DURHAM, NC — Sen. Bernie Sanders entered Duke University Chapel on Thursday night to hundreds of people singing "This Little Light of Mine." Sitting down with NAACP national board member the Rev. William Barber II, Sanders's conversation brought up a familiar theme of his 2016 campaign: the "moral economy."
"There is no excuse for 40 million Americans living in poverty," Sanders thundered on Thursday night. "The way we bring about change is having the courage to talk about a reality that you may not see on a TV and you surely will not hear discussed in the United State Congress."
It was a different feel to many of his 2016 campaign rallies, even though the Vermont senator's core message has not changed. Instead of speaking to a crowd of mostly white and mostly secular settings, Sanders not only shared his message with a predominantly black audience, he sang along in a nod to the long history of the black church and politics.
One of the biggest problems Sanders had in 2016 during his insurgent presidential campaign was in Southern states, where the African-American vote is crucial to securing the Democratic nomination. Now, as the senator from Vermont seriously mulls a presidential run in 2020, he's not going to make the same mistake again.
Sanders has been crisscrossing Southern states this month, speaking to black voters. He marched in Memphis with the Rev. Al Sharpton and other black leaders on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
"If he can make that announcement — just confirm that would be true or not — I think that would be pretty dope," said Travis Smith, a junior at Duke studying neuroscience, and a member of the campus NAACP chapter. Smith supported Sanders "1,000 percent" in 2016.
While Sanders is making a noticeable effort to shore up support among black voters and faith leaders in the South ahead of the 2020 cycle, not everyone is sold.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/20/17251798/bernie-sanders-black-voters-south
"There is no excuse for 40 million Americans living in poverty," Sanders thundered on Thursday night. "The way we bring about change is having the courage to talk about a reality that you may not see on a TV and you surely will not hear discussed in the United State Congress."
It was a different feel to many of his 2016 campaign rallies, even though the Vermont senator's core message has not changed. Instead of speaking to a crowd of mostly white and mostly secular settings, Sanders not only shared his message with a predominantly black audience, he sang along in a nod to the long history of the black church and politics.
One of the biggest problems Sanders had in 2016 during his insurgent presidential campaign was in Southern states, where the African-American vote is crucial to securing the Democratic nomination. Now, as the senator from Vermont seriously mulls a presidential run in 2020, he's not going to make the same mistake again.
Sanders has been crisscrossing Southern states this month, speaking to black voters. He marched in Memphis with the Rev. Al Sharpton and other black leaders on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
"If he can make that announcement — just confirm that would be true or not — I think that would be pretty dope," said Travis Smith, a junior at Duke studying neuroscience, and a member of the campus NAACP chapter. Smith supported Sanders "1,000 percent" in 2016.
While Sanders is making a noticeable effort to shore up support among black voters and faith leaders in the South ahead of the 2020 cycle, not everyone is sold.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/20/17251798/bernie-sanders-black-voters-south
