It’s Super Tuesday. The Democratic 2016 Presidential campaign is in full swing with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battling it out in the national arena with 12 states up for grabs today. Yet while all this hoopla is going on, a small fact remains quietly perched on the political back burner: Sanders is also running for re-election as a U.S. Senator. His Senate seat will be decided anew with the 2018 midterm cycle, and if Vermonters vote favorably, he’ll take office at the age of 77 for his third term.
Interestingly, Sanders is running as an Independent. Even more curious, his donors are unlike those behind his Presidential bid.
Sanders is already collecting money for his next Senate run. A look at these contributors reveals a stark contrast from the grassroots coalition he appeals to in his Presidential campaign. Far from being a collection of Milleniels who are newly entering the job market or struggling blue collar workers, these donors are primarily retired or entrenched in professional positions.
This detailed profile of the Friends of Bernie Sanders PAC shows that the bulk of his Senate campaign backers reside not in Vermont but California. His home state came in second place as far as contributor counts but New York, Texas and Massachusetts round out the top five states.
A look at the Top 150 Contributors shows a large percentage listing themselves as “Retired” (49 of 150) and another large chunk (47 of 150) self-describe as a professional (engineer, professor, doctor, attorney, business owner/consultant/CEO)
Midterm elections are far away from the hubbub of the 2016 primaries but the money work goes on. Friends of Bernie raised $1,196,682 at the close of 2015. With three years remaining, it will need to work harder to reach the $6.2 million raised in his last Senate race. This figure was a high water mark itself according to InsideGov.com, which noted it was “greater than the average of all Senate campaign committees.”
Bernie Sanders earns applause for his fundraising efforts and his ability to find donors from nearly every demographic. Yet supporters must wonder: as an elected representative, to whom does he show allegiance?
GO BLINDLY 
Unaffiliated super PACs are different. The two pro-Sanders super PACs — Collective Actions PAC and Billionaires for Bernie — have no ties to Sanders or his campaign. Total contributions = $8,795
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/sep/30/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-only-presidential-candidates-withou/
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This post is only discussing Friends of Bernie, which is set-up for his Senate re-election.
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Well it seems like St. Bernie, who swears left and right that he doesn’t have a PAC is a hypocrite.
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Is there really a PAC for him, or are you using the term loosely? Because he keeps claiming he doesn’t have a PAC. I think this is a very important point, more so than the fact that he’s raising funds for a possible run in two years.
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Yes, it is a political action committee (PAC) It’s called “Friends of Bernie Sanders.”
Here’s the FEC definition:
What is a political action committee?
The term “political action committee” (PAC) refers to two distinct types of political committees registered with the FEC: separate segregated funds (SSFs) and nonconnected committees. Basically, SSFs are political committees established and administered by corporations, labor unions, membership organizations or trade associations. These committees can only solicit contributions from individuals associated with connected or sponsoring organization. By contrast, nonconnected committees–as their name suggests–are not sponsored by or connected to any of the aforementioned entities and are free to solicit contributions from the general public. For additional information, consult our Separate Segregated Funds and Nonconnected Committees fact sheet.
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Bernie is failing the vetting process. He got away with this in Iowa and New Hampshire but no more. He ruined a process where you heard from everyone but not this time. He made sure only he can be heard and only he can run against the Hillary machine.
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Remember when the Senate was split down the middle, and the Democrats trashed Bernie and his reliably progressive vote, and said he couldn’t caucus with them anymore?
Yeah, me neither.
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Remember when a certain senator asked the Democrats if he could run as president under their party. Then his followers did nothing but trash the party rules and the head of the DNC? I do.
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Wake up America… 77 is too old to be president. Bernie looks red faced and looks like they prop him up to make a speech. Sad what Amercia is coming too. So many in the government need too go and half the judges through the USA needs too be fired and replaced.
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He’s 74, six years older than Hillary
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He will never ever receive the Democratic nomination for president, and he knows it. He will take all the money he can pilfer and retire.
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Wikipedia shows Sanders as announcing his intention to run as a Democrat in all future elections if you type in Sanders 2018 senate elections and then scroll down to the bottom where each state has a little blip. Don’t use the chart. You’ll get the wrong answer because not enough is disclosed.
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The PAC rainsing funds for Sanders for his Senate re-election (Friends of Bernie Sanders) lists his party affiliation as Independent. That’s a better source than wikipedia.
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Wow, so much for authenticity. Is this true?
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Good.
We need politicians who are their own natural selves first and who put the job they were elected to do over their political party. Voters are sick and tired of Republicans and Democrats who think that running the government is all about making their party stronger and trying to make the other party look bad.
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Super PAC that gets money from nation’s largest nurses’ union contributed $1.5 million to campaign
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sanders-record-filings-show-benefits-from-super-pacs-links-to-wall-street-donors-1455300881
http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg?_201602110300034988+0
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Why is he continually bashing the Democratic party and its president while running for the head of the party in effect?
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Can’t answer that but Trump does the same thing. Weird year no doubt.
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I think some of their supporters overlap.
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He is the party crasher who pees on the toilet seat, knocks over lamps, spits on invited guests, picks pockets and purses, and then sues the hosts for calling the police. He is an ungrateful, despicable, creepy man who violates boundaries and feels entitled to take what he wants. And he attracts support from others just like him.
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he earns no applause, he gives none to the party that allowed him to run on their ticket
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And he has taken about $1,000 from the DNC which clearly favors Hillary over him. It has also removed Pres. Obama’s ban on federal lobbyist and PAC cash,putting more money in politics. This is for the purpose of helping Hillary out. Needless to say, Senator Sanders is upset and disappointed about this because he opposes the wealthy financing campaigns or buying elections and politicians.
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