Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign

Bernie Sanders for President
Bernie Sanders for President
Campaign	U.S. presidential election, 2016
Candidate	Bernie Sanders; U.S. Senator (2007–present); U.S. Representative (1991–2007); Mayor of Burlington (1981–1989)
Affiliation	Democratic Party; (serves as Independent in Senate)
Status	Announced: April 30, 2015; Formal launch: May 26, 2015
Headquarters	131 Church Street, Suite 300; Burlington, Vermont
Key people	Jeff Weaver, campaign manager; Symone D. Sanders, press secretary
Receipts	US$41,463,783 (2015-09-30)
Slogan	A Future To Believe In; A Political Revolution Is Coming; Not For Sale
Chant
Website
	berniesanders.com

The 2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, the junior United States Senator and former Congressman from Vermont, began with a formal announcement by Sanders on May 26, 2015, in Burlington, Vermont, which followed an informal announcement on April 30.^[5]^[6] Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for President of the United States since at least September 2014.^[7] Although Sanders is an independent, he caucuses with the Democratic Party in the Senate, as many of his views align with those of Democrats, and he has confirmed that he is running as a Democrat.^[8]

Sanders states that his campaign will focus on income and wealth inequality, which he argues is eroding the American middle class, and on campaign finance reform. Unlike other major presidential candidates, Sanders does not pursue funding through a Super PAC, instead choosing to receive most of his campaign funds from small, individual donations.^[9] On September 30, The New York Times reported that Sanders had raised $26 million over the preceding three months, exceeding Barack Obama's pace of fundraising in 2008, and that the campaign had received one million individual donations, becoming the first in 2015 to reach that threshold.^[10]^[11]

Following the first 2015 Democratic Presidential debate, the Sanders team announced that it had raised $1.3 million over the duration of the event and in the hours after.^[12] Sanders has been drawing capacity, record breaking crowds to his speaking events. An August 2015 press report stated that recent events had attracted 100,000 supporters, five times as large as those that had turned out for Hillary Clinton.^[13] Although Sanders has come second after Hillary Clinton in every major nationwide poll, a December 2015 Quinnipiac University poll showed him polling ahead of all four Republican candidates in a hypothetical election matchup – Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson.^[14]

Background

Sanders' former political successes have been in Vermont, one of the most rural U.S. states.^[15]^[16]^[17] Sanders has been involved in political activism nearly his entire adult life. While in college he protested against police brutality, led a weeks-long sit-in against housing segregation, and worked as an organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality.^[18] In 1963 he traveled to Washington to attend the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.^[15] Sanders has supported full equality for gay Americans since at least 1972.^[19] As Mayor of Burlington, Bernie Sanders played a prominent role in building support in Vermont for Jesse Jackson's campaign for the presidency in 1984 and 1988.^[15]

In a November 2013 interview, Sanders laid out several reasons for mounting his own presidential run: he cited global warming, economic inequality, frustration with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, and the importance of maintaining public programs like Medicare and Medicaid.^[20]

In a March 6, 2014, interview with The Nation, Sanders stated that he was "prepared to run for President of the United States" in 2016, but did not officially announce a campaign.^[21] When pressed on the issue, Sanders said he was discussing a campaign for president with people around the country, but felt that it was still premature to make an announcement.^[21] Following the 2014 congressional elections, Sanders continued to discuss the possibility of running for president.^[22]

On April 28, 2015, Vermont Public Radio reported that Sanders would announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 30.^[23] In an interview with USA Today on April 29, Sanders stated that he was "running in this election to win," and launched a campaign website, effectively beginning his run.^[5] Sanders said he was motivated to enter the race by what he termed "obscene levels" of income disparity, and the campaign finance system.^[24]

On May 26, 2015, Sanders officially announced his candidacy at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont.^[25]

Campaign

In a preview of his campaign, Sanders told the Associated Press on April 29, 2015, that he would release "very specific proposals" to increase taxes on the wealthy and corporations, offer tuition-free higher education at public universities, and pass a single‑payer Medicare-for-All healthcare system. He also noted his support for substantial regulations of Wall Street, and his opposition to the NAFTA and CAFTA trade agreements and to the Keystone XL pipeline.^[26]

He has made the cornerstone of his campaign the reversal of what he calls the "obscene levels" of income and wealth inequality that have eroded the middle class over the last 40 years.^[26]

In November 1, 2015, Sanders released his first campaign ad.^[27]

Sanders states that his campaign will focus on what he considers to be "real family values". Saying, "The right has claimed the mantle of 'family values' for far too long. When my Republican colleagues use the term they’re usually talking about things like opposition to contraception, denying a woman’s right to choose, opposition to gay rights, and support for abstinence-only education," Sanders advocates what he calls "real family values" which include paid sick time, paid vacations, and access to paid family leave.^[28] Speaking on woman's pro‑choice issues, he commented that “[Republicans] are saying to every woman in America, that she cannot control her own bod[y]. I disagree. Let’s say it loud and clear: Women control their bodies—not the government”.^[29]

Saying that he has "never run a negative political ad in [his] life", Sanders stated that he will run a positive campaign with "serious debates on serious issues".^[30]

Sanders has said that if he is elected president, a cabinet under his administration "would not be dominated by representatives of Wall Street". He has cited Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, and Robert Reich as potential cabinet members.^[31]

Fundraising

Unlike the majority of other presidential candidates, Sanders will not pursue funding through a Super PAC, instead focusing on small, individual donations.^[32] Saying, "We now have a political situation where billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates,"^[33] Sanders has called for an overturn of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission:^[34] “To equate the ability of billionaires to buy elections with ‘freedom of speech’ is totally absurd. The Supreme Court is paving the way toward an oligarchic form of society in which a handful of billionaires like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson will control our political process.”^[35]

Sanders raised over $1.5 million in the first 24 hours after he announced his presidential campaign on April 30, 2015. This was greater than the amount raised by any of the Republican candidates in the first 24 hours after their respective announcements.^[36] By May 5, Sanders campaign had received approximately 75,000 contributions and had raised $3 million, with the average donation being $43. According to a campaign adviser, 99.4 percent of the donations were $250 or less, and 185,000 supporters had signed up on the campaign's website.^[37]

Required reports to the Federal Election Commission in July 2015 showed a total of $15.2 million in donations to the Sanders campaign with an average donation of $31.30. He reported total spending of $3 million; Clinton reported $18.7 million. At the end of June Sanders had $12.1 million in cash; Clinton had $28.9 million.^[38] On September 30, The New York Times reported that Sanders had raised $26 million over the preceding three months, just short of Hillary Clinton's total of $28 million. However, Clinton has held ten times as many campaign donor events as Sanders with many contributions of $2,700, the maximum amount allowable, while Sanders's contributions have generally been less than $200.^[10]^[11]^[39]

Speaking events

Early in his campaign, the media favorably compared the size of rallies for Sanders with those of Hillary Clinton.^[40] Events scheduled by his campaign were drawing "overflow crowds" around the country.^[41] Sanders drew more than 700 supporters at a mid-June event in Iowa, which the Wall Street Journal noted as “the same number who went to a Hillary Clinton event on Sunday that featured a buffet table and a live band.”^[41]^[42]^[43] A crowd of an estimated 3,000 attended an event in Minneapolis. Sanders said he was "Stunned. Stunned. I mean I had to fight my way to get into the room. Standing room only. Minneapolis was literally beyond belief."^[41]

Beginning in June, crowds at Sanders events became much larger than those of any other presidential candidate.^[44] At a June 20 appearance in Denver, Sanders drew an estimated 5,000 supporters at a routine campaign stop, equaling the size of the crowd at Hillary Clinton's campaign launch speech in New York City the previous weekend.^[44]

On July 1, a crowd of at least 10,000 showed to see Sanders in Madison, Wisconsin, nearly twice the size of the biggest crowd of his main primary challenger, Hillary Clinton.^[45] A Sanders campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on July 3, drew over 2,500 supporters. To date, this was the largest audience for any 2016 presidential candidate in Iowa, an important early primary state.^[46] Sanders drew a crowd of over 11,000 on July 18 in Phoenix, Arizona, in a typically conservative state. At that time this had been the largest crowd of any 2016 candidate, for any party.^[47]

On a three-day West Coast tour in August, Sanders drew a crowd of over 12,000 when he spoke in the basketball arena of the University of Washington in Seattle, speaking to an additional 3,000 supporters outside who could not get into the arena. Black Lives Matter activists had interrupted an earlier event, which the campaign shut down in response.^[48] On the following day Sanders spoke to a record crowd of 20,000 supporters at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. The event was again filled to capacity, with an additional 8,000 supporters in the overflow area.^[49] The West Coast tour ended in Los Angeles, California where Sanders spoke to a capacity crowd of over 27,000.^[50] On September 14, 2015, Sanders spoke at Liberty University, a highly Republican-influenced college, during their Convocation.^[51]

Reception

In an interview on September 16, 2015, with Ronald Reagan, Jr., the son of President Ronald Reagan, Ronald Jr. said of Sanders, "I like Bernie. I used to do a radio show for Air America and I would have Bernie on every week. This was before we were all ‘feeling the Bern.’ He’s always impressed me as an unusual politician, in that he just pretty much told you what he thought about something. There was no B.S. There’s a real authenticity there to him, which I think is pretty much lacking in everybody else I see on either side at this point."^[52]

Filling in for Sanders at a campaign event in Iowa, Cornel West "electrified" the crowd opening his speech saying, “What a blessing it is to be here with all of my brothers and sisters of all colors here in central Iowa! Brother Bernie and I come from a great tradition, the tradition of [socialists] Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Einstein; the tradition of Helen Keller and Ella Baker; the tradition of John Dewey—who is the founder of pragmatism, but he was a democratic socialist, too. The point is that, you see, democratic socialism is not some kind of alien element. It’s organic and indigenous in the history of this nation”.^[53]

Polls

Nationwide, Sanders has considerable support among white Americans but considerably less among non-white Americans. A report by the New York Times published in April 2015 suggested that because the Democratic electorate describes themselves as moderate or conservative, "[o]nly about a quarter of Democratic‑leaners hold the consistently liberal views that would potentially put them to the left of Mrs. Clinton".^[54] A June 2015 piece in the New York Times reported, "in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll this week, 95 percent of nonwhite Democratic voters said they could see themselves supporting Mrs. Clinton for the nomination in the primary. Only about one-quarter of respondents said they could see themselves voting for Mr. Sanders".^[15]

Two August 2015 polls showed Sanders leading Hillary Clinton by seven points in New Hampshire.^[55]^[56] Both the RealClearPolitics polling average and Huffington Post Pollster average for the New Hampshire Democratic primary showed Sanders leading Clinton by about 3.5 percent on August 28, 2015.^[57]^[58]

On November 20, 2015, an online NBC News poll showed that Sanders's national support continued to grow. A poll that surveyed 5,755 adults nationwide showed Sanders was the preferred candidate of 33% of Democratic and independent voters, still trailing Clinton by 16 points.^[59] Sanders continued to show a strong lead among young voters and trailed Clinton by only three points among white voters.

According to a national Quinnipiac University poll released December 2, 2015, Sanders beat all top Republican candidates in the field.^[14]^[60]

In September 2015, the New York Times published numerous articles and opinion pieces addressing their readers' concerns that the Times was minimizing the Sanders campaign in favor of other candidates', especially Trump's and Clinton's,^[61] which occurred as Sanders overtook Clinton in Iowa polling, 41% to 40%.^[62] A report released in mid-December 2015 found that the three major networks – CBS, NBC, and ABC – had dedicated 234 minutes to stories about Republican candidate Donald Trump compared to only 10 minutes for Sanders despite similar polling results. The report noted that ABC's World News Tonight had devoted 81 minutes to Trump and less than 1 minute to Sanders for the entire year.^[63]

Social media

Sanders has used social media to help his campaign gain momentum.^[64] He uses Twitter, Facebook and Reddit.^[65] Sanders has gained a large online grassroots following independently produced numerous online resources. He gained followers and attention on Twitter by live-tweeting both of the first Republican primary debates, ending his tweets for the September 16, 2015, debate by tweeting "Thank you all. I've had it. I'm going home. Talk to you soon. #DebateWithBernie" before the debate ended.^[66] After the first Democratic presidential debate, on October 13, 2015, Sanders picked up 42,730 new Twitter followers to Hillary Clinton's 25,475, leading some outlets to posit that he had won the debate.^[67] Live tweeting during the December 15, 2015, Republican presidential debate, Sanders drew 5,258 new followers, more than any of the candidates that participated in the debate.^[68]

Popular media

Saturday Night Live (SNL) highlighted Sanders in its October 17, 2015, cold open with “Seinfeld” writer Larry David portraying him in SNL’s parody^[69] of the first Democratic Primary Presidential debate, which had aired four days earlier on CNN. David returned to the show for the first time in 30 years to portray Sanders.^[70] His impression of Sanders, widely received favorably on Twitter, had him waving his arms and saying: “I’m going to dial it right up to a ten: We’re doomed! We need a revolution! We’ve got millions of people in the streets. We gotta do something and we gotta do it now”.^[70] David stood podium-to-podium with Alec Baldwin as former Virginia senator Jim Webb and SNL cast members Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, Taran Killam as Martin O'Malley, Kyle Mooney as Lincoln Chafee, and Jon Rudnitsky as CNN debate moderator Anderson Cooper.^[69] When shown a clip of David's impression of him by George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week", Sanders responded: “I think we’ll use Larry at our next rally. He does me better than I do.”^[71]

Sanders was also highlighted on SNL’s November 7, 2015, 'cold open' segment, a parody of a democratic candidates forum hosted by Rachel Maddow which had aired on MSNBC earlier that week, with Larry David again portraying Sanders.^[72]^[73]

On December 7, 2015, Sanders won the readers’ poll for Time’s 2015 Person of the Year with 10% of votes; second place Malala Yousafzai received 5.2%.^[74]

Political positions

Economics

Income and wealth inequality

A cornerstone of Sanders's campaign is to fight the decreasing income of the middle class and the increase of wealth inequality:

What we have seen is that while the average person is working longer hours for lower wages, we have seen a huge increase in income and wealth inequality, which is now reaching obscene levels. ... This is a rigged economy, which works for the rich and the powerful, and is not working for ordinary Americans ... You know, this country just does not belong to a handful of billionaires.
— The Guardian (April 2015)^[26]

In July 2015 Sanders introduced legislation that would incrementally increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2020.^[75]^[76] On November 10, 2015, Sanders joined striking Senate cafeteria workers at a "Fight for $15" rally in Washington DC and voiced support for the movement.^[77]

Taxes

Sanders supports repeal of some tax deductions that benefit hedge funds and corporations, and would raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthiest two percent of Americans. He would use some of the added revenues to lower the taxes of the middle and lower classes.^[78]^[79] Reporting that offshore tax havens have allowed America's largest corporations to avoid taxes on more than $1 trillion in profits, Sanders has also introduced legislation to end offshore banking. ^[80]^[81] He believes we should invest this added revenue in America’s small businesses and in aid for working people.^[82]

Wall Street reform

On May 6, 2015, Sanders introduced legislation to break up "too big to fail" financial institutions. With three of the four banks that were bailed out during the 2007–08 Global Financial Crisis now larger than they were then, Sanders believes that "no single financial institution should have holdings so extensive that its failure would send the world economy into crisis. If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist."^[83]^[84]

Jobs

Sanders has introduced amendments to Senate bills that promote the creation of millions of middle-class jobs by investing in infrastructure, paid for by closing loopholes in the corporate and international tax system.^[85]^[86] He also supports legislation that would make it easier for workers to join or form a union.^[87] Sanders's campaign website has also recognized the plight of the long-term unemployed, citing that “[t]he real unemployment rate is much higher than the ‘official’ figure typically reported in the newspapers”.^[88]

Trade

Sanders is opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which he has called "a continuation of other disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA [and] CAFTA."^[89]^[90] In 2014, Sanders wrote that "the TPP is much more than a 'free trade' agreement. It is part of a global race to the bottom to boost the profits of large corporations and Wall Street by outsourcing jobs; undercutting worker rights; dismantling labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws; and allowing corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system".^[91]

Environment

Sanders considers global warming a serious problem.^[92] Along with Senator Barbara Boxer, Sanders introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 on January 15, 2007.^[93] In a July 26, 2012 speech on the Senate floor, Sanders addressed claims made by Senator Jim Inhofe: "The bottom line is when Senator Inhofe says global warming is a hoax, he is just dead wrong, according to the vast majority of climate scientists."^[94] He was Climate Hawks Vote's top-rated senator on climate leadership in the 113th Congress.^[95]

Health care

Sanders is a staunch supporter of a universal health care system, and has said, "if you are serious about real healthcare reform, the only way to go is single‑payer".^[96] He advocates lowering the cost of drugs that are high because they remain under patent for years; some drugs that cost thousands of dollars per year in the U.S. are available for hundreds, or less, in countries where they can be obtained as generics.^[97]

As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sanders has introduced legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Older Americans Act, which supports Meals on Wheels and other programs for seniors. Sanders believes that supporting seniors "is not only the right thing to do, it is the financially smart thing to do", because it decreases expensive hospitalizations and allows seniors to remain in their homes.^[98]

NARAL Pro-Choice America has given Sanders a 100% score on his pro-choice voting record.^[99]

Campaign finance

Sanders supports the public funding of elections and supported both versions of the DISCLOSE Act, legislation would have made campaign finances more transparent, and would have banned U.S. corporations controlled by foreign interests from making political expenditures.^[100] He has been outspoken in calling for an overturn of Citizens United, a 2010 Supreme Court decision that overturned McCain-Feingold restrictions on political spending by corporations and unions, as it deemed such restrictions a violation of the First Amendment.^[34] Saying that he believes that the Citizens United decision is "one of the Supreme Court's worst decisions ever" and that it has allowed big money to "deflect attention from the real issues" facing voters,^[101] he has proposed a constitutional amendment to undo the ruling.^[102] He warns: "We now have a political situation where billionaires are literally able to buy elections and candidates."^[103]

Foreign policy and national security

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Sanders supports Israel's right to exist and supports a two-state solution.^[104] In July 2014, Sanders formed part of the "unanimous consent" on the Senate Resolution in support of Operation Protective Edge, a military operation Israel launched on July 8, 2014.^[105] Sanders has said that Israel must have a right to live in peace and security.^[106] Sanders has compared himself to the first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.^[106]

A statement published on his Senate website read in part: "Sanders believes the Israeli attacks that killed hundreds of innocent people – including many women and children – in bombings of civilian neighborhoods and UN controlled schools, hospitals, and refugee camps were disproportionate, and the widespread killing of civilians is completely unacceptable. Israel's actions took an enormous human toll, and appeared to strengthen support for Hamas and may well be sowing the seeds for even more hatred, war and destruction in future years."^[107]

Surveillance

Sanders has long been critical of U.S. government surveillance policies. He voted against the USA PATRIOT Act and all of its renewals and has characterized the National Security Agency as "out of control." He has frequently criticized warrantless wiretapping and the collection of the phone, email, library, and internet browsing records of American citizens without due process:^[108]

In my view, the NSA is out of control and operating in an unconstitutional manner. I worry very much about kids growing up in a society where they think 'I'm not going to talk about this issue, read this book, or explore this idea because someone may think I'm a terrorist.' That is not the kind of free society I want for our children.^[109]

Iraq

Sanders strongly opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and voted against the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. In a 2002 speech, he said, "I am opposed to giving the President a blank check to launch a unilateral invasion and occupation of Iraq" and "I will vote against this resolution. One, I have not heard any estimates of how many young American men and women might die in such a war or how many tens of thousands of women and children in Iraq might also be killed. As a caring Nation, we should do everything we can to prevent the horrible suffering that a war will cause. War must be the last recourse in international relations, not the first. Second, I am deeply concerned about the precedent that a unilateral invasion of Iraq could establish in terms of international law and the role of the United Nations."^[110]

Sanders has called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) "a barbaric organization" and "a growing threat", but does not believe that the U.S. should lead the fight against it. Sanders has said that "the United States should be supportive, along with other countries, but we cannot and we should not be involved in perpetual warfare in the Middle East—the Muslim countries themselves must lead the effort".^[111]

Education

Early childhood

Drawing figures from a OECD report that ranks the U.S. 33rd out of 36 nations in reading literacy, 27th in mathematical literacy, 22nd in science literacy, and 18th overall in secondary education, Sanders has said, "In a society with our resources, it is unconscionable to that we do not properly invest in our children from the very first stages of their lives". He has introduced legislation to provide child care and early education to all children six weeks old through kindergarten. Sanders said "the Foundations for Success Act would provide preschool children with a full range of services, leading to success in school and critical support for hard-pressed families nationwide."^[112]^[113]^[114]

Student loans

Sanders has long been an advocate of making college more affordable. He has spoken out against the high interest rates on federal student loans, noting that in the next ten years, the federal government will profit by as much as $127 billion from them. He has also criticized President Obama for signing legislation that temporarily froze student loan interest rates in exchange for allowing the rates to reach historic highs over the next two years. Sanders believes tax reform is the solution, and has developed a plan to bring matching grants from the federal and state governments to cut tuition at public universities by more than half. He has criticized both Republicans and Democrats for failing to institute reforms that will stop predatory lending practices in the student loan market.^[115]

Tuition-free public universities

Sanders is in favor of public funding for college students. He believes "we live in a highly competitive global economy and, if our economy is to be strong, we need the best-educated work force in the world." He further maintains that many developed nations in Western Europe have long taken this approach to higher education. Sanders expects his plan to meet strong opposition from the Republican Party, but says it is ultimately "the American people" who will determine its failure or success.^[116]

On May 19, 2015, Sanders introduced the College for All Act (S.1373), which would use a Robin Hood tax of 50 cents on every "$100 of stock trades on stock sales" to fund tuition at four-year public colleges and universities for students who meet admission standards.^[117]^[118]^[119] In addition, the Robin Hood tax would include a .5% speculation fee to be charged on investment houses, hedge funds, and other stock trades, while a .1% fee would be charged on bonds, and a .005% fee on derivatives.^[120]

Social issues

Racial justice

Sanders was a civil rights organizer at the University of Chicago in the 1960s, and has a 100% rating from the NAACP for his civil rights voting record. In 1988, Sanders worked for Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign saying: "Jesse Jackson uniquely and alone has shown the courage to tackle the most important and basic issues facing working class Americans, poor people, elderly people, environmentalists, peace activists, women, and America's minorities."^[121]

As part of his 2016 presidential platform, Sanders calls for an end to “the four central types of violence waged against black and brown Americans: physical, political, legal and economic.”^[122]^[123] Speaking on these issues, Sanders says:

It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy. This must change. We must address the lingering unjust stereotypes that lead to the labeling of black youths as "thugs." We know the truth that, like every community in this country, the vast majority of people of color are trying to work hard, play by the rules and raise their children. It’s time to stop demonizing minority communities.

Immigration

Sanders voted for the comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013,^[124] saying, "It does not make a lot of sense to me to bring hundreds of thousands of [foreign] workers into this country to work for minimum wage and compete with American kids." Sanders opposes guest worker programs^[125] and is also skeptical about skilled immigrant (H-1B) visas, saying, "Last year, the top 10 employers of H-1B guest workers were all offshore outsourcing companies. These firms are responsible for shipping large numbers of American information technology jobs to India and other countries."^[126] He believes a path to citizenship should be created for new immigrants.^[127]

LGBT rights

Sanders has long supported LGBT rights, voting against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act when he was in the House of Representatives, and his home state of Vermont was the first to legalize same-sex unions in 2000, and gay marriage in 2009, both of which Sanders actively supported.^[128] Following the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges in June 2015, Sanders said: "For far too long our justice system has marginalized the gay community, and I am very glad the court caught up to the American people."^[128]

Paid leave

Sanders has become a prominent supporter of laws requiring companies to provide their workers parental leave, sick leave, and vacation time, arguing that such laws have been adopted by almost every developed country, and that there are significant disparities among the types of workers who have access to paid sick and paid vacation time.^[112]^[113]

Sanders's Guaranteed Paid Vacation Act (S.1564) would mandate that companies provide 10 days of paid vacation for employees who have worked for them for at least one year. He is cosponsoring a Senate bill that would give mothers and fathers 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a baby. Sanders has also cosponsored a bill that would guarantee workers at least seven paid sick days per year for short-term illness, routine medical care, or to care for a sick family member.^[112]^[113]

Gun violence

Sanders supports banning semi-automatic weapons and closing a loophole that allows buyers to skirt regulations when making a purchase at a gun show. He is also in favor of instant background checks for gun owners,^[129] although he previously opposed the Brady Act, which provided for federal background checks.^[130]

In the House of Representatives, Sanders voted for the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.^[131] Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union, Sanders said, "If somebody has a gun and it falls into the hands of a murderer and the murderer kills somebody with a gun, do you hold the gun manufacturer responsible? Not any more than you would hold a hammer company responsible if somebody beats somebody over the head with a hammer." Sanders has said, "we have millions of people who are gun owners in this country -- 99.9% of those people obey the law. I want to see real, serious debate and action on guns, but it is not going to take place if we simply have extreme positions on both sides. I think I can bring us to the middle."^[129] Sanders also dismissed the idea that gun control measures could have prevented the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, saying “if you passed the strongest gun control legislation tomorrow, I don’t think it will have a profound effect on the tragedies we have seen.”^[130]

Criminal justice reform

Sanders has called for reforms to sentencing guidelines, drug policy, and use of force policies within police departments. Noting that there are more people incarcerated in the U.S. than any country in the world at an annual cost to taxpayers of $70 billion, Sanders argues that the money would be better spent on education and jobs. He has spoken out against police brutality and the uneven rates of arrest of African-Americans and other minorities, saying: "From Ferguson to Baltimore and across this nation, too many African-Americans and other minorities find themselves subjected to a system that treats citizens who have not committed crimes as if they were criminals and that is unacceptable."^[132] Following the release of footage depicting the arrest of African American Sandra Bland for a minor traffic violation, Sanders strongly condemned the “totally outrageous police behavior” shown in the video, stating that: “This video highlights once again why we need real police reform. People should not die for a minor traffic infraction. This type of police abuse has become an all-too-common occurrence for people of color and it must stop."^[133]

Sanders has also spoken out against the privatization of prisons throughout the United States, stating:

It is morally repugnant and a national tragedy that we have privatized prisons all over America. In my view, corporations should not be allowed to make a profit by building more jails and keeping more Americans behind bars. We have got to end the private-for-profit prison racket in America!
— Remarks by Senator Sanders to the National Urban League (July 2015).^[134]

On September 17, 2015, Sanders introduced the "Justice Is Not for Sale" Act,^[135] which prohibits the United States government at federal, state and local levels from contracting with private firms to provide and/or operate detention facilities within two years. He noted that "We cannot fix our criminal justice system if corporations are allowed to profit from mass incarceration."^[136]^[137]

Death penalty

Sanders has been a strong opponent of the death penalty throughout his political career.^[138]

Marijuana legalization

On October 28, 2015, Sanders expressed his support for the decriminalization and eventual legalization of marijuana by way of its removal as a schedule I controlled substances drug at the federal level, removing it from the list of dangerous substances outlawed by the federal government. This would clear the way for it to be fully legalized at the state level unimpeded by the federal government. Sanders is also in favor of the regulated sale and taxation of marijuana at the state level in a similar manner to alcohol and tobacco.^[139]