Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thanked his supporters Thursday morning after raising more than 2 million contributions for his presidential campaign.
“We are enormously proud that we have received more individual contributions at this point in the campaign than any candidate who is not an incumbent president,” Sanders said in a written statement. “As the campaign continues to succeed, we expect those numbers to grow exponentially.”
Sanders’ campaign said it had raised more than $3 million since Monday, when it launched a public push to cross the 2-million-contribution threshold. The campaign did not say how much money it’s collected since the end of September, when it announced it had raised more than $41 million since the Vermont senator joined the race. Candidates will next report totals to the Federal Election Commission at the end of the year.
According to the Sanders campaign, only incumbent President Barack Obama had collected as many contributions at an equivalent period, during his 2012 reelection campaign. Many of Sanders’ more than 800,000 individual donors have given several times, according to spokesman Michael Briggs. Only 261 of them have donated the maximum allowable contribution of $2,700, Briggs said, meaning many can continue giving. Rival Hillary Clinton reported in October that 17,575 donors had maxed-out to her campaign.
Sanders released an online video Wednesday night thanking his supporters for their generosity.
“Over 2 million contributions have been made to the only campaign that rejects a corrupt campaign finance system,” he said in the ad. “You can’t level the playing field with Wall Street banks and billionaires by taking their money.”
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I just don’t understand why people would donate hard earned and taxed money to a campaign that is not going to get the nomination, let alone be the next POTUS.
Thoughts?
Mark,
Win or lose Bernie is making a statement and if you don’t have a million dollars in investments and have not contributed, I wonder what it would take for you to participate in change. He is the only answer. Bribes are running our country. You have a choice to continue with the status quo or vote for a new direction. The vote may not win but it is certainly making the average person part of the conversation. When is the last time you saw that? Gov. Dean was involved in a similar conversation and laid some of the ground work, but Bernie has a better record of being a man of the people and working for their cause. Does that seem like a waste of time?
Fundamentally, and I can only speak for myself, Bernie is honest and has integrity. Agree with his principles or not, he is genuine and you get what you see. This has a strong appeal to those who feel the Democratic Party has sold out– we are tired of the doublespeak from candidates marching lock-step to the orders of whichever corporate interest owns them.
The middle-class, which arguably is the greatest economic engine in a free market, is being slowly ground down. Bernie understands that.
OK Bill, but if I thought Rick Santorum was the ‘only answer’, it wouldn’t mean I’d part with hard earned bucks to support the cause.
Being part of a conversation — is it worth the price of admission?
I totally agree DC is full of weasels. The silent majority is too busy working and playing to bother with trying to solve. Besides, the POTUS cannot create change with the House and Senate the way they are. Term limits would be a start…