From Wallwritings
With two weeks to go before Election Day, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is vigorously campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
Sanders is also making plans to lead his fellow Senate liberals in opposition to any President Clinton efforts to back away from the current Democratic Party platform.
Thanks to the aggressiveness of Sanders' platform committee delegates, the platform includes strong domestic progressive planks.
Unfortunately, thanks to pressure from Clinton delegates, the platform failed to take any position on the decades-long, illegal, U.S.-funded Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
In an interview this week with John Wagner, of the Washington Post, Sanders said he and other senators "have started plotting legislation that would achieve many of the proposals that fueled his insurgent run for president, including a $15 federal minimum wage, tuition-free public college, an end to 'mass incarceration' and aggressive steps to fight climate change."
Sanders said he and his Senate allies plan to push for the breakup of "too big to fail" banks and to pressure Clinton to appoint liberals to key Cabinet positions, including treasury secretary.
Sanders told Wagner he would not stay silent "if Clinton nominated the 'same old, same old Wall Street guys' to regulatory positions that are important in enacting and overseeing the financial policies he supports. 'I will be vigorously in opposition, and I will make that very clear,'" Sanders said.
Senators currently working "informally" with Sanders include Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore).
This "progressive caucus" will need a Democratic controlled Senate to have the impact the Sanders' progressives seeks. In its analysis of crucial senate races, Politico found that for the Senate to return to Democratic control, it will need at least four victories in tight races in six states:
"The traditional swing states of Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, and the newly competitive states of North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana, which historically lean Republican." (Boldface added).
The Democrats need to pick up at least four seats to win the Senate majority if Donald Trump loses [five if he wins].
In two mid-west races, Democratic candidates in Wisconsin (Russ Feingold) and Illinois(Tammy Duckworth) are leading their races against Republican incumbents.
Duckworth has been endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, a conservative newspaper, over incumbent Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL).
In its endorsement of Duckworth, the Chicago Tribune wrote that a stroke suffered by incumbent Republican Mark Kirk, had reduced his ability to serve in the Senate. Kirk's staff rejects this conclusion, but has thus far refused to provide medical records to refute the Tribune's conclusion.
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