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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBernie Sanders: "It is time to end the politics of division in this country"
LAS VEGAS -- The second Democratic candidate to go before a gathering of Latino officials this week, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders dedicated much of his speech to immigration reform saying it's time for the country to stop playing the native born against immigrants.
... on Friday, the last day of the National Assoociation of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference, he was bullish on where he stands.
Sanders said too often undocumented workers who cook meals and care for American children are reviled and shunted to the shadows, a situation he called disgraceful.
"It is time to end the politics of division in this country, of politicians playing one group of people against another group, whether it is white against black, male against female, straight against gay or native born against immigrant, that division has got to end," he said.
He also said he opposes tying immigration reform to the building of a border fence and called for a path to citizenship for those here illegally.
"It is not acceptable to me and a growing majority of the American people that millions of people in this country are working extremely hard but they are living in the shadows, and that has got to end," Sanders said.
read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/bernie-sanders-tells-latinos-he-bacsk-immigration-reform-naleo-n378691
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
daleanime
(17,796 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)The very idea that some groups are more valued, have more opportunity, than others is disgraceful.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)Rec
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)brer cat
(24,673 posts)bigtree
(86,024 posts)Talk of a Sanders surge has enlivened the campaign in recent weeks, as bigger-than-expected crowds turned out for his fiery speeches about taking on the "billionaire class" amid promising polling in the early-primary state of New Hampshire. But the enthusiasm gap on display at the nation's largest gathering of Latino policymakers highlights the reality of the major demographic challenges Sanders faces as he wages his long-shot bid for the presidency.
Nonwhite voters make up a third or more of the turnout in Democratic primaries in most states, according to exit polls. Sanders, who represents a state that is 94% white, has little experience campaigning for minority votes. That will pose a challenge as he travels to more-diverse early-voting states like Nevada, home to a large Latino population, and South Carolina, where African Americans make up roughly half of Democratic primary voters.
"If your only significant constituency is older white voters, that'll be good in Iowa and New Hampshire, but when you hit Nevada and South Carolina you're in another world," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. "If you're going to be the nominee, you're going to have to do pretty well among Latino, African American voters, women, single women and millennials. That's the challenge for Bernie Sanders to become more than a niche candidate and become a candidate with a broad coalition of support."
...Garrison Nelson, a professor of political science at the University of Vermont, said it is not Sanders' natural instinct to tailor his message to different audiences.
"Bernie's is an economic message," Nelson said. "He believes the underclass is not defined by their demography; they're defined by their income. He finds this kind of demographic politics somewhat well, he doesn't like it."
read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/immigration/la-na-democrats-latinos-20150620-story.html#page=1
boston bean
(36,228 posts)thumbs down to Bernie.