“Right now, my focus is on the year 2018, but if you’re asking me to make an absolute pledge as to whether I’ll be running for president or not, I’m not going to make that pledge,” Vermont’s junior senator said. “The simple truth is I have not made that decision. But I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I may not run. I may. But on the other hand, I may not.”
Asked again whether he would commit to serving out a third term, Sanders said, “If I’m elected president of the United States? Mmm. Probably impossible to be a senator and a president at the same time. So the answer to that is probably no. But I haven’t made that decision as to whether I’ll run.”
He added, “If I run [for president] and win, the likelihood is I will not be Vermont’s senator.”
During Sanders’ first term in the Senate, he was present for 98 percent of roll call votes. His record faded after his reelection in 2012, largely because he ran for president in 2016. That year, when Sanders lost the Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton, he missed 115 of 163 roll call votes in the Senate.
On Monday, during the debate hosted by Channel 17 and moderated by Seven Days’ political editor Paul Heintz, Sanders would not pledge to have an attendance rate above 95 percent in his next term.
“I think maybe you didn’t hear me the first time,” Sanders said. “I ran for president of the United States. And when you run for president of the United States, you actually go around the country. You have to campaign in order to do that.”
The senator said he returned to Washington, D.C., for close, important votes during the 2016 campaign, but he denied the fact that he did, indeed, miss more votes than any other senator who ran for president in 2016.
Each of the seven other Vermont candidates participating in Monday’s debate — Republican Lawrence Zupan and independents Folasade Adeluola, Russell Beste, Bruce Busa, Edward Gilbert Jr., Brad Peacock and John Svitavsky — pledged to serve all six years of the term and miss no more than 5 percent of votes.
Svitavsky, unimpressed by Sanders’ answer, went a step further with his pledge: “And neither will I be condescending, arrogant or insolent about it.”
The event was Sanders’ second of the day. He also debated Zupan earlier on Monday.
Watch the full forum below:
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If Democrats better represented the needs of the people, Bernie would not have to run. He can campaign all he likes as my senator. Win or lose a presidential run in 2020, his focus is to improve the lives of Vermonters and 99% of the rest of the country. Look at what he has done for the workers at Disneyland and Amazon in the midst of a one-party rule government. He deserves to be praised, not criticized.
“..Bernie Sanders Refuses to Pledge to Serve Full Senate Term”
so what??
what would you expect? that Bernie would serve a 4-year term as President *and* as Senator? he can’t do that.
would you expect him not to continue to serve us as Senator in 2019 and 2020 in order to leave open the option to run for Prez? how does that help the people of Vermont.
what a crappy way to frame the race when there are so many more important points. so if Bernie decides not to run for Prez, we get a full Senate term outa him. if Bernie runs and loses either the nomination or the general, we get a full Senate term outa him. if Bernie runs for President and frees our sorry-ass nation of the scourge of the corrupt, mendacious, narcissistic demagogue in power now, HURRAY! Both our state and our nation (and the rest of the planet) are well served.
7Days can do better, more informative headlines than that.
If Bernie tries to run as a Democrat again the results will be the same: he will be shoved aside by the Wall Street wing of the DNC, told to kneel and endorse the official party nominee and promised a plum Senate committee chair if the Dems retake the Senate. Then told to go debase himself and beat the bushes for a nominee he knows he detests .
Bernie’s problem seems to be that he thinks real change for the better can happen inside the Corporate owned Democratic Party. He’s wrong. He might as well run as a Republican. Both parties are owned by the depraved 1%, the oligarchs that Bernie rails against.
The Democratic Party is so pathetic that it couldn’t landslide a vulgar, ignorant grifter like Trump. Instead they gave us the duplicitous Goldman Sachs Girl, Hillary Clinton.
So if Bernie wants to take another run at the brass ring, that’s fine. But the folks who really call the tune in Washington DC will not let him anywhere near it. History does repeat itself.
Do you really think a country that elected donald trump as president would do a 180
and Elect Bernie the next time around ? To have any chance of ending the trump nightmare the
Dems have to nominate a ” moderate ” and that is not Bernie. A society in an obvious free fall !
I think maybe you didnt hear me the first time,” Sanders said. “I ran for president of the United States. And when you run for president of the United States, you actually go around the country. You have to campaign in order to do that.”
The facts are the majority of Vermonters elected him to represent them in the Senate – they did not elect Sen. Sanders to run for the presidency and neglect his duties as the junior Senator from Vermont.
“He deserves to be praised, not criticized.”
Um, no. His monstrous, monstrous ego needs to be curbed.
Even a part-time Bernie is better than a full-time asshat.
I have never voted for Bernie … not for mayor, U.S. Rep or Senator. President? Surely you jest. I hope Zupan wins so we can watch Bernie’s sorry ass and big mouth fall off the gravy train he’s been riding far too long.
So what?
First may I say that the guy asking the questions needs to understand that his job is to ask questions only and not criticize those answers if he doesn’t like what he hears.
Second, Bernie Sanders is an amazing asset to Vermont and the U.S. and I hope he runs for President in 2020.
As He Considers a 2020 Presidential Run, Bernie Sanders Refuses to Pledge to Do Something About His Hair