is a big enough city to launch a powerful new message for the last phase of the primary battle.

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#1

Last Chance

The reality for Sanders is that he needs to win 70+ percent of the remaining delegates in order to win the nomination -- absent a FBI finding of significance against Clinton on her email issue.

Thus, while his message has inspired young voters and disenfranchised older Democrats, he has to broaden his base now and change the dynamics of the race to win. He has had great upset wins, out raised Clinton in the past few months and his America commercial has the best as of the campaign cycle. He needs to flip the table.